No-Churn Cream Cheese Ice Cream Recipe

A simple recipe for Cream Cheese Ice Cream – creamy, cold, and requires no ice cream maker! Just what the doctor ordered on hot summer days.

Homemade ice cream can be finicky, it can curdle, scald, or be too icy.

Then there’s the whole ice cream machine thing.

You have to freeze the base way in advance in order for it to get cold enough and sometimes even if the base is cold, the machine still doesn’t get the ice cream frozen fast enough resulting in super dense or worse, over-churned ice cream.

For all these reasons I’ve been really intrigued by this very popular no-churn method.

Essentially you combine sweetened condensed milk with whipped cream and freeze.

So super easy!

But when I made it I also found the result to be so super sweet.

To combat the one-dimensional sweetness I added a Jeni’s trick–softened cream cheese.

At first, just a little, but the more I added, the richer, creamier, and more complex the ice cream became until before I knew it, I had added the entire eight-ounce block—without a hint of regret I might add.

Indulgent and tangy this ice cream scoops up in big, milky scoops and is full of luxurious vanilla flavor.

The classic vanilla is excellent on its own or topped with sundae essentials like chocolate sauce and M&M’s but I also easily turned this basic ice cream into two other flavors for our Friends Who Fete ice cream social last weekend.

The first got a boozy swirl of blueberries and mezcal and the second got a one-two punch of Mexican Hot Chocolate Sauce and crispy churro bites.

But really, the options are endless.

Other easy mix-ins could be basic childhood favorites like Oreo cookies or chocolate chips or more sophisticated types might like brandied cherries or chopped chocolate truffles or what about both of those at the same time.

Oo. La. La.

Because Who Doesn’t Love Ice Cream?

Seriously though, this creamy cream cheese ice cream is so good and so easy, it’s pretty impossible not to love. Try the recipe, and let me know how you like it, OK? Share a photo and tag me on Instagram @holajalapeno and #holajalapeno so that we can see your scoops! Happy eating!

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All photos courtesy of This Mess Is Ours