Homemade Old Fashioned Strawberry Ice Cream is the best tasting summer dessert.
Nothing beats creamy ice cream made from scratch, especially when its made with fresh strawberries. This strawberry ice cream recipe is as good as it gets. Egg yolks, cream, and vanilla bean are the base of this decadent dessert!
Why this recipe works:
Homemade strawberry ice cream is one of those basic must-have must-make summer dessert recipes. There are so many reasons why this recipe stands out and I can't wait for you to make it!
- Fresh strawberries are macerated with lemon juice and sugar to really bring out the flavor and improve the texture for this recipe.
- This is a true strawberry ice cream recipe with eggs. The egg yolks combined with the heavy cream and milk create a creamy custard base.
- A vanilla bean is infused into the scaled cream. This creates an intense vanilla flavor that really compliments the fresh strawberries. I know vanilla beans are expensive, but man are they worth it!
- Instead of just using granulated sugar, golden brown sugar is also part of this ice cream recipe. It adds a rich, almost caramel flavor to the base.
- This recipe does take a long time to make to develop the flavors and to chill, but the base is actually very easy to make and an ice cream maker processes it into a smooth and creamy frozen treat!
Ingredient list:
To make this homemade strawberry ice cream recipe you will need: egg yolks, sugar (both granulated and golden brown), heavy cream, milk, fresh strawberries, and a squeeze of lemon. I also use a vanilla bean, which really sets the flavor over the top.
Here's how to make it:
If you've ever wanted to make homemade strawberry ice cream, allow me to guide you through the process. The recipe and the process are really not that difficult, and you will never want to buy store bought ice cream again!
- Macerate the strawberries in lemon juice with some of the sugar. I find that letting this mixture sit for several hours really releases the juice and harmonizes the flavors.
- When you're ready to make the ice cream base, you will whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar and the salt. The more you whisk, the creamier and lighter in color this mixture will get.
- Next you will scald the cream and the milk with the vanilla bean. A small portion of this hot mixture will be combined with the egg mixture to temper it. Once tempered, you will continually add more of the hot mixture until everything is combined. This then gets added back to the pot where it will continue to cook over low heat until it thickens. This mixture will then need to be chilled in the refrigerator.
- The chilled macerated strawberries are combined with the chilled ice cream base and then processed in an ice cream maker. Once done, I like to transfer the soft ice cream to a loaf pan to firm up in the freezer.
Recipe tips:
- If you don't already have an ice cream maker, I highly recommend getting one. Its has been worth every penny in our house. I usually like to freeze the base container in my deep freezer as opposed to the house freezer because it gets that much colder.
- If you don't have a vanilla bean pod, you can use one tablespoon of vanilla extract.
- How to avoid ice crystals: Ever make homemade ice cream and it freezes too hard or develops ice crystals? Mary, a reader, recommends stirring a tablespoon of vodka into the custard before freezing. A little vodka always helps!
Related recipes:
Love strawberry dessert recipes? You will have to try these favorites:
- Strawberry Pretzel Salad Recipe
- Fresh Strawberry Pie Recipe
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
- Best Strawberry Shortcake Recipe
- Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Strawberry Marshmallows
- Strawberry Shortcake Poke Cake
- Strawberry Lemonade Baked Donuts
- Old Fashioned Icebox Cake with coconut and strawberries
- Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
- Strawberry Orange Sorbet
- Strawberry Rhubarb Galette
Old Fashioned Strawberry Ice Cream
When you're looking for a tasty summer treat to help cool you down, nothing quite beats some creamy homemade Old Fashioned Strawberry Ice Cream.
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Hover to scale: 8 servings
Ingredients
- 4 cups strawberries (stems removed, sliced)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (freshly squeezed )
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup golden brown sugar
- 4 large egg yolks
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 vanilla bean (seeds scraped)
Instructions
- Combine the strawberries with the lemon juice and ¼ cup of the sugar in a bowl. Toss until the ingredients are well incorporated and allow to macerate in the refrigerator for several hours to let the natural juice of the strawberry come out.
- In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks. Add granulated and brown sugars as well as salt and whisk together until lightened in color and smooth.
- Pour the whole milk, the heavy cream, and the vanilla bean into a medium saucepan, over medium heat. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally while pressing onto the vanilla beans to extract the flavor and the seeds, and then remove the pot from the heat.
- Use a ladle to transfer one spoonful at a time of the hot milk/cream to the egg yolk mixture while whisking the entire time. Your goal is to slowly mix in the hot mixture to temper the eggs but not to cook them. Continue to slowly add the hot cream while whisking until all of it has been thoroughly combined.
