This Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream is life-changing. It’s rich and creamy, and entirely dairy-free! All you need is 4 simple ingredients to make it.
For an extra-fun sundae, be sure to try my Magic Shell or Peanut Butter Magic Shell topping. The peanut butter addition makes it taste like a peanut butter cup sundae!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Coconut Milk. Use full-fat canned coconut milk. Don’t use the kind you’d buy in the refrigerated section, or a can of “lite” coconut milk, or you won’t get a classic, creamy ice cream texture.
- Cacao Powder. I tested this recipe with raw cacao powder, but I think dutch-processed cocoa powder will work similarly.
- Maple syrup. This natural sweetener works really well with chocolate flavored desserts, and it keeps this ice cream vegan-friendly. You can use honey, if you don’t need a vegan dessert, but keep in mind the honey flavor will be more noticeable, so you might want to start off with just half of the amount called for here.
- Vanilla extract. This boosts the overall flavor, but is optional.
Feel free to add in any extra flavorings you like, such as peppermint or almond extract, too. I’d start with just a 1/4 teaspoon at a time, and add more to your liking.
How to Make Coconut Milk Ice Cream
1. Blend. Add the 4 ingredient to a blender, and blend until completely smooth.
Note: If you don’t have a blender, you can whisk the ingredients together in a bowl until no clumps remain. Just make sure the coconut milk is totally smooth, as it can often separate in the can, and it’s important that it is totally creamy for the best ice cream results.
2. Freeze. You’ll get the best results if you pour this mixture into an ice cream maker and let it run for 30 to 35 minutes, until thick and creamy.
The ice cream will still be relatively soft (like soft serve) after running in the ice cream maker, but it will firm up if you transfer it to an airtight container and store it in the freezer for 4 to 6 hours, or overnight. It stays amazingly scoop-able, compared to other coconut milk recipes I’ve tried.
3. Enjoy! Scoop the ice cream into a dish or cone, and dig in! I love the rich chocolate flavor, which hides most of the coconut flavor.
How to Make it Without an Ice Cream Maker
Don’t have an ice cream maker? You can skip the machine and pour the blended chocolate mixture directly into an airtight container, instead. Place the container in the freezer and freeze for 8 to 10 hours, or overnight.
For the best texture, stir the ice cream every hour or two, to help incorporate some air into the mixture, making it more light and fluffy.
More Ice Cream Recipes
Looking for more dairy-free ice cream recipes? Try these!
- Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream (made with coconut milk)
- Coffee Ice Cream (made with cashews)
- Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (made with coconut milk)
- Pistachio Ice Cream (made with pistachios)
- Avocado Ice Cream
- Instant Peach Ice Cream
- Watermelon Sorbet
- Banana Ice Cream
Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 (13.5 oz.) can full-fat coconut milk (400 mL)
- 1/2 cup cacao powder (36 grams)
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup (241 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5 grams)
Instructions
- Be sure to freeze the bowl of your ice cream machine at least 24 hours in advance, if your ice cream maker requires it. In a blender, combine the coconut milk, cacao powder, maple syrup, and vanilla, and blend until smooth.
- Pour the mixture into the frozen bowl of your ice cream maker, and process until thick and creamy, about 30 to 35 minutes.
- Serve right away for a soft-serve consistency, or transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and store it in the freezer for 4 to 6 hours, for a more scoop-able consistecy. Leftover ice cream will keep well in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Update Note: This recipe was originally posted in 2012, and has been updated in August 2021. The original measurements were 1 (13.5 oz.) can coconut milk + 6 tablespoons cacao powder + 1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup) + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. The updated recipe gives a much better chocolate flavor and a less-icy texture compared to the original, so I hope you’ll enjoy it!
If you try this Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it.
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Reader Feedback: Which ice cream flavor would you like to see next?
Wow! Thank you Megan for this awesome food blog/recipes!! I am so excited to make this ice-cream!
L
Wow, this is awesome and just what I needed. I already love Coconut ice cream and this will be more cost effective in the long run to combat my once ice cream addiction with this nondairy frozen treat:)
Made this last night and it’s absolutely delicious, a great alternative to ice-cream!
