Best Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe (with two secret ingredients!)
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This is the homemade strawberry ice cream recipe that dreams are made of. It’s super creamy and bursting with fresh strawberry flavor. This iconic summer treat is easy to make at home and only takes about 30 minutes of hands-on prep time. Plus, I use two unique ingredients to make this ice cream super creamy and never icy.
I’ve spent a long time dialing in this strawberry ice cream, and the secret is treating it like real ice cream. A proper homemade base starts with egg yolks—there’s no shortcut here. The yolks give the ice cream its rich flavor, silky body, and unmistakably creamy texture that sets great ice cream apart from the icy, bland versions so many homemade batches fall into. This custard-style base lets the fresh strawberry flavor shine while staying lush and smooth from the first scoop to the last.
I also add two small but mighty ingredients that make a big difference. A touch of refined coconut oil boosts the fat content just enough to make the ice cream extra creamy without adding any coconut flavor (refined is key here). And a splash of vodka—totally optional—helps keep the ice cream soft and scoopable by preventing ice crystals from forming. The result is intensely strawberry-forward, deeply creamy ice cream that tastes as if it came from a top-notch ice cream shop. You’ll need an ice cream maker for this method, but if you don’t have one, my no-churn ice cream version is a great backup.
Tips for making the best strawberry ice cream
Here are a few tricks I use to make strawberry ice cream that turns out creamy and delicious every time:
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Use very ripe strawberries. You should be able to smell them easily, they should taste extra sweet, and be pink all the way through when sliced. Farmers’ markets are ideal.
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Use frozen strawberries out of season. If it’s fall or winter, frozen strawberries picked at peak ripeness work beautifully.
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Boost the fat content. I add refined coconut oil to make the ice cream extra creamy. Be sure it’s refined so there’s no coconut flavor.
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Add a splash of vodka. It won’t affect the taste, but it helps prevent ice crystals and keeps the ice cream soft and scoopable.
Best Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe (with two special ingredients!)
Ingredients
- 4 cups chopped strawberries (see notes)
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar (divided)
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¼ cup refined coconut oil (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 cup whipping cream
- Optional but recommended: 2 tablespoons vodka
Instructions
- Place the strawberries and ¾ cup sugar in a medium-sized pot over high heat and bring it to a boil. Once it boils, give the pot a stir and reduce the heat to a simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool slightly.4 cups chopped strawberries
- Pour about half the strawberries into a blender and blend on high until smooth. Add the pureed and chopped strawberries into a bowl together and place them in your fridge to cool.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining ½ cup sugar.4 egg yolks
- Heat the whole milk, coconut oil, vanilla, and salt in a small pot over medium-high heat until steam rises from the pot. Then whisk some of the hot milk into the egg yolks to temper them, then add the egg yolks to the pot of hot milk. Place the pot over medium heat and, whisking constantly but slowly, bring the milk almost to a boil. You want the custard to thicken to the point where it will coat the back of a spoon.1 cup whole milk, ¼ cup refined coconut oil, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla, 1 pinch sea salt
- Pour the custard into a large bowl through a fine-mesh sieve Make sure to use a sieve to filter out any little bits of cooked egg. Add the whipping cream, strawberries, and vodka to the bowl and whisk. Place the bowl into your fridge to let it cool completely, for at least 4 hours.1 cup whipping cream, Optional but recommended: 2 tablespoons vodka
- Once the strawberry ice cream custard is completely cold, process it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. When it's done, it'll have the consistency of soft serve ice cream. Transfer the strawberry ice cream to a freezer-proof dish and cover the top with parchment paper directly on the ice cream. Freeze until firm.
Video
Notes
- The strawberries. Don’t skimp on the boiling time. If they’re not boiled long enough, they will add water to the ice cream, which can cause it to be icy.
- The dairy. This recipe works with whole milk and whipping cream. If you substitute either with lower fat or plant-based options, it will turn icy.
- Use all 4 eggs. Egg yolks add fat, which makes ice cream creamy.
- Churn it well. Wait until you hear your ice cream maker slow down and struggle to churn the ice cream – that’s how you know it’s ready. If you don’t churn it long enough, it can become icy.
Nutrition
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It’s a great ice cream recipe!
Thank you!
Deffo the best! I have also made blueberry and lemon ice creams. Both are fab too. Perfect in this heatwave. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe xx
Hooray for keeping cool in this heat!
