The Ultimate Homemade Peach Ice Cream
Like a bowl full of summer, the Ultimate Homemade Peach Ice Cream will blow your mind with flavor. This easy homemade ice cream recipe can also use frozen or canned peaches, giving you that summer flavor year round.
If there is something you need in your life, it’s a homemade peach ice cream recipe. Right? Right!
I do my best to eat locally and seasonally for a multitude of reasons. It is better for my grocery budget, the food tastes so much fresher, and it creates a sense of urgency in me when a favorite food starts to ripen.
Soft, ripe peaches in the summer are a gift straight from heaven. They’re like a little ball that has been injected with sunshine.
WHAT INGREDIENTS ARE IN HOMEMADE Peach ICE CREAM?
- Peaches. No surprise there!
- Heavy cream
- Whole Milk
- Egg yolks <—-this is happening. Deal with it
- Vanilla extract (related: Homemade Vanilla Extract)
- Kosher salt
- Sugar
You can use canned peaches if you don’t have fresh peaches (related: Canning Peaches). If you use sugar in the syrup when you can peaches, reduce the sugar in the homemade peach ice cream to 1/4 cup.
And yes, you can use frozen peaches! Check out this post on Freezing Peaches if you want to learn how to freeze peaches in your own kitchen.
If you have leftover peaches to use up (lucky you!), try them in a Peach Moscow Mule or add a few slices to a Homemade Blackberry Crisp. Peaches and blackberries are such an amazing pairing!
Here’s how to make Homemade Peach Ice Cream
*Detailed and printable directions are available in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Cut your peaches in half (related: how to cut a peach in 15 seconds) and place in a pot of boiling water for 60 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to remove the peaches and put them in a bowl of ice water.
After a minute, snag a peach and peel the skin back. If your peaches are ripe, it should peel super easily. Set aside about 1/3 cup of peaches diced into small chunks. Cut the rest of the peaches into slices.
Blend the peaches (minus the 1/3 cup peach chunks) using an immersion blender or food processor to create a peach puree.
Combine cream, milk, salt, sugar, and the extract in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Do not let it boil. Remove from heat once the sugar has dissolved.
Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl, and whisk well with a fork. Add the hot milk/cream mixture 1/3 cup at a time (x3 – 1 cup total) to the eggs, whisking while you combine. This is called tempering and it allows the eggs to heat up without scrambling them.
Ever made scrambled eggs ice cream? I have. I don’t recommend it.
Whisk the egg mixture into the rest of the milk, and return the pan to the stove. Cook on medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring often.
Remove from heat, and pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl fitted with a sieve/fine mesh strainer. Add peach puree to the bowl and transfer to the fridge for at 12 hours (preferably) or until completely cooled.
Pro tip: if you need to speed up this process, put the bowl in the freezer and stir every 30 minutes.
Add the cooled ice cream base to your ice cream maker of choice, churning until it has reached your preferred level of “doneness”. Remove the paddle/dasher, and gently stir in the ¼ cup of diced peaches.
Transfer to an air-tighter container, pressing a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the ice cream, ensuring it makes contact with the ice cream. Freeze for a few hours.
Supplies I used in this recipe:
Ice cream maker
Kitchen Aid mixer
Immersion blender
Metal sieve
Can I Make Peach Ice Cream Without an Ice Cream Maker?
No ice cream machine? Freeze and stir the base every hour until frozen and creamy. For more details, check out this post from David Lebovitz on how to make ice cream without a machine.
PRO TIPS/RECIPE NOTES:
- Need to make more or less of the recipe? Click and slide the “servings” number on the recipe card and the ingredients will adjust as needed. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
- Want to use frozen peaches? Defrost fully and set aside the liquid that is produced. Add sparkling water to it and have a refreshing summer spritzer.
- Using peaches that may not be as juicy as you’d like? Add 1/3 cup of peach freezer jam to punch up the flavor
- The ice cream will be a soft-serve texture when you’re initially done churning it. Eat it right then if you can’t wait (who can?), or freeze for a few hours until solid.
- Having plastic wrap or waxed paper make contact with the surface of the ice cream and then covering with a lid is one of my favorite tips for keeping homemade ice cream from getting icy.
OTHER Homemade ICE CREAM RECIPES
- Homemade Creamy Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
- No-Churn Peanut Butter Ice Cream
- Creamy Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream
- Fresh Blueberry Ice Cream With Cardamom
Making this recipe or others?
Post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #sustainablecooks. I can't wait to see your take on it!
Like a bowl full of summer, the Ultimate Homemade Peach Ice Cream recipe will blow your mind with flavor.
