Lime Coconut Ice Cream
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Coconut lime ice cream is the ultimate summer treat! Made without dairy, it’s indulgent and creamy, crafted from just three simple ingredients. This ice cream blends velvety smoothness with refreshing tartness from zesty lime. This homemade, dreamy, and all-natural treat is the perfect lightened-up refresher for a summer’s afternoon!
Citrus and coconut are truly a match made in heaven, and it all comes down to balance. The lime brings bright, tart citrus flavor, while the coconut adds a creamy, gently sweet, tropical note that softens the acidity.
When the two come together in ice cream form, the result is fresh and zesty without losing that rich, indulgent creaminess. Every spoonful feels light and refreshing, yet still satisfyingly decadent — the kind of dessert that keeps you going back for just one more bite.
Ingredients notes
How can something this creamy-delicious be made from just THREE dairy-free ingredients? It sounds like wizardry, but this is all you need:
- Coconut milk: Look for canned coconut milk with a minimum 60% coconut extract and no additives. Arroy-D makes cans with 70% coconut extract and it’s amazing in this recipe, but if you can get your hands on a 90% can your ice cream will be incredibly creamy and divine.
- Other ingredients: Fresh lime juice and zest, and a sweetener – either coconut sugar, honey, or granulated sugar.
How to make it without an ice cream maker
If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can still make this using the no-churn method. Pour the chilled ice cream mixture into a shallow baking dish and place it in your freezer. After thirty minutes, stir the cream thoroughly with a fork, scraping the edge and breaking up any ice crystals. Repeat this process every half hour until the mixture is frozen. Once it’s frozen, you can either scoop it out to enjoy immediately or store it in a freezer-proof container to enjoy later. While it won’t be as creamy as when made with an ice cream maker, it’s still very delicious this way.
Tips to make the best coconut lime ice cream
While this simple, three-ingredient ice cream is super straightforward, there are some tips to keep in mind!
- Coconut can chronicles: The most important ingredient is going to be the can of coconut milk. While the recipe will work with any canned coconut milk, you really do want to get a full fat coconut milk. A low-fat can will give you much icier ice cream. Look for canned coconut milk with a minimum 60% coconut extract and no additives. Arroy-D makes cans with 70% coconut extract and it’s amazing in this recipe.
- Blend: The fat in coconut milk is known to harden and turn grainy when it freezes. By heating and blending the cream first, the ice cream stays super creamy after it’s frozen. The blending step is optional, but it will give you the creamiest result.
How to serve coconut ice cream
Take the loaf pan out of the freezer for about 5 minutes before serving to let the ice cream soften up, making scooping easier.
Indulge in a generous scoop of this coconut lime ice cream in your favorite waffle cone or in a bowl on its own. Enjoy it as is, or sprinkle on some shredded coconut for a chewy texture, or beside Scottish shortbread cookies for a textural contrast. It’s the perfect treat for sunny afternoons or as a refreshing dessert the whole family will enjoy together!
Lime Coconut Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
- 14 ounce can coconut milk (see notes)
- 2 limes (juice and zest)
- ½ cup coconut sugar, honey, or granulated sugar
Instructions
- Pour the coconut milk and sugar into a small pot and heat it until the sugar (or honey) dissolves. Whisk in the lime juice and zest.14 ounce can coconut milk, 2 limes, ½ cup coconut sugar, honey, or granulated sugar
- OPTIONAL STEP: Pour the lime coconut cream into your blender and blend for 30 seconds. See notes. Let the cream cool completely in your fridge.
- Pour the lime coconut cream into your ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-proof container and freeze until solid, about 2 hours.
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
Kristen,
How do I make this without an Ice Cream maker?
Rick
You can find more detailed instructions in this post: https://www.theendlessmeal.com/coconut-lemon-ice-cream/
But basically, you pour the ice cream into a shallow dish, put it into your freezer, then take it out every half an hour and scrape it with a fork to mix it up. It takes a few hours and doesn’t get as creamy but it is still very good.
