This is the best and easiest 4 Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Ice cream! It is so creamy, so decadent and rich and 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.
Can you taste the sweet potato?? Not at all. It honestly just tastes like milk chocolate ice cream.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
This best 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: 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.
- sweet potato
- coconut milk
- vanilla
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
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.
Blend with the remaining ingredients.
Pour into a freezer-safe ice cream container and chill until firm enough to scoop.
This isn’t my first time making sweet potato ice cream. I’ve used it also in this 5 ingredient Sweet Potato Peanut Butter Ice Cream.
MORE VEGAN ICE CREAM RECIPES
- 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 (SEE NOTES below)
- 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
- I use this scale.
- I use this ice cream maker.
- I use this ice cream container.
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 400F° with the 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) level off. Weigh for accuracy if possible.
- 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. 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 or chips, or the ice cream will not turn out smooth. 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. Otherwise, add the 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.
- 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.
Notes
- MILK: Since this is a vegan dairy-free ice cream, the milk is important so that it turns out really creamy. Using lite (low-fat) coconut milk leaves no coconut taste and is creamier than other plant milks. The best brands that deliver creamy results are Trader Joes, Sprouts grocery store brand, and the Whole Foods 365 Light. All work well.
- COCONUT-FREE OPTION: If you can't do coconut, my only other suggestion would be to try a high fat quality almond milk, which the only brand that doesn't fill with all fillers and is truly just almonds and water, is the Elmhurst brand or the Malk brand. They are more creamy than traditional almond milks. Please note this is not as creamy as the coconut version though and will harden more, so will need some thawing before serving.
I would love to try your chocolate ice cream for my grandson but he cannot have coconut so could l make it with rice milk instead.
Hi Maria, no rice milk is not a good idea because it will make the ice cream way too icy. You need a creamy milk for the best result. Can he do cashew milk?
He is allergic to wheat, dairy, eggs, some nuts, peanut butter and coconut for sure and was recommended not to give him soy either, so we would rather he didn’t have any nuts at all. Thank you very much for getting back to me.
Then if cashews aren’t a nut he is allergic to, then sub with cashew milk. You could maybe try oat milk, but just please keep in mind that the lower the fat content of the milk, the more ice crystals will form.
He is allergic to wheat, dairy, eggs, some nuts, peanut butter and coconut for sure and was recommended not to give him soy either, so we would rather he didn’t have any nuts at all. Thank you very much for getting back to me.
Hi – love this recipe. Just wondering though, the recipe says 480 grams of the lite coconut milk. One tin is 400 ml which is almost 2 cups. Did you mean 400 ml cans?
thanks,
Shelley
Hi Shelley! No, that is correct, a can is barely 1 3/4 cups and I used 2 full cups for this (so more than 1 can), although, I’m sure you could get away with just using the 1 can and it will just make it creamier.
My six year old and I made this yesterday. The whole family loved it! I used a white sweet potato and Equal Exchange semi-sweet chocolate chips. It tasted amazing. Thank you :).
So very happy to hear that Bromley, thank you so much for the review!
Hi! I just wanted to let you know I love all of your recipes, but this one seriously blew me away. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to making real ice cream again (I wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference). I let it sit in my fridge overnight before using my ice cream machine and woke up to delicious chocolate mousse. I will be making this for every party. Can’t wait to take it to work and have my co-workers guess what’s in it.
Keep up the great recipes!
Oh Alissa, I can’t tell you how much this made my day! Thank you SO MUCH for the amazing review and star rating the recipe! I totally agree with you on it being just as rich and creamy as dairy ice cream. One really cannot ever tell the difference when served it! Thank you again! I’ve heard this from several readers about it being amazing mousse by leaving it in the fridge, so I think I need to do a new post with it just as a mousse and photograph it that way too, haha!
I tried this ice cream last night and oh my gosh, I cannot believe how DELICIOUS it is and how easy it was to make! I do have an ice cream maker so I used it, however… being the impatient soul that I am at times I didn’t wait for the bowl to get cold enough, but I will perfect this method the next time. Thank you so much for this recipe and I look forward to trying many more from your site!
Yay! So very happy you loved this so much! Thank you for the feedback Linda!