I ate the 4 serving in one sitting!!!! It’s do good, but is it too bad to eat so much coconut milk in one sitting?
I’m not a fan of Coconut Milk so I subbed sugar free Vanilla Almond Milk. Only 30 calories per cup.
OMG! Just made this and it is amazing! Who needs actual ice cream?
should I freeze the mik and get the cream or should I use the whole can with water?i am always confused in this part
In this case, you use the whole can!
thank you.made it before I see your reply with coconut cream and it is veeery good.hard but good!!!will do it next time with the whole can but this way is also amasing.thank you so much
Can this be made with homemade coconut milk ?? And how do you make homemade coconut milk ??
Thank you
I’ve never tried making this ice cream any other way, so I can’t say for sure! The only way I can think of replicating canned coconut milk is by blending together the fresh meat and water of a young Thai coconut. That’s one of my favorite ways to make coconut milk, but you have to be comfortable hacking open the tough outer shell! Let us know if you have any success.
Made this tonight!! Been looking for an easy BUT yummy recipe and this is totally it!! I used sugar instead of honey as I read somewhere that it stops the ice cream from getting icey as well as a 1/3 teaspoon of gelatin to help with that alsoit tastes great and the part thats frozen is not icey which I’m really pleased about!! Thanks again for a great recipe 🙂
Can you use any other milk?? Whole milk or 2% milk??
If you add a few drops of peppermint essential oil, it makes it peppermint chocolate ice cream!
I tried this recipe two weeks ago and OMG was it amazing!!! It was delicious, easy to make, and a lot cheaper than the $5.00 coconut ice cream I normally buy. Thanks so much for this recipe!!!
I only had lowfat canned coconut milk. I first whipped some heavy cream in my blender (un-veganizing the recipe), and that seemed to give it a good consistency. I also blended in an entire avocado and about a tablespoon of cinnamon. Talk about delicious.
I am not sure if this posted, I may not have done it correctly, so here it is again. One person posted that they used liquid stevia, about 20 drops instead of honey or maple syrup. I am new to using liquid stevia, and it’s a very strong chemical taste, even though I use very little. Does it taste that way in this recipe, or does it taste like a nice sweet?
STevia is used in Southern America as a contraceptive.
An old study from 1930s was found,
Hi,
I am on a dairy free and gluten free diet. Yesterday, as I was looking up dairy free ice cream recipes, I stumbled upon your recipe here, and oh am I glad I did!
I made this recipe last night. I used TJ’s Reduced Fat Coconut Milk (because I didnt have a can of the full-fat version), cocoa powder, raw unfiltered local honey (which is.my new favorite craving-fixer), and vanilla extract, as your recipe called for.
It was SO delicious!! My mom, boyfriend, and I each had a serving after waiting about 5 hours for it to freeze up. The ice cream wa sa bit icy on the top, which I attributed to my using the lower-fat coconut milk, but the flavor was ALL there.
Next time I will be sure to use the full-fat coconut milk, and I am sure it will come out to be more of an ice “cream”.
Thank you for a wonderful recipe!! I give it 5 out of 5 stars!
I didn’t really expect this to look like the photo, but it does! So fantastic. I had to substitute stevia for honey, but it was still good.
Only bad thing, my kids like it. So now I have to share!
Thank you, thank you, thank you…SO good!
Do you mind letting me know how much stevia you use to make this icecream?
Hi – I cannot eat cocoa. Is it possible to make this with fruit. Any recommended adjustments to the recipe?
What is the recipe to make a gallon of this stuff? I have one of those old hand cranked ice cream freezers that make a gallon at a time.
I made this on the 4th of July for my mom and my daughter, who are lactose intolerant, while the rest of the family had homemade strawberry ice cream made with dairy ingredients. I used full fat cream of coconut and followed the recipe exactly. After blending everything together I tasted it. And then tasted it again. And again. And, well, you get the picture. Most of the mixture made it to the ice cream maker and it was the best ice cream I’ve ever had! I’ll be making this again and again!
My ice-cream turned crunchy not creamy. Any ideas on how to make sure its creamy like regular ice-cream and not crunchy like tiny ice chips?
