This keto ice cream recipe has a rich vanilla flavor and a super smooth, creamy consistency. It’s easy to make and stays soft and scoopable in the freezer. It’s the sugar-free ice cream of your dreams!
Well it’s about time I updated this recipe for keto ice cream. It’s one of my all-time favorites and it always gets rave reviews.
Don’t panic, though. I didn’t change the recipe itself, since it’s absolute perfection as it is (she says humbly). I’ve been making this delicious low carb vanilla ice cream recipe the exact same way for over 10 years now. And I make a batch every few weeks so that I have it on hand when I want it. It’s absolutely sublime with some Keto Caramel Sauce drizzled over it.
But I truly want everyone to get the best out of my recipes. With that in mind, I have updated the helpful information and added tips in this article. Because you deserve to have the creamiest, dreamiest sugar free vanilla ice cream in your freezer too!
Why you will love this recipe
Prepare to be AMAZED! This is no ordinary keto ice cream recipe. Oh no, my friends, not at all.
This ice cream has magical properties and should not be underestimated. Sure, it looks like regular vanilla ice cream and tastes like regular vanilla ice cream. It even behaves like regular vanilla ice cream.
And that, my dear readers, is exactly the point. It has the truly astonishing property of staying soft and scoopable, even after several days in the freezer. And it’s entirely egg-free and has no added sugars, which makes it all the more astonishing.
If you’ve ever made your own sugar-free ice cream at home, you know that this is no small feat!
Why it works
The magic of this stay-soft keto ice cream comes down to a few little tricks.
The first is using my keto condensed milk as the ice cream base, which contains a mix of both allulose and erythritol. These sweeteners have a symbiotic relationship, with each one making up for what the other lacks. If you’ve ever made ice cream with just erythritol, you know how rock hard it gets in the freezer. I’ve tried doing just allulose but then it never firms up at all and stays like soft serve. Together, they are perfect.
The condensed milk also contains a little bit of xanthan gum. Xanthan is often in commercial ice creams because it inhibits recrystallization, so the ice cream doesn’t get icy.
This sugar free ice cream recipe also contains a touch of alcohol. This raises the freezing point of liquids so it also reduces iciness. It is not enough to affect even a child (yes, I do feed my kids this ice cream), as it amounts to about half a teaspoon per serving. That said, the choice to include it is up to you.
Reader Reviews
“Best ice cream EVER. Have made it numerous times and it turns out perfect and delicious. Thanks, Carolyn!” — Anna
“I have tried several vanilla ice cream recipes and haven’t been pleased. This one is delicious. The salted caramel recipe was also delicious. I can’t wait to try all the other flavors that she has created.” — Becky
“Once again, you’ve hit the mark. I used your adaptation to make your Browned Butter ice cream and the result was exactly as you said. Thanks for continuing to work on Keto everything.” — NK
Ingredients needed
- Sugar Free Condensed Milk: You will need to make my recipe for sugar free condensed milk prior to making this ice cream.
- Heavy cream: If you want to lighten the ice cream a little, you can replace half of the cream with nut milk or other low carb milk.
- Additional sweetener: Using a powdered sweetener avoids any grittiness in the ice cream.
- Vodka: This is optional, but it does help reduce iciness from occurring. Don’t worry, it only amounts to about 1/2 teaspoon per serving
- Pantry staples: Vanilla extract and salt.
Step-by-step directions
1. Prepare the condensed milk: Make the sugar-free condensed milk according to the directions and let cool to room temperature.
2. Add the remaining ingredients: Whisk in the heavy cream, powdered sweetener, vodka, vanilla extract, and salt.
3. Taste test: Taste the mixture and adjust sweetener to taste. You can use additional Bocha Sweet or allulose here but because it’s granular, you will need to whisk for a while to dissolve it properly.
4. Refrigerate and churn: Chill the mixture at least one hour and up to overnight, then pour into the canister of an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s directions.
5. Freeze: Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.
Tips for Success
I highly recommend churning this in a proper ice cream maker like this Cuisinart model. I had one for years and it always worked well for me (I now have a larger compressor-style model). Don’t forget to freeze the canister for at least 12 hours before you churn!
The ratio of sweeteners is very important. Too much erythritol and it is less scoopable. Too much allulose and it becomes so soft, it takes days to firm up properly. It also melts very quickly when out of the freezer.
