I scream, you scream, we'll all be screaming for ice cream this summer—nondairy ice cream, that is. With a 42% increase in views year over year for "nice cream" recipes, it’s predicted people will be swapping out the dairy for alternatives made with coconut milk or oat milk.

And while you could certainly buy a pint at the grocery store, you could also try making your own nice cream. It’s an exciting idea because nice cream requires just a few ingredients for a delicious homemade version of everybody’s favorite classic summer dessert.


If you’ve never heard of it before, here’s what it is: Nice cream is a sugar-free, dairy-free dessert made by blitzing pieces of frozen fruit in a food processor or high-speed blender. This whole-food, vegan ice cream is rich, creamy, and luscious enough for a special occasion and yet light and easy enough for an anytime indulgence.

The term “nice cream” was originally coined to describe the soft serve–like confection made by blending chunks of frozen bananas, and the dense, sweet fruits remain the best for obtaining a custard-like consistency. It’s simple to make:

1. Freeze whole, peeled, ripe bananas until firm. The riper the bananas, the sweeter the nice cream.
2. Break 3 frozen bananas into 1-inch chunks (about 3 cups frozen fruit); then blend the chunks in a food processor or high-speed blender such as a Vitamix until smooth, adding up to ¼ cup plant milk if necessary. If you don’t have a high-speed blender, use a food processor. Frozen fruit may damage a less powerful blender.
3. Serve immediately for a soft-serve texture, or place in the freezer 1 to 2 hours for a firmer consistency. Longer freezing times may require a little room-temperature defrosting to make the nice cream scoopable.

But it’s not just about bananas. While several other fruits can serve as a nice cream base, not all fruits have the right balance of natural sugar and moisture to blend up to a perfectly creamy, soft-serve consistency. Here’s a list of tried-and-true fruits that do work well as a base and how to prep them:

MANGOES: peeled, cut into chunks
PEACHES, NECTARINES: peeled, pitted, quartered
APRICOTS: pitted and halved
HONEYDEW, CANTALOUPE: peeled, seeded, cut into chunks
HACHIYA PERSIMMONS: peeled, sliced
CHERRIES: pitted

Once frozen, blend 3 cups of the prepared fruit with up to ¼ cup plant milk until smooth. But don’t be afraid to experiment. Frozen berries, cherries, mango, pineapple, kiwi, persimmon, and other fruits can also be blended into your already-blended base fruit. Or, to add chunky texture, try folding in 1 cup chopped fresh or frozen fruit or nuts. Just avoid fruits that brown quickly or are high in moisture, such as apples and pears.

And once you’ve mastered the basics, start creating your own nice cream flavor combinations. Try classic chocolate (bananas + cocoa powder) and creamy pistachio (banana + pistachio butter) to exotic acai (base fruit + frozen acai purée) or summery strawberry basil (base fruit + strawberries + chopped basil). Here’s a rundown of flavorings you can add to your nice cream:


1 to 2 tablespoons nut butter
2 to 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, cacao powder, or carob powder
¼ cup frozen acai purée
¼ to ½ cup passionfruit purée
½ to 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon or cardamom
1 pinch ground nutmeg
¼ to ½ teaspoon, almond, lemon, or coconut extract
1–2 tablespoons citrus (lemon, lime, or orange) juice
1–2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil, rosemary, mint, or lemon verbena
1–2 teaspoons rose or orange flower water

We’ve been doing nice cream at our house for a couple years now and really like it for a few reasons: it’s plant-based, it’s easy to digest (as opposed to dairy), it’s inexpensive, and it’s nutrient dense. If you like this idea, then take a look at one of our favorite recipes for cherry nice cream. This really satisfies!




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    Alice Osborne
    DVO Newsletter Contributor since 2006
    Email the author! alice@dvo.com