Lemon Ice Cream (No Special Equipment)

Watch my best lemon ice cream recipe web story here.

Why You Need to Make This Recipe

This lemon ice cream is a winner, friends. Here’s why you’ll love it:

I really do hope you give this recipe a try, my friends.

One of the nicest things about it, apart from the flavor and texture, is that it’s very easy to make.

No cooked base.

No high-speed whipping in a stand mixer like a traditional no-churn ice cream.

No need to use an ice cream maker.

So How Does It Freeze and Get Creamy?

Fair question.

To make this ice cream, once you make the base, put it in a bowl and put it in the freezer.

Every 45 minutes or so, whisk it really well, making sure to scrape the more frozen bits from the sides of the bowl into the center and whisking until the mixture is smooth.

Over time, the mixture will get thicker and more frozen until it is the same texture it would be if you used an ice cream maker.

At that point, just press plastic wrap on the surface of the ice cream and allow it to finish freezing.

With an ice cream maker, the dasher (the mixer blade for the machine) keeps scraping the colder bits along the sides of the metal container into the center. Since it happens continuously, the mixture gets to the soft-serve stage in about 20-25 minutes.

For this ice cream, your whisk performs the same job, but it takes longer since you can’t sit in the freezer and whisk continuously!

How to Make It

This will go pretty quickly because this is a very easy process. If you’d like to skip straight to the recipe, though, you can here.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make this ice cream. I will provide substitutions where applicable.

• cream cheese: Cream cheese adds a little tang and body, and it contributes to the “scoopability” of straight out of the freezer
• powdered sugar: You can also use granulated sugar. In that case, I’d stir it into the lemon juice until it is completely dissolved. If you want a slightly less-sweet dessert that is much firmer straight out of the freezer, you may omit this.
• sweetened condensed milk: Adds the bulk of the sweetness and some volume without adding a lot of extra water, so it also contributes to the creamy mouthfeel
• heavy cream: Adds enough butterfat to make the texture nice and creamy
• half and half: Adds a little more fat, but since half and half is half cream and half whole milk, you also get more water which ultimately contributes to how firmly the ice cream sets. If you want an even firmer texture, you may substitute whole milk for the half and half
• salt: Brings all the flavors into focus and counteracts any bitterness you may get from the lemons
• lemon zest: Adds the floral and sweet lemon notes and rounds out the lemon flavor profile
• lemon juice: Adds more volume, more water, and the sour tanginess you expect from lemons. Using either zest or juice will not result in a well-rounded lemon flavor. You need both
• turmeric: This is optional to add a slightly creamy yellow color. You only need a very little bit, so add judiciously unless you want to taste the astringent, earthy flavor of the turmeric. You can also use a drop of yellow food coloring or just leave the coloring out entirely

Procedure

This is a very easy ice cream base to put together. No stand mixer. No stove. No straining.

Here’s the order of operations:

1. Soften cream cheese in the microwave for 30-40 seconds until very soft. Whisk it well until there are no lumps at all.
2. Add the sugar and salt and whisk well to combine.
3. Pour in the sweetened condensed milk, whisking well to combine.
4. Follow by adding the cream and half and half.
5. Once all of that is mixed until it’s very smooth, add the lemon zest and lemon juice and whisk.

Only add turmeric or yellow food coloring if you want your ice cream to be a little lemony in color. Neither adds anything to the flavor or the creaminess of the base.

Freezing Instructions

Once you have the base made, it’s time to freeze it. The trick is to be able to freeze it and keep the creamy texture.

If you just pour it into a bowl and allow it to freeze, it would taste good, but it would be a bit too icy and not as creamy.

So, be your own ice cream maker and put the bowl of base in your freezer, whisking the mixture very well every 45 minutes or so, until it is about the texture of soft-serve.

The collage below is from my post on making butterscotch ice cream. But it’s the same procedure.

I’m sharing it here so you can get an idea of what the texture should be after whisking.

Note that the butterscotch base uses a cornstarch-thickened milk mixture and is thicker than the lemon base will be. Because it’s thinner, it will take more than 3 rounds of whisking to get the lemon ice cream to the proper texture.

