You will be amazed at how rich and creamy and chocolatey this 4 Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Ice cream is AND how simple it is! Tastes JUST like dairy milk chocolate ice cream. NO bananas!
VEGAN CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
Today I make your dreams come true. Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream that is only 4 ingredients, ridiculously creamy, chocolatey, rich and requires no ice cream maker. Did I mention it’s only 4 ingredients?! And NO. This is not banana ice cream that is all over the internet that turns into a rock hard block of ice in the freezer. That is not true ice cream folks, I’m talking rich, creamy ice cream that will fool dairy lovers and that tastes just like dairy chocolate ice cream, yet it is dairy-free. YUP. I’m all about creating delicious vegan ice cream recipes!
Update: This has been rated, by you readers, to be the absolute best vegan chocolate ice cream ever! Heck, many of you have even said it’s the best chocolate ice cream you’ve had, period, dairy or not! Yay!
We are having a major chocolate party here. Chocolate ice cream made with sweet potatoes is where it’s at, folks. Why sweet potato? Well, it gives body to the ice cream texture, yet you don’t taste it. I’ve fooled many people with it. As long as you fully blend it all up, you cannot tell. The sweet potatoes combined with the richness of the cocoa butter in the chocolate chips creates one decadent, authentic vegan chocolate ice cream.
Can you taste the sweet potato?? Not at all. In fact, my hubby who hates sweet potato had no clue (and still doesn’t!) that it was in there. It honestly just tastes like milk chocolate ice cream.
HOW DO YOU MAKE VEGAN CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM?
This vegan chocolate ice cream is SO easy, it’s even no churn! All you will need to make this 4 Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream (+salt) is:
- Chocolate chips
- sweet potato
- coconut milk
- vanilla
- Cook your sweet potato your preferred method. I chose to microwave because it is quickest. If you want to bake it, bake at 400°F with skin still on until very soft. Do not steam or boil it, as too much water will get into the potato. Let it cool a few minutes.
- Peel and mash it really well with a fork. Add 3/4 packed cup sweet potato to a blender. Add the coconut milk, vanilla and salt. Don’t blend yet.
- Melt your chocolate chips your preferred method. I used the microwave and added them to a cereal bowl and microwaved in 15 second intervals, stirring in between, until about 90% melted. Stir until completely melted and smooth. You have to be careful about overheating chocolate or it can burn. Add the melted chocolate to the blender and be sure to scrape all that chocolate goodness out of the bowl.
- Blend the ingredients on high for a minute or so until completely smooth. (full details on the recipe card below)
I use Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips because they are dairy-free and I love the ingredients. The ingredients are so simple and have the best flavor. It is just sugar, chocolate liquor and cocoa butter.
This isn’t my first time using sweet potatoes in ice cream. I’ve used it in this Chocolate Peppermint Sweet Potato Ice Cream and also this 5 ingredient Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Ice Cream.
OTHER VEGAN ICE CREAM RECIPES TO TRY:
- Vegan Mocha Ice Cream (this is my favorite ice cream ever!)
- Vegan Vanilla Cheesecake Ice Cream
- Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
- Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream
- Vegan Vanilla Birthday Cake Ice Cream (with a shocking ingredient!)
- Vegan Dark Chocolate Almond Ice Cream
- Vegan Java Crunch Ice Cream
- Raspberry Sorbet
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
4 Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream
Ingredients
PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!
- 3/4 cup (170g) cooked mashed and packed orange sweet potato
- 2 cups (480g) room temp lite canned coconut milk, shaken first
- 1 1/2 cups (283g) dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 used 1 whole 10 oz Enjoy Life bag)
- 1/2 tablespoon (7g) vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
NOTE
- I have only tested this ice cream using the Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips so if you use another brand or different chocolate, it may alter the taste/texture. Make sure you are using a semi-sweet chip that contains cocoa butter. you use the correct weight (grams) amount to ensure accurate results. The lite coconut milk is key to this ice cream as it has the right amount of fat and creaminess for excellent texture, as well as NOT leaving any coconut taste, since it is the light. Do not use full-fat, as that will make it too creamy since the chocolate chips contain so much cocoa butter.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Cook your sweet potato your preferred method. I chose to just microwave it for time purposes but you can bake it if you like. Bake it at 400 degrees with skin still on until very soft. Do not steam or boil it, as too much water will get into the potato. Let it cool a few minutes.
- Once your potato is cooked and cooled a bit, peel the skin off and completely mash it really well with a fork. You don't want any chunks or skins. Pack it in the measuring cup (3/4 cup) really well and level off. Add it to a blender. Add the coconut milk, vanilla and salt. Don't blend yet.
