It’s honestly hard to beat the taste and consistency of fresh homemade ice cream, no matter what flavor you make. And with the high-tech ice cream makers these days, it’s fairly easy to make at home yourself, and it doesn’t take long either—no cranks, ice, or salt necessary. :) We have a Cuisinart ice cream maker and love it. Here’s how we made strawberry ice cream at home!
Easy Ice Cream Maker Recipe with Fresh Strawberries
Homemade ice cream is one of our favorite real food indulgences when we want to enjoy a sweet treat. You can easily make it at home with just a few ingredients and flavor it with fresh fruit and maple syrup.
This recipe can be enjoyed right away or frozen for later.
Ingredients and Supplies for Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream
- Strawberries: Fresh work best in this strawberry ice cream recipe. Make sure to mash them before starting.
- Maple syrup: We use pure maple syrup instead of refined sugar; you can also sweeten your homemade ice cream with honey instead.
- Milk and heavy cream: Use full-fat options for the best ice cream.
- Ice cream maker: I love how easy it is to make ice cream at home with ours!
Can I Make this Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe in a Vitamix?
This is the number one question we’re asked in the comments so I thought I’d add some info here! You should be able to make strawberry ice cream in a high-powered blender with the same ingredients and quantities as our ice cream maker recipe.
To Make this Recipe in a Vitamix or Blender:
- Use chilled ingredients. I find pre-freezing the cream in an ice cube tray the night before makes it best if you plan to eat your homemade ice cream right away.
- Place the milk, syrup, and cream into the blender, followed by the strawberries. Layering with liquid first is important so it blends properly.
- Blend on high pushing ingredients down with the tamper, then blend for an additional 30 seconds to churn the cream. Don’t overdo it or your ingredients will melt.
- Serve immediately or transfer to a freezer-safe container and chill.
Why is my Homemade Ice Cream Icy?
This is a common issue that happens when you make homemade ice cream, especially with an ice cream maker. If your homemade strawberry ice cream turned out too icy after freezing, here are a few things to try:
- Make sure you have enough fat. Ice cream gets its creamy texture from milk fat; it’s a must in this recipe! Use whole milk instead of skim, and make sure you’re using heavy (whipping) cream, not half and half or a lower milk fat option.
- Use cold ingredients. Cold ingredients mean less churning and less chance for ice crystals to form. (Also make sure your churning bowl is completely frozen, too!). You can chill all ingredients in the fridge the night before, including fresh strawberries.
- Re-freezing. If you thaw and refreeze your homemade strawberry ice cream multiple times ice crystals will form; try avoiding this by freezing in smaller portions.
How to Soften from the Freezer
Since this ice cream has no additives it may freeze more firmly than you’re used to with store-bought varieties. It will also depend on your freezer temperature; especially if you store your homemade ice cream in a deep freezer!
To thaw, let the strawberry ice cream sit out for a few minutes on the counter until it’s soft enough to scoop. Remember, this is supposed to be “hard” ice cream, not soft serve.
What do you plan to make with your fresh strawberries this season?
Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup heavy cream (organic recommended)
- 3/4 cup milk (organic recommended)
- 2 – 2 ½ tablespoons pure maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like it…start with 2 and only add more if necessary)
- 14 strawberries (plus more for garnish)
Instructions
- Combine the cream, milk and maple syrup in a large glass measuring cup (with a pour spout).
- Remove the stems/leaves from the strawberries and crush them. I used our mini-chopper to mash them up and it worked great. A simple potato masher might do the trick as well.
- If you have a Cuisinart ice cream maker like us just turn on the machine and pour in both the cream/syrup mixture and the crushed strawberries. After about 15 – 20 minutes the ice cream will look really “thick” and ready when it’s done. If you are using a different machine be sure to follow manufacturer directions for making your ice cream.
This recipe definitely needs more sugar, the 2-2.5 T of maple syrup is not enough. Also, not sure why it tells you to turn on the machine and then add the ingredients. That makes a mess, the Cuisinart says to pour in ingredients and then turn it on.
It definitely depends on your desired sweetness, that’s why we suggest starting with 2T and adding more as you prefer. – Nicole
Thank you for the fantastic recipe! Thoughts on keeping it strictly real ingredients like this, but without an ice cream maker?
Hi, you can follow the instructions in this post to make it in a high-speed blender. – Nicole
Do you know if this can be made in a Blendtec?
We’ve not tried that. This might help: http://www.blendtec.com/blog/9-ice-cream-recipes-make-in-blendtec/.
I made this using the cuisinart and put it in the freezer when it was done. It is hard as a rock! You can’t even get a spoon into it. Is this normal?
I usually have to let it soften a bit though rarely have enough left over to freeze. :)
I had the same exact experience. It’s not about it being too frozen and needing to thaw, it’s that it’s now practically just ice. So even when it does thaw, it’s still crunchy like ice. I followed the recipe exactly. Bummed. :(
Most ice cream recipes call for a 2 to 1 ratio of cream to milk, and that might be why you’re not finding this recipe to be “creamy”. Try tweaking the ratio & see if that helps. I make homemade ice cream almost daily in the summer, and I use more milk for lower fat options & more cream for a treat.
Adding xanthan gum [not much, maybe 1/2 tsp] makes it creamy [good for low fat soups, too] and no need for heavy cream…
I plowed ahead of the directions and just tossed it all into the blender. It came out like our smoothies do so its sitting in the freezer. 30min should give us a normal texture. I also made ours with a homemade heavy crea, bc I had none.
I apologize if this was asked before, as I didn’t read all 9 pages of comments. This was not creamy after freezing, instead hard and difficult to scoop. Any advice?
Add a tbsp of arrowroot powder when u make it and it with help it not be icy.
was wondering in I can make this in my vita mix any help will be appreciated. TY
Hi. Sorry, we’ve not tried this one in a blender. I know Vitamix offer specific guidance on their website, though.
Just ordered the ice cream maker! Can’t wait to try this recipe and the maple pecan! Has anyone tried to use frozen strawberries? Thaw them out first?
Hi Kim. You will need to thaw them. :)
I made this recipe with fresh strawberries last night and my husband loved it. My son didn’t but he doesn’t like strawberries. I’m going to try to add mango instead of strawberries next time. This is the 5th recipe of yours that I’ve tried and they have all been winners so far.
I bought an ice cream maker after seeing this recipe. Made it tonight. Amazing! My 6 year old son told me that he feels like he’s never had ice cream before it was so good. Thanks!
I made this yesterday in my Cuisinart, It seemed nice and creamy when it was made but I needed it for late that night at a party so I put it in an airtight bowl and the freezer. When it was time to eat it it was very icy not creamy at all. I’ve seen other people post the same problem. Is this something that has to be eaten right away or can it be frozen and eaten later?
Hi! You can definitely freeze it for later. :)
Thanks Amy,
Do you have any suggestions on how to keep it creamy or what I may have done wrong? I followed the recipe exactly. I would like to attempt it again since it was very easy but would like to be able to freeze it and enjoy later too!! :) Thanks for your help with this amazing site!!
I have found putting on 1 tablespoon of arrowroot powder really helps keep the creamy texture. Try it. It really works!