Blueberry Ice Cream with Fresh Blueberries (No Egg)
Homemade blueberry ice cream is one of the best parts of living in Oregon in the summertime, and this simple recipe is one of my favorites. It’s got a smooth and creamy base, chunks of fresh sweet blueberries, and just the right amount of sugar to make it irresistible. It’s time to pull out your ice cream maker and remind yourself just how easy it is to make your own blueberry ice cream at home.
Thank you, Oregon Blueberry Growers, for sponsoring today’s post. All opinions are my own.
Tastes Like Summertime in a Bowl
This creamy, dreamy blueberry ice cream is absolutely bursting with sweet blueberry flavor and one of the best desserts with fresh blueberries. It starts with whole blueberries, which are cooked down until they burst open and thicken into a sticky sweet sauce that looks and feels a lot like small-batch jam. Add that to a simple milk and cream base, then process it in your ice cream machine for a blueberry ice cream that will have them coming back for more.
Why We Love This Recipe
- It’s simple – only 6 ingredients, including the water.
- It’s easy – the process is broken down into three steps, which are covered with step-by-step instructions.
- It uses fresh, in-season blueberries that are bursting with flavor, which you can then enjoy from your freezer all summer long.
- It’s a kid-friendly crowd-pleaser that you’ll want to make year after year.
What You’ll Need
Of the six ingredients in this simple blueberry ice cream no eggs are included. Instead of relying on eggs to create that rich, creamy mouthfeel that makes real ice cream so satisfying to eat, we are relying on the fat content of both the whole milk and the heavy cream. That means there is no custard to cook, no thermometer to watch for food safety, and no extended cooling time.
You’ll also notice that we are using cardamom instead of something like vanilla. Cardamom is one of my favorite spices, and I find that it complements the blueberries so well in this recipe. If you are looking for pure blueberry flavor, it’s okay to omit it. If you don’t have it, it’s okay to replace it with vanilla extract. See the recipe card below for exact measurements.
Featured Ingredient: Fresh Oregon Blueberries
It’s summertime once again, and here in Oregon, that means it’s time to load up on fresh blueberries from your local U-pick blueberry farm. Being one of the nation’s top producers of blueberries, Oregon grows some of the best blueberries in the country, and a trip to a local farm to pick your own is an outing that’s fun for all ages. Blueberry production is so big here that even if you aren’t local, there is a good chance you can stock up on Oregon blueberries at your local grocery store.
Once you get those blueberries home, check out my expert tips to make your berries last, then decide how you want to use them. Are you putting them all into homemade dessert recipes? Or keeping some aside for other things? I always hold back a few handfuls to serve at breakfast with yogurt and brown sugar granola. Then, it’s time to pick out some blueberry recipes! Blueberry muffins are always delicious, but this year, my vote goes to this homemade, chunky blueberry ice cream.
Recommended Kitchen Tools
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- Measuring cups and spoons
- Wide, shallow pan
- Silicone spatula
- Ice cream maker
- Metal bread pan (to speed freezing)
- Freezer-safe, resealable storage container
Making Blueberry Ice Cream No Eggs – Step-by-Step Instructions
This blueberry ice cream is made in three steps: making the blueberry sauce, mixing and chilling the ice cream base, and then churning the ice cream in an ice cream maker. While the process is fairly simple, it is not something you want to leave for the last minute, as the ice cream will also need a few hours to freeze before you eat it.
1. Making the Blueberry Sauce
One of the biggest differences between this blueberry ice cream recipe and many of the others that you see floating around is how we use the blueberries. Instead of pureeing the berries and straining out the seeds and skins, we use the whole blueberry.
2. Mixing and Chilling the Ice Cream Base
3. Churning Homemade Ice Cream
Tips for Making Homemade Ice Cream
Making ice cream is fun, but it can also be messy, especially when dealing with blueberries that can cause staining. Based on my experience with making this ice cream, here are a few tips I can share.
- Remember to scrape the bottom and sides of your pan while cooking down the blueberries. This will keep them from sticking and burning.
- Your ice cream base will expand in size by about 50% of its volume as you churn it. Churning incorporates air and gives it that soft, smooth texture. To prevent messes, do not fill your ice cream maker more than 2/3 full. If you need to process half of it now and half of it later, that’s fine. The unprocessed mixture should keep a day or two in the fridge. If it separates, just stir it back together.
- Like my blackberry lime sorbet, I like to store my homemade ice cream in a metal bread pan covered with foil. Metal conducts cold more quickly than glass or plastic, so the initial freeze happens faster. If you aren’t serving it until the next day, storing it in a freezer-safe lidded container may be easier.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this homemade blueberry ice cream at a neighborhood get-together or summer birthday party, or hide it in your freezer and refuse to share. The choice is yours!