- Melt your chocolate chips your preferred method. I used the microwave and added them to a cereal bowl and microwaved in 15 second intervals, stirring in between, until about 90% melted. Then I stirred it until completely melted and smooth. You have to be careful about overheating chocolate or it will burn and be useless. Add the melted chocolate to the blender and be sure to scrape all that chocolate goodness out of the bowl.
- Blend the ingredients on high for a minute or so until completely smooth. You don't want any bits remaining from the potato. Taste and if you want it sweeter, add sugar, I did not. I found it to be perfectly chocolatey.
- Now, if you have an ice cream maker, then by all means use it, it will help make it creamier. But I tested 3 batches withOUT an ice cream maker and they were all delicious. You simply need to follow this method. Add your blended ice cream base to an ice cream storage container and place in the freezer. Set your timer for 30 minutes and stir the ice cream around really well, as the edges will start to firm up first. Add back to the freezer and do this every 30 minutes until it is solid or at your desired consistency. About 2 hours should do it, depending on your freezer temp. After that, if you let it freeze overnight, you may need to let it sit out at room temperature for about 15 minutes or so to soften a bit before eating. Again, this will depend on how cold you keep your freezer. I can control my temp so mine only needed a few minutes at room temp before eating. You can also pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds too if you like.
- If you want an extra chocolate syrup dose, just melt some extra chocolate chips and drizzle on top and it will freeze immediately like a magic shell. YUM. Now, after you eat this ice cream, come back and leave me feedback telling me how much it rocked your world like it did ours!
- Tip on freezing: Each time you let ice cream sit out and thaw, you encourage ice crystals to form. So, you can freeze the ice cream base in individual servings and just take out your serving each time you want some ice cream. Or, when removing the ice cream to thaw, the condensation that forms underneath the lid, make sure to wipe that each time so it doesn't refreeze and drop ice crystals into your ice cream.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition per 1/2 cup: 244 calories, 14.8g fat, 3.5g protein, 28g carbs, 3.1g fiber, 18g sugar, 81mg sodium
*This post contains affiliate links. See my full disclosure policy here.
Hi no he can’t have cashew or oat milk either only rice milk, sorry to be so difficult but l appreciate all your help thank you
Oh, no it’s totally fine! If you do the rice milk, it will just be less creamy and more icy so you will need to let it thaw out quite a bit before eating.
Ok l will definitely try it and thank you very much, l hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas
5 stars, so delicious!!!
Very fun! There’s no Enjoy Life brand where we live (Finland) so I melted the equivalent weight in dark chocolate bars. It came out more like mousse than ice cream (even after a couple hours in the freezer with stirring, but then overnight in the freezer it got so solid we would’ve needed a pickaxe, and took a long time to thaw). In the end we kept it in the fridge and are eating it like (delicious) mousse, as I see others have also done; I’m sure the difference has to do with the chocolate used and the freezer temp, so I’ll either make this in the future for immediate consumption by a larger crowd (or divide the recipe) or just plan on mousse. 🙂
Do you have any natural sugar versions, using e.g. dates and cocoa powder? I might try experimenting in this direction sometime soon…
Thanks so much for posting this! My son is severely allergic to bananas and dairy intolerant, so this is perfect! Can’t wait to try it!
*I used Costco Kirkland chocolate chips & it worked great…just *** Very Rich!!!*** It’s one of those desserts where you enjoy a small amount & feel fulfilled. Could almost use over berries/ bananas/ other fruit but I didn’t try it yet. My husband was like……we aren’t buying store ice cream anymore 😉
Thank you so much Rachel, so glad it was such a hit! I agree too, better than storebought! I appreciate the awesome review! Would you mind to please do the star rating, they are so helpful for my blog, thank you!
Forgot to rate 😉
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it Rachel!
Hi!!
I’m wondering if I could use almond or soy milk instead of coconut milk? Nobody in my house likes coconut milk so I never buy it lol.
Oat milk not soy** almond or oat milk?
The best.
Thank you so much Peggy, so happy to hear you think so!
Have just finished making this and I cannot believe how delicious it is! Being lactose intolerant and not liking store bought ice cream, this is such a great treat. Thank you for this recipe.
Yay! Thrilled to hear it Jeannie, thank you so much for making it!
This works well as a chocolate mousse too! Just don’t freeze for as long. Add a few chopped nuts and some fresh strawberries.
I could taste the sweet potatoes a little so I may use a little less and more coconut milk next time.
Thanks for the recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it Leza!!
I just made this and I’m literally licking the ice cream bowl maker! This is hands down the best chocolate ice cream I’ve ever had! I can’t wait for your dessert cookbook!
I’m so happy to hear how much you love it, yay! Thank you so much Fuchi!
Brandi! That is actually 5 Stars times 10!!! Goodness gracious! Yum-my Yum! My family LOOVVED this ice cream!!! Wow! You could not have made this recipe easier or more delicious!!!! Thank you for spoiling us with all your delicious recipes! Mary from Texas
Woohoo, love, love that you loved this ice cream so much Mary! Thank you so much for making it and this glowing review!!