This turned out delicious! This is officially my favorite recipe. Thanks for posting. I added pic of finished product on Instagram.
I’m so happy it was a hit! And I saw it on IG. It looked so good!
Loved this recipe and will make it again but will use half the sugar as the strawberries I used were very sweet and all the sugar made the ice cream too sweet! But family loved the result!
Yay! So happy to hear everyone liked the recipe!
We made this strawberry ice cream last week and are absolutely in love with it! We used frozen strawberries (autumn in Australia..), left the coconut oil out completely and since we didn’t have any vodka we added some (quite a bit 😀 ) of portwine when cooking the stawberries. It really is the best strawberry ice cream we have ever eaten, soft straight out of the freezer and just flat out delicious. Thank you so much for the recipe!
You are so welcome! And great call on the port. I love that stuff an imagine it took the ice cream over the top!
The coconut oil works against this recipe. Fruit recipes will have more vibrant flavor with less fat, not more. If you did want higher fat, you would not want coconut oil, which freezers harder than milk fat (it’s what makes Magic Shell work). Milk fat has the best textural properties for ice cream.
Eggs are also working against the flavor here. You’d do well to use fewer.
Can you tell me if the coconut oil you use in this recipe is refined or unrefined? Also, what brand do you use that seems to have an especially mild coconut flavor? I want to make this for my daughter who doesn’t like the taste of coconut. Thanks!
I buy my coconut oil at Costco and the brand changes from time to time. You’ll want to buy refined coconut oil if you want a mild flavor. 🙂
This is a great recipe. I can’t take credit for making it as my husband did most of the work however it certainly is delicious. Love the flavor of fresh strawberries. I will reduce the amount of coconut oil next time as it was more noticeable than I like. Thanks Kristen, so good I’ll be making a second batch tomorrow.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!!
OK – It’s official – this IS the best Strawberry ice Cream recipe ever! I made some yesterday and served it to my wife after dinner – she LOVED it and said it was the best ice cream she had ever had! I just used a hint of coconut oil and the ice cream was beautiful and creamy – adding the vodka is inspired – it scoops easily directly from the freezer.
You are now top of my search list for recipes.
Thanks
I’m so happy to hear you think it’s the best, too!!
Hey! Am I able to not do the coconut oil??
I find I like the extra boost of fat to help keep the recipe creamy. If you can’t do, simply omit it. 🙂
I tried this recipe but the flavor of coconut overpowers the strawberry. Especially disappointing because I don’t like coconut.
Oh no … I wonder what happened? The coconut oil I buy is very mild flavored so it never overpowers the strawberry. I wonder if your coconut oil is extra coconut-y flavored?
Extra virgin coconut is usually very coconutty. Maybe you use a more refined one which has substantially less taste.
Ice cream looks fantastic
This looks absolutely delicious! I can’t wait to try it! My current recipe doesn’t have the egg yolks. I have to use a sugar substitute of some kind. But I’m sure that will work OK for me with this recipe.
I would love to hear how it turns out after you make it!
I too love strawberry. I have been waiting patiently for peak season, and it is finally here. I am going to the market.
Little Monkey looks like one of my family. He made my heart turn over. Too cute.
Hi Madonna,
I’m so jealous that it is strawberry season for you already! We have another month to go before I can indulge again. I had frozen a bunch from the farmers market last summer and used the last for this ice cream. Hope you enjoy it!
I love strawberries,and this ice cream looks delicios…next on my menu 🙂 Thank’s !
Super hug!
Hi Angelica,
You’re so welcome! I hope that you love it as much as my little nephew did!
Hey, can I do it without ice cream maker? I mean that just do all this things which are in the recipe, place it in a fridge for several hours and eat? 🙂
Hey Agata,
I’ve never tried it before myself but I have definitely read recipes for ice cream that can be made with no ice cream maker. From what I’ve read you can put the ice cream in the freezer for forty-five minutes. Then remove it and whisk or beat it with a hand held blender. Put it back in the freezer then repeat the process of whisking or beating it every half hour until it is frozen, about 2-3 hours. The reason you won’t want to just put it in your freezer and leave it to freeze is because large pieces of ice will form and it won’t be as creamy.
Hope this helps! Let me know how it turns out for you. I’m interested to hear!