This is the easiest 4-ingredient strawberry ice cream recipe with an outstanding fresh strawberry flavor! It's no-churn and made mostly in a blender (no need for an ice cream maker) that also works with frozen berries. Keep a batch ready at all times for impromptu cravings or last-minute desserts. A must-make when strawberry season starts.
Fantastic recipe
This is the first no-churn ice cream recipe I shared on this blog, and it's still our number one homemade ice cream when fresh berries hit the market. It's the perfect treat for a hot summer day.
I hope you'll feel the same. It's that good and easy to make—a luscious berry creamy sorbet-style ice cream.
It doesn't taste like whipped cream with a little strawberry flavor. It is creamy in texture with lots of berry flavor, which makes it even better.
- No equipment is needed: it's an ice cream recipe without an ice cream maker or custard involved, so it's a breeze to prepare. Made mostly in a blender (no ice cream maker or machine needed!), it has only 4 ingredients making it a perfect, easy, crowd-pleasing dessert.
- Creamy texture: considering how little work goes into making it and the lack of egg yolks (used in custard-based ones for richness), this recipe renders a fantastically creamy concoction without losing the fresh berry flavor.
- Berries: you can use any type, but strawberries and raspberries work best, by far.
- Scaling: the recipe is easily scalable. The limit is the size of your blender and the space in your freezer.
I came across it a few years ago when my cousin's sister-in-law made her famous homemade strawberry ice cream for a family occasion. I was eager to try the much-talked-about ice cream she originally made with homegrown raspberries. It didn't disappoint! It's amazing and so incredibly easy to make.
Ingredient list
- Fresh strawberries: they will allow you to use less liquid. But frozen strawberries also work well, and I have used them many times. Let them thaw a little to get rid of the extra liquid, but don't let them get completely mushy.
- Heavy cream is my first choice, but double or heavy whipping cream can be used. Don't use low-fat or anything of the sort.
- Lemon juice: besides adding some acidity to balance the richness and sweetness of the other ingredients, it's a way to prevent crystallization (ice crystals from forming after it's frozen), which is much needed with no-churn ice cream recipes. So I recommend you don't omit it.
- White granulated sugar.
Quantities are listed on the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
Steps to make blender ice cream
Strawberry mixture
- Wash and hull the strawberries. You can add them to the blender whole, or cut into large chunks or small pieces, whatever way you feel will be best for your blender. This is especially important if the strawberries are rock-hard frozen and your blender is not very potent; and you might want to let them thaw a little.
- Add sugar and blend until you have pureed strawberries. There will be bubble and the mixture will be thick but runny. This is the first part of this delicious ice cream recipe.
- Blender: a regular or an immersion blender can be used. If using the latter, puree the strawberries and sugar directly in the bowl you'll be using.
The whipped cream
- Whip cream until medium-soft peaks form. Use a large bowl for easier integration later. When the cream is correctly whipped, the tip won't hold, and it will fall immediately when you lift the beaters. This ice cream base will be mixed further with the strawberry puree. So don't wait until stiff peaks form (as you would for chantilly cream) because it might curdle when you integrate it with the strawberry mixture.
- Add the strawberries to the cream. Mix with a spatula until you have a uniformly red and wonderfully smooth concoction.
Freezing ice cream
Pour the ice cream mixture into a freezer-safe container or metal loaf pan.
- Freeze until solid. The time it takes will depend on your freezer and the container you use. If you're short on time, solidifying will be faster if you use a shallow container. So keep that in mind depending on when you plan to serve it.
- If you're making it days or weeks ahead, use a freezer container with a lid or cover it with plastic wrap.
Kitchen notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
- Use a regular blender, immersion blender or food processor: they all work, but the food processor might render a chunkier mixture.
- Take it out 15-20 before you want to serve it: it freezes rock solid, literally. You won't be able to scrape the surface unless you leave it out at room temperature for a little while.
- Strawberries and raspberries work best: or a mix. Consider that some berries (raspberries, blackberries) have tiny seeds that can become a bit of a pain when eating. So you might want to sift the puree before mixing it with the cream.
- Serving: I like to eat it plain, maybe with some fresh strawberries added. You can serve it on top of a brownie square (they pair wonderfully) or topped with a light fudge sauce.
- Vanilla extract: you can add ½ a teaspoon for a mellower flavor.
