A beautiful, colourful and creamy ice cream made from purple sweet potatoes and coconut milk. Vegan, dairy-free and paleo-friendly recipe!
What's better than sweet potoato? Purple sweet potato!
Not always easy to find, but well worth looking out for. Not only for it's beautiful colour, but its health benefits too.
It's been declared a miracle food, due to it's high levels of anthocyanins, which help improve blood flow and cognitive function.
Other purple foods also contain this compound so if you can't find purple sweet potato, try blackberries, aubergine or red cabbage.
The sweet potato gives this ice cream extra creaminess and the most wonderful texture, not to mention colour and flavour!
If you can't find purple sweet potato, try looking for Ube puree in your local Asian supermarket or use orange sweet potato instead (it will still be delicious.)
When it comes to sweeteners, I really recommend maple syrup for this recipe. It seems to really pair well with the sweet potato.
It can sometimes be hard to find (in the UK, at least) and can be a little expensive so using agave nectar is the second best option.
This purple sweet potato ice cream is:
- Dairy-free & eggless
- Vegan
- Gluten-free & paleo-friendly
- Refined sugar-free
- High in anthocyanins - a brain-boosting compound
- Ultra creamy and smooth
More vegan ice cream recipes
📖 Recipe
Vegan Purple Sweet Potato Ice Cream
The most smooth, creamy ice cream made with purple sweet potatoes and coconut milk.
Ingredients
- 360 ml / 1 ½ cups coconut milk, full-fat
- 1 tbsp arrowroot powder*
- 60 ml / ¼ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup purple sweet potato puree or ¾ cup chopped, boiled purple sweet potatoes
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Optional 1 tbsp alcohol, such as vodka or gin**
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients, except the vanilla and alcohol, together in a blender and mix until smooth.
- Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove from the heat and whisk until smooth and thickened.
- Stir in the vanilla and alcohol.
- Pour into a container and chill overnight.
Instructions for using an ice cream maker
- Once the mixture is chilled, you simply need to add it to yourice cream machine, following the manufacturer's instructions. Once churned, add to a shallow, freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Instructions without using an ice cream maker
- If you have a stand mixer with a metal bowl, you can freeze the bowl overnight and "churn" the ice cream using the paddle attachment.
- Otherwise, you will need to whisk the mixture well before freezing it and may need to check on it a couple of times and whisk again to add lot's of air to it and prevent it turning icy.
Notes
*Arrowroot powder can be found in the baking aisle of the supermarket. You can also use tapioca flour or corn starch.
**The alcohol is to help keep the ice cream from freezing too hard.
Megan says
Hello,
I tried making this without an ice cream machine and although it tastes good it froze really hard. I tried mixing it in the frozen mixing bowl per directions but it didn't seem to thicken. I put it in the deep freezer and mixed it every 45 minutes by hand . Could you explain how to use the mixing bowl method? I didn't fully understand it. I also used olive oil in place of vodka.
Lenore Howard says
I have begun using 1 tablespoon of pure virgin olive oil to my ice-creams instead of alcohol to make it easier when scooping frozen ice-cream from container. Works brilliantly.
Aimee says
That's a great tip, thanks for sharing Lenore.