You are going to love this no-churn creamy Earl Grey Ice Cream. It is officially my favorite no-cook homemade ice cream flavor! Grab a tea kettle so you can brew some Earl Grey tea for this recipe. All you need are three simple ingredients to make this homemade ice cream!
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Our family recently visited a new ice cream place. It was a small local ice cream shop making interesting small-batch flavors. Sadly, the ice cream shop has closed, so I dedicate this post to their delicious memories. I was hooked by one taste of their creamy Earl Grey ice cream. It had hints of Earl Grey spices and was lightly sweet. I just knew I needed to try to re-create these flavors in a creamy, no-churn recipe.
This is a no-churn recipe, and it doesn’t get any easier than this. From the blender, pour your ice cream mixture into a freezable container and freeze. Making ice cream from scratch, where you control the ingredients, is so much cheaper. Everyone will love this easy, no-cook homemade ice cream. You don’t need a fancy ice cream maker to make this no-churn ice cream recipe, though you can use one!
All you need are three simple ingredients! If you love ice cream as much as we do, you will want to check out all of my best gluten-free ice cream recipes.
Allergen Information:
This creamy homemade ice cream is gluten-free, oat-free, soy-free, egg-free, and nut-free.
See Marion’s comment above for instructions on making this ice cream dairy-free. She used So Delicious dairy-free heavy cream and coconut condensed milk.
If you love this easy, no-churn ice cream recipe, you will also want to try this Lemon Curd Ice Cream recipe. My kids make this recipe with our Vitamix. (You can also use a blender.) They call it Vitamix ice cream, probably because you dump everything in, and it takes care of everything except the freezing part.
Ingredient Notes:
For the full list of ingredients and amounts, please go to the recipe card below.
- Earl Grey Tea – Be sure to use good quality tea. It will make a big difference in the richness of the flavor!
- Condensed Milk – You can use regular or coconut condensed milk varieties. Do NOT use evaporated milk.
- Heavy Whipping Cream – This gives the creaminess to your no-churn ice cream! Do not use half and half.
Substitutions:
- I used condensed coconut milk, but you can substitute regular canned condensed milk. I love how the slight coconut flavor works with the Earl Grey tea, so I used this.
- You can use regular, caffeinated Earl Grey or decaf.
Serve this Creamy Earl Grey Tea Ice Cream in these Gluten Free Ice Cream Sandwiches or these Gluten Free Ice Cream Tacos.
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How To Make No-Churn Earl Grey Ice Cream:
Step 1: Steep three Earl Grey tea bags into a cup of hot water. I steep the tea for at least 10 minutes to get a strong flavor and then cool it down so it isn’t hot when I add it to the whipped cream. The stronger the tea, the better the flavor of the ice cream! Remove the tea bags and allow the tea to cool to room temperature.
Step 2: Add all ingredients into the Vitamix or blender and whip until thick. See how the whipping cream helps this no-churn ice cream get really thick and creamy?
One thing I love about this ice cream recipe is that you don’t have to add any extra sugar. The condensed milk provides enough sweetness to make this ice cream perfect.
Step 3: Pour the ice cream mixture into a freezer-safe container and cover it with the lid or plastic wrap. Freeze for 3-4 hours. Scoop and enjoy. If you are looking for the ice cream scoop I show pictured, I love this easy-release ice cream scoop.
You can serve this ice cream in gluten free ice cream cones from your local grocery store. I love topping my ice cream with these Cinnamon-Spiced Walnuts, too!
Frequently Asked Questions:
No-churn is ice cream that is not cooked on a stove before freezing. No-churn ice cream is my newest addiction. It fits my criteria of being easy to make, and I consider it my ice cream for when I feel lazy.
You can use caffeinated or decaffeinated tea to make this ice cream recipe. Many prefer to use decaf tea if they are going to serve it to their kids or enjoy it in the evening/night.ย
If you put the ice cream into an airtight freezer-safe container, this ice cream will last up to 2 months in the freezer.
More Ice Cream Recipes:
- Fresh Vegan Plum Sorbet -Fresh and fruity.
- Caramel Chocolate Chip Ice Cream – Thick and creamy!
- Pineapple Sorbet – Simple and full of fresh flavor.
- Banana Flambe Sundaes – This is a fun dessert to serve for friends.
Love This Recipe?
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment below. This will help others know this recipe is delicious. Thank you!
