Easy Neapolitan Ice Cream Recipe

Neapolitan Ice Cream combines the top three best ice cream flavors into a layered ice cream recipe that has something for everyone to love.

To make things simple, we’ve created this Neapolitan Ice Cream recipe as a no-churn one. One simple ice cream base is flavored in three different ways.

Homemade Neapolitan Ice Cream is all-natural, gluten-free, egg-free, and nut free.

homemade no churn neapolitan ice cream, scooped into a glass, ridged, footed ice cream dish. Two spoons are on the table next to the glass. Dishes of sliced strawberries and chocolate chips are in the background

If you can’t decide which flavor, chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry, is your favorite, then Neapolitan Ice cream is the perfect flavor for you!

You don’t have to choose when you have all three of the best ice cream flavors in one batch of delicious no-churn ice cream.

Now, we could have made Neapolitan by making a batch of vanilla ice cream, then a batch of chocolate ice cream, and then a batch of strawberry ice cream in the ice cream maker. But without three separate ice cream machines running at the same time, it seemed like a very long and daunting process!

So we’re making no-churn Neapolitan instead. No Churn Neapolitan ice cream is fluffy, sweet, and delicious, no ice cream machine required!

What Is Neapolitan Ice Cream?

The word, “Neapolitan” relates to the province of Naples in Italy. So we already know that Neapolitan ice cream is a tri-colored ice cream with layers of different ice cream flavors, but what does it have to do with Italy?

Well, as Italian immigrants from Naples arrived in America they brought with them their expertise in frozen desserts. Gelato, Semifreddo, Affogato – These all come from Italy!

The most popular dessert that they brought was a molded ice cream consisting of three different flavors and colors. They called it spumoni, but Americans called it Neapolitan.

Why You’re Going to Love this Neapolitan Ice Cream Recipe

Easy No-Churn Recipe. This is a no-cook ice cream recipe, and also a no-churn recipe. There is no special equipment or cooking knowledge needed. This also means that your Neapolitan ice cream will be ready in less than 5 hours from start to finish, including freezing time.

Three Perfect Flavors. Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry ice creams are all made from one delicious ice cream base, and then arranged in beautiful layers.

Step by Step Instructions, and tips for making layered ice cream in various ways.

The ingredients needed to make neapolitan ice cream, all in separate bowls, viewed from overhead. In the center is a bowl of freeze dried strawberries. Around it is a cup of cream, a can of sweetened condensed milk, a small bowl of vanilla extract, a small bowl of salt, and a small bowl of cocoa powder.

Ingredients in Homemade Neapolitan Ice Cream

Sweetened Condensed Milk – Using this thickened, sweetened milk is a shortcut that replaces the traditional custard used in churned ice cream recipes.

Vanilla Extract – for best results, I recommend using the best vanilla extract that you can reasonably afford when making ice creams. We aren’t cooking it, so the flavor really shines through.

Salt – Just a bit of salt balances the sweetness.

Heavy Whipping Cream – We’ll be whipping this up to add airiness to the ice cream.

Cocoa Powder – Cocoa powder mixed into part of this no-churn ice cream recipe gives us chocolate ice cream for our Neapolitan.

Freeze Dried Strawberries – Look for the hard, crispy freeze-dried strawberries at the store, not the ones that are just “dried”. Toss them into your food processor and pulse until you get a fine powder. This is how we’ll flavor the strawberry ice cream.

Optional Red Food Coloring – If you’d like the strawberry ice cream layer to be nice and pink, a few drops of food coloring will do the trick!

a photo collage showing how to make neopolitan ice cream without an ice cream maker, step by step.

How to Make Neapolitan Ice Cream from Scratch

This no-churn ice cream recipe comes together in about 15 minutes, but make sure you plan to wait at least 5 hours before eating it. Be patient as it hardens in the freezer!

  1. Combine sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix together and set aside.
  2. Add the heavy whipping cream to a large bowl. Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to whip the cream until stiff peaks form. This should only take a few minutes. 
  3. Add the whipped cream to the sweetened condensed milk mixture. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the sweetened condensed milk mixture. Try to keep the mixture light and fluffy. 
  4. Divide the mixture into three separate bowls. 
  5. Leave one bowl as is (that’s the vanilla). In the second bowl, stir in the cocoa powder.
  6. In the last bowl, add the powdered freeze-dried strawberries and a few drops of red food coloring until you get a light pink ice cream.
  7. Layer the chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice creams side by side in a loaf pan using cake cardboard or parchment as dividers. Remove the parchment paper after filling the pan. 
  8. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 5 hours or overnight until firm. Scoop and serve. 

These numbered steps match the numbered photos above and are for illustration purposes. For the complete list of ingredients and instructions, please see the recipe below.

Strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate ice cream, layered into a metal loaf pan, viewed from above. Next to the pan of ice cream are two sugar cones, a bowl of strawberries, a bowl of chocolate chunks, and a red and silver ice cream scoop.

How to Store Neapolitan Ice Cream

Store this homemade Neapolitan ice cream in the freezer in an airtight container with a piece of parchment paper or wax paper pressed on top for up to one month.

