How to make the best, old-fashioned, homemade strawberry ice cream using an ice cream maker. Easy, creamy dessert recipe using fresh or frozen strawberries!
There’s nothing quite like a bowl of my dad’s homemade banana ice cream… Besides maybe his homemade strawberry ice cream. Oh my goodness, I love summer because it means delectable bowls of creamy frozen deliciousness.
This churned strawberry ice cream recipe is made using an old-fashioned ice cream maker, not the crank kind, but the motor kind (you’re welcome). You can use an old crank handled maker if you want, but I prefer motor.
You can also use fresh or frozen berries. For some reason, when we went to make this ice cream, the stores were completely out of strawberries, everywhere we looked.
Not sure if there’s a shortage or what, but we decided to use frozen, and it turned out beautifully.
WHERE CAN I FIND THE ACTUAL RECIPE CARD?
If you’d rather skip all of my freezing tips, important info for this recipe, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to the strawberry ice cream recipe – just scroll down to the bottom, where you’ll find a printable recipe card.
TIPS FOR HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM
First of all, make sure your ice cream freezer, especially the canister, is washed out good. We store ours in the garage, so we always have to wash it before we use it.
Also, prep your berries. If they're fresh strawberries, you'll need to wash and stem the berries before crushing them with a blender; if you're using frozen strawberries, you'll just need to crush them.
I recommend using a mixer to mix up homemade strawberry ice cream with condensed milk. This will ensure that the ingredients are mixed really well.
- Start by creaming (or mixing) the eggs* and the sugar together. Then add in the vanilla extract.
- Next, mix in the sweetened condensed milk, scraping all the ooey gooey liquid out of the can with a spatula.
- Then add all 3 cans of evaporated milk, and add in a good-sized dash of salt, which equals out to about a teaspoon. Mix everything together well.
- Mix in the strawberries, and pour the mixture into the metal canister of your ice cream maker. Then finish topping off the canister with whole milk, making sure to fill it about 3/4 of the way full, leaving room for expansion as it freezes. Your metal canister should have a fill line.
HOW TO FREEZE HOMEMADE ICE CREAM WITH AN OLD FASHIONED ICE CREAM MAKER
Freezing the strawberry mixture to make old-fashioned strawberry ice cream is fairly easy, especially once you get it going. You will need to stay with it so you can monitor if it needs more ice, rock salt, or needs unplugged when done.
While I always advise you to follow manufacturer instructions for your specific ice cream maker, here are a few tips. You can also read our old-fashioned ice cream maker guide for more tips and suggestions.
- Put the lid on, and place the metal canister down into the bucket of your ice cream maker.
- Crush a big bag of ice, gradually pouring ice around the canister. Tip: You can add up to a gallon of water if needed, as well. We sometimes do this because our motor will seize up. Adding a bit of water will help it keep turning.
- Add 2-3 cups of rock salt as you add the ice, making sure to top it off with rock salt.
- Let the motor run until it stops. Once the ice cream is frozen, the motor on your ice cream maker will stop churning. Unplug it immediately. This should signal that the ice cream is completely frozen.
Wipe any excess ice or rock salt off the lid and out from around the top of the canister. Then remove the lid.
Carefully remove the churning paddle, and serve the ice cream immediately.
If you’re not ready to serve it up just yet, you can always leave the lid on, remove the motor, top the canister off with ice, and place a towel or two over it to insulate it and keep it cold.
Mmmm, I love this homemade strawberry ice cream recipe. It's just so good!
WHERE TO FIND ROCK SALT
While you can find smaller bags or boxes of rock salt online and at the grocery store, sometimes you can get a bigger and less expensive bag at a hardware store or feed store.
ALTERNATIVE RECIPE OPTIONS
- Hand crush the strawberries with a potato masher, so you’ll have bigger chunks of berries in your ice cream.
- Instead of just straight strawberry, why not make it strawberry banana? Add a couple bananas in with the strawberries for added fruity flavor.
- You can make this a berry ice cream by adding all sorts of berries, including strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.
- Add both crushed frozen peaches and strawberries to your ice cream mixture.
WHAT GOES WITH STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM?
Top your ice cream with whipped cream and/or strawberry sauce.
If you happen to be making strawberry ice cream for the 4th of July, serve it up with my friend Kristy’s American Flag Cookie Cake or my Strawberry Jello Flag Cake. Yum!
