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This easy Sweet Potato Ice Cream tastes like Thanksgiving with each bite. The ice cream has a ton of flavor from the toasted pecans, sweet potato, and warm spices.
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I already have a fantastic butter pecan ice cream, so I pondered if adding sweet potatoes would be mind-blowing.
Well, mine and everybody else who tasted this ice cream highly approved of the pure deliciousness that’s soon to be in your belly.
Remember making homemade ice cream is not difficult and you do not need an ice cream machine to produce great ice cream at home.
Key Ingredients:
To make this homemade no-churn ice cream, you will need the following key ingredients:
Heavy Whipping Cream
Whipped heavy cream that has been put through a strainer to give it a smooth and fluffy texture. It's usually very thick, for reasons of quality and flavor, so it won't break or curdle when mixed with other ingredients.
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Sweetened condensed milk makes the ice cream more rich, creamy and sweet. Condensed milk eliminates the need for eggs like in a traditional ice cream recipe. Finally, condensed milk provides stability by adding sugar which prevents crystallization.
Kosher Salt
Kosher salt is perfect for adding to a sweet recipe like this recipe because it brings out the flavor and enhances its sweetness.
Pecans
Pecans are the co-star of this dish they add texture and depth of flavor.
Butter
Butter will add a rich texture to your ice cream.
Vanilla Extract
Vanilla extract brings to desserts a distinct flavor that can be described as buttery, sweet, nutty, with a slight touch of woodiness.
Dark Brown Sugar
Dark brown sugar is raw cane sugar that has been processed with molasses. It has about 6.5% of molasses were light brown sugar has 3.5% of molasses. More molasses equals a deeper maple flavor that pairs well with pecans.
Sweet Potato
I always use fresh baked sweet potatoes in desserts. Roasting brings out the natural sugars and makes a huge difference in the final flavor of the dish.
Ingredients For Sweet Potato Ice Cream
To make the best fall ice cream in the world, you need a recipe that's tested and proven to produce deliciousness. Here's how you make this magnificent sweet potato pecan ice cream.
- Chopped pecans
- Butter
- Dark brown sugar
- Heavy whipping cream
- Sweet condensed milk
- Sweet potatoes
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Salt
- Vanilla extract
How To Make Sweet Potato Ice Cream
These are the steps and techniques you need to follow to make this brilliant no-churn ice cream.
Step 1: Turn on the heat to medium-high in a small skillet toast pecans for 2 minutes, constantly stirring until pecans are fragrant. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Step 2: In a stand mixer or a bowl with a hand mixer, whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form, about 1 ½ minutes. Fold in condensed milk.
Step 3: In a small bowl, combine cooled melted butter, sweet potatoes, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and vanilla. Fold sweet potato mix and pecans into the ice cream base. Pecans should be evenly distributed and covered in an ice cream base.
Step 4: Transfer to dish and cover and pop in the freezer overnight before enjoying. Set ice cream out for 2 minutes before serving.
If you're a fan of sweet potatoes like I am, here are some more delicious recipes you have to have. Sweet Potato Cornbread, Fried Sweet Potato Pies, Sweet Potato Pancakes, Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls, Sweet Potato Cheesecake, and Classic Sweet Potato Pie.
Storage
You can bake your sweet potato 2 days in advance. You can also toast your pecans 3 days in advance. Ice cream will be good for 1 month in the freezer.
Sweet Potato Ice Cream Tips & Tricks
Here are some of my top tips, substitutions, and tricks to help you make this dessert:
- Never buy sweet potatoes with strings on them. This is a clear sign of an older potato. You want the freshest sweet potato possible.
- Here's my recipe for the perfect baked sweet potato.
- The secret to making an excellent butter pecan ice cream is toasting your pecans. It will add a toasty depth of flavor to the butter pecan ice cream. Omitting this step will make it taste like vanilla ice cream with pecans.
- The condensed milk eliminates the need for eggs like in a traditional ice cream recipe. Finally, condensed milk provides stability by adding sugar which prevents crystallization.
- It’s important to whip your whipped cream too stiff peaks. The very thick cream, won't break or curdle when mixed with other ingredients. You can use sweetened coconut condensed milk as a swamp for sweetened condensed milk for a vegan ice cream.
