Strawberry Ice Cream

This post contains affiliate links and may earn commissions on recommended products. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Grab a spoon and scoop up a taste of this creamy strawberry ice cream! Don’t skip on macerating the berries to bring out their full flavor.

For me, strawberries and ice cream go together like peas and carrots. Sometimes that means topping your favorite flavors with a simple strawberry compote, while other times it means making batch (after batch) of homemade strawberry ice cream.

This ice cream gets lots of raves for its full-on strawberry flavor and smooth texture. If you’re like my older son and prefer your fruit ice cream “without chunks,” this should be your go-to! 

This ice cream is Philadelphia style, which means it doesn’t use eggs to make a custard. It’s still rich and creamy, but without the extra work of cooking and tempering the eggs.

Get out your ice cream machine and let’s get started!

Ingredients for strawberry ice cream

Full list of ingredients with quantities is located in the recipe card.

You’ll need:

• Fresh strawberries
• Granulated sugar
• Heavy cream – Sometimes also labeled as heavy whipping cream
• Vanilla extract, or vanilla paste
• Fine sea salt

That’s it! You’ll also need a couple of bowls, a whisk, a blender, and an ice cream machine. This recipe makes about 1 1/2 quarts of ice cream, so your machine should have at least that capacity (mine is 2 quarts).

Note: You can swap in milk for some of the heavy cream, but I recommend only swapping up to 1 cup, otherwise your ice cream won’t be very creamy and might not set well.

How to make this recipe

Before doing anything else make sure the bowl of your ice cream machine is completely frozen. It needs at least 24 hours in the freezer to be ready for churning ice cream.

Wash strawberries and trim off leaves. Cut berries into quarters and add to a bowl.

Sprinkle the sugar and salt over the strawberries and stir well to coat. Let the berries rest for 1-2 hours, stirring once or twice, until the sugar is dissolved and berries are very juicy. 

This macerating process softens the berries and pulls some of the juices out, which then turns into a syrup the fruit soaks in. You can add a touch of lemon juice to the fruit while macerating to bring out some brightness. 

If your strawberries are very ripe, they will need to macerate less, but give them more time if the fruit is a bit more firm starting out.

Pour the strawberries and the resulting liquid into a blender or food processor and purée until smooth. If there are very small bits of strawberry that’s OK, but avoid bigger chunks, which can clog your ice cream machine as it churns. You should have about 2 cups of purée.

Transfer the purée into a bowl or 4- to 8-cup measuring cup and whisk in heavy cream and vanilla. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

When you’re ready to churn, place your frozen ice cream bowl into the machine. Pour in the ice cream mixture and churn according to machine instructions. Depending on the machine, churning time can range from 1 hour to as little as 20 minutes.

The ice cream is done churning when it is the consistency of soft serve. You can serve it immediately, or transfer to a container and freeze until firm.

Storing ice cream

For the best quality, I recommend storing ice cream in special containers. Reusable silicone ice cream containers keep it fresh and are easy to clean.

You can also buy lined cardboard pint or quart containers, which are good for sharing or if you want to have lots of different flavors on hand in your freezer.

I do not recommend storing your ice cream in a metal loaf pan unless you will be serving the whole batch at once. Because metal pans are not airtight when covered, freezer burn can develop more easily.

More ice cream recipes for summer

Our ice cream machine is in use all summer long, because there’s nothing like a bowl of ice cream on a hot day!

Make classics like vanilla bean ice cream, rocky road ice cream, or no-churn ice cream.

Want something more special? Whip up a batch of strawberry pretzel ice cream, lavender honey ice cream, or black raspberry ice cream.

Or, grab your popsicle mold and make homemade pudding pops for an ’80s throwback.

Set out the bowls, spoons, and cones and enjoy the fresh flavor of this homemade strawberry ice cream!