- Return the entire tempered egg mixture to the saucepan and place over medium low heat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. For me, this was more of a gut feel thing to know when it was ready, but you can definitely tell when the mixture has thickened. Do not let it get to the point where the eggs begin to cook. You should be able to touch the mixture with your finger without burning it.
- Pour the mixture into a bowl and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least four hours.
- Alternatively, you can pour the mixture into a bowl and set over another large bowl filled with ice water. Stir to cool the mixture down. You want the custard to be ice cold before churning.
- Remove the vanilla bean pod. Stir the chilled strawberry mixture into the custard.
- Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. I was able to process the entire batch at once in my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes. Freeze for a couple of hours to allow the ice cream to harden. Then scoop and enjoy.
Notes
Makes about 8 cups of ice cream. Serving size based on about 1 cup.
NUTRITION INFORMATION
Calories: 310kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 163mg | Sodium: 116mg | Potassium: 222mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 870IU | Vitamin C: 43.3mg | Calcium: 110mg | Iron: 0.6mg
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This recipe was originally published in October 2014 and has been updated with helpful information and recipe tips. Don't worry - the recipe hasn't changed!
Jen
Hey, in your ingredients list, you say 1 1/2 cups milk but then in the instructions, you say half and half. Is it supposed to be milk with the heavy cream or half and half with the heavy cream?
Mary
Kissy, just one quick question. You mentioned pouring the half-and-half into the mixture in your strawberry ice cream recipe however, in your ingredient list you do not list half & half. Did you mean the milk that you have listed in the ingredient list?
Krissy
Doh! So sorry about that typo (and for taking so long to reply). To be honest, either milk or half and half work, but i just updated to say half and half because I prefer the fat.
Jenny Porada
How big is a serving?
Will a double recipe fit in my 2quart ice cream maker?
Krissy
Hi Jenny, I just updated the recipe and nutritional information. This recipe makes about 8 cups of ice cream and I based the nutritional info on each serving being about a cup. That being said, this recipe would be perfect for your 2 quart ice cream maker but you'd have to make it twice if you wanted to double the recipe. Hope that helps! Krissy
Vicky hawkins
With strawberry’s do i add the juice also, or do I drain.?
Krissy
Keep the juice!
Jackie
I used frozen strawberries instead of fresh ones. The next time I will thaw them more, and pour off some of the juice, as my ice cream came out a little too icy. Great recipe otherwise.
Jonathan SoRelle
Came out awesome.
Qualifies you as awesome. Looking for gold medal emoji. 💥 How about super star? Thanks for your time , really enjoyed it . In fact I’m in the restaurant business , probably gonna steal this one. I’ll forward you royalties.
Joachim Peters
This is an awesome recipe/ My mother used to make all sorts of ice cream because my parents frequently entertained in the summer. Last year I bought a new mixer and it came with a *free* ice cream attachment (KitchenAid). A couple of weeks ago I made my first vanilla ice cream in it and it was pretty good. Yesterday I made strawberry ice cream based on your recipe. It was so awesome! And it was a big throwback to my early teenage years. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. (BTW, followed it almost to a "T".)
Krissy
Thank you!!! Glad you liked it!
Kit
When I tasted the warm base, I was certain the brown sugar was a mistake. It was not- it’s very subtle in the finished product an complimented the flavor beautifully. One suggestion- I drained the strawberries over a pan, and reduced it to a syrup to get some of the water out (otherwise I feel the ice cream gets to icy). It gives a big strawberry flavor and a beautiful color. Thank you!!
Krissy
Great suggestion. Thank you!
Jackie
Good to know, thanks!
Theresa
The flavour and texture is great. I have a problem with how hard it freezes. It is like a rock. Any suggestions about why it gets so hard?
Krissy
Homemade ice cream seems to freeze especially hard. For me too. I usually just allow it to sit out for a few minutes before scooping. Must have something to do with the water content in the berries?
Katie
I just want to attest to the fact that this recipe yielded THE MOST DELICIOUS strawberry ice cream I have ever had in my life.
Rob
Fabulously wonderful recipe! I let the strawberries sit in the sugar and lemon juice overnight. In the morning, I made the custard base, and like another commenter, I reduced the strawberry liquid to burn off some of the water. When I came home from work, I mixed the two together and churned them in my KitchenAid ice cream maker. It took only about 15-20 minutes. The result was a deliciously intense strawberry flavor in a wonderfully creamy ice cream. Absolutely delish! Thank you for a great recipe! Oh, and I used cream and whole milk instead of half and half.
