This no-churn paleo and keto vanilla ice cream is ridiculously creamy and fragrant. Plus, it won’t freeze rock solid, like your usual homemade low carb ice cream!
Oh, and you can find the older version of the recipe now re-labelled as our keto frozen yogurt.
Paleo & Keto Vanilla Ice Cream 🍦
No-Churn & Suuuper Creamy! ☁
We’ve updated our popular keto vanilla ice cream to make it no-churn, extra creamy and with an added dairy-free and paleo option. It’s modeled around our keto chocolate ice cream, one of the most highly rated recipes on the site!
Plus, it won’t freeze rock solid, like your usual homemade ice cream. Staying extra creamy is the ice cream’s specialty.
And did we mention 2g net carbs per serving?! This is truly a bargain when you think that most low carb store-bought ice creams hover around 4-7g net carbs a scoop.
The Method 🔍
Making this no-churn keto chocolate ice cream is a breeze. Think melting the sweetener into (full fat!) coconut milk, infusing with vanilla, whisking in a tad of xanthan gum or arrowroot flour if paleo (which act as a stabilizers here), and incorporating the cooled mixture into whipped cream.
You see, by whipping up the heavy (or coconut) cream you’re incorporating quite a bit of air. And the addition of xanthan gum helps keep your ice cream creamy smooth.
And if you plan on making a larger batch and letting it hang in your freezer, it’s generally a good idea to incorporate a couple of tablespoons of booze into your ice cream. Remember that high alcoholic beverages do not freeze, so they will help your ice cream stay creamy smooth rather than rock-solid. Just don’t overdo it, or you’ll end up with a slushy.
The Vanilla
Using a vanilla bean (i.e. pod) and infusing the coconut milk with it is ideal in order to get that natural and complex vanilla flavor. But you can also readily make it with just vanilla extract (up to 1 1/2 tablespoons).
In terms of brands, we’re huge fans of Nielsen-Massey’s Madagascar vanilla for this keto vanilla ice cream. And for pretty much every baked good, it’s seriously the best stuff.
The Sweetener 🍯
Xylitol is, without a doubt, the best sweetener for keto ice cream. It helps to retain the creamy texture (i.e. just like the alcohol, it prevents it from freezing rock solid), and allows you to skip the churning if need be in many recipes.
Having said that, this no-churn vanilla ice cream is sooo luscious, that you can get away with using erythritol with great results too.
And if using xylitol, make sure to be careful if you have a pup around the house, as it’s highly toxic to the little guys! 🐕
The Recipe Video 📽
With our no-churn methodology, you can whip up any flavor of your choosing! Just note that the ‘coconut mix’ without the cocoa will be slightly thinner.
No Churn Paleo, Low Carb & Keto Vanilla Ice Cream
Ingredients
For the paleo & keto vanilla ice cream
- 1 vanilla bean (i.e. pod) or more vanilla extract
- 1 13.5-ounce can full fat coconut milk *
- 135-150 g xylitol erythritol, to taste*
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum or 3/4 teaspoon arrowroot flour if paleo&**
- 480 g heavy whipping cream or chilled coconut cream (see notes)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract up to 4 or 6 teaspoons if not using a vanilla pod
- 1 tablespoon vodka, brandy or booze of choice omit if using the larger quantity of vanilla extract****
Instructions
- See recipe video for guidance!
- Slice open the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds with a sharp knife.
- Add coconut milk, sweetener, vanilla bean with scraped seeds (if using), and salt to a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until all the solids from the coconut milk have the dissolved and the mixture is smooth. If using a vanilla bean, simmer for 15 minutes to infuse the milk.
- Remove the vanilla bean and sprinkle xanthan gum little by little and blend until fully combined. If paleo and using arrowroot, dissolve it first in a tablespoon of cold water (i.e. make a slurry). You will likely have some air bubbles, but be sure to check there are no lumps. Any lumps will be resolved by mixing with an immersion blender (or in an actual blender). Sieve the mixture to a bowl, cover with a layer of cling film (saran wrap) laid directly over the vanilla mixture, and allow the mixture to cool completely. The texture will be thick and jelly-like (don't worry, your ice cream won't have this texture!).
- Add heavy whipping cream or cold coconut cream to a large chilled bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Mix in vanilla extract and the cooled vanilla mixture.
- (Optional): add in your booze of choice (omit if using the larger quantity of vanilla extract). The mixture should be thick but still slightly pourable. And, if for any reason your mixture is too thick, thin it out little by little with more coconut milk. See recipe video for texture reference.
- Transfer ice cream to a sealable container and place in the freezer until frozen (4-6 hours to overnight). And note that you can still use your ice cream machine if you wish (roughly 15 minutes to churn).
- If freezing overnight: take out your ice cream 10-20 minutes prior to serving (depending on your room temp!) and scoop away.
Notes
Nutrition
and some food (for thought) 👁️
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xo! Paola
I just found your site and this recipe, and can’t wait to try it. Looks delish! I would, however, like to watch the video but can’t find it even though I’ve scrolled through the page several times looking for it. It says ” The recipe video” but I don’t see one nor can I find a link to one. Has it been removed? Thanks!
Donna any chance you’re running an ad blocker? I hear from you guys that it also blocks the videos :-/
Otherwise I’ll be starting a youtube channel soon, and you’ll be able to see all the videos there too! xo and welcome to gnom-gnom!!
Well there you have it! im in florida and i dont use a lot of airconditioning!
I have no idea what I’m doing wrong. My coconut milk was completely liquid no solids in the can. I followed the recipe with scraped vanilla bean, blended , and it’s just liquid, definitely not like the chocolate videa. I will continue, but I’m afraid it’s already not goingto work.
