Super easy vanilla paleo ice cream made with only 4 wholesome ingredients like coconut milk and vanilla. This ice cream can be made with an ice cream maker or, with a little extra patience, made no-churn style. Made dairy-free, vegan, and paleo-friendly, it’s the vanilla ice cream you never knew you needed!
Simple Vanilla Paleo Ice Cream
Everyone needs a go-to vanilla ice cream recipe and this one is as simple and delicious as it gets! I kid you not when I say we have a container of this paleo ice cream in our freezer at all times so I'm prepared when the ice cream craving hits (like every day).
This ice cream is made only a few simple ingredients you probably already have on hand. It's incredibly creamy, and best all, versatile. A scoop or two definitely hits the spot but feel free to jazz it up however you like — add some chocolate chips to the mix, or crushed up cookies, or dairy free caramel sauce. The beauty of a standard vanilla ice cream is that you can get creative in the toppings department.
What you need to make paleo ice cream at home
- Coconut Milk - make sure it's full-fat. This is the base of the ice cream. Unfortunately every brand is not alike in this department. However, some of my tried and true favorites are Thai Kitchen, Native Forrest, and Trader Joes.
- Vanilla - this adds a little flavoring. My go-to vanilla extract for ice cream is Rodelle or Nielson Masey. Trust me, you'll never go back to imitation vanilla again.
- Maple Syrup - this is our sweetener. There are various ways to sweeten paleo ice cream (see below FAQ section) but maple syrup is my favorite!
- Sea Salt - I know, it sounds weird to put salt in ice cream. But this is needed to help bring out the vanilla flavors so don't skip it.
How to make Simple Vanilla Paleo Ice Cream
Let’s talk ice cream making methods shall we? There are 2 ways we can do this 1.) with a handy-dandy ice cream maker or 2.) no-churn style.
- Ice Cream Maker — This is my personal favorite method. I just love love love my ice cream maker. I have this one and you just attach it to your KitchenAid and you can whip up ice cream in under 20 minutes. As a millenial, I appreciate this kind of instant gratification. All you need to do to make your homemade ice cream is blend up the ingredients, pour the mixture into the ice cream maker (make sure the ice cream maker is on while you begin to pour), and wait about 10 minutes until it get nice and creamy. Serve immediately or store in a container to enjoy later.
- No-Churn Style — I get it okay, sometimes you don’t want to fuss with an ice cream maker. I have good news for you…you don’t have to! All you need to make this paleo ice cream is a blender, a container, and some patience. In short, all you have to do is blend up the ingredients, pour into a container, and place in freezer overnight. Don’t worry, your ice cream will still be just as creamy and delicious!
FAQs
Yes, this recipe can be made no-churn style. Refer to the above section for how to do this.
No. Full-fat coconut milk is needed as the cream (the fat) is what creates a creamy texture. Without it, the ice cream would be super ice-y.
No. Coconut milk is best for this recipe as it's one of the only nut milks that has the fat content necessary to produce a creamy ice cream.
You can use any sweetener of choice in this recipe. I have made this several times with coconut sugar and love the taste! If using a sugar in solid state (ie. coconut sugar), simply whisk the sugar into the coconut milk to dissolve it before pouring it into the ice cream maker. This makes sure the milk is perfectly sweet. If you prefer your ice cream sweeter, add another Tbsp or so of sweetener until you reach the desired sweetness.
Leave a Reply