How To Make Ice Cream Without An Ice Cream Maker

This method of making ice cream requires quite a lot of time, effort and patience but for those who don't have an ice cream maker it means you can still enjoy homemade ice cream.

Once you have selected your ice cream recipe (it might be a popular one such as chocolate ice cream or an unusual one such as coconut ice cream) and have all your ingredients ready, make up the mixture following the recipe instructions. Make sure you have a bowl that is quite wide to use for the churning/freezing process that comes next.


Take your ice cream recipe mixture and carefully pour it into the bowl, then chill in the fridge for up to 2 hours, checking on it after 1 hour. The reason it can take longer than an hour is when a recipe mixture has had cooked ingredients added, therefore thorough chilling will take longer.

Take the bowl out of the fridge and transfer to the freezer for about half an hour. Then check just how much the mixture has frozen - ideally, it should have started to freeze at the edges but not fully through to the centre.

Take the bowl out of the freezer and  beat the ice cream mixture until it’s creamy once again (to dislodge and break up the ice crystals that have formed).

Put it back in the freezer for another half hour, then remove and once again beat with a whisk.

Do this again so that you have beaten the mixture a total of 3 times whilst freezing in between.

Put the mixture back into the freezer for a final time until it’s ready to eat. This can take anything from 30 minutes upwards, depending upon the quantity and type of ice cream you’re making and also how you like the consistency of your ice cream (some people like it softer, some harder).

Here is an example of an ice cream recipe that you can make without an ice cream maker. There are many more!

Author: Shelagh Caudle