Strawberry N’ice Cream Recipe

This all-natural Strawberry N’ice Cream recipe is a deliciously, refreshing treat for a warm day!

Few things scream “summer” like a nice big basket of strawberries. But when things really warm up around here, the first thing I look for is ice cream (some old habits just never die!).

An angled view of a small white bowl filled with Strawberry N'ice Cream.

Thankfully, I have this homemade strawberry ice cream recipe made with simple ingredients to keep me from overeating on the real stuff! I love soft-serve ice cream, so this is the most perfect ice cream recipe I can possibly make in the summer months. And you won’t even need an ice cream maker!

What Is N’ice Cream?

It’s ice cream made with a frozen banana base instead of a cream or custard base. It’s made by blending frozen banana slices in a food processor and then adding other fruits to create different flavors. So another name for this recipe could be, strawberry banana ice cream. Because those are really the only ingredients outside of the milk I used to get it all to blend.

A small white bowl holds several scoops of Strawberry N'ice Cream.

Does N’ice Cream Taste Like Bananas?

It can if you want it to. Here’s a general idea:

Green bananas – Yes, they are edible and healthy. Use them if you want to lessen the flavor of bananas in your ice cream. Using these may require the addition of sweetener in your N’ice cream.

Yellow bananas – These are great for a nice banana flavor that isn’t overpowering. They are great for tropical flavors.

Browning bananas – I don’t mean completely brown or black, I just mean a few small brown spots here and there. These are great for when you want the banana flavor to truly shine through.

Black bananas – Please throw them in the garbage, compost heap, or freezer for banana bread.

What Liquids Should I Use For Strawberry N’ice Cream?

You have to use a small amount of some sort of liquid, otherwise, you will end your food processor for good. Small amounts of milk or plant-based milk are best. Avoid adding water or juice because they crystalize too much when frozen and will give you icy N’ice cream instead of creamy N’ice cream.

  • If you don’t do dairy, oat milk, almond milk, or cashew milk are all great choices here. Coconut milk works great for tropical flavors.
  • If you do dairy, you can use milk or even cream. I recommend whole-fat milk instead of nonfat milk. You want a little milkfat to help keep this from getting too icy.

You can play around with different types of milk to alter the flavor of your N’ice cream too.

A closeup of a small white bowl with several scoops of Strawberry N'ice Cream in it.

Strawberry N’ice Cream Additions

Try adding any of the following to play around with the natural flavor of this recipe:

  • Pure vanilla extract
  • Almond extract
  • Frozen pineapple (divide use half the strawberries, and replace the other half with the frozen pineapple)
  • Frozen peaches (divide in half as mentioned above)
  • Lemon juice
  • Sweetener – Any kind you like if your fruit isn’t sweet enough.
  • A tiny pinch of salt to help bring out the sweetness.

Dietary Adjustments

This N’ice cream has no added soy, eggs, wheat, whey, peanuts (or nuts in general unless you use a nut-based milk) high fructose corn syrup, guar gum, xanthan gum, artificial flavor and more. You only have to watch the ingredients in the milk you choose.

Gluten-Free – This is naturally gluten-free unless you add something to it that contains gluten.

Vegan – This is naturally vegan unless you use dairy milk for your liquid.

Sugar-Free – Unless you add sugar to this, the only sugars are naturally occurring in the fruit.

Keto – Unfortunately, this is not adaptable to a keto eating plan. However, you can try making something similar with just heavy cream and frozen strawberries. Strawberries are one of the lowest-carb fruits.

A wood spoon scoops out some frozen Strawberry N'ice Cream from a loaf pan.

About The Ingredients

Frozen bananas – You will have to slice bananas ahead of time and freeze them. Slice them thin (about a ¼ inch), and lay them in a single layer on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Freeze them overnight, and the next day, peel them off the parchment. You can either use them immediately for N’ice cream or put them in a container and toss them back in the freezer for future N’ice cream recipes.

Frozen strawberries – No sugar added.

Milk  -dairy or non-dairy.

How To Make Strawberry N’ice Cream

Slices, frozen bananas on parchment paper.

Freeze your bananas as instructed above.

Slice frozen bananas being put into a food processor.
Frozen strawberries added to frozen banana slices in a food processor.
Pouring milk into frozen strawberries and bananas in a food processor.

Place all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor.

