Smooth and creamy dairy free ice cream made from coconut milk, sugar, and just a touch of powdered gelatin. That's the secret ingredient that makes it perfect—even though it's no churn.
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I love to make homemade ice cream, and mostly without the ice cream machine that I own but never really use. But until this recipe, it was all dairy-full.
Since I know some of you are dairy free, I put my nose to the grindstone and finally, at great long last, I present: Gluten Free Dairy Free Ice Cream with no machine! Plus—no mixing it every 30 minutes or something (how is that fun?). And it's still smooth & creamy & scoop-able.
Even though you only see two ingredients shown here, it says “3 ingredients” right there in the photo. There are, indeed, 3 essential ingredients.
There are 2 more optional ingredients in the recipe below, but they are truly optional. Oh, and yes, it does taste faintly of coconut. It's made almost entirely of coconut milk, made this way and that way, silly!
I tried this recipe 5 times and failed and failed and failed, sadly, every single time. And until you freeze the ice cream, you can't really be sure that it's a fail. That made this a rather time-consuming project of mine.
Of course, I could have just used the ice cream machine, but that is just.no.fun. As soon as I mixed up the final goods that you see here, even before it was frozen, I knew. Like you know success when you've already failed miserably 5 separate times over the course of 3 months. I knew.
But as soon as I mixed up the final goods that you see here, even before it was frozen, I knew. Like you know success when you've already failed miserably 5 separate times over the course of 3 months. I knew.
This may have indeed become my true love favorite gluten free ice cream. So whether you can have dairy or not, this smooth and creamy homemade ice cream are going to become a family favorite. Oh, and please do add the gelatin. If you omit it, the ice cream really doesn't scoop and it is icy as can be. You can replace the gelatin with some
You can replace the gelatin with some gluten free potato vodka, but it just won't be as creamy. And of course, then it becomes an adults-only treat. (not that there's anything wrong with that.)
No Churn Dairy Free Ice Cream
Equipment
- Handheld mixer or stand mixer with whisk attachment
Ingredients
- 3 (42 fl oz) cans coconut milk (14 fluid ounces each) 2 of the 3 refrigerated for at least 24 hours (See Recipe Notes)
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (3 g) unflavored powdered gelatin (See Recipe Notes)
- 3 ounces dairy-free chocolate chips (optional)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
- In a large, heavy-bottom saucepan, place the entire contents of the 1 room-temperature can of coconut milk and the sugar, and whisk to combine well.
- Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to prevent it from splattering, until it is reduced at least by half and begins to thicken (about 10 minutes).
- This is now your dairy free sweetened condensed coconut milk. Remove from the heat and set it aside to allow to cool completely.
- Remove the remaining two cans of coconut milk carefully from the refrigerator, without shaking them at all. The solid should have separated from the liquid while it was chilling, and you don’t want to reintegrate them.
- Remove the lids from the cans, scoop out only the solid white coconut (discarding or reserving for another use all the liquid), and place it in a large bowl.
- With a hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment), whip the coconut on high speed for about 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy and nearly doubled in volume.
- The coconut cream must be chilled for it to whip. Place the whipped coconut cream in the refrigerator.
- Place the gelatin in a small bowl, and mix well with 2 tablespoons of the sweetened condensed coconut milk from the first step.
- Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes while the gelatin dissolves.
- Microwave the mixture on 70% power for 15 seconds to liquify the gelatin, and then add the mixture to the rest of the cooled sweetened condensed coconut milk.
- Remove the coconut whipped cream from the refrigerator and add the sweetened condensed coconut milk mixture and optional vanilla to it.
- Whip once more until light and creamy, and well-combined (about one minute more).
- Fold in the optional chocolate chips, and scrape the mixture into a 2 quart freezer-safe container.
- Cover tightly and freeze until firm (about 6 hours). Serve cold. If it is difficult to scoop, allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before scooping and serving with a warm ice cream scoop.
Notes
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Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Dawn Heald says
Is it possible to make using blocks of creamed coconut? It’s just some coconut products tend to be pricey here in the UK supermarkets. After a stomach operation and various intolerances and medical problems and losing all my teeth, my perfect diet is gluten, wheat free, dairy free, egg free, low sugar. So I’m spending a lot of time researching websites like yours and trying to come up with recipes. I’m 35 with kids so I’m also looking for something we can all enjoy without baking separately as even just making with normal flour sets my nose running and too long in kitchen cooking hurts. Your recipes are really inspiring, thank you.