This homemade ice cream also makes great ice cream bars. Once you’ve processed it through the ice cream maker, transfer it into popsicle molds and freeze until solid. If you want to get even more adventurous, dip your ice cream bars in homemade magic shell for chocolate-covered blueberry ice cream bars.
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Blueberry Ice Cream with Fresh Blueberries (No Egg)
Ingredients
- 4 cups blueberries
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 teaspoon cardamom (optional)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- In a wide shallow pan combine blueberries, sugar, cardamom (if using), and water. Heat over a medium flame, simmering until blueberries soften and begin to burst open, about 5 minutes. Mash blueberries with a potato masher. Continue to cook until mixture thickens to the consistency of a sauce, about 5 – 10 minutes. Allow to cool 15 minutes.
- In a large bowl, preferably with a pour spout, measure out cold milk and cream. Stir in cooled blueberry sauce. Refrigerate 1 hour or more to cool completely. It’s completely normal if the mixture separates while cooling.
- Process ice cream in an ice cream churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Transfer ice cream to a freezer safe container and freeze until solid. About 8 hours.
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is for general information purposes only. For the most accurate information, calculate using your select brands and exact measurements.
Easy recipe to make. Great blueberry chunks. The cardamom adds a nice background flavor. A little too sweet though. I think you could knock the sugar down and it would improve the recipe significantly. Also not quite as creamy of a mouthfeel as other ice cream likely with eggs.
This ice cream is phenomonal. The longer it ripens in the freezer the better it gets. Aside from the fantastic flavor, the color is beautiful. I made the recipe as written, with the full amount of cardamom. The blueberries were fresh and exceptional in flavor–if they had been less intense I might have cut back on the spice. I am new to this site and look forward to trying more of your recipes–thank you!
This came out perfect! Thanks for such a great recipe
We must have done something wrong…although I have checked the recipe a dozen times…!
We left our mixture in the ice cream churned for hours but….
our mixture never turned into ice cream!
Oh no Patricia!! That’s the worst! I’m so sorry it didn’t work out. If you’ve checked the recipe multiple times and it still didn’t turn into ice cream, could the problem be with your ice cream maker? The kind I use is a kitchen aid mixer attachment that has to be frozen. If it sits out more than 30 minutes or so it’s not going to be cold enough to make ice cream. What kind of ice cream maker are you using? Did you completely chill the mixture before putting it into the ice cream maker?
Pretty tasty, but one teaspoon or cardamom was a bit heavy for our taste. The blueberry flavor got kind of buried, and the sweetness was less than store bought ice cream. Nice color, and I’d make this again, but with half as much cardamom. What do you think about incorporating a little almond extract?
Also I had to substitute 1/3rd brown sugar for white due to my store being sold out; maybe the brown was less sweet.
Thanks for posting this simple recipe. My family enjoyed this from cones with chocolate topping.
Hi Walter, I definitely think you could try it with almond extract, but a little goes a long way. I doubt that the brown sugar was less sweet, as the molasses in it adds a richness that is typically perceived as being sweeter than white sugar. The difference could have been in the blueberries. If your berries weren’t as sweet, it could effect the overall sweetness of the recipe. Next time, give the mix a taste after mixing the blueberries with the milk and cream. If you think it needs to be sweeter, melt the extra sugar in a very small amount of hot water to make a simple syrup before combining it with the ice cream base. This will ensure the sugar doesn’t all drop to the bottom and allow you to customize the amount of sugar that ends up in the ice cream. You should be able to add another 1/2 cup of sugar without compromising the structure of the ice cream.
Can I use all cream and no milk
Using all cream will give you a very rich and creamy ice cream, for some people this is great but for others the higher fat content can end up leaving a waxy film in your mouth. I am one that notices that waxy film and for that reason I do not recommend using all cream. If you do try it, I’d love to know your thoughts.
The recipe is good, it tastes great, but this WILL dye your ice cream machine blue/purple, permanently. If you’re ok with that (as I am), then enjoy!
Oh my goodness! I”m so sorry about your machine, but it sounds like it’s a color your can deal with. I dyed my mandoline an awful shade of pink when making my oven roasted root vegetables. While I hate the color, it was worth it for the dish and I can hide it in a cabinet. I”m glad you enjoyed the ice cream!
Renee
I love this recipe, but it takes far longer than you stayed here to cook down the blueberries, at least a half hour. This is not an ice cream to make if you’re in any kind of a hurry.
Agatha,
I’m sorry you struggled to get the blueberries to cook as quickly as you expected. I find that when I use a tall narrow saucepan instead of a wide flat saucepan it can definitely take longer than suggested. I hope the results were worth your trouble.
Renee
delicious
We are making this right now (currently churning!) – the only thing different was add a vanilla bean.
Jessica,
That sounds like a delicious addition!
Renee