Carrot Ice Cream - Simple Homemade Recipe

Have you ever had carrot ice cream? Or even heard of it? Well, here is a recipe for carrot flavored ice cream you can make.

This homemade ice cream is an easy one to make. It is naturally flavored and colored with fresh carrots so you get to benefit the goodness of carrots while enjoying your dessert! The ice cream itself does not have a very strong carrot taste and tastes almost like carrot milk.

This is a churned ice cream recipe. You can, however, still make this ice cream if you do not own an ice cream machine with my easy blender technique. Both ways, you will get to enjoy a smooth and creamy, naturally flavored carrot ice cream.

To make this easy ice cream, you grate and cook the carrots in sugar and some water over medium heat until they turn soft. The cooked carrots are then processed with milk until fine. Cream is added to the carrot milk along with some salt and vanilla essence. The ice cream solution is then chilled thoroughly before being churned into soft and creamy, homemade ice cream.

How to Make

Ingredients

• Carrots
• Full fat whole milk
• Heavy whipping cream (at least 35% fat)
• Brown sugar
• Vanilla
• Water

Cooking the carrots

1. Peel and wash the carrots. Grate them. Add the grated carrots into a medium saucepan.
2. Add sugar.
3. Add water.
4. Turn on the heat to medium-low heat and cook the carrot mixture until soft. Stir the carrots constantly to ensure they do not get burned.
5. Cover the pan with lid when not stirring. This will help the carrots cook faster.
6. Once the carrots are soft, turn off the heat. Let the cooked grated carrots cool down slightly.

Preparing the ice cream base

1. Add the cooked grated carrots into a blender. Add milk to it.
2. Process the cooked carrots until smooth and fine.
3. Transfer the carrot puree into a large mixing glass.
4. Add salt and vanilla essence.
5. Next, add the heavy cream and mix well.
6. Place the ice cream mixture in the refrigerator until it is thoroughly chilled.

Freezing the ice cream (Ice Machine Method)

1. Prepare the ice cream base above and chill it thoroughly in the fridge (not freezer) for at least 4 to 5 hours. You can also leave it overnight in the refrigerator to chill.
2. Pour the ice cream base into your ice cream maker bowl and churn as per your ice cream machine manufacturer’s instructions.
3. At the end of the churning process, the carrot ice cream form should be smooth and creamy. It may be of a little too soft texture to serve immediately (unless you like it that way), so it is best to let the churned ice cream freeze further.
4. Pour the churned carrot flavored ice cream into an ice cream storage container or a loaf pan and freeze until it is set (about 4 hours).

To serve, use an ice cream scoop to scoop the ice cream. If it is too hard to scoop, let it sit at room temperature for a minute or two before scooping again.

Freezing the ice cream (Blender Method)

• Prepare the homemade ice cream base as above. Pour it into a freezer-safe container and freeze until completely set. This can take any time between 4 to 5 hours or more. You can even freeze it overnight.
• Once completely frozen, remove the ice cream from the freezer and break it into small chunks with a spoon or fork. For easy breaking, it is best that the ice cream is poured into a wide and shallow container when freezing.
• Transfer the broken ice cream chunks into a blender or food processor.
• Blend until smooth. If you find it hard to blend, try to break the chunks further by pressing them down further into the blender. You can do this with a spoon, but make sure the blender is turned off while you are doing it.
• Blend until the ice cream reaches a smoothie-like consistency. This should take about 20 to 30 seconds. The longer you blend, the more your ice cream will melt and melted ice cream will freeze with tiny ice crystals, so it is best to work this stage quickly.
• Turn off the blender and pour the blended ice cream back into its container. If you wish to add any nuts or chocolate chips or other additional stuff into your carrot ice cream, add them at this stage. If the blended ice cream appears too soft, freeze it for an hour and mix in the additional ingredients after that. This will avoid those additional ingredients from sinking to the bottom of the soft ice cream.
• Return the blender carrot ice cream to the freezer and freeze for another 3 to 4 hours or until it is completely set before serving.

If the ice cream is too hard to scoop, leave it at room temperature for a minute or two and trying scooping again.

Notes

Why do you need to cook the carrots to make this homemade ice cream?

• Cooked carrots are softer and when blended into the ice cream solution, there is not much pulp, as cooked carrots break down softer and finer. You will not have to strain the carrots and that allows you to enjoy the carrots fully in the ice cream.

Can you add more carrots in making this ice cream?

• Yes, you can. The more carrots you add, the stronger will be the carrot taste in the ice cream and it is a matter of personal preference.
• Similarly, you can also reduce the amount of carrots used in this ice cream recipe, and that would mean that the carrot flavor in your ice cream will be reduced.

Can you add nuts or fruits into the ice cream?

• Yes, you can. You can add any nuts or dried fruits like raisins into the ice cream if you like. If you are using an ice cream machine to churn your ice cream, add these additional ingredients towards the end of the churning processing, approximately 10 minutes before the churning time is up.
• If you are using the blender method to make this ice cream, add them to the ice cream after the blending process. Do not add them before the blender process or your nuts and fruits will end up being blended fine as you blend the ice cream.