Did you use full-fat coconut milk? The more fat in the milk, the creamier it will be! Also, if you let the ice cream sit on the counter for 10 minutes before serving, it should be more scoopable.
Hi Megan , I have just been put on a gluten dairy and sugar free diet for medical reasons and happened to stumble upon your chocolate ice cream recipe while surfing the net . I am really excited to try it. Which is the best brand of coconut milk to use for this recipe?
I was using heavy whipping cream + dutched equal exchange cocoa powder 100 + maple syrup ’cause all the full fat canned coconut milks had guar gum in them. But today I found Organic Natural Value Full Fat Canned Coconut Milk BPA Free that’s only coconut milk with no guar gum or any other additive preservative etc. in it. So now I can’t wait to try this tomorrow. Also I’m going to do a blackberry version too 😀 Here’s link to the coconut milk I’m referring too ->
http://www.naturalvalue.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/NaturalValue-OrganicCoconutMilk.pdf
Probably didn’t need the whole small tub of blackberries, but it’s good anyhoos. Next time I’ll use less blackberries 😉 And this is an awesome coconut ice cream base recipe to build on 😀 Thanks 🙂
Just an FYI, although the canned coconut milk link you posted looks ideal, not all of us live in the U.S. I’m Canadian and this company doesn’t sell that coconut milk here in Canada. It is available on amazon.ca for Canadians but the price is over $200 for 12 cans!!
Try Real Thai brand.
Hi
My partner and I are on the paleo diet and this recipe is just perfect!! It’s an awesome way to keep down the cravings for the sugary stuff. Thank you!
I have been making coconut milk ice cream for a few years. I use agave but must try honey. It is always a versatile base for any flavour. A few of my favourites are fresh raspberries with Limoncello and puréed strawberries with stewed rhubarb swirled in. I make a bourbon manhattan ice cream which is amazing!
Can u share your bourbon manhattan recipes please, Gayle?
This is amazing! It’s a million times better than the expensive store bought coconut ice cream and ridiculously easy! It really tastes like rich creamy regular ice cream.I haven’t had ice cream in over a year.I’m so happy now.
Thank you so much for sharing this?
I tried this last night for the first time. It is absolutely amazing! I had to wait until this morning to taste it and I was shocked at how great it turned out. It’s soft just like ice cream. I was worried that when I tried to scoop it would be hard as a rock but not this ice cream, it scoops out just like the kind you buy from the store. Thank you so much for this healthy alternative!
This was amazing. Rich, creamy, decadent, chocolatey, sweet…a perfect treat!
The taste was AbFab, like a fudgecicle. My first time making ice cream. It did get rock hard. Left it out for 30 minutes, but had to nuke it for 30 seconds at 30%. Makes me wonder what commercial ice cream making companies put in theirs that keeps it soft? Scary thought. I’ll take homemade, thank you very much! My husband told me to pour mix into the ice pop molds I have. Brilliant!
TWO THUMBS UP!
Hi from Brazil!
I am trying to do this receipe, but I dont’t know exactly how much of coconut milk I should add.
Anyone could give me a hand and convert it to the exact amount in liters, please!?
http://www.onlineconversion.com/cooking_volume.htm
Hi I am searching for a chocolate ice milk recipe, as it will be low fat. Your recipe sounds great, as well as easy. But it will be more “points” then premium ice cream on my Weight Watchers plan. Do you have any suggestions to make this into an “ice milk”?
Thanks.
If you have a good blender, I think you could add a spoonful of cocoa powder to this recipe: https://detoxinista.com/2013/04/almond-milk-slushie-2/
I put it in the freezer about an hour ago and then realized I didn’t put in any vanilla.
I recently had dairy free/egg free/gluten free/soy free soft serve ice cream at Babycakes bakery in Disney Springs. I LOVED it sooo much I knew I had to try to recreate it at home. In my recipe search I came across this recipe. Oh my word!!! This ice cream is absolutely AMAZING!!!.I added dairy free chocolate chips to it and a little almond extract too. Then I popped it in my ice cream maker and out came the most delectable ice cream ever!!! Even better than Babycakes!!! Thank you so very much…I have missed ice cream terribly, but no more!
Hi.
I have been using this recipe for over a year now. Just love it. You always combine the perfect amount of natural sweetener with flavour.
