This Cheesecake Ice Cream is one of my favorite ice cream recipes. Smooth, creamy cream cheese ice cream is combined with homemade graham cracker crust crumbles, creating a perfect blank canvas for pretty much any cheesecake flavor combos you can dream up. It’s delicious with caramel, hot fudge, or berry sauce. Or, for an easy version, you can layer in some premade cheesecake and fruit jam swirls before serving. However you choose to finish it off, this one is a real winner!
Ingredients and Equipment Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
Ice Cream
- Cream cheese – Full fat or low fat will work. Avoid fat-free.
- Whole milk
- Cream
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
Add-In Options
- Graham cracker crust – I’ve included a recipe for graham cracker crust on the recipe card. You can add just the crust if you’d like.
- Cheesecake toppings – Top your ice cream with berry sauce, caramel, chocolate, fresh fruit, etc.
- Cheesecake and jam – A fun alternative option is to skip the homemade crust and toppings and just grab a little cheesecake sampler from your grocery store, cut into pieces, and gently layer into the ice cream before freezing, along with some ribbons of fruit jam.
Equipment
- Ice cream maker – Any ice cream maker will do! My old ice cream maker bit the dust half way through the summer, so I did a major upgrade and got this Breville Smart Scoop Ice Cream Maker and WOW. It’s amazing. The cool thing about this machine is that it’s actually a compressor, so there’s no freezer container to worry about. It goes from nothing to -25 degrees in about 10 minutes and can do multiple batches in a row. Plus it plays a jig when it’s all done , so ya know, that’s also a major selling point. If you’re serious about making ice cream, I highly recommend it. But a traditional freeze and churn machine will work just as well!
How to Make Cheesecake Ice Cream
- First you’ll prep your batter by blending milk and cream cheese, then whisking in cream, sugar, and vanilla. That will chill in the fridge for several hours until well chilled.
- Once chilled, you’ll churn in an ice cream maker. You can either make a graham cracker crust to add in, and topping sauces as desired, or you can buy a couple of cheesecake slices from the bakery and layer those in, along with some fruit jam, after churning.
- That all gets transferred to the freezer to firm up before serving!
Storing and Other Tips
- Enjoy your ice cream within a week or two for best results!
- You can add any flavors to this cheesecake base that you’d like.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sure. The Oreo crust from this White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake would be a great option! Pair it with a fresh raspberry sauce, and you’ll definitely have a winning combo.
I have not tried making this without an ice cream maker. There is an ice cream method out there that involves whipping the ice cream with a hand mixer at certain intervals during the freezing process to incorporate air like churning would, so you could look into that if you really want to give it a go. For best results, I say stick with an ice cream maker!
If you don’t have an ice cream maker, I’d suggest trying this Two Ingredient Ice Cream that does not require one.
Cheesecake Ice Cream
Ingredients
Ice Cream
- 6 ounces cream cheese low fat is fine, avoid non-fat
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 cups cream
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
Graham Cracker Crust
- 9 full sheets graham crackers about 1 1/2 cups crumbs
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼-½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 7 tablespoons melted butter
Optional Add-Ins and Toppers
- premade cheesecake layer in before freezing, omit homemade crust
- fruit jam
- chocolate sauce
- caramel sauce
Instructions
- Place cream cheese and whole milk in a blender and process until smooth. Pour into a mixing bowl and whisk in cream, sugar, and vanilla. Refrigerate until well chilled, several hours.
- To prepare graham cracker crust, place crackers in a food processor and process until crumbs form. Add brown sugar and cinnamon and pulse to combine. With processor running, drizzle in melted butter. Spread crust onto a foil lined baking sheet, pressing down with hands into a free form rectangle (it doesn’t need to cover the whole sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until it golden and set. Cool completely.
- Pour ice cream batter into an ice cream machine and process according to manufacturers instructions. Transfer to a freezer safe container, working in layers of a little bit of ice cream, and then chunks of the cooled crust, repeating until all ice cream is used. If you have extra crust, save for sprinkling on top. Serve with favorite cheesecake toppings like berry sauce, caramel, chocolate, fresh fruit, etc.
- Alternate method: Make plain cheesecake ice cream and omit crust. When layering into freezer safe container, layer in chopped cheesecake slices and fruit jam in swirls.
Notes
- Makes 1 1/2 quarts
- Nutritional info was calculated for 1/2 cup ice cream using the homemade graham cracker crust, with no additional toppings.
Questions & Reviews
The ice cream looks great but that SPOON!! Too cute!!
Yum! Now that is a serious ice cream maker. I didn’t know that there are ice cream makers that don’t require the salt and 20 pounds of ice layering…probably a good thing that I don’t have the fancy kind or I would eat even more ice cream than I already do! My kids and I made mint chocolate chip ice cream a few weeks ago, and honestly I did not give ice cream to the 9 month old, but when I turned around from the ice cream maker, there was ice cream on her face!
What are the measurements on the crust ingredients ? I am looking at this on my phone and don’t see any.
Thanks and it sounds delicious !!
This looks amazing! I really want some right now!
Do you know if your ice cream maker is from Korea? We used to have a washer and dryer and now we have an oven that are all Korean and they all play little tunes when they are done (or when the oven is preheated or the timer is done). We like to make up funny words to the songs. Your ice cream looks delicious!
Ooh, this sounds yummy! Thanks for sharing! I got a snow cone machine for my birthday this year, so we’ve been dealing with the heat with LOTS of snow cones. 🙂 I am also due in October, so a yummy way to beat the heat has been crucial this year. Your ice cream maker sounds awesome! I will have to pin this recipe to try sometime soon.
Thank you for posting on Labor Day! This ice cream looks both amazing and doable. Pinned!
What is the ice cream maker? My wife is looking for a new one
Hi Jim, here’s the link again!
Yum. Another recipe making me want an ice cream maker !
Oh yum! I’ve been thinking about finding a cheesecake ice cream recipe, and I can’t wait to make this! Love you guys!