Raw Vegan Ice Cream Recipe (Pink Pitaya)

Raw Vegan Ice Cream Recipe

Today we are making a Raw Vegan Ice Cream recipe using pink pitaya (pink dragonfruit)! The first time I heard of this very interesting name for a fruit was during the COVID lockdown of 2020. Pitaya is the same as dragonfruit or strawberry pear. The name doesn’t come as a surprise – have you seen the scales on it? It comes in the vibrant pink colour that I’ve used today, but you can also get it in white.

I tried a white dragonfruit years ago, and when I decided to check out an Asian supermarket to get my hands on the pink variety, one of the recipes I immediately had to make was this pink pitaya ice cream!Although this fruit is native to Central and South America, it has spread around the world and been cultivated in Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe!

Origins of Pitaya

If you’ve ever tasted this fruit, the taste is somewhat indescribable. A sweet and crunchy flavour, somewhat like a fleshy asian pear that’s speckled with something that looks like black sesame seeds? It actually comes from a type of cactus and was originally popular in Southeast Asia and Latin America. Even now, this fruit is not widely available – I’ve never seen it at any of the grocery stores in the area, except for the Asian supermarket! You can use it in smoothies, ice cream, salads, or straight out of the fruit with a spoon.

Why You’ll Love This Raw Vegan Ice Cream Recipe

Three Ingredients, No Special Equipment: This recipe makes soft serve ice cream without an ice cream machine or any special equipment! It’s perfect for a healthy summer snack, caters to pretty much any allergy and only uses three easy ingredients.

Substitutions: Frozen Fruit

Pink Pitaya (Dragonfruit): You’ll need to find the pink version of this fruit in order to get the same colour. If you want to get the white dragonfruit, you’ll have more of a yellow ice cream because of the frozen mangoes.

Both types of dragonfruit colours taste about the same, so if you don’t mind the colour then you can use white as well. Cube and freeze it before using.

Mango: Cube and freeze the mango in advance if you buy it fresh, or buy frozen mango cubes. You could try substituting this with any other tropical fruit too, such as frozen pineapple.

Substitutions: Coconut

Coconut Cream: You can make this recipe nut-free by using a different non-dairy milk instead of coconut cream. This cream is the best option because of its high fat content, but you can try to use another non-dairy milk, such as oat milk or almond milk.

Usually, ice creams with a low fat content (such as those with an almond milk base) make more ice crystals. Since there are other frozen fruits in this recipe, the extra milk will help it blend, albeit not being as creamy as coconut cream.

If you are using coconut cream, then buy a can of full fat coconut milk and refrigerate it for a few hours. After a while, the cream and water from the milk will separate. The cream will rise to the top and you can scoop it out and use it then.

You could use coconut milk straight too without refrigerating the can. Although your ice cream won’t be as creamy then, so I definitely recommend to refrigerate the can to get the cream. Since you’re already waiting for a few hours to freeze the fruits, this can be done at the same time.

To keep it fully raw, you can buy a fresh coconut and scoop out chunks of the coconut meat as the fat in the recipe, try using avocado or cashew butter / almond butter as neutral nut butters to keep the recipe creamy.

Raw Vegan Ice Cream Recipe Notes

• If you don’t have a very high-speed blender, leave the frozen mango and dragonfruit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes, until they are softened a bit. This will help them to blend easier.
• Top with fresh berries to serve, such as fresh blackberries and raspberries. This will add to the vibrant color!
• For more sweetness, use agave syrup or pure 100% grade A (light) maple syrup (the type without a molasses flavor).

More Raw Recipes You’ll Love

Strawberry Kiwi Sorbet

Neapolitan Ice Cream: Make neapolitan nice cream using ripe bananas as an ice cream base! This recipe has vanilla, chocolate and strawberry flavors.

Watermelon Sorbet

Chunky Monkey Ice Cream: Raw banana ice cream with peanut butter, chocolate chips, walnuts and bananas make this a chunky monkey flavor!

Key Lime Pie Cheesecake

Mocha Smoothie Bowl: Satisfy your sweet tooth and get a caffeine kick in one go! This mocha smoothie bowl uses frozen banana for a thick smoothie base.

Strawberry Coconut Popsicles

If you make this Raw Vegan Ice Cream Recipe, then leave a comment and star rating! Don’t forget to tag your photos @peanut_palate on Instagram. Enjoy!