Best Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Recipe

The ice cream base is made of cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, cream, strawberries, and lemon juice. No eggs, so there is no cooking required!

For this recipe, you will be making a graham cracker crumble out of graham crackers, sugar, and butter.

You will need an ice cream maker for this recipe, so if you are using a Cuisinart, make sure to freeze your canister for 24 hours before starting. If using another type, make sure you have plenty of rock salt and ice.

HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE ICE CREAM

1. CRUST – Finely crush the graham crackers in a food processor. Stir in the butter and sugar. Press into a pie plate, or in the bottom of an 8″ square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes. Cool completely, then crumble. I like to place the crumble in the freezer.
   
2. BASE – Let your cream cheese soften to room temperature. Beat until smooth and creamy, then gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk. Whisk in the cream and lemon juice. Cover and chill for 2-3 hours or until very cold.
3. FREEZE – Pour ice cream base into ice cream maker with the chopped strawberries. Freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. 
4. RIPEN- Layer the ice cream and the graham cracker crumble in a freezer safe container. Freeze for 2-3 hours.
   
5. SERVE – When ice cream is hard enough to scoop, serve in bowls or cones. Garnish with the remaining crumbs and diced strawberries if desired.

Can I make this ice cream without an ice cream maker?

Yes, you can. Simply whip the cream and fold all the ingredients together. Pour into a freezer safe container; cover and chill for 8 hours.

HOW TO STORE HOMEMADE ICE CREAM

You can store this ice cream in the freezer for up to three weeks. It doesn’t last quite as long as store bought, because it isn’t full of preservatives.

I love using this ice cream storage container. It’s double layered, so it keeps the ice cream from getting freezer burned, and keeps it nice and scoopable.

PRO TIPS

• Chill all of your ingredients (except the cream cheese) before assembling the ice cream base. It will be ready for freezing much quicker if you chill the sweetened condensed milk and strawberries. And of course your cream should be cold.
• The flavor of homemade ice cream improves as you store it in the freezer. But it also gets harder to scoop. If you have a hard time scooping your ice cream, you can place it in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes before serving.
• Use fresh strawberries for best flavor. Frozen strawberries tend to be underripe and  not as sweet.

VARIATIONS:

• Instead of making your own crust, you can use a store bought graham cracker crust. Or if you are in a hurry, you can just crumble up pieces of graham crackers.
• If you like larger pieces of strawberry in your ice cream, instead of adding them to the ice cream maker, you can dice them and stir them in when you add the ice cream to the freezer container.
• You can use half and half instead of heavy cream for a lighter ice cream. Just be aware that it will not be as creamy, but have a more icy texture.

MORE ICE CREAM RECIPES:

• Butterfinger Ice Cream
• Mint Ice Cream Recipe
• Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe
• Milky Way Ice Cream
• Cheesecake Ice Cream
• Blueberry Ice Cream
• Reese’s Ice Cream

STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE ICE CREAM RECIPE

This strawberry cream cheese ice cream was devoured almost instantly at my house. And I am still thinking about it. And maybe even drooling a little. So hurry and give it a try while you can still find fresh strawberries!