3 ingredient healthy ice creams!

My easy & healthy ice cream recipe is summer time perfection and comes together in five minutes. No need for an ice cream machine! Use your favorite fruit (or combination of fruits) to whip up this healthy and refreshingly delicious dessert.

There are few things as refreshing as an ice cream on a hot summer day. You will love my simple homemade ice cream recipe using all-natural ingredients. It comes together in under 5 minutes and the flavor possibilities are endless.

What is the best part about these healthy ice creams?

My ice-cream recipe contains just 3 essential ingredients:

1. Frozen fruit (use any combination of your choice)
2. Cream replacement (use coconut cream / Greek yogurt / strained vegan yogurt / nut cream)
3. Liquid sweetener like honey / agave syrup / maple syrup / brown rice syrup etc.
4. Optional extras for flavoring: Citrus zest + juice / vanilla extract etc.

This healthy ice cream contains only natural sugars that come from fruit and honey and is my favorite guilt free dessert. It is a wonderful all natural treat, if you’re looking to lighten things up and cut down on some extra calories.

How to make this healthy ice cream?

This healthy ice cream could not be simpler to whip up. Add all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth and freeze! That's it! So easy that anyone can make it ❤

What kind of fruits work well in this healthy ice cream recipe?

I think most fruits without a LOT of water content will work great here. If you used fruit like watermelon or cantaloupe, it might turn out a little bit icy but nonetheless it will still turn out delicious.

To get a scoop-able ice cream, it is absolutely important to use frozen fruit though. You could either freeze your own fruit, like I show in the video or you could purchase already frozen fruit. If you are freezing your own fruit, I highly recommend these reusable silicone bags to store your fruit in. Frozen fruit is typically less expensive and packed in season so you could make this ice cream with the best summer fruits any time of the year!

The healthier creamy part of this ice cream

I like adding something with a higher fat percentage - like the 3 options I showed in my video. This ensures that the ice cream doesn't freeze solid and it is still scoop-able. Btw, this is my favorite scoop to use that ensure perfectly round scoops every single time! It has heat-conductive liquid in the handle that uses the natural warmth of your hand to make perfect scoops.

If you don't already have Greek yogurt, you can strain out normal or vegan yogurt in a muslin cloth or fine mesh sieve and then measure ¼ cup for this recipe. You could also use nuts like I show in the video. Nuts are high in fat and result in a nice and creamy ice cream.

Sweeteners in this healthy ice cream

To give your ice cream sweetness and scoop-ability, you have to avoid using regular sugar. Sugar crystallizes very quickly and will result in a solid frozen ice cream that is no fun! Liquid sugars will keep your mixture from hardening too much in the freezer. You could also use dates like I show in the video to keep it all natural with no added sugars.

If you like this recipe, you might also want to check out my smoothie bowl and mango lassi recipes. 

Recipe

Love this recipe?Rate the recipe by clicking on the stars in the recipe card below

Healthy ice cream - 3 ways!

Viola

My easy & healthy ice cream recipe is summer time perfection and comes together in five minutes. No need for an ice cream machine! Use your favorite fruit (or combinations of fruits) to whip up this healthy and refreshingly delicious dessert.

5 from 7 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Freezing Time 12 hours hrs

Total Time 12 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Course Desserts

Servings 4 scoops of each flavor

Equipment

Food processor or blender

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Mango pineapple ice-cream

• ▢ 1 cup frozen diced mango (each cup of fruit was around 150gms)
• ▢ 1 cup frozen diced pineapple
• ▢ ¼ cup coconut cream
• ▢ 2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
• ▢ ½ lime (zested and juiced)

Blueberry lemon ice-cream

• ▢ 2 cups frozen blueberries
• ▢ 4 large dates (soaked in hot water)
• ▢ ½ lemon (zested and juiced)
• ▢ 10 cashews (soaked in hot water)

Strawberry raspberry ice-cream

• ▢ 1 cup frozen strawberries
• ▢ 1 cup frozen rasberries
• ▢ ¼ cup greek yogurt (or strain your own yogurt)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar

Instructions

 

Prep:

• If you aren't using store bought frozen fruit, peel, chop (into ½" pieces) and freeze the mangoes on a parchment lined baking tray for about 2 hours before transferring to a freezer safe bag/box. Repeat this process for all types of fruit that you want to use.
• Freeze the container that you will be using to store the ice cream for 30 minutes before making the ice-cream mixture.

To make the mango pineapple ice-cream

• Refrigerate one can of full-fat coconut milk overnight. The next day, flip it upside down before opening the can. This will make it easy to pour out all the coconut water. Don't throw away the water, use it for smoothies/soups/curries or even to cook rice. Scoop out ¼ cup of the coconut cream left in the can for this recipe.
• Into a high speed blender or food processor jar, add in the frozen mangoes, frozen pineapple, coconut cream, zest and juice of half lime and 2 tablespoons of honey. (Hot tip! Oil your spoon before measuring honey to help it glide out smoothly).
• Close the lid and pulse a few times to get the blending started. Open the lid and push down the ingredients if needed. Blend for about 2-3 minutes or until you have a very smooth mixture.
• Transfer this mixture into the cold container and smooth the top. Close it with a tight fitting lid and freeze for 6-8 hours.
• Before serving, leave the ice cream container out at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. Scoop out the ice cream into bowls and top with more fresh fruit if desired, before serving!

To make the blueberry lemon ice cream:

• Soak the pitted dates and cashews/almonds in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain them and add into a high speed blender or food processor jar with ¼ cup water. Blend until you have a smooth paste.
• Add in 2 cups of frozen blueberries and the zest and juice of ½ lemon into the food processor. Close the lid and pulse a few times to get the blending started. Open the lid and push down the ingredients if needed. Blend for about 2-3 minutes or until you have a very smooth mixture.
• Transfer this mixture into the cold container and smooth the top. Close it with a tight fitting lid and freeze for 6-8 hours.
• Before serving, leave the ice cream container out at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. Scoop out the ice cream into bowls and top with more fresh fruit if desired, before serving!

To make the strawberry raspberry ice-cream

• Into a high speed blender or food processor jar add in the yogurt, frozen raspberries and strawberries along with the honey.
• Close the lid and pulse a few times to get the blending started. Open the lid and push down the ingredients if needed. Blend for about 2-3 minutes or until you have a very smooth mixture.
• Transfer this mixture into the cold container and smooth the top. Close it with a tight fitting lid and freeze for 6-8 hours.
• Before serving, leave the ice cream container out at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. Scoop out the ice cream into bowls and top with more fresh fruit if desired, before serving!

Video

Notes

In the strawberry raspberry ice-cream recipe, feel free to substitute the greek yogurt with a thick strained vegan yogurt. In fact, all 3 recipes are interchangeable! You could use any other types of fruit too, just use the following guideline:

1. 2 cups of frozen fruit
2. ¼ cup of greek yogurt/coconut cream/ 10 nuts of your choice blended with ¼ cup water
3. 2 tablespoons honey or any other sweet syrup/ 4-5 large dates

You can't use regular sugar in this recipe as it will crystallize when frozen.

Did you make this recipe?Mention @LimeThymeRecipes and tag #limethymerecipes

Subscribe to my YouTube channelSubscribe to get notified about my latest recipe videos!    

Please leave a comment below to let me know what you think and subscribe to my social media if you would like to see more easy and delicious recipes.