Nicole Hunn says
I’m afraid I don’t know what creamed coconut is, Dawn. It sounds like it might be the same as the coconut cream in the recipe?
Sj says
I’ve made this twice following the directions exactly (although the second time I just folded the whipped cream & condensed “milk”). It seems to curdle at the end when I mix the coconut condensed milk with the coconut cream. Any ideas?
Pat says
Can I just use a can of coconut cream instead of separating the milk and cream? If so, how much cream equals that which would have separated from the whole fat milk?
HKS says
Ii would love to make a dairy free ice cream, but I cannot eat coconut or coconut products, any ideas?
Abbigail says
This is absolutely amazing!!!! I made a banana split version of this by folding in bananas, cherries, and chocolate syrup. Thank you so much for inventing and sharing this recipe. Now it feels like the world has opened up.
Kathleen Harrison says
Michelle, 14 fluid ounces is approximately 400mls
Jessica Barnum says
What brand of gelatin would you recommend?
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Jessica. I recommend Great Lakes Brand unflavored beef gelatin. It’s the one in the red can. I’m working on a “shop” for the blog where I’ll have links to all of my favorite products, including an explanation of why I love them. For now, here’s a link to the gelatin on amazon. It’s an affiliate link, but if you don’t want to use that, you can just do a search. It lasts a long, long time, and doesn’t go bad.
Paige says
By George! You’ve done it again!! This ice cream is smooth and creamy even after 24 hours in the freezer. No more icy chunks. Thanks so much for this delicious and easy recipe. My family loves it. Three cheers for Nicole!!
Nicole Hunn says
Hip hip hooray, Paige!! ?
Michelle says
Hi Nicole – I love the blog. Seriously LOVE! Every single recipe comes out perfectly every single time! I am in Europe and can get Thai Kitchen coconut milk, but I’m just wondering about the conversion. When you say 14 oz can, you’re referring to weight? I can get them in 250ml and 500ml cartons. Might you have a weight/fluid conversion handy? Thanks :)
Kathleen Harrison says
Michelle, 14 fluid ounces is approximately 400mls
Nicole Hunn says
Thanks, Kathleen! It is, indeed, fluid ounces. I will update the recipe to clarify!
Jeanne Hasty says
I tried this over the weekend, I was not able to get the coconut cream to whip as yours did. I used Thai Kitchen brand, whole fat. After being in the refrigerator a few days, the solids came out of the can in a chunk. I used a hand mixer, any thoughts?
Nicole Hunn says
Did you use only the solid coconut cream, Jeanne, as directed in the recipe? If you included the liquid, that’s certainly the issue. If the solid separated and you used just that, the only reason I can think that it wouldn’t whip would be if you allowed it to become warm before whipping it. I have made whipped coconut cream with both a hand mixer and a stand mixer. Both work fine.
Jeanne Hasty says
Thank you for the tips, next time I’ll try popping it back in the refrigerator after separating. It may have gotten to warm. I enjoy your blog and have had great success with your recipes! :)
karen_303 says
regarding separating the coconut milk – can you carefully pour off the coconut water or use a baster to suction it out? or is the coconut cream very thick? always try to figure this out so i am floundering with the recipe. thanks – looks fantastic!
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Karen, the solid separates completely from the liquid, so you can essentially just lift or scoop out the solid. The liquid can be discarded or used for another use, like making a smoothie.
Heather Owens simelaro says
I have 8 different brands I can get, but there are about 5 different amounts of fat (even if you make the serving sizes all the same). I like getting high fat coconut milk, but what was the amount of fat per size of serving that you used? I imagine too low or too high would really affect the recipe.
Thanks!
Nicole Hunn says
I would focus on the brands I refer to in the recipe, Heather. Good luck!
Wanda Kornosky Buchanan says
Both my son and I are allergic to nuts so coconut milk is not an option for us. Unfortunately many gluten free receipes use some form of coconut As a replacement. Any ideas?
Nicole Hunn says
Coconut is neither a peanut or a tree nut, Wanda. If you still can’t have a coconut because of a separate allergy, I’m afraid you simply can’t make this recipe. It only has 3 ingredients, and relies heavily upon coconut cream.
Wanda Kornosky Buchanan says
Lol thank you Nicole. This is a new diagnosis for the both of us. I will be OK for the ice cream but my son will not as he has a separate coconut allergy. We both have epi pens so I can’t be too careful. I appreciate your help and enjoy your recipes very much!!!