Jer
One can use Non-Fat milk powder with whole milk, skipping the eggs and the heavy cream. I'm still working on my recipe ratios, but what seems to work is:
For every cup of milk, use 2Tbls (measured and level) of milk powder. You can whip it together in a blender along with the sugar (1/6c of sugar and a scant pinch of sea salt for every cup of milk) and vanilla. If you have a VitaMix, you can hammer it until frothy and hot, which ensures the milk powder is fully hydrated and the sugar dissolved.
And, if you do have a VitaMix... You can make the custard base in it, no problem. The VM never gets hotter than 170f, but that is above pasturization. Hold it there for a few minutes and you have a fully cooked custard that is absolutely smooth.
Jessica
Just confirming what others have said. Fantastic recipe. The only thing I may do differently is mash the sliced berries a bit. Loved this so much I'm going to try it using peaches.
Franchall Beverly
Hi There!
One quick question regarding your recipe. What is the total liquid amount? 1 1/2 cups or 3 cups total?
Thanks!
Krissy
3 cups total, half milk and half heavy cream.
Ellen
I want to use freezer strawberry jam,that I already made ,any suggest As to how much to,,,i a man thinking about 1 cup
Krissy
That sounds about right! Let me know how it turns out!!
Gail Jackson
Very good but I would add a little more sugar.
Krissy
Great suggestion! The strawberries I use are SUPER sweet, so I'll probably add a comment in the recipe. Thanks!
Tracy
Made this recipe using fresh berries from the Netherlands, where we currently live.. The strawberry ice cream was simply perfect, following the recipe exactly as you wrote it -- a wonderful intense strawberry flavor and absolutely nothing artificial about it. I can't wait to make this again!
Mary
This is one of the most poorly written recipes I've yet to read, total time says 30 minutes but then the instructions say to allow the berries to macerated for several hours.
Recipe calls for 1.5 cups of milk. What kind of milk?
Instructions say to pour the half/half...but half/half is not listed in the recipe list.
And if you want the ice cream to not freeze solid, or to gain ice crystals, stir in a tablespoon of vodka.
Krissy
Hi Mary, thank you so much! You are totally right. This was one of my earlier recipes and was poorly written. I have updated with your recommendations. Krissy
Vicki T
The flavor was rich, and the texture very creamy. I added 1 T of vodka, per others suggestion, to keep it from getting too hard.
My only suggestion would be to cut the strawberries in fairly small pieces--I sliced mine, and my churner got blocked up with them because of their size, and the finished product had large chunks that tasted more like strawberry ice cubes.
Krissy
Great suggestions - thank you! Krissy
Amy Vaughan
Just finished a bowl of this and it was so delicious! I followed the recipe with the only changes being that I doubled it and I cooked the strawberry juice down to a concentrate. It came out so creamy and wonderful!
Traci Greene
If I do not have a vanilla bean, how much vanilla extract can I use to substitute? I’m excited to try this recipe.
Thanks.
Krissy
Just a teaspoon would be totally fine! -Krissy
Laurin
Amazing flavor! I’ve made strawberry ice cream for years but it was basically vanilla with some strawberries added. This recipe is my new go to for strawberry. The flavor is amazing and it is such a beautiful color! I’ve never made an ice cream where you cook some ingredients during the process. I’m so glad i tried this one! Thank you for sharing! Everyone raved about it!
Huong T
I followed the recipe almost to a T. Since I don't like strawberry pieces in my ice cream, I processed it in my Nutribullet to get a liquid puree. Prior to this, I also drained the juices as other posters have mentioned and reduced it in a pot, combined with about a quarter of the pureed strawberries. Once cooled, I combined everything and churned it in my Cuisinart ice cream maker. Since it's a 1.5 quart, I couldn't fit the whole mixture in. It has a delicious strawberry flavor and very creamy. Made some popsicles and freezing rest to scoop onto ice cream cones. Thank you for the recipe, I've been searching for a good custard base recipe and it was pretty easy to make following your directions.
Anna
OMG! BEST ICE CREAM EVER!! It truly does taste “old-fashioned” with real flavors. I would just say that we must have a smaller Cuisinart ice cream maker because it was a bit much for it. But it was DELICIOUS! Thank you!
Claudia
I follow your recipe step by step. I tempered the eggs before mixed them with the milk... but I don’t know what I did wrong.. but it god curdled. I did the strain thing.. but still it form a curdle again. I am afraid to finish with the ice cream process and waste the strawberries.
What is going to happen if I use the curdled liquid?
As you can tell is my first time making ice cream.
Krissy
Hmmmm. Sorry I didn't see your comment yesterday. I've never had that happen. Did you end up making it anyway?