No Churn Strawberry Ice Cream

It’s easy to make THE BEST Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream without an ice cream maker with only 20 minutes of hands-on time! In this recipe, I combine my Mom’s famous strawberry pie filling, with my basic no churn ice cream recipe, combining heavy cream and sweetened condensed milk. The result is sweet, creamy ice cream perfection, perfect for a warm summer day!

“Very quick and easy to make.
I served mine with chocolate covered strawberries and mint leaves as a garnish. Everyone loved it!”

-Nikki

Strawberry ice cream is one of the three classic ice cream flavors, right up there with chocolate and vanilla. It’s always ranked in the top 10 most popular ice cream flavors in the US and it’s one of my personal favorites. This is why I spent hours coming up with the perfect strawberry ice cream recipe with fresh strawberry flavor!

Some strawberry ice cream recipes simply add fresh sliced strawberries to vanilla ice cream. Strawberries are made-up of mostly water, so when you simply mix them into an ice cream base, you end up with frozen strawberry chunks in the middle of vanilla ice cream. Not enough strawberry flavor and not very appealing!

Other recipes are made with artificial strawberry flavoring. I don’t know about you, but I’m not down with that! I want real, fresh strawberries in my ice cream. So I came up with the perfect compromise, my Mom’s famous strawberry pie filling!

Cooking the strawberries releases the water and brings out the flavor of the strawberries. Once the strawberries are cooked down to a slightly chunky puree, they easily mix into the ice cream base, creating a real strawberry ice cream with no chunks of frozen berries in sight! Here you will find strawberry ice cream perfection!

No ice cream maker? No problem! My method allows you to make this homemade strawberry ice cream recipe with simply a stovetop, a large mixing bowl, and a mixer.

This no churn ice cream has the consistency of soft serve and it doesn’t need to be thawed when it comes out of the freezer. This is one of many reasons why this is the perfect ice cream recipe. You can go straight from freezer, to spoon, to mouth!

Ingredients

Here I explain the best ingredients for this no churn strawberry ice cream recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For the exact ingredient measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Fresh strawberries – Summertime strawberries taste best! But if strawberries are not in season, you can also use frozen strawberries and thaw them before preparing this recipe. You’ll want to immediately add the frozen berries to a skillet over medium heat to allow them to defrost, then use a muddler to mash the strawberries. You can then follow the recipe as instructed, adding the sugar and cornstarch, then cooking down the strawberries.
• Cornstarch – this helps to thicken the recipe.
• Granulated sugar
• Lemon juice – I recommend fresh squeezed for the best flavor!
• Sweetened condensed milk – this canned milk will be on the baking aisle at most major grocery stores.
• Vanilla extract
• Sea salt – salt helps to bring out all of the flavors.
• Heavy cream – this might also be called heavy whipping cream. The two can be used interchangeably in this recipe.

Instructions

This recipe is super easy to make in three simple steps. For the full recipe instructions and a step-by-step video showing how it’s made, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

1. Prepare the strawberry puree. Add sliced strawberries to a large skillet, off the stove, and use a muddler, potato masher or fork to mash the strawberries into a thick, slightly chunky consistency. Add corn starch and sugar to the mashed berries, then move the skillet onto the stove over medium heat. Once the strawberry mixture begins to bubble, reduce the heat slightly to medium-low and allow the berries to cook down to a thick consistency for 5-7 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in fresh squeezed lemon juice. Transfer the strawberry puree to the refrigerator to cool, while you make the ice cream base.
2. Prepare the ice cream base. In a large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and salt. Set aside. Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, whip heavy cream over medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, about 3-4 minutes. Fold the condensed milk mixture into the whipped cream with a rubber spatula until well combined.
3. Make the ice cream. Gently fold the strawberry mixture into the ice cream. Pour the ice cream into a 2 quart container. A metal container will freeze faster, but a glass or plastic container will also work. Cover the container with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least 5 hours.

Note: if you prefer a strawberry ice cream without chunks, puree the cooked strawberry mixture in a blender or food processor before folding it into the ice cream.

And if you have an ice cream maker at home, be sure to try my families famous Old-Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream!

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