Made this for the first time today. I am in love! Bananas give me heartburn sometimes, so I was happy to find an ice cream recipe that uses something else. I’ve heard about avocado being used in ice cream as well. Have you tried avocado? I wonder what it would taste like… Hmm… Anyway, thanks for the awesome recipe! 🙂 I look forward to trying your other recipes as well!
Yay! So glad you loved it Elizabeth. Thank you for the feedback! I have heard that too, but to me personally, I don’t like chocolate and avocado because I can always taste the avocado and to me, desserts shouldn’t taste “off” or different like something is weird in them. They should taste 100% like a traditional rich dessert. I’m super picky about that, however, I know there are many people who like avocado in desserts. I’m just not one of them, haha!
I love sweet potatoes, so maybe I’ll just stick with them! My husband wasn’t thrilled about sweet potato ice cream (even though you can’t taste it) or the fact that I used dark chocolate, but he’s picky ;P… Oh well, more ice cream for me!
Avocados are great in a lot of things, but ice cream… I’m not so sure. I’m with you on alternative desserts tasting like traditional desserts. Avocados are great in smoothies though! If you have the right proportion of avocado to other fruits/veggies, it makes a creamy smoothie without the avocado taste. Yummm…
Oh, yes, dark chocolate will give a much more dark bitter taste and my hubby doesn’t like it either, but he LOVES this ice cream with the semi-sweet chocolate chips! haha!
Hi what size ice cream container is needed? Saw a few on Amazon- 1 quart?
Thanks!
Hi Jill! Yes, I bought 1 quart 🙂
I entered this ice cream in our church’s annual ice cream contest last year. It won first place by winning the most votes 😀 So rich and yummy!
Thank you so very much for leaving this amazing feedback Resa! That is so amazing to hear that!!
I had the sweet potato prepared yesterday and the coconut milk in the fridge. I think blending them cold with the melted choc may have ruined the mix. I’m not an experienced cook though. Waiting to see how it turns out. 🤔
Yes, cold ingredients can cause chocolate to seize up. Unless you are blending it up really quickly, then it shouldn’t be a problem. Was the mixture completely smooth after blending? If it was, then it should be fine. It should be smooth like in the video in order for it to be creamy.
Hi thanks for your reply. I ended up reheating the whole mix them blending again and it worked better. I used Coles dark cooking choc as we don’t have that brand here. I think I will use coconut cream next time for a creamer mix but it tasted delicious! Thanks
So glad you loved it! Yay! Yeah, if you used a different dark chocolate chip, that may effect the freezing bit, because with the regular ones I use, it is VERY creamy!
Do you think it would be just as good if I were to use pumpkin instead of sweet potato? I have thyroid disease and sweet potatos contain goitrogens that interfere with iodine absorption by the thyroid (and possibly interferes with absorption of thyroid meds as well, from what I’ve read). What do you think about pumpkin for this recipe?
Hi Traci! Yes, pumpkin should work fine. I haven’t tested it out myself but I do know a reader that did it with success. It might make it slightly less sweet since pumpkin isn’t sweet like sweet potatoes and also tends to be a tad more watery than sweet potatoes so it may make it slightly more icy, but should definitely work. Definitely make sure to use all the chocolate chips called for so that it it sweet enough! Taste the mix after blending and if you want it sweeter, add a little bit of sugar.
This was really simple and fast to make. I didn’t have lite Coconut milk. The regular coconut milk made a nice enough ice cream that I didn’t have to stir. I used a silicone ice cube tray and was prepared to put the frozen cubes through my dessert bullet, but it was nice and creamy as the cubes. Would like to have some ideas on how to make a vanilla version…no chocolate. I will be experimenting. Perhaps using a white sweet potato? Not as healthy, but could be worse.
So glad you loved it Fran! Using just a white potato won’t work because it needs fat in order to make it creamy, which the chocolate chips do. I’m working on a white chocolate version though! So, stay tuned! Sorry I missed this comment before!
How many servings do you reccomend this be split into?
Hi, what is the choc sauce dribbled over the top?!! Thanks so much!
Hi Catherine! It’s listed under Step 6 🙂
What a find! Made it yesterday for the first time.
I modified the recipe a little because I wanted to use unsweetened raw cacao nibs so that I would have control over what sweetener is used.
