This low carb keto ice cream recipe only takes 3 ingredients and 5 minutes of your time. It’s ready instantly and doesn’t require an ice cream maker or any chilling time. 3 Ingredient Keto Ice Cream is also sugar free, gluten free, and Trim Healthy Mama friendly.
Hi guys! It's Mira from My PCOS Kitchen. I'm back again today to give you a super easy way to make keto or low carb ice cream! I used this recipe lots of times when I need a quick cool snack with simple ingredients on a keto diet.
How much easier can this no churn keto friendly ice cream get? This easy keto ice cream recipe only requires 3 ingredients and is ready in minutes. As for tools, you’ll only need a strong food processor. Ice cream made in a food processor is the best way to make this frozen treat if you don't own an ice cream machine.
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This low carb ice cream recipe is perfect for a hot summer or for the hot-blooded ones in winter. Kids love it and since it can be customized pretty easily, you can make sure to have no complaints in terms of taste and flavor.
This instant ice cream is perfect for when you want to have a quick dessert after dinner or a snack during the day. You can top it over some keto dessert recipes such as: keto apple pie, keto mug cake, or oven some amazing avocado brownies to make the ultimate low carb treat!
Ingredients
FROZEN FRUIT
I can’t emphasize this enough. You need to use frozen fruit or this recipe will not work at all. Not even a little bit. You absolutely need to use keto friendly frozen fruit to make this instant ice cream.
COLD HEAVY CREAM
You also must use refrigerated heavy whipping cream. Do not use room temperature cream or hot heavy cream as the ice cream will be extremely runny and soft. And for the ideal texture and creaminess, you need heavy cream. Almond milk, carton coconut milk, or regular milk won't give the same result. I have used half and half in a pinch. And full-fat coconut milk can work as a dairy-free option.
STEVIA POWDER
I normally use a granular sweetener but for this recipe, stevia powder is the perfect sweetener. You only need a tiny bit. A granular sweetener, such as most sugar alcohol sweeteners, could make the ice cream gritty. A powdered sweetener would be a better choice if you want to use a sugar alcohol sweetener.
How to make 3 Ingredient Keto Ice Cream
To make this low carb ice cream, you’ll need to have a frozen fruit of your choice, some cold heavy cream and a sweetener like stevia or monk fruit.
Step One: Add the frozen fruit of choice into a small food processor and process for a few seconds.
Step Two: When the frozen fruit has been chopped up into pieces, drizzle the heavy cream all over.
Step Three: Next, sprinkle the stevia in and process until the ice cream mixture smooth.
If the ice cream gets stuck, break it apart with a fork and process again. You could also add more heavy cream, but the ice cream will be more soft than solid.
Once the 3 ingredient keto ice cream is completely processed, you’ll want to serve it immediately as it tends to melt fast, especially during the summer days.
Variations
Single Berry - If you have a favorite type of berry try using just that in this recipe. Raspberries are my personal favorite and they are amazing paired with cream.
Extracts - Add in some lemon extract, vanilla extract, or almond extract to easily alter the taste.
Common Questions
Can I Make this into Ice Cream Bars?
Absolutely! After blending just scoop into a popsicle mold and add a stick.
What flavors can I make?
You can make any frozen fruit-based flavors! Think blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry. The possibilities are endless. You can add a dash of vanilla extract or lemon extract to boost the flavor as well.
For higher carb options, you could use frozen mango, cherry, banana, pineapple and so on.
As long as you have some frozen fruit, you’ll be able to make this easy keto ice cream.
Do I need to use a Food Processor?
Yes. You need to be able to crush the frozen fruit and blend it with the cream so doing this by hand is impossible. I don’t recommend using a blender because there won’t be enough liquid to blend and the frozen fruit will get stuck in the blades.
What sweeteners can I use?
I recommend using either stevia extract powder or monk fruit powder. You don’t want to add a lot of low carb granulated sweeteners like erythritol because the ice cream will become grainy and it’ll have that annoying cooling sensation. Instead, it’s better to use a small amount of either stevia or monk fruit to fully sweeten this sugar-free ice cream without any after flavor. A powdered sweetener such as powdered erythritol would be a better than than a granular sweetener.
Can this low carb ice cream be made dairy free?
Of course! Just swap the heavy cream for coconut cream and you’re ready to go on a dairy-free keto treat. Just make sure to use chilled coconut cream and not coconut milk as your ice cream will be too runny.
Can I add toppings to this ice cream?
Of course! The more toppings, the more delicious right? Add some sugar-free chocolate chips, chopped nuts, dry fruit, coconut flakes and so on directly to the mixture in the blender or top on top of your 3 ingredient keto ice cream bowl! You could even drizzle some sugar-free chocolate syrup, sugar-free caramel sauce, or strawberry sauce all over. Or whip up some heavy cream with a little pure vanilla extract and scoop on the whipped cream!
What should I watch out for?
Since this is a low carb instant ice cream, it’ll melt pretty quickly. You’ll want to eat it right away and not store it for later.
Can I freeze this ice cream for later?
