Avocado Grapefruit Ice Cream (Dairy Free)
Let me start by saying that, when I first heard of avocado ice cream, I was a bit skeptical about the whole idea. After all, in this house avocados are for guacamole and pretty much solely guacamole. Sure, the occasional slice may make it on a sandwich or get dropped into a salad, but the majority of the time it’s “green sauce”, as my seven year old Alex affectionately calls it, for this family.
Then came the deal on avocados at Costco. A bag of six for a “too good to pass on” price. I wasn’t sure how I was going to tackle that many avocados in one sitting, but I was perusing the aisles at lunch time and my stomach took over the buying decisions so into the cart went a bag of the magnificent Mexican Orbs (note to self: don’t shop at meal time if you’re trying to keep the grocery bill on the down low).
We, of course, delighted in a bowl of guacamole once the acquired fruits were ripe and ready. After the chip carnage was over, however, we still had three primed contenders to deal with. I had seen various forms of ice cream floating around the blogosphere so I figured why the heck not. Let’s give it a go.
If you’re wondering how it all turned out, I need to simply say – avocado ice cream is darn good! The best part is that the creamy consistency and natural fat in an avocado make the addition of heavy cream (aka: extra fat) unnecessary. As a result, not only do you have a tasty treat, but you have one that’s actually not all that bad for you. To take it one step further, I made it dairy free for my husband who has a bit of an “issue” (shhh, don’t tell him I told you that) with straight up dairy. If you’d prefer to use regular milk, however, feel free to do so.
The best part of all this? It’s super simple to make. Start out with your ripe avocados. Nom nom.
Add them to a blender along with a little almond milk, some sugar, the juice of a grapefruit, and a handful of additional flavorings.
And….. hit the on button. Check out the result of your advanced button pushing exercise…
It’s a beautiful sight and we haven’t even “ice creamatized” it yet! So what are you waiting for? Grab your ice cream maker and process it according to your machine’s directions.
It should also be noted that I tossed in an optional teaspoon of vodka with the mix. No I didn’t do this so I wouldn’t have to share with my kids (although now that I think about, that’s not a terrible excuse to give so I can have the bucket all to myself). I did it because it helps keep the ice cream soft once it’s been in the freezer for an extended period of time (think about how alcohol doesn’t freeze). You choose whether or not you decide to take this step. Either way it won’t affect the flavor of the finished product.
And that’s it. We’re done. Finished. Over. Off you go to the grocery store to grab yourself some avocados.
Avocado Ice Cream (Dairy Free)
Yield: Approximately 1 Quart Ice Cream
Total Time: 45 min
Ingredients:
3 Ripe Avocados
2/3 Cup White Sugar
11/2 Cups Almond Milk
1 Grapefruit, Juiced (about 1/3-1/2 Cup)
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vodka (Optional to help with softness of ice cream)Directions:
Toss all of the above ingredients into a blender and mix until smooth.
Pour into an ice cream maker and run until frozen. Enjoy!
Note: If ice cream hardens after a day or two in the freezer, simply let it sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Katarina — April 19, 2013 @ 11:19 am
I love avocado ice cream! I like your version with almond milk and grapefruit. Have a great day!
anniebakes — April 19, 2013 @ 12:20 pm
too interesting for words and a beautiful color as well, looks yummy, julie! anne
Single Mom in the South — April 20, 2013 @ 7:02 am
This sounds intriguing. I LOVE avocados!
Jenny @ BAKE — April 22, 2013 @ 6:18 am
This sounds delicious! I am obsessed with avocado I could easily eat it for every meal and I love that it’s started to come over into dessert too!
grace — April 22, 2013 @ 8:57 am
this is extremely unique, julie! i’m a fan of avocados and am now firmly convinced that their magic is neverending.
Katerina — April 25, 2013 @ 2:21 am
I wouldn’t have thought of making avocado as ice cream but then again sometimes we fail to see outside the box. Your ice cream is stunning Julie!
Jane Warren — April 30, 2013 @ 6:55 pm
I will definitely try this. I love the almond milk!
Monet — May 1, 2013 @ 10:39 pm
This looks just heavenly! Now I need to find me an ice cream maker. I’ve had avocado ice cream a few times, and I love how creamy and light it tastes. Delicious!
Amy Tong — May 4, 2013 @ 9:01 pm
Your avocado ice cream looks really good. And I love avocado in everything, including smoothie and desserts.
Can’t wait to try this. I gotta check out Costco for some avocado deal this week.
Carla @ Gluten Free Recipe Box — June 20, 2013 @ 4:26 am
I love avocado ice cream. I make a similar recipe with agave nectar. Of course, I don’t use vodka, but that I have to try!
micupoftea — June 20, 2013 @ 5:25 pm
Interesting…kind of hard to wrap my mind around! Haha- LOVE the addition of almond milk. Thanks for sharing the tut and recipe
Ice Cream Magic — September 21, 2013 @ 3:58 am
Thanks for this recipe for dairy free avocado grapefruit ice cream. It sounds wonderful.
Fructe uscate — February 17, 2014 @ 5:35 am
Healthy recipe!
brenna — March 25, 2014 @ 2:13 pm
This is beautiful! Check out a new kind of news source that compared the benefits of raw and cooked foods! http://www.niaterra.com/nias/4/Raw-Food–Is-cooked-food-healthier-than-raw-food
Rachel — April 28, 2014 @ 10:10 pm
That sounds so odd it’s probably amazing
Here in Thailand, we have all kinds of ice cream flavors most westerners would think are ‘weird’, yet I’ve tried most of the ones I’ve come across and loved all of them. I’m sure this will be exactly the same. Next time avocados are able to be bought in Thailand cheaply (they’re usually expensive during the months we have to import them), I’ll be trying this. Thanks!!
s — June 23, 2014 @ 10:27 pm
Humm!! It sounds weird for me, not in a bad way. I just haven’t tried anything similar. I might give it a go. I’m intrigued.