14 Summer-Ready Ice Cream Recipes

Hokey Pokey Ice Cream — The Spruce/Cara Cormack

Summertime is ice-cream time. Make your own rainbow of ice cream flavors with this winning collection of frozen treats. From classic chocolate to matcha-infused and peanut butter swirl, there's a flavor here to please every palate.

Most of these recipes require an ice-cream maker, but a few need only a bowl plus a dish for freezing the ice cream base. Get to scooping!

Tips for Making Ice Cream at Home

Toppings

While you're thinking about ice cream, don't forget the toppings! Adding a gooey sauce, tender fruit topping, or crunchy shell is a great way to upgrade a bowl of ice cream or gelato. Try these tasty additions:

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Ube Ice Cream

The Spruce/Cara Cormack

Ube is a tuber with an eye-catching purple color, and a sweet, vanilla-like flavor. Whip up a batch of ube ice cream at home to rival the Trader Joe's version with our must-make recipe using ube powder and extract. It's a great summer dessert to impress your friends, and kids love the vibrant purple color.
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No-Churn Pistachio Ice Cream

The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

For pistachio lovers there is no greater treat than a bowl of pistachio ice cream, and this one just happens to come together with only five ingredients, no ice cream maker needed. The secret ingredient is sweetened condensed milk, which helps the ice cream to remain soft and scoopable when frozen.
03 of 14

Hokey Pokey Ice Cream

The Spruce/Cara Cormack

Hokey Pokey is New Zealand's favorite ice cream flavor, and for good reason. Now you can enjoy the scrumptious treat stateside, with our easy recipe that combines golden, crunchy honeycomb candy (also called sponge candy, or hokey pokey down under) with scoops of store-bought vanilla ice cream.
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Classic Chocolate Ice Cream

The Spruce Eats / Bahareh Niati

What would summer be without chocolate ice cream? Make your own this summer with this foolproof recipe for a rich and creamy version that kids and adults alike will love to eat. Be sure to allow the cooked custard mixture to cool completely before churning in your ice-cream maker.

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05 of 14

Matcha Ice Cream

The Spruce/Julia Hartbeck

This popular Japanese ice cream flavor has a subtle grassy taste and beautiful green hue thanks to matcha, a powder made from dried shade-grown green tea leaves. It's simple to prepare with heavy cream, egg yolks, sugar, and matcha. Serve it with fresh raspberries or raspberry sauce for a pop of contrasting color and flavor.
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Blue Moon Ice Cream

The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

With its bright blue hue, and a taste like Fruity Pebbles, it's no wonder that blue moon ice cream has been a longtime staple in the Midwest. Instant vanilla pudding gives our recipe a rich and creamy texture the whole family will cheer for. Churn it up at home for enjoying during any phase of the moon.
07 of 14

Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Cake

The Spruce/Diana Chistruga

Savor the scrumptious flavors of old-fashioned strawberry shortcake in the form of a cooling summer dessert. Our winning strawberry shortcake ice cream cake uses freeze-dried strawberries for intense strawberry flavor and butter cookies to recreate that nostalgic crumble on top.
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No-Churn Ice Cream

The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

If you've always wanted to try your hand at making ice cream, but lack an ice cream maker, our no-churn ice cream recipe is a great place to start. It takes just a few minutes to throw together, with no cooking required. All you need are a few kitchen tools, 4 ingredients, and a few hours of freezing time. Tweak it with chocolate chips, fruit chunks, or your favorite add-ins for an easy, cooling treat.

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09 of 14

Mason Jar Ice Cream

The Spruce/Cara Cormack

Mason jar ice cream is probably the quickest way to get your ice cream fix, without needing to venture out to the ice cream shop. You don't even need an ice cream maker for this recipe that uses good, old-fashioned arm power. It's easy to tweak with your favorite flavorings and add-ins for a customizable summer treat.
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Rocky Road Ice Cream

Rocky road ice cream is the oldest mix-in based ice cream flavor in the US, invented in 1929. There's a reason it's still available at thousands of ice cream parlors and every grocery store in the land. This version uses marshmallow creme for ultra-smooth swirls.
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Southern Buttermilk Ice Cream

The Spruce/Julia Hartbeck

Buttermilk is a Southern staple used in everything from pancakes to cornbread. Now you can enjoy its signature, rich, tangy flavor in our creamy buttermilk ice cream that makes the best-ever topping for sliced peach pie, or a warm-from-the-oven apple cobbler.
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Spaghettieis Ice Cream Sundae

The Spruce/Abbey Littlejohn

What looks like a plate of pasta but tastes like an ice cream sundae? It's spaghettieis, a fun and unique ice cream confection originating from Germany. Strings of vanilla ice cream (created with a potato ricer) play the role of noodles, while strawberry sauce subs in for marinara, and white chocolate or coconut shavings mimic parmesan cheese.

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Peanut Butter Swirl Ice Cream

The Spruce Eats / Cara Cormack

Peanut-butter loving kids and adults will flip for our nutty, creamy peanut butter swirl ice cream. You'll use an ice cream maker, and just a handful of ingredients, to create the custardy vanilla ice cream base. Then swirl in our essential, 4-ingredient peanut butter sauce, and refreeze to set.
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Halo-Halo

The Spruce Eats/Cara Cormack

Halo-halo means "mix mix" in Tagalog, and if you're the kind of person who struggles to decide what to have for dessert, this is the ice cream treat for you. Loaded with different flavors, colors, and textures, halo-halo features sweetened red beans, shaved ice, coconut, evaporated milk, and ube ice cream for a maximalist sweet treat.

How to Make Ice Cream Cones