Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe

This simple homemade Strawberry Ice Cream is bursting with fresh strawberry flavor. It is rich and creamy, and it doesn’t even need to be cooked! 

The base for this easy strawberry ice cream doesn’t have eggs, so there is no need to make a custard. For this eggless ice cream, just stir the ingredients together, chill, and you’re ready to go! 

You do need an ice cream maker for this recipe. I have an older model of this Cuisinart ice cream maker, and I adore it! Making ice cream couldn’t be simpler – no ice or salt required.

When I make homemade ice cream, I usually opt for chocolate. And the more mix-ins the better. But every once in awhile  I get a hankerin’ for a simple fruit  ice cream. 

I had some fresh strawberries in the fridge, so I decided to whip up this homemade strawberry ice cream recipe. It is simple to make, and oh so yummy! What says summer more than a batch of homemade ice cream, especially when it’s loaded with fresh strawberries?

How do you keep strawberries from freezing in ice cream?

If you are not a fan of chunks of icy strawberries in your ice cream, the solution is pretty simple. Instead of cutting your berries into large pieces, mash them with a potato masher or give them a quick pulse in a blender. 

When the berries are mashed, they spread evenly through the ice cream, giving every bite perfect strawberry flavor. Not only that, they give the ice cream a pretty pink color.

I don’t like to have big pieces of strawberry in my ice cream, because I don’t like biting into hard chunks of fruit. But if you prefer a more chunky ice cream, you can chop the strawberries rather than puree them. We can still be friends. 🙂

I’m sure it would be fabulous with other berries or fruit as well. The sweetened condensed milk does something magical not just to the flavor of the ice cream, but also to the texture. It is so dang yummy!

HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM

1. PREPARE STRAWBERRIES – Wash and stem your strawberries, then roughly chop them. Place them in a container with a large flat bottom. (I use a casserole dish.) Mash them with a potato masher or fork. Stir in the sugar and lemon juice, and let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until the sugar is dissolved.
2. MAKE THE ICE CREAM BASE – Stir the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and cream into the berries. Cover and chill for a couple of hours, or until very cold.
3. CHURN – Pour your chilled ice cream base into an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions. At this point you can eat your ice cream soft serve style, but I like to let it ripen in the freezer.
4. RIPEN – Pour the churned ice cream into a container, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze for 2-3 hours. It will harden up until it is perfectly scoopable. 
5. SERVE – You can scoop the ice cream into bowls, scoop it into ice cream cones or waffle bowls, or even sandwich it between sugar cookies for a special treat.

PRO TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM

• Use fresh ripe strawberries. They tend to be sweeter and more flavorful than frozen strawberries. You can of course use frozen berries in a pinch, but your ice cream won’t be as amazing.
• For the creamiest ice cream, use heavy cream. Light cream is lower in fat, so your ice cream will have an icy texture instead of being rich and creamy.
• Do not mistake evaporated milk for sweetened condensed milk. They are NOT the same. Sweetened condensed milk is sweet, thick and creamy, and keeps the ice cream from freezing too hard.
• Don’t forget the lemon juice. It really brings out the flavor of the berries. Even bottled lemon juice works.
• Chill your berries, sweetened condensed milk, and lemon juice with the cream before you begin. That way you can skip the chill time in step #2, and can be eating soft serve ice cream in about 40 minutes!

HOW TO STORE HOMEMADE ICE CREAM

Homemade ice cream doesn’t last quite as long as store bought, but if stored properly, it will last for several weeks in the freezer. To keep it from forming ice crystals on top, press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface before adding the lid (or another layer of plastic wrap or foil.)

Last year I purchased one of these ice cream containers, and I love it! It’s insulated, so your homemade ice cream doesn’t crystalize as fast, it’s dishwasher safe, and it’s thin enough to fit on my freezer door.

Love ice cream? Here are a few more yummy recipes:

• Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
• Burnt Almond Fudge Ice Cream
• White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream
• Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
• Raspberry Ice Cream
• Chocolate Oreo Ice Cream
• Fruit Ice Cream
• Butterfinger Ice Cream
• Cinnamon Ice Cream
• Cookies n Cream Ice Cream
• Rocky Road Ice Cream
• Milky Way Ice Cream

(originally published Jul 5, 2014, updated March 2021)

Creamy, dreamy homemade strawberry ice cream with condensed milk is a perfect summer treat! It is so easy to make, and tastes spectacular.