Strawberry Swirl Ice Cream (No Churn!)

Creamy no-churn strawberry ice cream is a vanilla ice cream swirled with an easy strawberry sauce and pieces of fresh strawberry to make a delicious homemade treat! No ice cream machine or specialized equipment is required, anyone can make this frozen treat right at home with only five ingredients.

 

Why We Love Strawberry Swirl Ice Cream

• Only Five Ingredients– Just a few simple ingredients and minimal basic kitchen equipment is needed to make this creamy ice cream. No special ice cream maker is needed, this is a no churn strawberry ice cream that doesn’t have egg yolks at the base.
• Sweet Strawberry Vanilla Flavor– Strawberries have such a delicious flavor, and paired with vanilla it’s a pop of flavor that is juicy and amazing. This recipe is perfect for strawberry season or a hot summer day!
• Let The Kids Help– This ice cream is simple enough to let the kids help make this yummy recipe full of fresh strawberry flavor.

Ingredients For Strawberry Swirl Ice Cream

• heavy whipping cream must be cold!
• sweetened condensed milk equals 1 3/4 cups
• vanilla extract
• strawberries about 12 large berries, diced small, divided- Dice these strawberries small so they won’t sink to the bottom of the ice cream.
• granulated sugar

How To Make Strawberry Swirl Ice Cream

1. Place 1 cup of chopped strawberries with sugar in a pan over low-medium heat Cook for 8-10 minutes until the strawberries are soft and syrupy with a lot of sauce. Remove from the heat and set to the side to cool for a few minutes.

2. In a medium bowl add the vanilla and the sweetened condensed milk. Stir until the vanilla is fully combined with the sweetened condensed milk.
3. Once the sauce is cool to the touch, use an immersion blender or regular blender (or even a food processor.) Gently blend the strawberries until it’s a smooth strawberry sauce. You could also skip blending the sauce and swirl it in with strawberry bits in the sauce if you prefer.

4. In a chilled large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream until at first soft peaks and then stiff peaks form in the cream. This process should take 4-5 minutes, see notes in the recipe card at the bottom of the page for tips.

5. Fold the condensed milk mixture gently into the whipped cream until just mixed to form the ice cream base. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of diced strawberries and gently fold them into the whipped cream mixture. If all of the chunks of strawberries sink to the bottom of the bowl, see notes in the recipe card for an easy fix.

6. Pour the ice cream mixture into a 9×5” loaf pan.
7. Gently pour the cooled strawberry puree over the top of the ice cream mixture in the pan. Use a knife or chopstick and drag it through the puree a few times to create a fun swirl pattern on top of the ice cream and throughout the mixture. Don’t over-swirl, just a few drags through the strawberry mixture will give you a pretty pattern.

8. Place the ice cream pan in the freezer for at least 6 hours. Can also be frozen overnight. Once frozen solid, scoop with an ice cream scoop and enjoy!

Strawberry Flavor Variation Ideas

Add A Swirl of Jam– Raspberry jam, blackberry jam, strawberry jam or any mixed berry jam can add a lot of flavor to ice cream.

Add Chocolate– It’s important to use lighter pieces of chocolate so they don’t sink to the bottom, but you can swap out white chocolate, dark chocolate or milk chocolate pieces. I like using mini chocolate chips like I did in my chocolate chip no churn ice cream.

Add Sprinkles– Sprinkles will give this ice cream a really colorful fun look, and can be customized to your favorite colors!

Try Nuts– Nuts can be added, but I found it’s better to use chopped pieces so they don’t fall to the bottom of the pan. Try peanuts, pecans, walnuts or your favorite nuts!

Get Creative With Other Sweets to Mix In – You can add graham cracker, cheesecake pieces or even make Marshmallow Ice Cream. Get creative and try making your own flavor combinations, this ube ice cream makes such a pretty color that the kids squealed over. You can also try putting ice cream on a stick, like with these Strawberry Crunch Ice Cream Bars, or making ice cream in a Ninja Creami machine like with this Ninja Creami cookies and cream recipe.

Add Toppings To Make A Strawberry Swirl Sundae

Adding toppings after you scoop the ice cream makes it a sundae! Here are a few ideas:

Pieces of pound cake

Pieces of angel food cake

Chocolate syrup

Oreo pieces

Chocolate chip cookie pieces

Hot fudge

Caramel syrup

Strawberry syrup

Whipped cream

Maraschino cherries

Peanuts

Chopped pecans

Mini marshmallows

Sprinkles

Fresh strawberry pieces

Ice cream cones- waffle or cake cones!

Can I Substitute Whole Milk Or Half And Half For Whipping Cream?

Don’t substitute whole milk or half and half here, whipping cream produces the best results. We aren’t churning this ice cream or using an ice cream machine to churn it while the ice cream is freezing. Using heavy whipping cream is an important piece of having a delicious and creamy result.

Whole milk won’t whip up into whipped cream at all, which is what we are folding into the ice cream.

Half and half won’t hold it’s shape as well once whipped.

How Long Does This Ice Cream Last?

You can leave and store this ice cream in the pan. I recommend covering it with plastic wrap before adding a lid if you are storing it for more than a day or two.

Plastic wrap will help keep ice crystals from forming on the top of the ice cream which simply doesn’t taste as delicious to have icy ice cream. It will also help the ice cream keep from absorbing any food smells from the freezer or from forming a harder layer on the outside of the dairy.

You can also move the ice cream into a freezer airtight container. The ice cream will easily taste fresh for 2-3 months if stored properly in a freezer-safe container.

It’s also best to store ice cream deeper in the freezer instead of the door so it stays consistently frozen. In the door the temperature can vary causing the ice cream to melt and refreeze, which will make the ice cream not taste as fresh.

Can I Use Frozen Strawberries?

Yes, frozen strawberries can be swapped cup for cup in this recipe. You may want to let them defrost a little before dicing the pieces that go into the ice cream. Or you could simply only swirl strawberry sauce into the ice cream if you prefer.