My
Shop Sugar-Free
Wholesome Yum
Free Printable: Low Carb & Keto Food List
Get It NowThis post may contain affiliate links, which help keep this content free. (Full disclosure)
If you’ve been on the hunt for a keto chocolate ice cream that tastes like the REAL deal, but, you know, without the sugar and carbs, THIS is the recipe for you! My sugar free chocolate ice cream is a sweet, creamy, and cold treat that satisfies your sweet tooth and it makes a decadent dessert topped on keto brownies or chocolate chip cookies.
Keto Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe: Why You’ll Love It
- Tastes like the real thing
- Super creamy and smooth
- Rich chocolate flavor
- Sweet without the sugar
- Soft and scoopable — won’t harden in the freezer (as long as you use Besti sweetener!)
- Easy to make
- 3.9g net carbs per serving
This recipe has a similar custard base to my almond milk ice cream and protein ice cream recipes, but this time I wanted to share a plain keto chocolate ice cream. If you want an ice cream recipe that is not custard based, try keto vanilla ice cream instead, or even keto mason jar ice cream for a fun activity.
The one thing that all my keto ice cream recipes share is that they use Besti powdered sweetener. If I had to choose one thing to use this sweetener for, ice cream would be it, hands down.
Besti is a blend of monk fruit and allulose… and the key to soft, scoopable, smooth ice cream (whether that’s sugar free chocolate ice cream or any other flavor!) is the allulose. Ice creams sweetened with other brands of monk fruit or with erythritol will get rock hard in the freezer and are prone to crystallization, making them very difficult to scoop or grainy. Allulose dissolves easily for no gritty texture, and has a different freezing point and allows the ice cream to stay softer. You’re going to love it!
Ingredients & Substitutions
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for homemade sugar-free chocolate ice cream, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
- Egg Yolks – This is the base of the custard. You want large sized eggs for this recipe.
- Besti Powdered Monk Fruit Allulose Blend – This allulose-based sweetener is the key to ice cream that won’t get rock hard, and we use powdered to help it dissolve more easily. You can also use plain powdered allulose, you’ll need about 33% more sweetener if you do. Other sweeteners will work to sweeten the ice cream, but the texture won’t be nearly as good.
- Sea Salt – Just a pinch to balance flavors. Don’t worry, your ice cream won’t be salty.
- Unsweetened Coconut Milk Beverage – Make sure you buy the coconut milk drink in a carton from the dairy section of the store, not the canned coconut milk. They are different! I chose this to keep the recipe nut-free for those that need it, but you can also use unsweetened almond milk instead if you like.
- Heavy Cream – Also called heavy whipping cream, this gives the custard base that creamy texture and flavor. You can make it dairy-free by using canned full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream instead.
- Cocoa Powder – Look for unsweetened high quality cocoa for the richest chocolate taste.
VARIATION: Add vanilla extract!
If you like the flavor, add a teaspoon of vanilla after removing from heat.
How To Make Keto Chocolate Ice Cream
This section shows how to make keto chocolate ice cream with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Mix the egg base. Whisk together the egg yolks, Besti Powdered Monk Fruit Allulose Blend, and sea salt until combined. Set aside.
TIP: Wondering what to do with the egg whites?
Try making keto bread (white and fluffy), keto flatbread (similar to pita bread), or even keto angel food cake.
- Heat the chocolate mixture. In a saucepan, whisk together the coconut milk, cream, and cocoa powder. Heat over medium heat and whisk until it just starts to simmer. Remove from heat.
- Temper. Very slowly, pour the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly.
TIP: Pour hot cream in a thin stream.
We don’t want to scramble the eggs, so whisk vigorously and pour slowly.
- Heat again. Once the custard mixture is combined and smooth, transfer back to saucepan and heat over low heat until it reaches 170 degrees F.
TIP: Use a thermometer if you can.
I use this meat thermometer for ice cream as well, it’s super precise and I avoid having another specialty tool just for sweets. If you don’t have one, just heat for 3-5 minutes.
- Chill. Pour the ice cream mixture into a glass container, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until very cold (below 40 degrees F).
- Churn. Pour cold custard into a pre-frozen ice cream maker bowl and churn according to instructions, until mixture has the texture of soft serve.
- Freeze. You can enjoy the soft serve immediately, but for a classic ice cream texture, freeze for at least 4 hours to firm up.
More Keto Chocolate Recipes
If you love this sugar-free chocolate ice cream recipe, you might also like some of these other keto chocolate recipes:
- Keto Avocado Brownies
- Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Sugar Free Chocolate Truffles
- Keto Chocolate Croissants
Tools To Make Sugar Free Chocolate Ice Cream
- Saucepan – This one is a good size for making the custard base.