Earl Grey No Churn Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 14 ounces condensed milk * see note
- 1 cup Earl Grey tea * see note
- 2 pints whipping cream * see note
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Instructions
- Heat a cup of water and add three bags of Earl Grey tea. Allow to steep 5 minutes.
- Allow the tea to cool down for 10 minutes.
- Add all ingredients to a Vitamix or blender. Mix until the cream is thick.
- Pour into a bread pan or other freezer safe container and freeze for 3 hours.
Notes
- Please use heavy whipping cream. Half and half will not work in this recipe.
- Use high-grade Earl Grey tea. You really can taste a difference!
- You can use either milk-based condensed milk or coconut condensed milk in this recipe.
- This ice cream will keep in an airtight freezer-safe container for up to 2 months in the freezer.
SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, you may need to adjust your moisture levels in your baked goods.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
This post was updated from an old August 2018 post with more recipe details.
Wellโฆ I have some criticisms. But first, the flavor of this recipe is great. Not overly sweet, and VERY easy to make in just a blender. However once it fully freezes through (like overnight) it is as hard as a rock and totally unscoopable. Every time I wanted a serving, I had to take it out and wait 10 mins. Even then, it was more like shaving ice. Secondly, the heavy cream leaves a THICK coating of fat on the tongue. I could tolerate it just fine, but ppl with texture issues might wanna give this a miss. I used full dairy everything, so maybe it comes out with vegan milk alternatives like many of the other reviewers here?
That is strange. I am glad you loved the flavor. What did you use to blend the mixture? Maybe it wasn’t whipped enough?
Made this ice cream yesterday. So easy and so delicious! Works really well with all dairy free ingredients too. I used Silk whipping cream and coconut sweetened condensed milk in my stand mixer. Great results!
I am so glad to hear the Silk dairy free whipping cream worked well. I have tried it for whipped cream, but I haven’t tried it in ice cream yet. Thank you!
hi, how can I make this diary free, is there a substitute for heavy whipping cream?
Unfortunately, I have not tested this recipe with a heavy cream substitute.
Hi, thanks for sharing. I was wondering since I am by myself and I’m not much of big eater, if i half the recipe, for 1/2 cup of water can i put 2 tea bags of earl grey tea? my earl grey tea is approximately 38 grams of tea each. what would you recommend? i hope to hear from you. thank you so much. Though I have not tried the recipe, I will give you already 5 stars for it just for taking your time to share this recipe. it is much appreciated.
Hi Tanya, I think halving the recipe will be fine. You can use as much or as little tea as you like. I think two bags would add great flavor for the proportion you are making. Take care, Sandi
Just a note: brew/steeping tea extra-long does nothing to make it stronger. The amount of tea leaves used is what adds to the strength of the teaโs flavor. Brewing/steeping for longer than 3-5 minutes doesnโt make it stronger, it just makes the tea much more astringent and bitter.
So if anyone has trouble with the tea tasting bitter in this recipe, Iโd recommend making a stronger brew by using more tea leaves, and steeping no more than 5 minutes, max, to avoid any bitterness.
Hi there. I am attempting to make this recipe but with sweetened condensed cowโs milk rather than coconut. So far it is not going my way. The mixture never thickened up in the Vitamix. I am now freezing the mixture for an hour and will attempt to whip it up again.
Hi Carole, did you use heavy whipping cream? It should pretty much turn to whipped cream in the Vitamix.
Ice cream sounds yummy. I don’t have an ice-cream maker…can i try blender? or would it be too fast a churn that it will destroy it? Keeping recipe safely though…TIA
Hi Shweta, you can definitely use a blender ๐
Thanks a lot. Will try
Hoping am not posting twice- 1st attempt didn’t seem to work. What a gorgeous recipe, thanks so much for posting. I’d just been looking at recipes for Irish Tea Brack and this popped up. I didn’t even know condensed coconut milk was a thing that existed- haven’t seen it locally yet. Wow. This ice cream would be lovely with Earl Grey (or green tea?) shortbread. Have you seen Alice Medrich’s Blackberry Buttermilk Sherbert? It’s brilliant, like this.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write Jane. I am so glad you like this recipe. I will have to look for the buttermilk sherbert…it sounds heavenly.
Eeeeee would be lovely with Earl Grey shortbread! Lovely recipe, thanks. Also had no idea that condensed coconut milk is a thing. Wow. Have not seen this locally.