If you can’t access allulose, try using xylitol. Just remember that it is toxic to dogs so keep it away from your pets.
No ice cream maker?
Don’t want to purchase yet another piece of kitchen equipment? You can still make this recipe. While churned recipes have better texture, I also have plenty of experience with no churn keto ice cream. It’s a relatively simple adaptation.
To make this keto ice cream without an ice cream maker:
- Make the condensed milk as directed. Let cool to room temp and then whisk in the vodka and salt.
- Whip the heavy cream with the powdered sweetener and vanilla extract until it holds stiff peaks.
- Pour in the condensed milk and fold these two together until no streaks remain.
- Transfer to a container and freeze at least 6 hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
This keto vanilla ice cream recipe has 2.4g of carbs and 0g of fiber per serving. That comes to 2.4g net carbs per serving.
Once your ice cream has set, store it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Unfortunately, I have not had much luck making this with ingredients like coconut milk or coconut cream. It always freezes harder and has a more icy texture. So I do not have a good dairy-free equivalent.
More delicious low carb ice cream recipes!
- Keto Strawberry Ice Cream
- No Churn Coffee Ice Cream
- Keto Chocolate Ice Cream
- Maple Walnut Ice Cream
- Jamoca Almond Fudge Ice Cream
Keto Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Sugar-Free Condensed Milk
- 1 1/2 cups (354.88 ml) heavy cream, (can replace half of the cream with nut milk, coconut milk, etc.)
- 3 tbsp (45.65 g) powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 1/2 tbsp (22.5 ml) vodka, (optional, helps reduce iciness)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- Make the sweetened condensed milk according to the directions and let cool to room temperature.
- Whisk in the heavy cream, powdered sweetener, vodka, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Taste the mixture and adjust sweetener to taste. **You can use additional allulose here but because it's granular, you will need to whisk for a while to dissolve it properly.
- Chill the mixture at least one hour and up to overnight, then pour into the canister of an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's directions.
- Once it reaches soft-serve consistency, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Your ice cream recipe suggests Swerve Sweetener or powdered erythritol. I don’t know either of these products. Is it purely for the sweetness, or does it have some necessary chemical property to make this recipe work? Would any sweetener work, such as Stevia extract or perhaps Splenda?
Any sweetener should work.
Thank you.
I just finished my first batch of this ice cream, and I’m not sure what I did wrong, but it turned out far too sweet! How can I fix this? Would it work to add some milk and rechurn it?
*I just realised the likely reason it is too sweet: I used lactose free milk, which is substantially sweeter than normal milk.
Ah, that would probably do it!
What would you recommend to reduce the sweetness? Could I add more cream or milk (or a mix of the two) and re-churn it?
I can’t see why not!
***Sorry, this is super long, but you might want to read/share this before even attempting to make this ice cream***
Okay, I think I’m ready to write my review now.
Keep in mind at all times while reading this, that I am Greek, I love to cook/bake everything from “scratch”, since that is how I was taught when I was a teen. I’ve been cooking almost everyday for the last 30 years.
I made this ice cream 2 weeks ago. I had made the “sweetened condensed milk” a couple of days before, so it was ready, in the fridge, waiting to become vanilla ice cream. I spent days reading the reviews, learning from other mistakes, vowing to not be “that person”. You know, “that person who follows the recipe to the t, but still ends up with marshmallow, weird tasting, strange consistency, indescribable texture, but good tasting ice cream.
Carolyn, I am that person…
So, I’ve spent the last 10 days trying to figure out this enigma…because that’s just what I do. I really needed to understand this mishap. I’ve got to say, though I really just wanted to blame Carolyn (it would have been easier),but I knew there was a bigger/minor issue here since Carolyn, you have yet to fail me when it comes to delicious recipes.
So, I think I figured it out. I really think I know the culprit to this mishap.
It has to be the cream!
Let me explain. I spent days trying to figure out the difference between Heavy Cream and Heavy Whipping Cream. Guess what? Everyone says there is no difference, and they are partially right. As far as fat content etc they are the same. But just to be sure, my failed vanilla ice cream was made with heavy whipping cream, my following failed vanilla ice cream was made with heavy cream.
Yes that too failed. They were not identical in taste or texture, but it still qualified as marshmallow, weird tasting, strange consistency, indescribable texture, but good tasting ice cream.
