Vegan Sweet Potato Ice Cream

This Sweet Potato Ice Cream is the perfect easy fall dessert! This creamy ice cream is the best way to sneak extra veggies into your diet. It has the perfect rich texture and sweet flavor, and it's made with clean and simple ingredients.

It's no secret that I am a fan of sweet potatoes. They are hands down my favorite vegetable. Typically, I enjoy them in savory recipes. However, after making Apple Stuffed Sweet Potatoes and seeing how delicious sweet potatoes are when made with sweet ingredients, I knew it was time to create some sweet potato desserts!

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Ingredients:

This vegan ice cream recipe is great because it uses very simple ingredients that you can find at your local grocery store.

• Sweet Potato Puree: This Sweet Potato Ice Cream recipe uses an entire can of sweet potato puree (make sure to use sweet potato purée and not sweet potato pie filling to avoid unhealthy sugars). Sweet potatoes are packed full of health benefits, including beta-carotene and fiber, and they are low in calories. Use any leftovers to make my Sweet Potato Brownies!
• Raw Cashews: I love using raw cashews in this vegan ice cream recipe. It adds the perfect amount of thickness and creaminess to this homemade ice cream recipe. It's super important that you use raw cashews and not roasted ones. Roasted cashews will not achieve the same creamy texture, and they're full of unhealthy, highly processed oils.
• Full-Fat Coconut Milk: Another favorite ingredient of mine when it comes to making vegan ice creams is full-fat coconut milk. Coconut milk is rich and creamy and works well with many different flavors. It works a lot like heavy cream, but it is dairy-free and vegan. 
• Medjool Dates: I love using Medjool dates to naturally sweeten desserts. They're rich and sweet and add the perfect vanilla caramel flavor to my recipes. They're packed full of fiber as well as health-promoting vitamins and minerals. I recommend buying in bulk so you can make my date-sweetened brownies as well!
• Pure Maple Syrup: Another one of my favorite natural sweeteners is maple syrup. Although maple syrup does not contain any fiber and, therefore, has a bigger impact on blood sugar levels, it is still loaded with vitamins and minerals. If you're keeping an eye on your blood sugar and don't want the spike, or you're trying to reduce your sugar intake, you can leave the maple syrup out of this recipe, and it will taste just fine. 
• Vanilla Extract: I always recommend using Mexican Vanilla extract. It has a much deeper flavor and instantly elevates any dish. It is slightly pricier, but a little goes a long way, so ultimately, I think it is totally worth it.
• Cinnamon: Of course, I had to add a touch of spice to this recipe! Cinnamon is the perfect addition to any sweet potato dessert because it complements the sweet potato flavor so perfectly.
• Raw Pecans: I personally love a bit of crunch in my ice cream. You can either leave the pecans out or add them to taste!
• Vegan Mini Marshmallows (optional): Vegan marshmallows are an absolute wonder! They taste exactly like regular marshmallows (even a little better). This is the best-tasting brand, and this is the healthiest brand.

How To Make It:

Let's see how to make it.

1. Freeze the bowl: Make sure the freezer bowl from your ice cream maker has been frozen for at least 24 hours.
2. Soak: Combine pitted dates and cashews in a large bowl, cover with water, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight).
3. Blend: Drain and add the soaked dates and cashews to a blender with sweet potato purée, full-fat coconut milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Blend on high for about 1 minute, until completely smooth.
4. Churn: Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and churn for 25-30 minutes, or until it thickens and sticks to the paddle.
5. Mix-ins: Add mini marshmallows and pecans; mix until evenly combined.
6. Serve: Enjoy immediately as soft serve, or transfer to a container and freeze until scoopable.

Substitutions: 

There are plenty of simple and delicious substitutions that can be made to this recipe if needed. 

• Purple Sweet Potatoes: You can use purple sweet potatoes in this recipe for vibrant and antioxidant-rich purple sweet potato ice cream. Purple sweet potato puree is a bit harder to find than traditional orange sweet potatoes. However, I have been able to find it in the Asian market. It is often called ube. You can also use Japanese sweet potatoes (my personal favorite variety; however, you will have to make the purée yourself.
• Pumpkin: You can use pumpkin purée in place of sweet potato purée as a 1:1 substitute. This will give you more of a pumpkin pie ice cream! Plus, you can make my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread with the leftovers!
• Nuts: You can use any nuts in place of pecans.

Variations:

I love this sweet potato ice cream recipe because there are plenty of delicious ways to spice it up next time.

• White Chocolate Chips: Add a handful of vegan white chocolate chips for a fun, decadent variation.
• Peanut Butter: Add a swirl of peanut butter for a delicious, rich combo.
• Low-Calorie: You can use lite coconut milk, almond milk, or oat milk in place of the full-fat coconut milk for a low-calorie version of this recipe. Make sure to check out my 30 vegan recipes for weight loss for more vegan weight loss recipes!

Equipment:

This sweet potato ice cream recipe is easy to make and requires very few pieces of equipment.

• Ice Cream Maker - You will need an ice cream machine to churn the ice cream. I have owned a couple of ice cream makers, and they are not all created equally. I really love the ice cream maker that I have now - I've linked it for you!
• Blender - Any blender will work. However, I strongly recommend using a high-speed blender. I was on the fence about investing in a Vitamix for the longest time, but it was hands down one of the best appliances I have ever bought. You can also use a food processor. However, this will take much longer, and the ice cream base won't turn out as smooth.
• Large Bowl - Any large bowl will work to soak the dates and cashews.

As always, you can find all my go-to equipment on my Amazon storefront or my Shop page.

Storage:

How you store the ice cream is key. If you are only storing it for a couple of hours or overnight, a loaf pan and plastic wrap will work perfectly fine.

If you plan on storing this ice cream for an extended period of time, I recommend using an airtight container, or an ice cream container. When stored properly, this recipe will keep for up to 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Related Sweet Potato Recipes:

Looking for more delicious recipes that use sweet potatoes? Try some of my other recipes out!

If you're looking for another vegan sweet potato dessert recipe, make sure to check out this Easy Sweet Potato Cake Recipe!

If you try this Vegan Sweet Potato Ice Cream recipe, I'd really love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. I'd also really appreciate a recipe card rating! Thank you for supporting The All Natural Vegan!

Related Vegan Ice Cream Recipes:

Make sure to check out some of my other delicious homemade vegan ice cream recipes: