Best Ever Keto Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Recipe
Sweet & creamy low-carb ice cream that is out of this world!
Forget store-bought keto-approved ice cream. If you’re anything like me, you’d rather save your hard-earned money than spend it on the ice-milk texture and odd, powdery mouthfeel of most freezer aisle options. What’s worse, these fad low-carb ice creams are seriously expensive. And let’s be honest, we typically purchased them out of dieter desperation rather than genuine enjoyment.
On the other hand, this homemade keto vanilla bean ice cream is actually amazing! It tastes just like the real thing, is super easy to make, and is ready in a jiffy.
Best Ever Keto Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
yield: 12 SERVINGS
prep time: 5 MINUTES
cook time: 45 MINUTES
total time: 50 MINUTES
This amazing keto ice cream tastes just like the real thing, is super easy to make, and is ready in a jiffy! ---> Please note, this recipe requires a 2-quart electric ice cream maker.
Ingredients
- 1 cup allulose (or 3/4 cup erythritol)
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 vanilla bean (halved and scraped, reserving seeds)
- 2 large eggs (use pasteurized shell eggs or Egg Beaters if you have safety concerns about consuming raw eggs)
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- a few pinches sea salt
Directions
1
In a small bowl, mix together sweetener, xanthan gum, and vanilla bean seeds until fully combined. Set aside.
2
In a bowl (or directly in your ice cream basin), beat eggs (or Egg Beaters) using a whisk or electric hand mixer on low speed. Gradually add the sweetener mixture until combined. Add heavy cream, almond milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Mix until ingredients are evenly incorporated.
3
Pour mixture into your 2-quart electric ice cream maker. Process until thick & frozen. Enjoy!
Additional Notes
Store ice cream in the freezer in an airtight storage container or in a homemade ice cream storage tub. (See SUMO storage containers under Hip Tips.)
Regarding Nutritional Information: Allulose carb values are shown in the nutritional breakdown under Sugar Alcohols. While allulose is NOT a sugar alcohol, we deem it can be subtracted from total carbs to determine the net carb value. Researchers have found allulose to have no impact on blood glucose levels.
Nutrition Information
Yield: 12 serving, Serving Size: 1/2 cup
Amount Per Serving:
225 Calories | 23g Fat | 14g Total Carbs | 0g Fiber | 12g Sugar Alcohol | 2g Protein | 2g Net Carbs
About Allulose:
If you haven’t already heard, allulose is my new FAVE keto sweetener! When using allulose, I don’t experience the tummy troubles that I often have with erythritol and xylitol.
Allulose is not a sugar alcohol but is actually a naturally occurring, zero-glycemic, sugar-like substance that is found in only a few foods including figs, jackfruit, and raisins. Allulose has 70% the sweetness of sugar so you need to adjust accordingly when replacing allulose for sugar (or erythritol) in recipes.
I buy it in bulk from Amazon. This is by far the cheapest way that I’ve found to purchase allulose—I use my Amazon Subscribe and Save account to save an additional 15% and I score Ketstone Pantry Allulose for about $8.50/lb. Woot!
Hip Tips:
- For this recipe, you will need a 2-quart ice cream maker. If you want one that doesn’t require freezing the drum first, check out this top-rated ice cream maker by Whynter. My sis swears by hers.
- An affordable option (that DOES require pre-freezing the drum) is Cuisinart’s Pure Indulgence Ice Cream Maker. This is what I use personally and I think it’s fabulous!
- If you’re going to be making homemade ice cream regularly, I highly recommend buying Ice Cream Storage Containers. These containers allow for easy scooping and reduce the risk of freezer burn. Yay!!
Feelin’ fruity? Try our Keto Raspberry Cheesecake Ice Cream!
Where is a good place to purchase vanilla beans?
Hi Kristina! You may be able to find them at your local grocery store or even Walmart! Hoping that helps!
You can also try Penzey’s Spices. If you sign up for their email list they will have free shipping on $20 at least once a month or so. They also offer good deals on free or discounted spices from time to time. (I will warn you that he is passionate about his political views and will write about them often in his emails.)
Thanks so much for the suggestion! Good to know!
Vainilla beans are not available at Walmart in Puerto Rico.
This recipe is fantastic! I did have to modify to use ingredients I had on hand. Subbed 2/3 lakanto monkfruit sweetener for the allulose and used 1.5 T. Vanilla extract instead of the bean. Going to try a coffee version with roasted almonds and dark chocolate pieces. Thanks for the great recipe!
Oh yum! You’re welcome, Kim! Let us know how your next version turns out!
The coffee one was delicious. I used 1 Starbucks Via package and used 2 t. Vanilla. I also just used this to make a maple nut version. Used 1 t. Mapleine and 1 t. Vanilla then added a heaping 1/2 cup of chopped pecans. It was heavenly!!! This base is so versatile. Thanks again!
That sure sounds delicious, Kim! You’re very welcome! Thanks so much for your helpful update!
Do you notice that monk fruit prevents thorough freezing?
Just made this using 3/4 cup pyure – a combo of heavy cream, half and half, and almond milk (basically what was left in the fridge before shopping for the week) – two thumbs up from the kiddos and one from me too – thanks for sharing this recipe, its a keeper!
