This easy keto ice cream doesn’t require an ice cream maker. Made with frozen strawberries and cream cheese, this no-cook recipe is creamy and delicious.
You can serve it immediately as soft-serve ice cream or freeze it for a scoopable consistency.
This delicious ice cream is truly easy to make. It's eggless, requires no cooking and no ice cream maker, and only contains four simple ingredients.
However, if you want it frozen enough to scoop out, it requires a time commitment of about four hours, and you should be there to occasionally stir the mixture. So, this is a good recipe to make when you're home anyway. I like to make it on the weekend, and my kids love helping me!
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Ingredients
You'll only need four ingredients to make this recipe. The exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
- Frozen strawberries: You should use sliced frozen strawberries. Your food processor will have a hard time processing whole ones.
- Cream cheese: Please use full-fat cream cheese, and make sure it's refrigerator-cold.
- Vanilla extract: Use the real thing - pure vanilla extract - and not the artificially flavored stuff.
- Sweetener: I use stevia glycerite. You can replace it with a granulated or powdered sweetener.
Variations
- As mentioned above, you can replace the stevia with ½ cup of a granulated or powdered sweetener.
- You can make this recipe with other frozen berries, including raspberries and blackberries. If using raspberries, which are fairly tart, increase the sweetener to ¾ cup (2 heaping teaspoons of stevia glycerite).
- Sometimes, I replace the vanilla extract with coconut extract. It's a great flavor combination for those who like coconut.
Instructions
Scroll down to the recipe card for detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps for making this recipe:
Place the sliced frozen strawberries in your food processor. Process them until finely chopped.
Add the cream cheese cubes, vanilla, and stevia. Process until smooth. You can now enjoy a soft-serve ice cream!
If you want a scoopable texture, transfer the mixture to a pan (I typically use an 8-inch square baking dish), cover, and freeze.
Stir the mixture a few times during the freezing process to prevent ice crystals from forming.
Scoop the ice cream into dessert bowls and serve!
Expert Tip
One of the things I like about this recipe is the immediate gratification. If you like soft-serve ice cream and don't insist on a scoopable consistency, you can enjoy the ice cream immediately after blending it - but it's important to use frozen (not fresh) strawberries and refrigerator-cold cream cheese.
Recipe FAQs
It's true that these days you can get keto ice cream fairly easily at the store. But looking at the ingredients list for these products, I prefer to make this simple homemade recipe! Since it's so easy to make, I don't mind the extra effort. It's a fun weekend activity for the kids.
Stirring helps prevent large ice crystals from forming in the ice cream, keeping the mixture creamy.
If you want to serve the ice cream immediately as soft-serve ice cream, you should use frozen strawberries. I only tested this recipe with frozen strawberries.
Please don't. For the best flavor and consistency, this ice cream needs the fat from full-fat cream cheese.
Serving Suggestions
This ice cream is excellent just as it is! But for a special treat, I sometimes drizzle melted dark chocolate on top and serve it with a dollop of keto whipped cream. You can also garnish it with fresh strawberries and chocolate mint leaves.
Storing Leftovers
The leftovers can be kept tightly covered in the freezer for up to three months. Remove them from the freezer 30 minutes before you plan to serve them.
This ice cream does get icy the longer it's stored. Sometimes, I scoop out a serving and use a mini food processor to briefly process it into smooth soft-serve ice cream.
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Recipe Card
Easy Keto Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 16 ounces frozen sliced strawberries - (3 cups)
- 8 ounces cream cheese - cold, cubed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoon stevia glycerite - (equals ½ cup of sugar)
Instructions
Soft-serve instructions:
- Place the sliced frozen strawberries in your food processor. Process them until finely chopped. If you use whole frozen strawberries, this will be a challenging task for the food processor, so it’s not recommended.
- Add the cream cheese cubes, vanilla, and stevia. Process until smooth. That’s it! Your soft-serve ice cream is now ready. Divide it into bowls and serve immediately.
For a firmer, scoopable consistency:
- Using a spatula, transfer the mixture to a square 8-inch pan. Cover with cling wrap, and freeze for one hour.
- Remove the pan from the freezer. Use a spatula or a spoon to stir the already-frozen edges and bottom into the still-soft center.
- Cover again, and place the mixture in the freezer for two more hours, repeating the process of stirring the ice cream every hour.
- The final step is to freeze the ice cream undisturbed for one hour. So, for scoopable consistency, you will need to freeze the ice cream for a total of 4 hours, stirring it every hour during the first three hours of freezing. After this one undisturbed hour, you'll be able to scoop the ice cream and serve it.
Video
Notes
- You should use sliced frozen strawberries. Your food processor will have a hard time processing whole ones.
- Please use full-fat cream cheese, and make sure it's refrigerator-cold.
- You can replace the stevia with ½ to ¾ cup of granulated or powdered sweetener.
- You can make this recipe with other frozen berries, including raspberries and blackberries. If using raspberries, which are fairly tart, increase the sweetener to ¾ cup (2 heaping teaspoons of stevia glycerite).
- Stirring helps prevent large ice crystals from forming in the ice cream, keeping the mixture creamy.
- The leftovers can be kept tightly covered in the freezer for up to three months. Remove them from the freezer 30 minutes before you plan to serve them.
- This ice cream does get icy the longer it's stored. Sometimes, I scoop out a serving and use a mini food processor to briefly process it into smooth, soft-serve ice cream.
Nutrition per Serving
Disclaimers
Cup measurements refer to the standard American cup, which is 240 milliliters. Most of my recipes are low-carb (or keto) and gluten-free, but some are not. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Recommended and linked products are not guaranteed to be gluten-free. Nutrition info is approximate, and the carb count excludes non-nutritive sweeteners. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them. Please read these Terms of Use carefully before using any of my recipes.
Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., CNC, has been following a low-carb real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She's a Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC), has taken courses at the Harvard School of Public Health, and has earned a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in several major media outlets, including Healthline, HuffPost, Today, Women's Health, Shape, and Country Living. 
Emily
This ice cream is SO GOOD. I can't believe it's keto! FYI I used whole frozen strawberries and it worked fine!
Vered DeLeeuw
I'm glad you enjoyed this ice cream, Emily! Thank you for taking the time to review it.