- Ice Cream Maker – This automatic ice cream maker works really well and doesn’t leave much ice cream stuck to the sides. It’s the one I use and I love it!
- Colorful Ice Cream Bowls – Serve up your keto chocolate ice cream in these fun bowls with matching spoons.
Keto Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe
Keto Chocolate Ice Cream (Sugar Free)
The BEST keto chocolate ice cream recipe! This 5-ingredient sugar free chocolate ice cream is rich, smooth, creamy, and won't harden in the freezer.
Go Ad-FreeRecipe Video
Tap on the image below to watch the video.Like this video? Subscribe to my YouTube cooking channel for healthy recipes weekly! (Click the bell icon to be notified when I post a new video.)
Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them. Please turn Safari reader mode OFF to view ingredients.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
-
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, powdered sweetener, and sea salt, until combined and light yellow in color. Set aside.
-
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the coconut milk, cream, and cocoa powder. Heat over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until it just starts to simmer. Remove from heat.
-
Very slowly, pour the hot cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly. (Doing this in a thin stream and whisking vigorously will prevent scrambling the egg.)
-
Once the custard is combined and smooth, transfer the mixture back to the saucepan. Return to the stove over low heat and heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture reaches 170 degrees F (76 degrees C), about 3-5 minutes.
-
Remove from heat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until very cold (below 40 degrees F (4 degrees C)).
-
Pour the cold custard mixture into a pre-frozen ice cream maker bowl. Churn according to manufacturer instructions, usually about 20-25 minutes, until ice cream is the texture of soft serve.
-
Serve immediately, or for firmer ice cream, transfer to a freezer container and freeze until solid.
Last Step: Leave A Rating!
Share your recipe picture by tagging @wholesomeyum and hashtag it #wholesomeyum on Instagram, or in our free low carb support group, too – I’d love to see it!
Related Easy Recipes
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1/2 cup
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
Want to save this recipe?
Create a free account to save your favorite recipes!
Sign Up To Save Recipes© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂
35 Comments
tanya
0Hello, can you substitute monk fruit sweetener for the monk fruit with allulose? I am trying to do keto, but I find it to be a bit expensive, and I have already purchased the regular monkfruit sweetener.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Tanya, If you need to use another sweetener I recommend using my Keto Sweetener Guide to figure out how much to use.
Janice
0How many servings does this make ?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Janice, This makes 6 servings.
Jerome
0Would it be possible to substitute almond milk for the coconut milk? If not what would other possible substitutes be for the almond milk? Thanks!
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Jerome, Yes, you can use unsweetened almond milk.
Nancy
0I made this, substituting half and half for the coconut beverage. I used the granulated Besti Allulose that I had just received from Wholesome Yum and it froze the ice cream but it was scoopable without having to let it sit out for a bit. Just be aware that if you are in Canada, the shipping cost is almost as much as the product making it very expensive for 1 lb. To me the flavor was more like hot chocolate than chocolate ice cream but the texture was perfect.
Darlene
0Hi
Instead of the 1 1/2 cups of coconut milk can I substitute half and half? I can only get heavy whipping cream in small containers, without additives, and it gets very expensive to buy several small containers for cooking. Half and Half is lower in carbs than full-fat milk alone.
Thanks
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Darlene, Yes, you can sub half and half. The ice cream will just be less rich and will have more carbs, but a bit fewer calories.
Elisa Castagna
0This ice cream was so good! Made it for Father’s Day and it was a hit!
Leah
0Hey! I want to try this but I don’t have an ice cream maker- is there a way to make it without one? Do you think that would be okay?
Thanks!
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Leah, I recommend checking out my Mason Jar Ice Cream recipe if you don’t have an ice cream maker.
Liv
0Amazing!!! I’m so, so happy with this. Your sweeteners are *the best* and this ice cream is absolutely delicious. Thank you!
Bruce
0For the chocolate ice cream you not giving amounts? Thanks
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Bruce, All of the ingredients are listed in the recipe card which is right above where you just left this comment.
Bruce
0Thanks I believe I also read that you can use the coconut milk from the can if I do that can I still stick with the one cup of heavy cream?
Thanks
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0You can use coconut milk from a can in place of the heavy cream. I don’t recommend coconut milk from a can to replace the coconut milk beverage, as the canned kind is too thick to replace the liquid kind. But the canned kind is fine for replacing the heavy cream. Hope this helps!