I ended up grinding the raw cacao nibs in a coffee grinder then mixing with 3 T coconut oil to make a paste.
Then used 12 drops of liquid stevia for sweetener.
Since I miscalculated and only cooked 1/2 cup of sweet potato, I had to recalculate the other ingredients.
Cut back the 1 Tbsp of vanilla just a smidgeon and it was just right.
I use a GoSun oven quite a bit for quick small cooking jobs. The one I have is the Sport a vacuum tube solar cooker.
The Sun Oven is used for cooking in a pot because it is an oven, but it does not heat up as quickly as the GoSun. Plus, I can use it on a partially sunny day, where the Sun Oven really works best in full sun.
Anyway, thanks for these recipes!!! Going to try the cheesecake and cinnamon ice cream recipes next.
Wow, you totally changed the recipe, haha! Glad you liked what you created! I have never heard of a sun oven, sounds fun!
Well, not entirely! Just raw cacao nibs vs chocolate chips.
Good suggestion to put it in small containers so thawing won’t be such an issue.
Wish I had done that!
Too much vanilla 😩😩😩 otherwise great recipe
Hi Leia! So glad you liked it! Hmm, that’s odd, you shouldn’t taste vanilla, just a rich chocolatey flavor. I’ve never heard that from other readers before and I, myself, do not taste vanilla and I make this often. It isn’t really that much and it helps prevent icy-ness. Maybe you have a really strong one? Anyways, glad you liked it!
Maybe it’s just my vanilla then lol. It was really strong in mine. It’s less noticeable the more you eat tho 😁
Haha, too funny! 🙂
Brandi, I have to say that I really liked this ice cream. I’ve tried the ones with banana, but neither my hubby nor I enjoyed them. You see, my hubby is having problems with milk and I’m looking for desserts without it, he loves them. Your recipe is fabulous, but because here in Brazil is difficult to find coconut milk without addictives, I used the low fat regular one and it left an after taste in the ice cream. I’ll definitly do this recipe again, after all it is incredible, but the next time I’ll use homemade coconut milk and I’m certain that I’ll not only like it, but will LOVE it. For sure I’ll try some of your other recipes too. Please keep up the wonderful work with your recipes 😀
So happy to hear it was such a hit Cacau! thank you so much for the kind words and feedback!
I like ice cream ok but it’s not something I buy on a regular basis or have a constant craving for… and when I do, I’m pretty particular because I remember what Ben & Jerry’s tasted like and have found most vegan subs to be lacking in richness.
I have to say this recipe is just perfect. Not too sweet and I couldn’t detect the coconut milk or the sweet potato. Really ingenious; I think I’ve used that word over and over for your creations, Brandi!
What I would like to figure out how to do is to put a thick strip of caramel through the middle of it, a la Ben & Jerry’s Karamel Sutra Core ice cream. 😀 Then I know my life is complete.
Thank you, Brandi!
Wow, thank you so much for the amazing feedback Caroline!! Thank you for your kind words, I really appreciate them and am so glad to hear you are enjoying my recipes so much!
Oh, and I’m working on a caramel ice cream, BUT you can totally make my 3 ingredient caramel and swirl that throughout the ice cream and it will be divine! Just use almond butter for a more neutral taste if you don’t want peanut butter.
https://thevegan8.com/2015/04/02/3-ingredient-peanut-butter-caramel/
Hello Brandi,
Although you published your recipe quite a while back, it looks like people still comment on it. So I figured if I sent a little thank you note, you would probably get it.
I am a French guy who is experimenting with vegetarian and vegan recipes. Not sure exactly how I found your recipe in the first place but the picture certainly caught my attention… and the simplicity of it all, plus the unexpected use of sweet potato, made me want to try it.
Since then, I have prepared four different batches and it’s always a stunning success. Even people who don’t like ice cream (I know, I know) and people who aren’t particularly fond of chocolate kept praising my incredible culinary talents. Of course, I sent them a link to your recipe… as well as my “frenchized” version of it, since we use different measuring units and our chocolat tends to be pretty different from US chocolate.
Anyway, thanks a lot for this great idea! I look forward to trying other recipes from your blog in the future.
Aww thanks so much Guillaume for such a wonderful, sweet comment! I’m so happy to hear everybody has loved this ice cream so much! Thank you for your kind words so much!
