This homemade vegan vanilla ice cream is so easy to make. Super rich and creamy. The perfect summer treat. Made with only 7 ingredients. No one will ever believe it’s dairy-free and egg-free. Takes about 15 minutes of hands-on prep time. Great on its own, in an ice cream sundae or paired with your favorite desserts.
A lot of homemade vegan ice cream recipes are made with coconut milk or coconut cream. We like coconut but the flavor is strong and not what we are looking for in our vanilla ice cream.
This recipe is made without any coconut products and instead uses cashews and avocado oil for an ultra smooth vegan vanilla ice cream.
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Why This Recipe Works
- Easy to make and only 7 ingredients.
- Super creamy and flavorful.
- A delicious way to enjoy summer.
- Vegan, dairy-free and egg-free; this ice cream is perfect for many with food allergies
- Makes a great vegan sundae with our 1 ingredient vegan Dulce de leche sauce.
Check out our vegan Hibiscus ice cream!
Equipment
- Ice Cream Maker - we used a 1.5 quart double-insulated freezer bowl
- High-powered blender - we use a Vitamix blender.
Key Ingredients
Here's everything you'll need to make the most creamy non-dairy vanilla ice cream with a cashew base at home:
- Raw cashews - adds fat to your mixture which translates to its great creaminess.
- Tapioca starch - is a natural thicker and stabilizer for the ice cream.
- Avocado oil - increases the fat content to make the ice cream creamier.
- Granulated Sugar - beside being a sweeter; sugar also lowers the freezing point to produce softer ice cream.
- Corn syrup - helps lower the freezer point of ice cream and improves the texture and scoop-ability of the ice cream
- Vanilla Bean pasta - vanilla paste has a slightly more intense flavor than vanilla extract.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions
- Vanilla bean paste - use 2 tablespoons of imitation vanilla extract. Or one 8-inch piece vanilla bean. Split or beans scraped from pod.
- Avocado Oil - can use refined coconut oil if you do not mild a subtle coconut taste.
Instructions
TIP: Make sure your ice cream maker’s insulated bowl has been in the freezer for at least 24 hours before churning. 48 hours is better. Do not remove until you are ready to pour the chilled mixture into it.
Yield for recipe is 1.5 quart.
Step 1: Place all ingredients into the blender container and secure the lid.
Step 2: Start the blender on its lowest speed, then quickly increase to its highest speed. Blend on high for about 5 minutes until homogenize.
Chill
Step 3: Pour vegan custard mixture into a large oversize zip lock bag or airtight container and store in the refrigerator until cold (we recommend overnight but minimal 5 hours). The longer the vegan custard base chills, the creamier your ice cream will be.
Finish With Ice Cream Maker
Finish With Ice Cream Maker
Step 4: Next it’s time to churn the ice cream. Remove the frozen canister from the freezer and place on ice cream maker base.
Step 5: Pour vegan ice cream custard base into the ice cream maker and churn.
Step 6: Process according to your ice cream maker's instructions. It will be the consistency of soft serve when done. About 60 minutes.
Freeze
Step 7: Transfer to a chilled container. Press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface and seal. Freeze until vegan ice cream until firm. Overnight is best. Minimum six hours until firm.
Scoop and Enjoy!
Enjoy a big scoop of these delicious non-dairy vanilla ice cream.
Troubleshooting Tip: Make sure your double-insulated freezer bowl is cold enough. The bowl has a liquid in-between the walls to help chill the liquid. If the bowl is not cold enough you'll hear the liquid sloshing around. If the bowl isn't cold the ice cream will not freeze.
Recipe FAQ's
Yes, you can and it’s actually better to make the vegan ice cream custard ahead of time. We like to refrigerate for a full day. You can make up to three days ahead of time.
Vegan ice cream can be made from a range of bases. Including everything from coconut milk/cream; oat milk, almond milk, cashews or tofu. We do a review of vegan Ice Cream’s made with all these bases, the pro’s and con’s.
Vanilla paste is vanilla extract and vanilla seeds bound with sugar, water and thickeners to create a thick syrup.
Storage
- Freeze. Store in the coldest part of your freezer, all the way in the back of your freezer. Never in the door of the freezer. You can store this ice cream in an air-tight container in the freezer for up to two weeks for the best texture. It will still taste good after this but may become icier over time.
- To Serve. Remove ice cream from the freezer. Let sit for about 5 minutes before you scoop. This allows it to thaw a little a make it easier to scoop. Don’t leave out to long if ice cream completely melts it will become icy after refreezing.
- Prepare In Advance. Great for making ahead. Good in the freezer for up to month.
More Vegan Ice Cream & Popsicle Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Love this non-dairy vanilla ice cream recipe? Please leave a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below & if you REALLY like it, consider a comment down below. Thanks!
Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups Almond milk
- 2 tablespoons Tapioca starch
- ½ cup Cashews - raw
- 1 ¼ cup Avocado oil
- ⅔ cup Granulated Sugar
- ⅓ cup Corn syrup
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla Bean paste
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into the blender container and secure the lid.
- Start the blender on its lowest speed, then quickly increase to its highest speed. Blend on high for about 5 minutes until homogenize.
- Pour vegan custard mixture into a large oversize zip lock bag or airtight container and store in the refrigerator until cold (we recommend overnight but minimal 5 hours). The longer the vegan custard base chills, the creamier your ice cream will be.
- Next it’s time to churn the ice cream. Remove the frozen canister from the freezer and place on ice cream maker base.
- Pour vegan ice cream custard base into the ice cream maker and churn.
- Process according to your ice cream maker's instructions. It will be the consistency of soft serve when done. About 60 minutes.
- Freeze. Transfer to a chilled container. Press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface and seal. Freeze until vegan ice cream until firm. Overnight is best. Minimum six hours until firm.
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