I was wondering if you have considered or tried adding a little bit of thickening agent such as guar gum to make it more creamy?
So. Have you made it into popsicles?
The work you invest into your site makes a tremendous difference in our lives.
Thanks
Take Care
Kelly
Just making sure my rating of 4 stars was included in previous question.
I just made this and used almond extract and added raw almonds. I have a Vitamix, so super easy. I’ve been stirring it every half hour so it would geeze nice and……
OMG…. You guessed it…… I ate the whole batch.. Best ice cream ever!
This was amazing. It’s better than the expensive store bought coconut ice cream and ridiculously easy!
This was great! So chocolaty. I’m looking forward to trying the almond variation. I used a whole vanilla bean and a pinch of salt, For scoopability, more sugar or 1-2T. alcohol (e..g vodka) are tricks. Oh, and I have an ice cream machine, so I used that, but the mix didn’t aerate very much, so I’m looking forward to trying simple freezing.
I made this ice cream 3 times in the past week and it’s an absolute crowd-pleaser! Thank you for this recipe! I have a quick question about the Native Forest brand coconut milk you recommend above. I’ve been trying for two years now to find the perfect canned coconut milk. I’ve settled on Trader Joe’s, simply because it’s organic (but it’s not BPA free can guaranteed) and affordable. But it separates so fast for me and it’s always a hassle to heat it before using it. The other day I made a coconut ice cream for which I had to heat the coconut-custard and let it cool in the fridge. By the time I wanted to to pour it in the ice-cream maker, it had separated and was a big mess. My friend suggested using coconut milk with a stabilizer, but I’m a little afraid of that. Now, I saw that this Native Forest brand uses organic guar gum (probably as a stabilizer?). Can you say something about that? Is that safe and healthy for me to buy in coconut milk? And do you have any experience with this coconut milk in terms of how fast it separates or stays liquid when stored in the kitchen? Thank you!! 🙂
i MADE THIS TODAY, AND IT’S NOT BAD. tHE CONSISTENCY IS LIKE ICE CREAM, BUT IT HAS A PRETTY BITTER TASTE. i WOULD SUGGEST JUST PUTTING 1/4 OF COCOA AND BUMPING UP THE HONEY/MAPLE SYRUP MEASUREMENT TO 1/3-1/2 CUP DEPENDING ON HOW SWEET YOU LIKE IT. oTHER THAN THAT IT WAS A SIMPLE RECIPE WITH A GREAT TURNOUT.
DElicious 😋 followed the recipe exact and it turned out amazing – thank yoi
Is there any way to make it less… chrystally? It tastes lovely but very ICey!
I made this foLlowing dirEctions.
The taste was sPectaCular. HOwever, thEre were Tiny ice cRystals in the ice cream whicH made The tExture less creamy and smooth.
Any ideas whAt could have hAppened? Or is this whats supposed to happen when it freezes?
Thanks!!
Would leaving the cocoa powder out make a palatable vanilla?
I would like to make a birthday treat for my son to take to school. They are nut, gluten, dairy and oat free. My son has requested vanilla ice cream. I was wondering if the cocoa is what pulls the flavor together in this recipe.
This seems really good, but i was wondering if i could do it with almond milk instead of coconut milk?
I doubt it in this case– the fat in the coconut milk is what causes this ice cream to thicken when frozen. Almond milk would just turn into hard ice.
This sounds awesome! Ihave one question
..Does the coconut milk need to be refrigerated first bwfore making it into icecream? To me it makes more sense!
The fat in the coconut milk separated in my ice cream maker. How do you prevent this?
Are you using unsweetened coconut milk?
Yes.
Just made this last night. It was amazing. Used Hershey special dark unsweetened. Almost too chocolatey. Loved taste and didn’t hink it was icy at all, but I did have some of the liquid leak out of my blender before mixing, so that might have helped!
I found this recipe too chocolatey and sweet. 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder? I think I didn´t quite understand which amount of cocoa I had to use. Next time I will use less cocoa powder and a bit less honey. Thanks for sharing
So easy, and so delicious! My family is on limited diet for medical reasons, and this was great to find. Thank you!