Other flavor options

• If you are a fan of carrot cake, you can use this recipe to make carrot cake ice cream too. Simply add a pinch of cinnamon powder when cooking the carrot. Alternatively, you can add a cinnamon stick when cooking the carrot, and then discard it once the carrots are cooked.
• You can also add some golden raisins into your carrot ice cream.

Like this easy homemade carrot flavored ice cream recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out:

• Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream - Perfectly Smooth & Creamy (2 Methods)
• Chocolate Chocolate Chip Ice Cream - A Simple Homemade Recipe
• Churned Ice Cream - With & Without Ice Cream Maker
• Mint Oreo Ice Cream - An Easy Recipe
• Matcha Ice Cream (Green Tea Ice Cream)
• Kinder Bueno Ice Cream
• No Churn Chocolate Ice Cream

Recipe (Printable)

Here is the full printable version of my easy homemade carrot ice cream recipe:

📖Recipe

Carrot Ice Cream

This homemade carrot ice cream is naturally flavored and colored with fresh carrots. Learn how to make this simple easy recipe right here!

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Churning, Blending & Freezing Time: 10 hours hours

Total Time: 10 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

Yield: 1 quartz

Author: Priya Maha

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

For best results, use the metrics measurements. US customary measurements have not been tested and are only meant for guide.

Ingredients

• ▢ 175 ml full fat milk
• ▢ 325 ml heavy whipping cream at least 35% fat
• ▢ 75 g brown sugar
• ▢ 200 g carrots approximately 1.5 long carrots
• ▢ a pinch of salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon vanilla essence

Instructions

Cooking the carrots

• Peel and wash the carrots. Grate them. Add the grated carrots into a saucepan.
• Add sugar.
• Add water.
• Turn on the heat to low and cook the carrots until soft. Stir the carrots constantly to ensure they do not get burned.
• Cover the pan with lid when not stirring. This will help the carrots cook faster.
• Once the carrots turn soft, turn off the heat. Let the cooked grated carrots cool down slightly.

Making the ice cream base

• Add the cooked grated carrots into a blender. Add milk to it.
• Process the cooked carrots until fine.
• Transfer the carrot milk into a large mixing glass.
• Add the cream to it. Mix well.
• Add vanilla essence and salt and mix well again. Do a taste test at this stage to see if the ice cream is sweet enough. If not, add some more sugar and mix well.

Freezing the Ice Cream (Method 1: Ice Cream Machine)

• Prepare the carrot ice cream base above and chill it thoroughly in the fridge (not freezer) for at least 4 to 5 hours. You can also leave it overnight in the refrigerator to chill.
• Pour the ice cream base into the ice cream maker bowl and churn as per your ice cream machine manual.
• At the end of the churning process, the carrot ice cream should be well-formed, smooth and creamy. It may be a little too soft to serve immediately (unless you like it that way), so it is best to let the churned ice cream freeze further.
• Pour the churned carrot flavored ice cream into a container and freeze until it is set (about 4 hours).

Freezing the ice cream (Method 2: Blender)

• Prepare the homemade carrot ice cream base as above. Pour it into a freezer-safe container and freeze until completely set. This can take any time between 4 to 5 hours or more. You can even freeze it overnight.
• Once completely frozen, remove the ice cream from the freezer and break it into small chunks with a spoon or fork. For easy breaking, it is best that the ice cream is poured into a wide and shallow container when freezing.
• Transfer the broken ice cream chunks into a blender.
• Blend until smooth. If you find it hard to blend, try to break the chunks further and press them down further into the blender. You can do this with a spoon, but make sure the blender is turned off while you are doing it.
• Blend until the ice cream reaches a smoothie-like consistency. This should take about 20 to 30 seconds. The longer you blend, the more your ice cream will melt and melted ice cream will freeze with tiny ice crystals, so it is best to work this stage quickly.
• Turn off the blender and pour the blended carrot ice cream back into its container. If you wish to add any nuts or chocolate chips or other additional stuff into your carrot ice cream, add them at this stage. If the blended ice cream appears too soft, freeze it for an hour and mix in the additional ingredients. This will avoid those additional ingredient from sinking to the bottom of the soft ice cream.
• Return the blender carrot ice cream to the freeze for another 3 to 4 hours or until it is completely set before serving.

Notes

Notes

• When using the blender method, if the frozen ice cream (before blending) is too hard to break with a spoon, leave it out for a minute or two to soften it slightly before trying again.
• It will also help to pour the solution into a wide shallow container for freezing. Thin ice will be easier to break.

Nutrition

Calories: 1589.8kcal | Carbohydrates: 110.6g | Protein: 17.2g | Fat: 124.3g | Saturated Fat: 78.6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 31g | Cholesterol: 391.1mg | Sodium: 315.9mg | Potassium: 1322.5mg | Fiber: 5.6g | Sugar: 100.6g | Vitamin A: 38510.4IU | Vitamin C: 13.8mg | Calcium: 566.1mg | Iron: 1.5mg

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And that's how I make my super simple carrot flavored ice cream.

Enjoy!