It’s just like that because it is cold. You should be able to whisk it together, but if not then you may need to warm it slightly.
In my canned coconut milk/cream, the fat separates out. How do you get it to emulsify in the ice cream?
That happens when it’s quite cold. You should be able to whisk it together but if not then simply warm it slightly and the coconut cream will melt.
What do you mean by 1 14 ounce coconut cream? I am used to the metric system and am having trouble understanding the conversion charts online. What would it be in millilitres? Thanks!
You’ll want to look for a 400 ml can. 🙂
better than ice cream. a little less sugar and a little extra lime juice made this perfect.
I’m so looking forward to making this! I just looked at what canned coconut cream options are available at my local store and see some of hay are sweetened (like for Piña Coladas) and some that are unsweetened (like used for Thai recipes). Which is the right one to get for this ice cream? Thanks!
I always buy unsweetened so that I can control the sweetness. 🙂
Hi Kristen, Thanks for your reply. I’m still a little confused because the recipe says Coconut CREAM, but I find Cream of Coconut is clear and sweetened, but Coconut MILK is white (and unsweetened), like the ice cream you show. I opened a can of each and am actually going to mix them and see what come of it. 🙂
The cans that I used to buy to make ice cream look like this one here. To be honest, I haven’t been able to find them since moving out of the city to a small town. But I have used Aroy’d coconut milk with success. The biggest keys are to look for cans of coconut milk with the highest percentage of coconut extract AND to make sure that there are no additives. Lots of brands add guar gum and other additives to make the milk appear creamier, but it gives the coconut milk a funny texture. 🙂
So good. Served it with key lime pie and everyone loved it. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi there, any advice on how to make this without an ice cream maker?
If you pour it into a baking pan and stir it with a fork every half an hour as it freezes that will work. It will take about 2 hours to freeze (as long as you use a larger pan so it’s not deep) and it won’t be as creamy. But it will still be really tasty. I’ve done this method many times with ice cream before I bought an ice cream maker. 🙂
I’m a personal chef and served it as palate cleanser at a recent dinner party. The guests were asking for seconds. I think they enjoyed it more than my main dessert.
That’s so wonderful to hear!!
Sounds yum and the pre frozen version tastes great. Just waiting I. It to freeze and then we’ll be enjoying! Thank you!!
So happy to hear it tastes great! I think so too. 🙂
Hi ,could you add some white rum?if so I’m wondering how much ,or would it affect ability to freeze?
Asking for friend…!!?
Haha! Yes, I think rum is a great idea. It will affect the freezing, but not in a bad way. It should help it to not freeze so solid. I would try ¼ cup!
This ice cream turned out great! My coconut milk was a little lumpy so I blended the mixture in a blender first. I also used agave as the sweetener. Amazing.
I’m so happy the ice cream was a hit!
I have a question and hopefully you’ll see this before I make this recipe. I’m making it 3x and I’m guessing 3 42oz cans of coconut cream? Is that correct? OR?
No it should be 3 – 14-ounce cans of coconut cream. I’ll contact my recipe card provider about that glitch. 🙂
Does this keep in the freezer for a few days? Having a 4th of July cookout, but I need to make the ice cream ahead of time. Some recipes get really icy.
It does get a bit icy after a few days but softens if you leave it out of the freezer for 10 minutes or so. 🙂
I split between 1 can of coconut cream and 1 can of coconut milk (which had more fat than the cream version). Also used unrefined coconut sugar as the sugar of choice. I doubled up on the lime juice.
Impressions- coconut sugar is dark. I did add one drop of green food coloring. Final color was nice. It was very sweet. Next time, I’ll use half the amount of sugar. But besides that, it was very tasty and it had a very nice mouthfeel/consistency.
Happy to hear you liked the recipe!
I’m happy to hear you think so, too!