This Butter Pecan Ice Cream is so easy – you only need six ingredients and you don’t need an ice cream machine to make it. It’s a no-churn ice cream recipe with buttery sweet pecans mixed into a vanilla ice cream base. Homemade ice cream never tasted so good!

Pecan ice cream in a loaf pan with a scoop.

If I had to choose a favorite ice cream flavor, I’m not sure I could – I love them all! But, butter pecan ice cream is definitely near the top of the list. It’s one I’ll order at an ice cream shop, but even better it’s one of my favorite ice cream flavors to make at home.

If you’ve never made homemade ice cream because it seems too complicated, I can’t wait for you to try this recipe. This no-churn butter pecan ice cream is rich, creamy, buttery, and nutty just like traditional butter pecan, but easier because you don’t need to make a custard base or use an ice cream maker.

Table of Contents

Easy Butter Pecan Ice Cream

For this recipe, you whip cream until it’s stiff and then fold in sweetened condensed milk. This is the ice cream base and it’s so easy to do.
A melted butter, brown sugar, and pecan mixture is folded into the whipped cream.
From there you freeze and the next day you can treat yourself to a bowl of rich and creamy ice cream!

Once you know how to make no-churn ice cream the flavor possibilities are endless! After you try this butter pecan ice cream recipe, you have to try my strawberry ice cream recipe!

Ingredients

Butter – best to use salted butter
Brown sugar
Chopped pecans –
Sweetened condensed milk
Cream – heavy, whole or whipping cream, at least 30% fat.
Vanilla extract

Recipe Steps

Melt butter and sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in the pecan and cook the mixture for two to three minutes while stirring. Remove the pan from the heat to cool.

Pecan before and after roasted in a silver pan.

Whisk the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla in a mixing bowl.

In a separate large bowl, whip the heavy cream with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold in the milk mixture.

The cream whipped and condensed milk mixed in.

Once it’s combined fold in the butter pecan mixture.

Pecan nuts mixed into the ice cream mixture.

Spoon the ice cream mixture into a loaf pan and cover it with plastic wrap. Place it in the freezer for 10 to 12 hours or until the ice cream is firm.

The ice cream before freezing in the loaf pan.

Tips for the Best Results

Be sure to let the butter pecan mixture fully cool before you add it to the whipped cream.

When you fold in the sweetened condensed milk and pecans do it slowly so you don’t deflate the whipped cream. This will keep your ice cream light and creamy.

No-churn ice cream has a different texture than regular ice cream – it’s softer and melts faster. So, be sure to store the ice cream container in the coldest part of the freezer away from the door. This will prevent ice crystals from forming which can make your ice cream grainy.

If you don’t plan to serve the ice cream all at once, scoop out the amount you want and then place the container back in the freezer as soon as possible.

This ice cream will keep for up to two weeks in the freezer as long as it’s in an airtight container.

There’s nothing better than a scoop (or two!) of this homemade butter pecan ice cream for dessert or a sweet snack. Share it with your family and friends and no one will guess how easy it was to make – Enjoy!

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