It was EXCELLENT !!! I am IMPRESSED !
So so happy to hear that Dora, thank you so much for the feedback!
We made this ice cream in our dad / son summer chemistry experiment activites (along with soap bombs and mozzarella cheese). We followed the instructions precisely and used the microwave to cook the sweet potato. The results were outstanding and delicious. This is a really good recipe. I had five people share the results and everyone liked the ice cream. Good job on figuring out the proportions. So in the true spirit of chemistry experiments, we decided to modify the recipe. However, we did not follow an incremental scientific method (my son is in 6th grade), rather we change several things at one time. The results were not good, but we had fun. I wanted to double the recipe, but then the food processor spilled over. Gads. Then I failed to cook the sweet potato to a completely mushy consistency. The results were a gritty ice cream. I think the best is to roast the sweet potato to get some internal carmelization, but cook it until very very done. Next we wanted to use even less sugar than is contained in semi-sweet chocolates. We wanted to use cocoa powder, coconut oil and stevia in a measured replacement. I think we did this well as the flavor was good. So we had gritty nice tasting ice cream. We will revert back to the original recipe and just do a chocolate substitution. Thanks for the recipe.
Wonderful! I’m so happy to hear you loved this ice cream so much and sounds like your experiment of changing the recipe didn’t work out so well, so I’m glad you followed it correctly the next time, so you could see how yummy it was, haha! Thank you so much for the feedback!
I am so excited to try this. I’ve been trying to make vegan ice cream sans nuts since they are so expensive.
Do you think white yams would work for a vanilla ice cream? I’ve tried coconut based vanilla ice creams but I hate the taste of coconut so as much as I try to mask the flavour I can always detect it.
Any thoughts?
Hi Elda! Sure, I think that should work out fine. I’ve never tried them before, but I don’t see why not! I absolutely hate the taste of coconut milk too, which is why I only used the “lite” here, it leaves absolutely no coconut taste, unlike the full fat kind, but you can always use cashew milk too if you like. The fat is important though for creaminess, you wouldn’t want to use almond or rice, for example.
I’ve made this twice in the last week. It is so easy to make and so chocolately delicious. Thanks for another awesome recipe!!!!!
Yay, So very happy to hear that Lindsey, thank you so much for leaving feedback!! 🙂
Brandi! This is exactly like chocolate ice cream. I had a non-vegan friend try it and she was AMAZED!!!
Wow Lindsay, that is fantastic!! Yay! Thank you so much for the feedback!!
We buy a store brand icecream/ popsicle that is made with apple, kiwi, and sweet potato. It is the creamiest! They have other flavours, but all are made with sweet potato.
For those wondering, I’m sure they’d be fine with other brand chocoated chips. I think it’s the sweet potato that makes them creamy.
Hi Margaret! The sweet potato gives body to the ice cream but it’s actually the fat from the chocolate chips (the cocoa butter in it) that is responsible for the majority of the creaminess, it won’t work with out them 🙂
Pardon me, I have not read any of the comments because there are so many. But saying this recipe is “oil-free” is misleading. Coconut milk is pretty much pure fat, even light coconut milk. It has coconut oil in it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_milk
Gina, when a recipe is listed as “oil-free”, that is referring to oil not being added as one of the ingredients in the listed recipe. This recipe, does not have oil as an added ingredient. I use canned lite coconut milk, the only ingredients are coconut and water. In other words, it is a from the full coconut, which is not the same thing as coconut oil, which is strictly the liquid fat extracted FROM the coconut. The nutrition profile is different as coconut milk still has the nutrients from the full coconut, whereas coconut oil has nothing but 100% fat. I do not add coconut oil to any of my recipes. Coconut oil for just 1 tbsp is 14 g fat, that is MUCH higher fat percentage than using coconut milk. Many foods have oil IN them, of course, naturally as part of the whole food….flaxseed has natural flax oil in it, olives have olive oil in them, lemons has lemon oil in them, etc. yet when those are added to recipes, they are whole foods and is entirely different than adding straight flax oil or olive oil as a listed ingredient. This is what I, and many others, refer to when a recipe is listed as “oil-free”. I hope that helps to better understand what that is referring to!