How To Make Ice Cream Without Eggs

How To Make Ice Cream Without Eggs

Faith Durand
Jul 12, 2015
(Image credit: Faith Durand)

We've been talking ice cream all week (it's Ice Cream Week at The Kitchn!), but let's take a step back here for a minute and get down to basics. If you've never made ice cream at home but want to give it a try, start here.



Here is a very basic, very simple, nearly foolproof recipe for making ice cream. Instead of the traditional egg custard base, it uses cornstarch and a few tablespoons of cream cheese to thicken the base. It's not enough that you taste the cream cheese, but just enough to give the ice cream a creamy, silky mouthfeel.

More Options for Basic Ice Cream

The "ice cream base" is the creamy, liquid stuff that becomes ice cream after freezing. Making a cooked ice cream base is essentially identical to making homemade pudding or custard. In this recipe I show you the Jeni's method, but here's an overview of your basic options, since this isn't the only way to do it.

  • Custard is perhaps the most classic, and you can see how to make it in this post: How To Make Vanilla Ice Cream. This involves cooking egg yolks with cream and sugar. The egg yolks help the ice cream stay ice-free and rich on the tongue. Some people don't like the eggy taste so much, though.
  • Philadelphia-style is made with just cream, sugar, and flavorings. It replaces the egg yolks with just fat from the cream. It's quite simple, and you can read more about it here.
  • No-Churn Ice Cream doesn't require any cooking at all. Sweetened condensed milk, with its concentrated milk fat, is a frequently occurring ingredient here. Here's a detailed look at how you can make this yourself: How To Make No-Cook, No-Churn, 2-Ingredient Ice Cream.

Ice Cream Churning & Freezing Options

  • Freeze-the-Bowl Home Ice Cream Maker: The most popular and common way of making ice cream at home is with a "freeze-the-bowl" model. This includes the KitchenAid bowl attachment, and the very popular Cuisinart ice cream maker (reviewed here). These are all relatively inexpensive options (you can find these attachments or machines for between $40 and $70), but you need extra freezer space to freeze the ice cream bowl until the special fluid inside is rock-hard. Then you put in your chilled ice cream base, and let the machine stir the ice cream until it is mostly frozen. You can only make one batch at a time before you need to refreeze the bowl overnight again.
  • Compressor-Model Ice Cream Maker: These ice cream makers have a built-in freezer so you don't need to freeze the bowl or any of the components. Just pour in ice cream and turn on the switch. You can make many back-to-back batches like this, and the quality and consistency of the ice cream is quite similar to the freeze-the-bowl models. They are more expensive, though (running about $300). See our review here of a Cuisinart model.

How To Make Ice Cream Without Eggs

Makes 1 quart

What You Need

2 1/4 cups whole milk, divided
5 teaspoons cornstarch
2 ounces cream cheese, very soft
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 small- to medium-sized prep bowls
Big bowl
Ice cream maker
Shallow freezer container with lid
Plastic wrap or waxed paper


  1. Make the cornstarch slurry: In your first small bowl, whisk the cornstarch together with 1/4 cup of milk. Whisk thoroughly to make sure the milk and cornstarch are smoothly combined. You can reach into the bowl and rub out any lumps between your fingertips if you want to be really sure.
  2. Smooth out the cream cheese: In your second small bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth, then whisk in an additional 1/4 cup milk. Whisk in the salt.
  4. Remove the hot milk from the heat.
  6. Chill the ice cream base: Chill this ice cream base for at least 4 hours or overnight in the fridge. You can also pour your ice cream mix into a bag and submerge it in ice water. This will chill your base very fast and very thoroughly, although it is a bit of mess and hassle to deal with.
  9. Harden the ice cream in the freezer: No matter what kind of ice cream maker you use, the freshly churned ice cream will still be very soft and even runny after it has been churned. In order to get that scoopable texture, and to let the flavors meld and bloom, it's best to freeze the ice cream for at least a few hours before eating. Scrape the ice cream into a shallow container (to help it freeze faster) and, just like when making custard or pudding, cover the surface of the ice cream completely with plastic wrap or waxed paper. Seal with a lid and freeze for a few hours. Then scoop and enjoy!

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