Related recipes you might like:
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Strawberry Ice Cream (easy no churn)
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Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh strawberries, or raspberries
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 ¼ cups whipping cream, or heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- In a blender put 1 pound fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled with 1 ½ cups sugar and 1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice. You can leave it macerating for ½ hour the berries and sugar first, before pureeing it, so they release some of their natural juice.
- Blend until it’s creamy and smoothie-like, an even mixture with no strawberry chunks.
- Beat 1 ¼ cups whipping cream to soft-medium peaks. See Notes below please.
- Add the strawberry mixture to the cream, integrating well.
- Transfer to a freezer-proof container.
- Freeze for several hours, about 4 depending on your freezer and the container you used, until solid, before eating,
Mindy says
Excellent as is! My granddaughter chopped up the strawberries and I macerated w the sugar and lemon juice. . Blended it up in my simple Ninja blender and added it to the whipped heavy cream to which I added a little powdered sugar. I folded it and then whipped it a little more, put in a shallow casserole dish so it would freeze by dinner. This was a leap of faith as I had never made it before. Scooped it over some lemon loaf cake. I am officially the ice cream QUEEN! Next we are going to make the vanilla and play with the add-ins. 5⭐️
Paula Montenegro says
OMG Mindy, it made my day to read this!
Mindy Mullen says
Hi Paula,
I am going to try this w ripe bananas. My plan is to weigh out 1 pound of banana. Have you done this w bananas yet? Thanks.
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Mindy, no I haven't tried it, but I think it should work well.
Celia Marsh says
It is very lovely that you share your recipes. This ice cream is fabulous! Easy and delicious. Thank you.
Paula Montenegro says
Thank YOU Celia for being a reader and enjoying my recipes!
Nancy says
After the strawberries are blended and the cream whipped, Do you whip them together with the mixer or fold them together?
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Nancy, you fold them until smooth and even colored.
Rose Boyd says
Hi. Do you need to use the lemon juice if using frozen strawberries?
Also are you able to tell me the metric equiv? (grams and millilitres).
I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Thanks
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Rose! The lemon juice is used to bring out the flavor of the strawberries, balance sweetness and the richness of the cream. It doesn't matter if the berries are fresh or frozen. You can omit it.
In metric it would be 454g of strawberries, 300g sugar, 310g cream. You can toggle the US/M button to change from US measurements to metric. Happy baking!
Rachael says
There is lemon juice in the. ingredients list but the method doesn’t say when to add the lemon. Is it blended with the strawberries and sugar?
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Rachel, you add it to the blender with the fruit and sugar.
Jagruti's Cooking Odyssey says
Your ice cream recipe has come at the perfect time for me as its getting really hot here this week! The strawberry ice cream looks so delicious and I love that it is only 4 ingredients and no-churn!
Marwin Brown says
This looks rich and creamy and like such an easy recipe to make. Perfect for summer too!
Elaine says
Fabulous ice cream that would make this hot day such a blessing. Definitely the flavor I will really enjoy, too!
Jenny says
You just made my life so much better! I don't have an ice cream machine and had no idea I could use my blender to make ice cream. We had strawberries and everything else needed so I decide to make your recipe and it was such a hit, every one had seconds and there is none left! Going to the store to get more strawberries to make it again! Thank you!
Marisa F. Stewart says
What a perfect time for strawberry ice cream -- the berries are plentiful and their flavor is amazing. I simply love no-churn and your recipe has my mouth watering. A great recipe for a family gathering.
Heidy says
This recipe was wonderful and so refreshing. I had a ton of strawberries I got on sale and was thrilled to see this recipe on Pinterest. I used up all of them making a few batches of this!
Denise says
I love making home made ice cream and I haven't tried strawberry yet. I can't wait to give this a try!
Chef Dennis says
With all the fresh strawberries in the market its a perfect time to make this delicious strawberry ice cream!
Anna says
We had some delicious strawberries but they have started to turn a little bit mushy, so I thought we will try using them in this recipe and it worked a charm! The ice cream turned out so smooth, creamy and delicious, the whole family enjoyed them and licked their bowls clean!
Amanda says
This ice cream is so indulgent and delicious! It truly couldn't be simpler, and I love how few ingredients it uses. The perfect summer treat!
Juliana says
So perfect for ice crem season! And easy too! Love it because I can make it without an ice cream machine. Perfect! Thanks for the recipe!
Carola says
I can't believe I hadn't seen this recipe! I'm making it as soon as I can. I'm drooling.