Silken Tofu Vegan Ice Cream – Sweet thang
- Updated on Mar 02, 2022
Download our free app Easy Vegetarian!
(4.7★, 100K+ Downloads in Google Play)
🥗 300+ High-Protein Recipes
📅 Grocery Lists & Meal Plans
🚫Totally Ad-free
Ice cream weather is nearing and this healthy vegan ice cream recipe is ready to make you feel like a happy kid again.
Careful not to get a brain freeze though! It’s difficult to stop once you’ve had a taste.
This creamy vegan ice cream recipe requires only easy ingredients and no special equipment, except a blender. You’ll get a sweet flavour and perfectly creamy texture without the dairy and too much sugar.
How to make vegan ice cream with banana and tofu
The vegan banana ice cream recipe requires some blending and freezing. You’ll have to blend ripe frozen bananas, chopped or sliced beforehand, with the rest of the ingredients and leave the mixture in a freezer overnight.
If you’re willing to make an extra effort, blend the frozen silken tofu ice cream again and freeze until it’s solid. This will give you a smoother ice cream with smaller ice crystals.
However it is an extra step that is only necessary if you have the time. The method as noted in the instructions below gives amazing results as it is.
It can also be served as a chocolate pudding or vegan custard if you let it melt a little (if you want more like this, try our silken tofu dessert recipes round up!).
Subscribe to get our FREE 7-Day Vegetarian High Protein Meal Plan for Weight Loss
Why we’ve chosen these vegan ice cream ingredients
We want to make banana flavoured ice cream not only because bananas are a-peeling. There are many good reasons to eat this fruit and fun ways to include it in your diet.
One banana (126g) contains 3g of fiber that’s linked to many health benefits, including better digestion. It also has no fat ensuring we make a healthy low-fat vegan ice cream.
If you want more banana recipes, check out these 18 healthy banana recipes. And if you want more homemade ice cream inspo, try our fruit yogurt ice cream
Silken tofu is a healthy vegan ice cream recipe for protein (4.8g per 100 grams serving) and soft creamy texture. Tofu has many health benefits like lowering cholesterol, improving bone health and managing weight loss.
If your goal is to lose weight, check out our free 7-day vegetarian weight loss meal plan.
Pick the perfect banana
The best bananas to use here are as ripe as possible! Brown and dark spots tell us the bananas are really nice and sweet and perfect to use here. Don’t throw them away just because they’ve gone a bit brown. Make ice cream instead!
I hope this vegan tofu ice cream with banana melts your heart. Share your thoughts in the comments!
Ingredients
- 11 oz banana (ripe and frozen) (11oz = 3 bananas)
- 9 oz silken tofu
- 5 tbsp cacao powder
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp sugar (if you have a sweeter tooth add an extra tbsp)
Instructions
- Blend ripe frozen banana (browned and spotted), silken tofu, cacao powder, vanilla extract and sugar until homogenous and creamy.11 oz banana, 9 oz silken tofu, 5 tbsp cacao powder, 2 tbsp vanilla extract, 2 tbsp sugar
- Immediately place in a container with a lid on and freeze overnight.
- Take out of the freezer 10 minutes before serving. Serve 2-3 scoops per person.
NOTES
- If you have the time, once the ice cream is mostly frozen take it out, put in the blender, and blend completely again. Take back to the container immediately and freeze until it’s solid again. This will result in a smoother ice cream with smaller ice crystals.
- Use very ripe bananas (browned and spotted), otherwise you’ll have to add more processed sugar to compensate. Slice or chop them, and freeze them before making the ice cream.
- You can serve this chilled, not frozen, like a chocolate pudding/vegan custard.
- A truly healthy dessert Avocado Chocolate Mousse
- Japanese Silken Tofu Dessert with Mango Coulis
- Flip and flavour High-Protein Lentil Pancakes
- Filling and slimming Chia Pudding with Almond Milk
- Oat so tasty Healthy Oatmeal Banana Pancakes
Nutrition
Dave Bell
I’m not a foodie, although I do love eating. I believe food should serve us and our goals, not hinder. Taking control and responsibility for what I eat is important to me. Lots of veggie protein is my way forward.
Abril Macías
Creator of this wonderful recipe!
I am a culinary creator and food photographer from Quito, Ecuador. I have a Master’s degree in New Food Thinking and a Bachelor’s degree in Gastronomy, my expertise lies in crafting and capturing creative dishes. Collaborating with websites and blogs worldwide, I develop recipes and bring them to life through captivating photographs.
I dedicate my work in the kitchen and through the lens to explore food from different backgrounds, origins and diets. I would describe my style as “comfort food with a twist”. My goal is to create recipes that are homely, yet attractive, delicious and have something different and exiting to them.
This article has been medically reviewed by James LeBaigue MSc Learn More
James LeBaigue MSc
James has a Masters Degree in Sport and Exercise Nutrition, as well as an Advanced Diploma in Human Nutrition.
He loves combining his scientific knowledge along with food in the real world, and these recipes are the result.
He’s on top of all the latest evidence and guidelines to make sure our nutrition advice on the website is as accurate as it can be.
By day he works as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner in a busy NHS GP Practice.
Each recipe is tested and then eaten (much to James’ delight), many times before it is deemed worthy to be published. Bon appetit!
Comments
Leave a comment below
8 comments
I make “nice cream” all the time for breakfast, usually chai flavored, but have never attempted an actual ice cream recipe using tofu for smoothness/creaminess. Can I try this without the chocolate? Just vanilla extract or beans?
Hi Renee, you could definitely try this without the chocolate. Although I haven’t tried it myself, I’d guess it’ll work well as the cacao powder isn’t particularly sweet – meaning the vanilla and banana sweetness would still be there. Would love to hear how it goes!
It’s still freezing but it tastes awesome!
Great to hear!! Need to make this again as well
You gave nutritional info, but there are a couple of ommissions there, and in the recipe: It would help if you told how many bananas the recipe takes…though I figure it is about 2, considering the grams you show in regarding to the fiber content of a single banana. And, in the nutrition chart, you don’t show the grams you consider a single serving. Giving a serving size by “scoop”, btw, is not good as scoops vary in size. Finally, you inform people how to tell if a banana is ripe. Plenty of people think that they should be discarded when they are yellow spotted with small brown or black spots…whereas, that is actually the sign that they are at the peak of ripeness & sweetness. Otherwise, thanks for the recipe & tips.
Hi Olen! And thanks for the feedback, you’ve made very good points. I’ve added a section about the ripeness of bananas, and also that there are about 3 in this recipe. I’ve set the servings to scoops as grams are something we can’t set anymore. Thanks again, I hope you enjoy the ice cream anyway!
Can one churn in ice cream maker instead of taking out of freezer when mostly frozen and using food processor/blender to mix?
Hi! I just spoke to Abril, the recipe’s creator and she said: “Absolutely you can churn in the ice cream maker. It will be so much better”.
So that’s great! I hope you enjoy the ice cream 🙂