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 4 egg yolks Let the eggs sit at room temp for 30-60 minutes before cracking
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp kosher salt
- 6 peaches skin removed, and sliced
- 1/2 cup sugar
The fastest way to remove the skin from peaches is to make a little “x” in the skin and then place it in a pan of boiling water for about a minute. Remove and transfer to a bowl of ice water. The skin should peel back easily. Cut the peach into slices or large chunks.Set aside about 1/3 cup of peaches diced into small chunks.
Using an immersion blender or food processor, combine the peaches and puree until smooth. Transfer to the fridge.
In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, combine the heavy cream, milk, kosher salt, vanilla extract, and sugar. Do not let it boil. Remove from heat.
Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl, and whisk well with a fork. Using a 1/3 measuring cup, add some of the hot milk/cream mixture to the egg yolks, and whisk while you combine. Add another 1/3 cup - mix. Then a final 1/3 cup - mix. Whisk the egg mixture into the rest of the milk, and return the pan to the stove. Cook on medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat, and pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl fitted with a sieve/fine mesh strainer. Add peach puree and transfer to the fridge for at 12 hours (preferably) or until completely cooled.
Add the ice cream base to your ice cream maker of choice, churning until it has reached your preferred level of "doneness". Remove the paddle/dasher, and gently stir in the ¼ cup of diced peaches. Transfer to an air-tighter container, pressing a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the ice cream, ensuring it makes contact with the ice cream.
Depending on the size of your peaches, you should yield ~4 cups of peach puree + the 1/3 cup of peach chunks.
If you don’t have an ice cream maker, place the batter in freezer-proof container. Put it in the freezer and give it a stir once every hour until the texture meets your liking.
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Recipes Mentioned In This Post:
Fantastic peach ice cream! It’s not too sweet and just the right amount of peaches. I took the egg whites and made ginger meringue cups to serve the ice cream in. Delish!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and the ginger meringue cups sound amazing! Do you have a tutorial for those?
I’m a little confused by your instructions. In the ingredients section you state 1/2 cup of sugar. Below in the instructions you say add sugar without a specific amount, however, above that you directions state 2 tbsp of sugar added. I’m very confused by that. What am I doing with the sugar?
Hi Leanna,
The 2 tbsp was a typo. I’ve updated the post to reflect the correct amount. You’re simply adding all the sugar with the milk and cream and heating it on the stove. Apologies for the confusion!
My mother made the BEST peach ice cream I suspect that this is fairly close to her recipe, simple and basic. Unfortunately I can’t do dairy anymore, so I will never know. It looks delicious.
I’ve had great luck replacing milk and cream with cashew milk and cashew cream for ice cream!
Bad recipe.
Read the recipe, it never states how many peaches or how much puree you should end up with. Read the recipe, it never states how many egg yolks you use. I’ve made plenty of batches of homemade ice cream already, so I know how to make a base. This recipes doesn’t even clearly describe how to made the flavor (to add to the base).
There are too many good Peach ice cream recipes out there, my suggestion is: Don’t waste your time with this one!
Hi Ken,
In the body of the post you’ll see “*Detailed and printable directions are available in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.”
I walk users through the recipe in the post so that I can add photos. And then I put allllll the details and specifics in the recipe card.
If you scroll down to the bottom you’ll see all the things you’re upset about are spelled out exactly in the handy dandy recipe card (here is a cut and paste for next time):
INGREDIENTS
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
4 egg yolks Let the eggs sit at room temp for 30-60 minutes before cracking
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp kosher salt
6 peaches skin removed, and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
Hope this helps Ken!
Do the puréed peaches go through the strainer or directly into the custard?
Hi MJ, nope they get added afterward. Don’t want to lose any of that peachy goodness!
From step 4 (printable recipe card):
Remove from heat, and pour the mixture into a heatproof bowl fitted with a sieve/fine mesh strainer. Add peach puree and transfer to the fridge for at 12 hours (preferably) or until completely cooled.
I almost bit my 7 year old when she tried to steal mine!
That looks so good! Makes me wish we had a peach tree! I want to plant a whole bunch of them if we move south
You could move east too; peaches grow awesome on the other side of the Cascades. I wish I could grow pluots here. Have you ever had a pluot?
I’m going to give this a go, we used to have a favourite peach ice cream but you can no longer get it 🙁
I’m not sure if this would work with ice cream but if you have a food processor I’ve found you can let sorbet freeze solid, cut it up into blocks then put it in the food processor until it’s smooth. Sometimes I have to do the freeze/blend twice but it’s easier (for lazy people like me) than remembering to get up and stir it.
I say give it a try. If it doesn’t work, you can always just eat the peach ice cream batter and call it a day! 🙂
I needed this in my life! THANK YOU!!!!
You are most welcome!