You could, but I really don’t recommend it. This isn’t a freeze-for-later type of ice cream as it gets really hard in the freezer. You can definitely freeze it for 30-60 minutes to harden it a bit more, but I don’t recommend freezing it more than that. For longer storage adding vegetable glycerin may it not freeze rock solid but I've tested that yet.
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen fruit
- ½ cup COLD heavy cream or coconut cream
- ⅛ teaspoon stevia powder or monk fruit powder
Instructions
- Add the frozen fruit to a small food processor. Process for a few seconds until the fruits are broken into pieces.
- Add the heavy cream and stevia powder and process for a 20-30 more seconds until the ice cream is nice and smooth. If the food processor gets stuck, just take a spoon and move the ice cream around and process again.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Want more keto friendly ice creams? Check these sugar free ice creams out:
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake
Dairy-Free Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Originally Published June 27, 2019. Revised and Republished January 11, 2023.
Jenn says
I am just on my second day of getting back into eating ketogenically. Our whole family has taken out grains and sugar. Just made this recipe as it is a hot summer day, and I needed a little extra fat to help me through this transition period. I do not have a food processor yet (I know, I know), so I thought I might be successful if I tried using my Vitamix with blueberries and making a double batch, so 2 cups frozen blueberries, 1 cup of heavy cream, 1/8 tsp. Monk fruit sweetener, 1/8 tsp. stevia powder. I did have to stop it a couple of times and use a spatula to move around the mixture, but it turned out WONDERFULLY! Split it between 3 kiddos and myself for a cool, refreshing summer day treat.
Just a note for those who don't have a food processor, you should be able to use a blender to easily turn this recipe into a fruit milkshake with just a little extra cream!
Thank you for posting this recipe, Taryn!
Cindy says
I don't know if u know this, but the link for Trim Healthy Mama Super Sweet is no longer available. When u click on your link, it says:
"Oops! That page can’t be found. Nothing was found at this location. Try searching, or check out the links below." I've tried 4 times & nothing.
I wanted to give u & your website a heads-up on this problem. Thank u 4 ALL your delish recipes!
Taryn says
Thanks Cindy, I will edit that!
Jeri Young says
Love it! Super easy and yummy! I used frozen strawberries and regular canned coconut milk and it was more like the texture of fro-yo, which was exactly what I wanted! This will be perfect in the summer months to scratch my ice cream itch! Thanks!
April Stutzman says
This is the perfect desert for a busy night and so much more affordable than expensive keto ice cream! Thank you for this recipe!
Debbie Tyler says
This ice cream is so easy to make. It is refreshing and makes a great dessert or afternoon treat.
J.W. says
I have made quite a few Keto desserts over my year long Keto journey, including ice cream several times. The recipes from "Joy Filled Eats" are a treasure, to be sure! I just made this ice cream with the addition of pure vanilla extract, and a small lemon wedge. Using a mix of frozen blueberries and raspberries, this was one of the most delicious ice creams I have ever had. I used a mix of Splenda &Stevia for beautiful results with no aftertaste. Thank you for your wonderful recipe! And your Butter Cake is more than scrumptious. Keep 'em coming!
Marilyn LeValley says
Love this. So good. Thank you for sharing
Michael says
Awesome recipe. So fast, so simple. I made it with frozen strawberries, frozen raspberries & both. I also made it with the addition of shredded coconut. Delicious!!
BA says
I've been making IC like this even before KETO. A bit of vanilla or Almond extract will give an extra boost.
Rhonda says
So simple to make was absolutely delicious, we enjoyed this more than the store bought keto we have been buying, I cannot thank you enough for sharing this recipe, yum yum yum
Beth says
It has been crazy hot around here so I am happy to have found this quick and easy, tasty ice cream! First flavor I'm going to try - peach! Yum!
Liz says
I'm not keto but you had me at ice cream 😍 It's been so hot here, it's nice to have a treat like this to help us cool off!
Shari says
This is just a wonderful, fast, easy, and delicious recipe! I was so happy to find this recipe while searching the internet, once again, for a Keto Ice Cream recipe, that doesn't use any of the granulated/powdered keto sweeteners and gums that all the other recipes I have found, contain. I have to also follow a Low-FODMAP diet and cannot tolerate those items. It doesn't take any longer than pulling store-bought ice cream out of the freezer, let it sit out a bit to soften and scoop it out. We used stevia drops (1/2 tsp) rather than powdered stevia or monk fruit and the consistency was just fine. We like that it's instantly ready to eat with a perfect soft-serve consistency, no need to further chill and freeze. Thank you so much for creating and posting this recipe!
Laney says
How do you make this plain vanilla? Frozen vanilla milk cubes instead of frozen fruit? Excited about this recipe - thank you!
Taryn says
I'm not sure that would work. I do have a recipe for vanilla ice cream. https://joyfilledeats.com/vanilla-ice-cream/ Perhaps if you made that without the milk and froze into cubes and then added the milk in when blending. If you try lmk how it turns out!
Stephanie says
What happens to it if, for what ever reason, you can't eat all of it, and put it in the freezer?
Taryn says
It gets pretty hard. But you can just leave it out for 30-60 minutes to soften before eating the rest
Roseann Hill says
Delicious, I used raspberries!