It also pairs wonderfully well with a serving of gluten-free strawberry rhubarb crisp.
MORE HOMEMADE ICE CREAM RECIPES:
SHOP KITCHEN TOOLS FOR THIS RECIPE:
Blender or Potato Masher – for crushing the berries.
Mixer – A mixer will ensure you mix everything together really well.
Ice Cream Freezer – This is an ice cream maker recipe, so you’ll need a maker/freezer.
Food Storage Containers – We use dishes similar to these to store our ice cream in the freezer, especially when we have a big batch.
Ice Cream Scoop – Can’t have ice cream without a scooper.
GET THE PRINTABLE RECIPE
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Find my original recipe for strawberry ice cream over on Adventures of Mel!
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Old-Fashioned Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream
Ingredients
Ice Cream:
- 6 eggs*
- 3/4 cup pure cane sugar
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 36 ounces evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups crushed strawberries
- 6 cups whole milk
Freezing Supplies:
- 16 pounds ice
- 3 cups rock salt
Instructions
- Cream (or mix) the eggs and the sugar together using a mixer.
- Then add in the vanilla extract.
- Next, mix in the sweetened condensed milk, scraping all the ooey gooey liquid out of the can with a spatula.
- Add both cans of evaporated milk.
- Add in a good-sized dash of salt, which equals out to about a teaspoon.
- Mix in the crushed strawberries, mixing everything together well.
- Make sure your ice cream freezer, especially the canister, is washed out and ready.
- Pour the mixture into the metal canister of your ice cream maker.
- Finish topping off the canister with whole milk, making sure to fill it about 3/4 of the way full, leaving room for expansion as it freezes. Your metal canister should have a fill line.
- Put the lid on, and place the metal canister down into the bucket of your ice cream maker.
- Crush a big bag of ice, gradually pouring ice around the canister.**
- Add 2-3 cups of rock salt as you add the ice, making sure to top it off with rock salt.***
- Let the motor run until it stops. Once the ice cream is frozen, the motor on your ice cream maker will stop churning. This should signal that the ice cream is completely frozen.
- Unplug it immediately.
- Wipe any excess ice or rock salt off the lid and out from around the top of the canister. Then remove the lid.
- Carefully remove the churning paddle.
- Serve the homemade strawberry ice cream immediately. If you’re not ready to serve it up just yet, you can always leave the lid on, remove the motor, top the canister off with ice, and place a towel or two over it to insulate it and keep it cold.
WE were raised exactly this I often wonder back in time with all of us siblings cousins at my grandparents hose for a family get together there would be about 43 of us best I remember we had several churns going those were the days the good ole 70s.
is it ok to eat raw eggs like this?
Amy, we have never had trouble using raw eggs. We prefer the texture and flavor gained by using raw eggs. That being said, here are a couple of reader-generated tips… 1. Use pasteurized eggs. OR 2. Another reader shared, “I did bring the eggs (mixed with some of the milk) to 160 degrees, just how I have always done it.” I hope this helps!
I normaly do not eat raw eggs however we all of my family about 43 of us ate this ice cream all our lives ill just say GOD has protected us none ever got sick in anyway so go have some don’t second guess it. wonderful.
I”m having trouble finding a recipe for a 6 quart churn electric ice cream maker. I used to have one and it called for straberry yogurt. It was in a recipe book that came with the first electric churn ice cream maker I owned. Can anyone help me out. It was the best recipe I had. I would make ice cream a couple of times a week. Want to make it for my grandkids because they have never had homemade ice cream made in a churn before. There were nine kids in my family and everytime we had family together there would be two churn machines cranked by handle going and the kids would fight over who got to crank the churn.
Hey Cindalu, can you scale this recipe to work with a 6 quart? Homemade ice cream is a family tradition around here!
WE were raised exactly this I often wonder back in time with all of us siblings cousins at my grandparents hose for a family get together there would be about 43 of us best I remember we had several churns going those were the days the good ole 70s.
Sounds,like what I make when I do old fashioned homemade strawberry ice cream, but I don’t use eagle brand milk in mine. I am gonna try your recipe and I will let you know what my “experts” say….
That means my children. Thanks for the recipe.
Denise, thank you! I hope you all enjoy.