Use the tines of the whisk to scrape the more frozen parts of the mixture into the center to evenly distribute the ice crystals and control their size (by busting them up with the whisk) as they freeze.

You’ll know you’re done when it takes a fair bit of effort to whisk the base.

Just like an ice cream maker slows down once it’s is ready, you’ll slow down too!

Tips and Tricks for Success

My favorite way of juicing lemons is by using a spoon. Just insert the spoon into the center of a cut half of a lemon and squeeze around it, wiggling the spoon back and forth to get to all the pulp.

For the smoothest base, mix the thickest ingredients together first and finish with the thinner ingredients. Adding cream cheese to a very liquid base almost guarantees your base will be lumpy.

Variations

• Lemon Swirl Ice Cream: After freezing and whisking until your base is at soft-serve stage, layer spoonfuls of lemon curd in with your lemon ice cream base. Use a knife to swirl the two together a bit before freezing completely.
• Lemon Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream: Once your ice cream is at soft serve stage, remove about 1/3 of it to another bowl and whisk in 1 1/2-2 Tablespoons of freeze-dried raspberry powder. Then layer the two together, using a knife to swirl them together. You can also so this with strawberry powder, mango powder, blueberry powder.
• Lemon Blueberry Swirl ice Cream: Rather than using freeze-dried fruit powder whisked into the base, you can also dollop spoonfuls of jam into your base and swirl to combine. Use blueberry jam, cherry jam, raspberry jam, etc.

Equipment You May Need

As I’ve said before, you don’t need any special equipment other than a fine mesh strainer, whisk and a large bowl to make this recipe.

If you don’t have a Microplane for zesting your lemons (and so many more uses), I highly recommend you pick up one or two. Very useful!

Should you want to churn this in a conventional churn, you certainly may.

This is the ice cream churn I own and use:

Lemon Ice Cream Q & A

Serving Suggestions

Make a fruity, summertime sundae by topping your lemon ice cream with some mixed berry Chambord sauce and some hand-whipped cream.

Serve a scoop with lemon pound cake or whipping cream pound cake.

Make some delicious ice cream sandwiches by sandwiching two oatmeal cookies or ginger cookies together with some tangy goodness.

Or just enjoy it straight from the container. Although you may want to use a bowl. Portion control can be a problem!

Other Lemon Recipes to Enjoy

I could share other ice cream recipes with you, but I figure if you’re here for lemon ice cream, you may be more interested in lemon recipes than ice cream recipes.

I think you may really enjoy my crunchy and very delicious lemon cooler cookies. If you were a fan of the originals and have been sad they no longer manufacture them, this recipe is about as close to the original as you can get.

If you like to add a punch of lemon to savory dishes, you may want to try my friend Beth’s recipe for preserved lemons. It’s great in everything from vinaigrettes to hummus to poultry dishes.

For a bright, punchy lemon dessert that also is a show stopper, try my lemon meringue tart made with homemade Graham crackers and topped with poofy swirls of browned meringue.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this or any other recipe or post on the site, there are a few ways to get in touch.

You can leave a comment on the post, and I’ll be back in touch within 24 hours.

If your question is more pressing, don’t hesitate to email me, and I should be back in touch within 4 hours (unless I’m asleep) or often much more quickly than that.

A Note About Measurements

This is the kitchen scale that I recommend for home cooks and bakers. Using a scale will help you be more accurate and consistent in your measurements.

It is lightweight, easy to store, accurate, and very easy to use.

Love This? Please Share It and Review It!

I hope you’ve learned something from this post or that you’ve decided to make the recipe.

It would really help me and other readers out if you’d rate the recipe using the star ratings in the recipe card.

It’s also very helpful to me and to other readers if you leave a comment and/or a recipe review.

Thank you so much for being here and for helping others find my recipes by sharing on your social platforms!

Thanks so much for spending some time with me today.

I hope you enjoy this lemon ice cream recipe. I think you’ll find it really refreshing.

Take care, and have a lovely day.