I went through my ingredients again. One by one. I compared them to the ingredient listed in the recipe. Identical. Almost identical. Everything is identical except for the cream. Without knowing exactly what type of cream Carolyn used I still think I finally figured it out.
I think anyways, I’ve been working on this for a couple of weeks, in between trying to create a perfect low carb lemon sorbet lol, so I may have over-thought this and I might be losing my mind here, but I really think its the cream.
Heavy Cream vs Heavy Whipping Cream
#1 difference that no one really tells you between HC and HWC is that heavy whipping cream contains a stabilizer that changes its texture when heated. When making a custard base ice cream with eggs, there’s really no difference between the two. In fact (through extensive online research) some chefs that replace HC for HWC in custard base recipes, just add another egg yolk.
Since this is not a custard base recipe, the cream can throw the texture off. Right? If only it was that simple. Because the difference is too minuet to cause such a huge difference in results between those (including you Carolyn) who ended up with a perfectly all around delicious ice cream vs “the rest of us” lol besides, I tried both HC and HWC!
Which leads me to the more serious culprit…
Heavy Whipping Cream vs Ultra Pasteurized Heavy Whipping Cream/Heavy Cream vs Ultra Pasteurized Heavy Cream.
Up until 24 hours ago I had a conspiracy theory regarding organic, whole food, all natural, non pasteurized, absolutely no antibiotics, no synthetic hormones, no toxic pesticides no GMO, no anything milk/cream from cows that are loved and petted at least twice a day.
I am ashamed to say, boy was I wrong… I’ll take the “cow petting” shift any day of the week.
Ultra Pasteurized Heavy Cream, and Ultra Pasteurized Heavy Whipping Cream contain:
polysorbate 80 (a bitter-tasting emulsifier which was once thought to cure baldness (1980’s) if massaged into the scalp), Carrageenan (which is seaweed), cellulose (which is processed wood pulp), and sodium citrate (another bitter chemical), oh I almost forgot, it also contains Milk.
Organic Heavy Cream and Heavy Whipping Cream, found mostly only at farms, and organic whole food stores, contain:
Milk and Gellan Gum.
In case you are wondering, because I was wondering. What’s in the Organic Pasteurized Milk? I really tried hard to disprove my own theory.
Organic Pasteurized Milk contains:
Organic Non-Homogenized Grade A Milk
Sorry for this long message but I just had to make certain things clear.
1. This recipe is perfect
2. I don’t think wood pulp taste good.
3. After reading all the ingredients in my inferior UP HC & UP HWC, I decided to rub the failed ice creams on my ultra stubborn, pasteurized thick, heavy, creamed head. Maybe tomorrow my hair will be thicker…
4. The temperature of the freezer only matters when trying to freeze emulsifiers 🙂
5. Some of you are thinking “no duh”, bare with me here, I’m still a novice, BUT I know I’m not the only one who cheated with the cream. Now some of you might be to ashamed to admit it, but I bet my ice creams looked like yours lol
I probably should mention that I made the ice cream a third time. It is pure perfection, and yes I used Organic Heavy Cream.
That’s all I’ve got to say about this recipe, I’m going to treat myself to some ice cream 🙂
Fantastic comment; thanks for the giggle.
Thanks for taking the time to share your research! How can I get your recipe for perfect low carb lemon sorbet?
I want to make some anti-inflammatory foods and I saw a recipe for golden milk ice cream but it’s not low sugar. So I want to try to make your recipe with Turmeric and ginger. I’m trying to imagine how to get the flavors in, I guess I could steep the the spices with the cream and strain it out before the mixing and the churning. Anyway, I’ll let you know how it turns out, as I’ve never made ice cream before and all I’ve got is a “machine” where you put the tub in the freezer and then hand churn it. Wish me luck.
I just made this and it was absolutely delicious. One question though; I see this makes 8 servings but when I enter the ingredients into MyFitness Pal, I’m getting a total carb count of 11 grams per serving. I didn’t count the swerve but all the milk/heavy cream (including the double serving of condensed milk recipe) added up. I can see being off a few grams due to brand used but just wondering how you came up with the 4g per serving. Don’t get me wrong…I’m not complaining. It was worth every bit and I’ll be making this one again for sure. :). Thanks so much for the recipe.