Dear Mrs. Brandi,
Can I make this ice cream with sugar free soy milk in place of the light coconut milk? And in place of the chocolate chips can I use dark chocolate instead? And I don’t have vanilla extract, so can I use vanilla soy milk?
Or maybe in place of the coconut milk and vanilla extract should I use the vanilla soy milk?
I’ve been looking at this recipe for a long time and I’m really excited to try it!!
Hi there! You are wanting to change 3 of the 4 ingredients which will really alter the recipe. So, I don’t recommend it. I’ve explained under NOTE the important of using lite coconut milk ice cream because of the creaminess. Soy just will not give the same result and subbing dark chocolate will make it too bitter and you’d have to add extra sugar to compensate. You can always experiment on your own, but I can only vouch for the above written recipe and every single reader has loved it, so I’d really recommend to make it as is for the best results!
My husband is deathly allergic to coconut, have you found any vegan alternatives? Soy and almond milk weren’t thick enough to get the right consistency so I’m thinking of trying oat milk but am hoping you know a trick to thicken up plant based milk without the coconut 🙂
Hi! No, I’ve found no other milk to thicken ice cream up the same way as the lite coconut milk. You can try oat milk if you like. I’ve heard it’s creamy but never tried it personally.
This is delicious. I made this last week – I used 1 can of lite coocnut milk (13.5 oz). I’m makeing it again now and doubled the recipe. I wonder if pumpkin would work in place of sweet potatoes ? Thank you so much for sharing this awesome recipe !!!
Wow! This is –hands-down– one of the best dessert recipes I’ve ever made. Absolutely phenomenal! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
Yeah!! Fabulous review, thank you so much Angela!!
My hubby and I went to visit our niece at Flagler College~ with your chocolate ice cream ingredients in tow. Four of her friends were present when we arrived and we commenced to making the ice cream. We baked the sweet potato for an hour on 400, cut it in half, then let it cool for 15 minutes . Next we mixed the strange concoction of ingredients together in the blender, poured ingredients into a 8×8 pyrex dish and into the freezer it went. We eagerly gathered around every hour to stir the ice cream and discuss this mystery appearing in front of our eyes (note: by the 4th hour the ingredients are the consistency is soft serve ice cream, by the 6th hour it’s ice cream consistency).
After dinner, we opened the freezer to the excitement of vegan chocolate ice cream. We ate.every.single.bite. Then we sat there, stunned and staring into the bottom of our sad, empty bowls – like bewildered teenagers who just had their iPhone privileges ripped away from their lives.
Reactions from the mystified youth:
“What just hit us?”
“How exactly did you make that?”
“I am so happy to have good quality food like this that I could literally cry, I’m serious!”
And my personal favorite was watching a girls mouth hanging open in bewilderment before she was able to utter “What just happened, I hate sweet potatoes, I can’t believe this”. She truly looked dazed and confused.
The recipe was given to all in attendance. Several have since made their own – which a HUGE statement when a college aged person makes their own ice cream!!!
Returning home, I just “had to make another batch” for my carnivorous friend to see if the ice cream passed his whiff test. His reaction? “That chocolate ice cream was on fire! I am not kiddin’ man!”
Thanks again for sharing your outstanding culinary skills!
excellent
Brandi, thank you for the simple recipe that actually tastes like gourmet ice cream!!!!! I added 3-4 Tablespoons of corn syrup to the batter and that kept the ice cream thick, rich, creamy, and easy to scoop, even the next day! (Some people may not like using corn syrup, but it is good trick and you don’t mind consuming it in moderation.)
So glad you loved this Laura! It’s actually very creamy and thick already from the freezer because of all the cocoa butter in the chocolate, so I imagine the corn syrup makes it even creamier. I have used agave for this same reason in ice cream!
I’m not sure if I have left a review for this or not. I have made this numerous times and we love it. I baked a sweet potato the other day for a recipe when I should have roasted sweet potato cubes. My son turned lemons into lemonade when he suggested I make ice cream. Okay, twist my arm. HAHA
So wonderful to hear Lindsey, thank you!
Forgot to rate this. Deserves more than 5 stars. Pure genius!!
Delicious and super easy. Made this for my newly vegan husband’s birthday. We all loved it!
Wonderful to hear that!
Holy cow, Brandi! You’ve outdone yourself! I snuck so many tastes as I transferred this from my blender to the freezer container and could have eaten it all like that! It’s so creamy and delicious and chocolatey! It’s better than any fancy ice cream I’ve overpaid for in the past. I’m so in love with this recipe and can’t wait to make it for friends and family! Thank you thank you thank you for this!
Is it ok to use chocolate truffles instead of chocolate chips?