What brand are you using Marky? Even if the ‘light’ ones I’ve purchased in the past are usually a bit chunky… unless you are in a very warm climate?! In that case the solid fats will be thoroughly melted through. xo!
Just making sure – it says each scoop is 2g of carbs, and the recipe makes 10 scoops. So the entire recipe is 20g of carbs, right?
Correct Gabrielle!
Thank you! I could probably easily eat the whole thing so want to be careful! LOL
Lol… definitely been there! In fact, that is how I found out xylitol is a no-no for me… killer tummy ache! :-X
Hi! I am a little confused by the HWC/”coconut cream” in the recipe ingredients. Is this just the solid portion of canned coconut milk, or are you talking about coconut cream that is sold specifically as such?
Thank you!
Did not think this would taste ok because I used coconut cream instead of heavy cream but it turned out delicious. Even though all ingredients were totally chilled and I have an automatic ice cream maker, churn time was 45 minutes. I added fine shavings of Lindt Dark 85% (8 squares) and it was a beautiful pairing with strawberries and blueberries. Gorgeous!
At this time in our lives I thought a little something sweet and cold would be appropriate. This recipe is perfect!! I didn’t have a vanilla bean but it was still wonderful. Next time I can get out safely I’ll pick one up. Until then, onto the chocolate! Thanks Paola for yet another exceptional keto recipe. You’ve made my family very happy. Be well.
I don’t want to be that person but.. how can this be 2 net carbs per scoop? There’s a lot of heavy cream in the recipe, which would mean more carbs no? I put the ingredients in the carb manager app but the carb count is waaay different than yours. Also your servings says 10. I just made this and it makes A LOT! Maybe my servings are just smaller?
Heavy cream has no carbs <3
Most nutrition labels won’t list if there is under a 1g of carbs, but there are .5 carbs per tablespoon of heavy whipping cream.
This is so good! I used 4 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of brandy and it came out perfect. I added frozen edible cookie dough bites made with almond flour and sugar free chocolate chips for chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Love this recipe. Next I’ll try fresh strawberries!
This was amazing!!!! The best keto ice cream I have had. I added a bit of cream cheese to mine before freezing and I prefer a bit more salt. It was amazing and I can’t believe no churn!! I could scoop it out of the freezer! Thank you so much for this recipe!
I’ve made this recipe a couple of times before (changed to make coconut and strawberry) but this time I added the tbsp of alcohol instead of extra vanilla extract and the results were so much better! I also ran the final product through my ice cream maker for about 15 minutes before putting it in the freezer. It was scoopable right out of the freezer too!
Hi – the whipped cream had the peaks and the coconut mixture was gel ish but not super thick and when I added it together became kind of liquidy – just put it in freezer but it was definitely not thick like in the video
Mean just came out the same way and I’m about to putin the freezer. How did yours turn out ?
Making it now and when mixed them together is liquefied and something separated like little specs of white.. what did you do to fix??
I adopted a LCHF eating style. I love your recipes. So tasty! One of my preferred sites. Keep up the good work and thank you for your dedication.
Am I supposed to put the coconut mixture in the refrigerator to chill or leave it out on the counter? Thank you!
Tastes super delicious. Could easily compete with a store bought/ restaurant bought vanilla ice cream & WIN!! Rich, creamy and absolutely yummy.
( I used coconut cream and skipped the booze and it still froze & thawed beautifully)
Thanks a ton!!! 😀
Would it make a difference if I used a churner? Or is that not ideal?
Hello, I made this ice cream and it was delicious. However, like some other folks, mine came out grainy/crunchy. Any suggestions? I used all of the suggested ingredients.
Did you use erythritol as your sweetener Melissa?!
I used erythritol but ground it into a fine powder in my Vitamix before using it. That does the trick.
It turned out beautifully. The flavour was so subtle, pure and clean. A great recipe!
Thank you, Paola.
Erythritol will become crunchy when frozen. Allulose is a good natural sweetener that helps keep your ice cream soft and smooth, not crunchy. And no aftertaste!
Can I substitute the coconut milk for almond milk and extra heavy cream? I’m not a big fan of coconut flavour in my ice cream.
Is there a sub for the alcohol for us sober pals?
Just leave it out! If you use allulose or xylitol it will still stay scoopable 😉
You have remarked very interesting details! ps nice site.
Hello, I normally can’t tolerate sugar alcohols. Is there a good replacement that will give similar results in the recipe?
Allulose!
Coconut milk makes my stomach queasy. Can I use heavy cream???
It’s listed as a sub yes Judy 😉 xo!
Hi Paola, I know it says you can use heavy whipping cream later on in the recipe, but the second ingredient only says a can coconut cream.
That’s where I want to use either heavy cream or heavy whipping cream. How much heavy cream is equal to a can of the coconut cream? Maybe update the recipe to reflect that?
I bought allulose just so I can make your ice cream flavors! A taste of summer!
Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes. You are a lifesaver, Paola!!
So awesome!
Thank you! I tried the chocolate version yesterday for the first time, and it was the most amazing keto dessert yet! It doesn’t even seem keto (and i had a bit of a cheat week a few days ago, so my taste buds aren’t even that adjusted yet).
I followed the recipe with extra extract and didn’t have any problems. The longer you freeze it the more icecreamy it feels and if you pull it out early its more of a mousse, but my whole extended non keto family LOVED it! You can also skip the whip cream part for a decent keto pudding!
I just made this and it was soooo delicious. Thank you do much