Fruit smoothies are a refreshing and easy breakfast or snack option on a hot day. But as delicious as they are, I often want something a little bit more indulgent for a dessert. This Tropical Smoothie Ice Cream was inspired by a smoothie I had for breakfast recently – but converted into a more decadent no-churn ice cream recipe that is perfect for treating yourself on a hot summer night.

The ice cream starts with a variety of frozen fruits: strawberries, pineapple, banana and mango. I used equal parts of each of the fruits, but feel free to mix it up based on what you have available at home! The fruit should be pureed before the other ingredients are added, then the ice cream base is blended at high speed to whip in plenty of air, allowing you to freeze it right away without churning in an ice cream maker.

I often use frozen fruit to whip up a quick smoothie – since frozen fruits mean a thicker smoothie – and I stuck with frozen fruits for the base of the ice cream to bring down the chilling time. You can actually find lots of smoothie mixes in the frozen food section of the grocery store these days. That means that you don’t necessarily have to buy and prep all the fruit for this recipe, but can simply pick up a frozen tropical fruit mix and use that for convenience (and leftovers can always be tossed into a traditional smoothie!).

The ice cream tastes just like a tropical smoothie, but with a richness that you won’t find in any regular juice drink. The sweetened condensed milk highlights the natural sweetness of all the fruits (I find it goes particularly well with the banana), really letting their flavors shine. The ice cream is scoop-able as soon as it has frozen. Once it has been frozen for more than 24 hours, it might need a few minutes of defrosting to come back to that perfect scoop-ability. Serve as-is or top with even more fruit and toasted coconut for a tropical sundae.

Tropical Smoothie Ice Cream
16-oz of strawberries, pineapple, banana and mango chunks (pref frozen)
14-oz sweetened condensed milk
16-oz (2 cups) heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a blender or food processor, whizz fruit until very smooth. Add in remaining ingredients and blend on high speed for 2 minutes. Pour into a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 3 hours, or until solid.

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