You’re welcome, Amy! Happy to hear both you AND your kiddos liked it! 🙂
Finally! I found a base Keto recipe that works for us. I think next time I might cut back a bit on the allulose and add some erythritol or stevia (it has a slight aftertaste to me) but the texture is spot on and perfectly scoopable the next day (which is when we had our first bowls). Thank you thank you! Now I can experiment with additives to make different flavors. This was my fourth try at making a batch that worked for us making 2 Qt batches. We didn’t throw any out but the other batches were just tolerable.
How fun! You’re SO very welcome, Shannon! I bet there are a ton of different flavor ideas that can be made. Enjoy!
Finally, a keto ice cream that I can scoop after being in the freezer overnight. I made chocolate with roasted almond and maple pecan and both are delicious. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Yay! That’s awesome to hear! You are SO very welcome, Kimmy G!
This recipe is so decadent. I used only heavy cream (didn’t have any almond milk) and some matcha green tea powder. The texture was so good, almost sinful 😱. Only issue I had was that I made it a tad too sweet. I used 1/2 a cup of Allulose (that stuff is so expensive) and a 1/4 cup of Pyure. I added way too much Pyure 😂
Thanks a bunch for letting us know how it turned out for you, Rina!
I love how easy it was to make and scoop. As others have mentioned, most keto ice cream recipes harden in the freezer. I had expected this one to be the same and was pleasantly surprised when it scooped with ease! As far as the flavor, I was craving intense vanilla flavor. As I finished mixing as written, I tasted and just didn’t get the flavor I was looking for. I ended up using 2 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (instead of the bean), and 2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. It was delicious!
Oh good! Happy it turned out nice and creamy for you, Rene R! Thanks for letting us know how you added the vanilla flavoring!
This was the best Keto Ice Cream I’ve ever had! It reminds me of Culver’s frozen custard that we can get throughout the Midwest. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
You’re SO very welcome, Christina! Glad to hear how much you enjoyed it! 🙌🎉
This was a very high ratio of cream to milk (3:1). Surely the same result can be achieved with a 1:1 ratio?
Super good recipe! Could I use this as a base for coffee flavored ice cream?
Yes! If you scroll up in the comments, you can see another reader did it. She even tells you what she added.
This makes the best ice cream! Would not know it was Keto and sugar free unless someone told me!
Hi Beverly! Awesome. I’m so glad you loved it❤
I’ve made this several times now and it’s just heavenly! I’ve made vanilla chocolate chip and coffee chocolate chip (thanks for the Via tip above). I’m looking to make mint chocolate chip next and maybe a rum raisin or butter pecan version. What I love best about this is that it comes together so quickly. Other recipes I have to boil for 30 min and reduce.. this is just so fast!
Yay! Those flavors sound delicious! Thanks for your feedback, Patty! Glad to hear this recipe has come together so quickly for you!
I made this last night. I find the Allulose has an aftertaste, and the ice cream is very hard after freeezing. I have made it with Xylitol and the ice cream is not hard after freezing and no aftertaste.
Thanks for letting us know what worked best for you, Ken!
Since allulose isn’t a sugar alcohol, how do we deduct the carbs like it is? If not, that’s a lot of carbs for a 1/2 cup of ice cream – almost my whole day’s allotment. 🥲🥲
When calculating net carbs, allulose is subtracted from total carbohydrates because it is not metabolized and therefore causes no increase in blood glucose or blood insulin levels.
Any suggestions on modifying it for a chocolate ice cream?
You could toss in some sugar-free chocolate chips in the end or make this great keto Nutella to pour over it. I make the keto Nutella and it freezes like a hard shell on ice cream.
This is DELICIOUS!!!
FINALLY I’m able to enjoy ice cream again after living a keto lifestyle for a year. It’s so good I’m making a second batch!
Woohoo! SO happy to hear you’re loving it, Robert! 🙌😋Thanks so much for coming back to comment! We truly appreciate it! 🎉
Quick question. I don’t buy vanilla beans because they’re way too costly. However I do buy vanilla bean paste. How much vanilla bean paste would be the equivalent of one vanilla bean?
I found this information, “If a recipe calls for one whole vanilla bean pod OR 1 tablespoon vanilla powder, you can use the same 1:1 ratio and substitute either with 1 tablespoon pure vanilla bean paste.”
I love the original recipe, but I was wondering if the heavy cream could be substituted with coconut cream. Has anyone tried this? Would it be a 1:1 substitution?
Hey Rene! You could definitely substitute coconut cream for heavy cream, although we haven’t tested this out yet on this recipe. It is a 1:1 substitution, but note that it may add a bit of coconut flavor to your ice cream. Let us know how you like it, if you decide to try it out! 🤗💓
This is the best I’ve cream recipe. I made a chocolate with peanut butter swirl version by adding cocoa powder and then using natural peanut butter for the swirl. Yummy! My favorite flavor combo. Thank you for this recipe.
YUM! 😋 You’re so welcome, Diane! That sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing how you made yours! 🤗