Partially blended Strawberry N'ice Cream in a food processor. A wood spoon tamps down some of the blended fruit.
Fully blended Strawberry N'ice Cream in a food processor.

Pulse the processor first several times to get things started without your blade getting stuck. Once things are a little more chopped up, you will blend in increments, stopping the processor to tamp down the ingredients several times until completely blended. Add more milk as needed to avoid your processor motor from burning out.

Scraping the Strawberry N'ice Cream our of the food processor bowl and into a loaf pan.
The Strawberry N'ice Cream smoothed out in a loaf pan.

Once everything is fully blended and smooth, you’ll transfer the strawberry mixture to a loaf pan and store it in the freezer for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

A wood spoon scoops out some frozen Strawberry N'ice Cream from a loaf pan.
A loaf pan of Strawberry N'ice Cream with some of the Strawberry N'ice Cream dug out of the middle. A spoon rests in the hole.

Remove it from the freezer and let it sit on the counter for about 10 minutes, or until it’s easy to scoop.

A small white bowl holds several scoops of Strawberry N'ice Cream. A spoon rests in front of the bowl with a bit of N'ice cream on it.

Serve and enjoy.

Storage And Freezing Strawberry N’ice Cream

Keep this in the freezer at all times unless you are setting it out to soften. If packed well in an airtight container, this will freeze for up to 4 months.

Recipe Supplies

For this recipe, you’ll need either a good food processor or a YoNanas Machine. If you use a YoNanna machine, please omit the milk in the recipe. I do not recommend using a standing mixer or blender for this recipe.

More Healthy N’ice Cream Recipes

Copyright Information For The Gracious Pantry
An angled view of a small white bowl filled with Strawberry N'ice Cream.

Strawberry N’ice Cream

A deliciously easy-to-make ice cream you won’t mind having a second helping of!
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Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 7 servings
Calories: 138kcal

Equipment

  • 1 Food processor

Ingredients

  • 4 cups sliced, frozen bananas
  • 2 cups frozen strawberries (no sugar added)
  • ½ cup milk (dairy or non-dairy – you may need more than this. This is the amount you start with. Add more add needed to keep things blending well. A full cup to a cup and a half is not unusual.)

Instructions

  • Freeze your bananas as instructed above.
    Slices, frozen bananas on parchment paper.
  • Place all ingredients into a food processor.
    Pouring milk into frozen strawberries and bananas in a food processor.
  • Pulse the processor first several times to get things started without your blade getting stuck. Once things are a little more chopped up, you will blend in increments, stopping the processor to tamp down the ingredients several times until completely blended. Add more milk as needed to avoid your processor motor from burning out.
    Partially blended Strawberry N'ice Cream in a food processor. A wood spoon tamps down some of the blended fruit.
  • Once everything is fully blended and smooth, you'll transfer it all into a loaf pan and store it in the freezer for about 1½ to 2 hours.
    Scraping the Strawberry N'ice Cream our of the food processor bowl and into a loaf pan.
  • Remove it from the freezer and let it sit on the counter for about 10 minutes, or until it's easy to scoop.
    A wood spoon scoops out some frozen Strawberry N'ice Cream from a loaf pan.
  • Serve and enjoy.
    A small white bowl holds several scoops of Strawberry N'ice Cream. A spoon rests in front of the bowl with a bit of N'ice cream on it.

Notes

Please note that the nutrition data below is a ballpark figure. Exact data is not possible.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 138kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 546mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 110IU | Vitamin C: 35.4mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 0.5mg

Recipe from the Gracious Pantry® archives, originally posted on 8/25/11.

Author: Tiffany McCauley

Title: Food and Travel Journalist

Expertise: Food, cooking, travel

Bio:

Tiffany McCauley is a nationally syndicated journalist and an award-winning cookbook author and food blogger. She has been featured on MSN, Huffington Post, Country Living Magazine, HealthLine, Redbook, and many more. Her food specialty is healthy comfort food recipes.

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33 Comments

  1. can you stick it in the freezer or would it become as hard as a rock?
    Becky

    1. graciouspantry says:

      I would probably become pretty hard.

  2. is this supposed to be a smoothie? I’m not getting ice cream. its more like when the ice cream melts into a soup and its all gross

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Rachel – No, something is wrong. It should be like soft serve ice cream or yogurt. Add more frozen bananas.

  3. Is the rice cooked or raw?

    1. The Gracious Pantry says:

      Breyani – It’s rice milk. Not rice.