- You can use coarse sea salt, sea salt or whatever salt you have at home as a swap for kosher salt.
- You can use light brown sugar as a swap for dark brown sugar.
- Feel free to use your peanuts, almonds, cashews or any combination of your favorite nuts.
- You can use half the can of sweetened condensed milk to reduce the sweetness of the ice cream.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about making a no-churn sweet potato pecan ice cream.
This is a great dessert to make for your vegan friends and family. To make this sweet potato ice cream vegan only a few swaps need to be made. First swap out the unsalted butter for vegan butter. I like to use Miyoko’s vegan butter.
Use sweetened condensed coconut milk as a swap for sweetened condensed milk. Also, use raw cane sugar as a substitute for dark brown sugar. Raw cane sugar is not processed with bone char.
No churn means that this recipe doesn't have eggs in it as traditional ice creams do. This makes it much easier to make at home because you don't need an industrial mixer or special equipment.
Use sweetened condensed coconut milk as a swap for sweetened condensed milk. Also, use raw cane sugar as a substitute for dark brown sugar. Raw cane sugar is not processed with bone char.
It takes about 10 minutes to make no-churn homemade butter pecan ice cream depending on how much you're making. It's a similar process time as traditional recipes, but without the eggs and making this ice cream recipe goes quickly!
More Ice Cream Recipes
In case you're looking for more homemade ice cream recipes, give these a try.
- Blueberry Basil Ice Cream
- Apple Mint Julep Ice Cream
- Vanilla Ice Cream
- Peach Cobbler Ice Cream
- Affogato Ice Cream
- Fudge Brownie Ice Cream
I hope this recipe has shown you that making your own ice cream doesn't have to be complicated or time consuming. With a little bit of planning, you can whip up batches of sweet potato pecan ice cream for Thanksgiving and any other occasion! If it's been a while since you made homemade ice cream, come back and leave me a 5-star review so we can continue our conversation about all the joys of homemade desserts!
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📖 Recipe
Sweet Potato Ice Cream
Ingredients
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 4 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon cold, 3 tablespoons melted
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 2 cups cold heavy cream
- 14 oz. sweet condensed milk
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Turn on the heat to medium-high in a fry small skillet toast pecans for 2 minutes, constantly stirring until pecans are fragrant. Remove from heat, add 1 tablespoon of butter and dark brown sugar, stir to combine and cool.
- In a stand mixer or a bowl with a hand mixer, whip heavy cream and kosher salt until stiff peaks form, about 1 ½ minutes. Fold in condensed milk.
- In a small bowl, combine cooled melted butter, sweet potato, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Fold sweet potato mix and pecans into the ice cream base. Pecans should be evenly distributed and covered in an ice cream base.
- Transfer to dish and cover and pop in the freezer overnight before enjoying. Set ice cream out for 2 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Never buy sweet potatoes with strings on them. This is a clear sign of an older potato. You want the freshest sweet potato possible.
- Here's my recipe for the perfect baked sweet potato.
- The secret to making an excellent butter pecan ice cream is toasting your pecans. It will add a toasty depth of flavor to the butter pecan ice cream. Omitting this step will make it taste like vanilla ice cream with pecans.
- The condensed milk eliminates the need for eggs like in a traditional ice cream recipe. Finally, condensed milk provides stability by adding sugar which prevents crystallization.
- It’s important to whip your whipped cream too stiff peaks. The very thick cream, won't break or curdle when mixed with other ingredients. You can use sweetened coconut condensed milk as a swamp for sweetened condensed milk for a vegan ice cream.
- You can use coarse sea salt, sea salt or whatever salt you have at home as a swap for kosher salt.
- You can use light brown sugar, honey or maple syrup as a swap for dark brown sugar.
- Feel free to use your peanuts, almonds, cashews or any combination of your favorite nuts.
- You can use half the can of sweetened condensed milk to reduce the sweetness of the ice cream.
Donna Montgomery says
My husband can't have sugar, could I sub. with maple syrup ?
Kenneth Temple says
Hi Donna! Yes, you can use honey or maple syrup as a sub.