Althea
0I tried this recipe using powdered allulose and replaced the coconut drink with thickened cream instead as I can’t source it locally. It turned out very tasty, very rich and creamy (perhaps a little TOO rich and heavy), but best part is that I was able to scoop it out straight from the freezer as it wasn’t rock hard! YAY! I got a bottle of coconut water and a can of coconut cream which I might try instead of using all thickened cream.
Jennifer Rae
0Oh I sure do love simple! Thanks for the tip – I appreciate how quickly you respond, you know, for ice cream emergencies, lol. Will be trying the recipe this week – with all 4 ingredients – and will let you know how it goes!
Jennifer
0I’ve only made “regular” ice cream a handful of times (this was the first time making it low-carb) – however, I’ve consumed far more than one person’s share in my lifetime, so for this reason, would have to consider myself an experienced ice cream consumer! Conclusion: this is terrific ice cream. I made it in a Cuisinart ice cream maker; my only suggestion to anyone about to make it is to double or triple the recipe (for obvious reasons). I’d questioned using just heavy cream as I wasn’t able to get the Coconut Dream – and then suddenly, there it was at the store, so it was made according to the original recipe. Highly recommended!
Jennifer Rae
0Hi Maya,
You mention below that you can use heavy cream if you don’t like the taste of coconut milk – is that the same as whipping cream, the 35% cream?
Would that mean 2 1/2 cups of heavy cream? The 1 cup of heavy cream in the original recipe, and then another 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream to replace the coconut beverage?
If that would work, I suppose that would make it a 4-ingredient recipe (even simpler), and I’m pretty sure heavy cream has very few carbs, isn’t that right?
Thanks!
Jenn
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Jennifer Rae, Yes, use either heavy cream or whipping cream for this recipe, you don’t need both. They differ in fat content, but this is not something to worry about with this recipe. If you use cream instead of coconut milk, it will make a 4 ingredient recipe! I love simple, don’t you?!
Linda
0Hi Maya, getting ready to make this for July 4th. I saw the blue Besti bag and thought it was the powdered but no -it’s the crystalized one. Can I still use that? And the same amount? Hope you see this soon, as I’ve already separated the eggs…. :-}
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Linda, Yes. Just add the sweetener to the coconut milk and cream (see step 2) instead of in the eggs. This will ensure that the sweetener fully dissolves before churning into ice cream. I hope this helps!
Linda
0Thanks! I went ahead and tried the Allulose powdered one – it’s just not the Monk Fruit one. It’s all sitting in the fridge now. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Can’t wait to try the ice cream though. We used to make homemade ice cream every July 4th as a kid.
[Did y’all change the bag colors? I don’t even see the one I have – it’s green but it shows purple on the site. All these sugars are confusing!]
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Linda, Yes, the colors were updated a while back to make it easier to determine which type is which.
Samantha
0Oh this looks delicious! I am chocolate obsessed and this looks so creamy!
Sharon
0I have found a Monk Fruit/Erythritol blend. But I noticed that it has 30 grams of carbs! It has no other ingredients. Also can I change out the chocolate for fresh berries?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Sharon, The carbs listed on that sweetener are probably from the sugar alcohols, which would be subtracted to determine the net carb count. My recommendation is to use Besti Monk Fruit Sweetener with Erythritol. This has 0 net carbs! I don’t think substituting fresh berries would work in this specific recipe because there would be too much liquid. Consider trying my Blackberry Sugar-free Keto Frozen Yogurt recipe.
Natalie
0That was delicious ice cream. I will make it again that’s for sure. Yum!
Renae
0I couldn’t wait to try this!
Raewyn Wright
0Hi Maya, I’m loving your recipes – the latest being chaffles ( oh, wow!). I have 2 questions here … if carbs are not a primary concern can grass fed cows milk be used instead of coconut milk to get equal results… Second – I have managed to obtain pure allulose, and pure monkfruit, – is there a proportion I can use to get the equivalent of your besti. (I will be a customer of your products as soon as you can get them to NZ). I will understand if this proportion is something that you would prefer to keep to yourself – I’ll just increase the amount of allulose, although I have had difficulty with adapting other recipes behaving like they have too much sugar. Thank you. Raewyn
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Raewyn, I have never used regular milk but in theory, it should work. Also, you are correct we do not provide proportions for Besti.
Calaiha
0Good afternoon,
I do not like the taste of coconut milk, can this recipe be made with just heavy cream, or a combination of heavy cream and whole milk?
Thank you,
CH
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Calaiha, Using whole milk would make this ice cream too high in carbs to be keto. Feel free to use all heavy cream in the recipe if you prefer not to use coconut milk.