Truffles? Like the homemade kind that mixed chocolate, milk and other ingredients that are soft and creamy? If so, no, that won’t work because the texture and taste is different. It needs to be chocolate chips, semi-sweet. Chocolate chips can be found anywhere in grocery stores and online.
Hi Brandi! Thanks for this recipe, I would like to try it! I live in Italy and in this period it is difficult for me to find American sweet potatoes in the shops. How can I replace this ingredient? Thank you very much!
Hi Maria, that is tough since that is a key ingredient to the ice cream, can you find any type of sweet potato or a gold potato?
Yes, Brandi. I can find yellow and red potatoes. Are both equally good? Should I change the proportion of the ingredients then? Thanks a lot!
Use the yellow potatoes, it won’t have the exact same texture as the sweet potato, but should still be good! Use the same amount.
Thanks a lot! You’re so kind!
Hi Brandi, I’m Maria again. Just this morning I managed to find American sweet potatoes! I did not believe my eyes! Now I would like to make your ice-cream, only that I don’t have a microwave. 😣 How can I cook potatoes? Thanks
Hi Maria, please see step 1 in the directions, it’s listed right there.
Good morning Brandi! Last night I tried to steam the potato. It was the only solution available to me and then I continued as per recipe. Today I’ll taste it but I think it came really tasty!😍 I followed the freezer method because I don’t have an ice cream maker. I wanted to ask you for advice: for how many days can I consume this ice cream? Because it contains unboiled coconut milk and I don’t know if it’s possible to keep the product for many days. If it’s possible, I’ll make a large supply of ice cream so I keep it ready for use! 😁Thanks so much!
It’s totally safe in the freezer. But homemade ice cream is usually only good the first week, as I find it starts to get too icy the longer it sits
Hi Brandi! Thanks again! Then I will made it from time to time. This afternoon I had my break with some of your ice cream! Really delicious! 🤩 The only thing is that I had to take the ice cream container out of the freezer for more than half an hour before eating it because it was a single hard block. Is it normal to have to put it out all this time before?
No, that’s not normal. 10 mins maybe but not 30. Several factors, one, you steamed them potato which adds extra water, which makes ice cream more icy. Second, what kind of coconut milk did you use? Lastly, depending on how cold you keep your freezer, it can vary how long you need to take it out beforehand.
Hi, do you think this would work with oat milk? It has about 3.0g of fat per 100ml, so less than lite coconut milk. Thanks so much!
Hi Amy, it will be a lot icier, lite coconut milk is best. So, you may need to let it thaw quite a bit at room temperature.
What an awesome sounding recipe! Because of all of my food allergies, it’s been a challenge finding some ice cream recipes that work for me! This one has potential, if I am able to make a a substitution: I’m allergic to coconut, so instead of that, can I use the same amount of Rice Milk instead? Also, when microwaving the sweet potato- how long do I microwave it for and do I wrap in a damp paper towel?!
Thanks for any help!
Hi Mayen, the lite coconut milk is very important because of how creamy it is because of the fat in it. Rice milk is very watery and you would end up with very icy ice cream, so I would not recommend that at all. Is there another fat creamy milk you can use? Otherwise, maybe try adding 1/4 cup raw cashews and blending that up with the rice milk. That is all I can think of, but don’t know how it would change the recipe.
Thank you for getting back to me, I’m also allergic to cashews. The only other alternative I could think of to add to the rice milk along with the rest of the recipe is Avocado. That could provide some of the fat lacking in the rice milk. What do you think? I just made another vegan recipe of ice cream and used my rice milk with some avocado and it turned out well. Hoping the same for this recipe!
Hello! Just wanted to follow up and see if you got my last question regarding adding avocado with the rice milk? I’ve added a small avocado smashed into another ice cream recipe along with the rice milk and it worked out well. Do you think it could work in this recipe? Maybe adding a little canola oil as well? Thanks for any input! Mayen
I really can’t say if that would work without having tested it. I can only vouch for the above written recipe. Rice milk is so very watery, so even with added avocado, I don’t see how it would help. Why not try oat milk or another milk that is creamier? There are so many milks on the market these days and rice milk is probably the most watery. The coconut milk is very very creamy and makes a huge difference. Can you do sunflower seeds? Try adding those instead of the cashews with the rice milk, as sunflower seeds do make things creamy. Hopefully you have a vitamix to get it super smooth? You could always try the oil, but I have never done that, so again, it could work, I just don’t know!
yes wrap the potato in a damp papertowel for 4-5 minutes. Honestly I can’t give an exact time, as that will depend on the size of potato you are microwaving. It should be squishy soft, remove the skin and then measure/weigh.
This one surprised me. I did not expect that making ice cream from a sweet potato would be so good.
Kudos on this original idea.
I used two bars of dark chocolate instead of the chocolate chips. With a high speed blender I only softened the chocolate. Q