Raw Vegan Tropical Ice Cream Recipe

Raw Vegan Tropical Ice Cream Recipe

Today we are making a Raw Vegan Tropical Ice Cream Recipe! This raw vegan ice cream recipe is not the traditional ice cream you buy at the grocery store. It’s a way healthier version (but still has lots of natural sugar if you’re worried about that sweet tooth), devoid of any animal products, refined sugars or processed additives to keep it shelf-stable. It’s only made with raw foods, such as frozen pineapple, mango and coconut cream, topped with coconut flakes for an added crunch and the ultimate tropical flavor!

Making raw recipes is great because while you’re eating dessert (hooray for your taste buds!), you’re also getting in tons of vitamins and minerals (and servings of fruit!) while you beat the summer heat. It’s perfect for all ages, and fun to make with children on a hot summer day (nothing better than making fresh mango ice cream while watching your siblings dunk each other in the backyard pool growing up …). This is also a simple recipe, where the ice cream mixture uses just three ingredients and a blender. So let’s get onto making some homemade ice cream!

Why You’ll Love This Raw Vegan Tropical Ice Cream Recipe

Pure Tropical Bliss: Imagine the creamy richness of coconut cream mingling with the sweet, tangy notes of ripe pineapple and luscious mango as a natural sweetener (no need for maple syrup or ripe bananas for a nice cream recipe (don’t ask me why the popular name for banana-based ice cream is nice cream), common sources of sweetener in other vegan ice creams). It’s a flavor explosion that says “vacation vibes” with every spoonful of this frozen dessert!

Dairy-Free Delight: If you’re all about that dairy-free lifestyle or have some lactose-sensitive pals, this recipe is a game-changer. The coconut cream gives you that velvety texture in the ice cream base without a drop of dairy, making it a perfect treat for everyone.

Minimal Equipment: This recipe just requires one high-powered blender or food processor. No ice cream maker needed, which makes the process that much easier. It’s the best way to get started with your own ice cream – easy but delicious!

My honest opinion on ice cream makers: I remember buying a whole ice cream machine when I was in high school, only to ever end up using it a few times throughout the course of my homemade ice cream adventures. It’s much easier to just use a blender for at-home recipes that had a thick enough base where it didn’t need to set in the freezer.

This was especially the case with a lot of the sorbets and fruit-based vegan ice creams I was making, and a machine just added to the list of equipment already in the kitchen (hand mixer, stand mixer, milk frother, lemon press, garlic press, myriad blender cups … you get the idea). Unless you’re making a lot of recipes that are vegan milk-based, where you need to be setting the mixture in the freezer and stirring it every few hours, then an ice cream maker will save you time because the base of the machine is frozen in advance, and it churns any liquid mixture to make it creamy. I guess it has its uses occasionally, but it’s more hassle than it’s worth unless you’re constantly making this type of ice cream at home that doesn’t work as well with a blender.

Anyways, this little discussion on whether an ice cream maker is worth it is over – let’s move onto the substitutions!

Substitutions

Frozen Fruit: Instead of frozen mango and pineapple, switch it up by trying frozen peaches or papaya instead! You can also get fresh fruits, such as ripe mangoes and fresh pineapple to freeze yourself rather than a bag of the pre-frozen ones.

Coconut Cream: You can buy a can of coconut cream at the grocery store (the only ingredient on it should be coconuts), buy a can of fall-fat coconut milk to use just the cream, or make your own coconut cream at home. In order to keep this recipe fully raw, you’ll need to make the coconut cream at home with a fresh coconut, because canned foods are heated past a certain temperature, making them not fully raw.

If using coconut milk cans, I recommend the full fat, canned coconut milk from Thai Kitchen brand, as opposed to light coconut milk. This makes the recipe taste decadent due to the healthy fats, as opposed to using carton milk, or a lower fat non-dairy milk such as almond or cashew. It kind of acts like heavy cream in an ice cream or frappuccino recipe, giving it a creamy texture. In this case, you would need to refrigerate the cans overnight, scooping out the white fat that rises to the top in the morning – that’s the coconut cream! Or, you can just buy a can of coconut cream itself.

You can also use another vegan milk, like cashew milk, soy milk (for a high protein milk), almond milk, macadamia milk or another plant-based milk that’s lower in fat, but the recipe will taste more icy as opposed to creamy.

Raw Vegan Tropical Ice Cream Recipe Notes

• Make ice cream parfaits using fresh mango and pineapple, layered in between this ice cream, topped with shredded coconut
• Top with fresh lime zest for a tangy, zesty flavor!
• To use an ice cream scoop with this recipe, place the mixture in a freezer-safe container for a few hours. Then thaw until it’s just scoop-able enough.

More Recipes You’ll Love

Raw Neapolitan Ice Cream

No-Churn Pistachio Ice Cream

Blueberry Lemon Sorbet

Reese’s Pieces Caramel Ice Cream Bowl

Virgin Pina Colada

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