Last updated on April 27, 2023
There's no need to use whipping cream and cow milk for a coconut ice cream that tastes just like the one from the ice cream shop. We are Italians and we share our recipe with coconut milk and water, made like a coconut sorbet. Light and delicious
In Italy we make a distinction between the gelato flavors that you commonly find in ice cream shops: there are milk-based flavors (🔊 gusti crema in Italian) and then there are the fruit flavors without milk: sorbets, 🔊 sorbetti. You can make coconut ice cream either way.
Our recipe is made with coconut milk, water and sugar: and therefore without milk and whipping cream.
Not only is it very easy and quick to do; but the aroma of the coconut is accentuated, because it is not diluted by cream and milk. It is also very creamy because the coconut milk has more than enough fat content to make ice cream.
The Italian words of this page:
| 🔊 Gelato Italiano | Italian ice cream |
| 🔊 Gelato al cocco | Coconut ice cream |
| 🔊 Gelateria | Ice cream parlor |
To give ice cream the taste of coconut we basically have two options: we can use either coconut flour or coconut milk. We have seen that coconut milk is also an ingredient that you can use in low-calorie ice cream and especially in vegan ice cream.
Between coconut flour/powder and coconut milk, we opt for the latter. Using coconut milk instead is straightforward, and the texture of the ice cream is smooth and creamy.
Coconut milk, which has a fat percentage of around 17%, is excellent for making ice cream. Since it already contains a good percentage of fat, which are essential for obtaining a creamy gelato, we don't need to add cream or milk, just plain water. The ice cream will be perfect, with a strong coconut flavor, soft and creamy like that from the ice cream parlor.
Our coconut ice cream recipe, quick and easy with the ice cream maker. Unlike the other ice creams that we present on the website, we use no milk or whipping cream in this recipe.
We get a creamy vegan gelato thanks to the fats present in coconut milk.
It would also be correct to say that we make a coconut sorbet, because we don't use cow's milk.
We make a fresh and light coconut ice cream with three simple ingredients: coconut milk, water and sugar.
| Ingredient image | Ingredient name | Cups | Grams | Ounces |
|
Coconut milk | 1.1 cups | 250 g | 8.82 oz |
|
Water | 0.6 cups | 150 g | 5.29 oz |
|
Sugar | 0.5 cups | 90 g | 3.17 oz |
In the supermarket you will usually find two types of coconut milk: from can or tetra pack. Both are fine, as long as they have a fat percentage of around 17 - 18%. Fats, as well as sugars, are important for obtaining a creamy gelato.
If you buy canned coconut milk, check carefully: it often has a fat percentage of less than 10%. In this case you need to adjust the recipe and add whipping cream and whole milk instead of water.
For each ingredient we indicate both the volume in cups and the weight in ounces and grams.
In the US, most online ice cream recipes indicate the ingredients in cups: it's a very practical unit, in which each ingredient is already converted into volume, so you don't need a scale.
👉 To be more accurate, however, we prefer to weigh all the ingredients: both solids and liquids before pouring them into the ice cream mixture.
For this you need a kitchen scale, preferably a digital one, which usually expresses the weight in ounces (oz) and/or grams (g).
For this recipe we use a popular model compressor ice cream maker.
The preparation steps are the same for most ice cream makers on the market, including the models with freezer bowl.
👉 Read also our guide on how to use the ice cream maker.
Making coconut ice cream with coconut milk is straightforward: you don't even have to cut the fruit. You just need to mix the ingredients and pour the mixture into the ice cream maker.
If you're using a compressor ice cream maker, turn it on first. It usually takes a few minutes for the ice maker to cool down and be ready to make ice cream.
While we wait, we can mix the ingredients.
Since we use coconut milk, it is not necessary to chop the coconut. To mix the ingredients, you can use both an immersion mixer or a blender.
Mix the ingredients well until the mixture is smooth and homogeneous.
Then pour the cold mixture into the ice cream maker. You must ensure that:
the bowl of the ice cream maker is cold: to make ice, the ice maker must be at least -7.6 °F (-22 °C).
Yet not all ice cream machines display the temperature. So we pour the ice cream when the timer shows 45 minutes, 15 minutes after the machine is running.
the mixing paddle is rotating.
It depends on the ice cream maker, but we recommend pouring the mixture through the opening on the lid: this way the cold stored in the ice cream bowl does not escape.
You can also use this opening if you want to add other ingredients, such as chocolate chips in stracciatella ice cream.
While the ice maker is working, you can view the status of the ice through the transparent lid.
After about fifteen minutes you will see the mixture increasing in volume; this is because it begins to absorb air and become a soft ice cream.
The ice cream should be ready in about 30 minutes, depending on the machine and on the ice cream quantity.
Sometimes the tiller arm stops by itself, slowly. It depends on the amount of ice and the ice maker.
We recommend keeping an eye on the ice cream: if it seems firm, leave it for another 5 minutes; Just pause the ice cream maker and taste it.
Your Italian coconut gelato is ready. Buon appetito! 🍨
In the restaurant in Italy, when you finish eating, the waiter will ask: 🔊 andava tutto bene? (was everything fine?)
You can usually make fruit ice cream in two ways: as ice cream with milk and whipped cream, or as sorbet ice cream with just water. This applies to many ice cream recipes that we have published in All Italian: with milk you can make chocolate ice cream, strawberry ice cream. With water, on the other hand, you can make the same flavors as a fruit sorbet; for example lemon sorbet is an Italian classic. But also coconut is a fruit, so technically we can make a sorbet with it.
We regularly update these pages on Italian gelato with recipes we make at home with the ice cream maker.