Keep in mind that My Fitness Pal is not always accurate. When I first wrote this recipe, I was using MasterCook, a software that uses the USDA database of nutritional information. Now that I have a Mac, I use MacGourmet (they don’t make Mastercook for macs) and I just redid it and came to 6.25 g per serving. And it ALSO pulls from the USDA database. So seems to me that MFP is off here. Also…I said 8 serving but that’s a lot of Ice Cream. Macgourmet tells me that it’s 440 calories per serving…which is super rich, so this could easily be 10 servings. Hope that helps!
I just got my new ice cream maker today and while the compressor needs some time to get the bubbles out of the system I searched for recipes.
Vanilla? Great, I just love it and the promise of a scoopable ice cream? That’s just brilliant. Just made the condensed milk and combined it with the cream, now it dan cool down until tomorrow to be churned. And I have to buy a bottle of Vodka as I think my usual tipple Gin will not do here 🙂
Thanks for the recipe, I’ll tell tomorrow how it turned out – the still warm ice cream base is delicious.
Gin would be…interesting! 😉
I just made this vanilla ice cream, exactly as in the recipe, and though the vanilla flavor is delicious, I think the person who made the comment about the texture being marshmallow-like was right. It just isn’t like ice cream. I’m wondering if cutting back on the low carb condensed milk, say to a 1/2 cup (1/2 of one recipe) and using more heavy cream in it’s place would do the trick. It’s just way too rich and sweet, and extremely expensive.
Could I add protein powder to this? If so, when & Will it turn out right? Thanks
I really don’t know, I’ve never added it to my ice cream. I’d probably whisk it in just before churning.
Could one use a vitamix if they don’t have an ice cream maker? Say on the smoothie setting?
Does it freeze things? I don’t own a vitamin but you need it to be freezing along with the churning.
Tried this today, it was AMAZING!!!!!!
Thank You sooooo much!
Hi can I use glucomannan instead of xanthan gum?
I honestly have no idea. I don’t know how it behaves but I don’t think it has the same anti-icing properties as xanthan.
I’m sober so vodka is not an option, even in small amounts. Is there any other substitution I can make that would render similar results?
No, not really. But it will still be great ice cream, it may just be a little more icy when it’s been frozen for a while. One thing to do is to divvy it up into single serving containers right after it’s made, so that you only need to let that little bit thaw every time.
I’ve heard, but not yet tried, that using food grade glycerin instead of the alcohol works to keep the ice cream softer. Thanks Carolyn for your recipes!!
I just made this and it is super good!
I had the weird graininess problem too. Mine happened when I mixed the cream and the condensed milk and refrigerated overnight, when I put it in the mixer it had crunchy little chunks at that point. It didn’t effect the flavor at all, just the texture.
Oh, this was a delicious finish to tonight’s Christmas Eve dinner tonight! Accompanied with the caramel sauce: divine! Of course, d@*m it, in the midst of company and dinner and such things, I forgot to add the vodka before churning, so I’m going to be to be microwaving it for 30 seconds for the several servings. But really yummy!
Holy moly! Living in Florida where the temps have been in the 100s, I have been dying for a great low carb ice cream. I thought that the egg custard type would have been great, but waaay too rich and hard as a rock. This one is AMAZING! I did substitute unsweetened vanilla almond milk for the whole milk hoping that it wouldn’t ruin it. I didn’t! Creamy deliciousness. My eternal gratitude…you rock!
I’m in the middle of making this right now. Just finished step 3.
I have a vanilla bean I would love to use, am I too late to add it?
BTW, you are the most amazing foodie I have ever followed. I’ve sent your site to everyone I could think of… Thank you for giving we diabetics a safe way to have something sweet.
When you use vanilla beans, you typically put them in to steep with the hot milk and cream.
PS – Thank you for the lovely words!
When making the low carb sweetened condensed milk, can we make large batches of it to use in future recipes? And what is the shelf life? In the refrigerator or can we freeze some?
No, I wouldn’t make large batches. It can refrigerated for about a week and doesn’t freeze well
don’t vodka and rum both have gluten in them?
No, actually. Most hard alcohol is gluten-free by virtue of the distillation process. http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/glutenfreefoodshoppin1/f/Is-Vodka-Gluten-Free.htm
But rum is not made with grains, it’s based on sugar cane. And although some vodkas are grain-based, there are some that are based on other things like potatoes. There are even some that are specially certified gluten-free.
What about using Malibu coconut rum instead of vodka. It would flavor and prevent from freezing too hard?