Tips for Making This Neapolitan Ice Cream Recipe

Use quality ingredients – When making homemade ice cream, you’ll want to make sure you are using high-quality ingredients for the best outcome.

Chill out – If possible, always start with chilled ingredients. This is important for homemade no-churn ice cream recipes and ice cream maker recipes.

Don’t skimp on the fat – High-fat milk and cream are essential when making homemade ice cream. Opting for a low-fat option often leads to icy ice creams and inconsistency in the texture.

Don’t go crazy with the add-ins – If you’re adding in additional ingredients, pick one or two and make sure they are chopped into pieces no larger than a blueberry or pea.

Don’t skimp on the sugar – Sugar not only adds sweetness to homemade ice creams, it also helps with the texture. Sugar is essential for the creamy texture of ice cream.

Be sure not to overwhip your heavy cream otherwise it will curdle. You want the whipped cream to stand up straight when you pull the beater out of it. If the peaks of the whipped cream fold over, then you need to keep going a little while longer. 

A food scale can be helpful in making sure that your ice cream base is equally divided into 3 parts.

Closeup view of scoops of homemade neapolitan ice cream

How To Layer Homemade Neapolitan Ice Cream – 3 Ways

  1. The Hard Way. The best-looking way to layer Neapolitan ice cream is to do it side-by-side, but it’s also the trickiest! I placed a thick piece of parchment paper (folded up a few times to add extra layers) in each section and poured the ice cream into each section, using the parchment paper to hold the section in place. You can also use cardboard or cake cardboard rounds that have been cut to size, which will provide more structure and make this process easier.
  2. The Easy Way. Instead of layering the ice cream vertically, do it horizontally. I suggest that you line your pan with plastic wrap so that you can remove the ice cream from the pan and slice it later. First, add the chocolate ice cream to the pan. Then, top with the vanilla ice cream. Finish with the strawberry ice cream on top and then freeze.
  3. The Super Easy (and Fun!) Way. Similarly to how we made Superman ice cream and cotton candy ice cream, you can make Neapolitan in a blended pattern too. Use a spoon to dollop some of each flavor into the pan, spacing them out as you go and switching off flavors every so often. It will create a sort of tie-dyed effect and you’ll get some of each flavor in every scoop! 
Two images of neapolitan ice cream. The top one is a closeup of the striped pink, white, brown ice cream. The bottom one is a glass dish filled with scoops of ice cream. Text in the center says "neapolitan ice cream www.icecreamfromscratch.com"

Ice Cream Maker Neapolitan Ice Cream Directions

To make this Neapolitan ice cream recipe in an ice cream maker, follow the manufacturer’s directions. Churn just the ice cream base in the machine, and flavor the chocolate and strawberry portions of the ice cream after it’s been churned.

This Neapolitan ice cream works well in most ice cream makers. Hand crank, electric crank, freezer bowl, and ice cream compressor.

Neapolitan Ice Cream Add-Ins and Variations

To make your homemade ice cream extra delicious, consider adding some texture to one or more of the flavors.

Chopped nuts, mashed fresh strawberries, or chocolate chunks or shavings can all be added if you’d like.

The traditional flavors of Neapolitan Ice Cream were not as we enjoy them today. It was actually a green, white, and pink dessert!

You can make this dessert by flavoring one-third of the ice cream with almond extract and a bit of green food coloring, one-third with pureed frozen cherries or cherry sauce, and leave the other third as vanilla.

If you make the last layer chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla, you’ve made “Spumoni”, another Italian-American delicacy.

Is Neapolitan the Same as Harlequin Ice Cream?

The two words are synonymous! In history, striped ice cream desserts like Neapolitan ice cream were sometimes called “Harlequin” as the multicolored ice cream resembled the bright, patterned outfits that Italian harlequin entertainers wore.

More No Churn Homemade Ice Cream Recipes

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homemade no churn neapolitan ice cream, scooped into a glass, ridged, footed ice cream dish. Two spoons are on the table next to the glass. Dishes of sliced strawberries and chocolate chips are in the background

Easy Neapolitan Ice Cream Recipe

Ice Cream From Scratch
Easy Neapolitan Ice Cream Recipe! Neapolitan Ice Cream combines the top three best ice cream flavors into an easy layered ice cream recipe that has something for everyone to love!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Chilling Freezing Time 5 hours
Total Time 5 hours 15 minutes
Course Ice Cream Recipes
Cuisine Dessert
Servings 6 servings
Calories 571 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup freeze-dried strawberries powdered
  • red food coloring if desired

Instructions
 

  • Combine sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix together and set aside.
  • Add the heavy whipping cream to a large bowl. Use a hand mixer or stand mixer to whip the cream until stiff peaks form. This should only take a few minutes. 
  • Add the whipped cream to the sweetened condensed milk mixture. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the sweetened condensed milk mixture. Try to keep the mixture light and fluffy. 
  • Divide the mixture into three separate bowls. 
  • Leave one bowl as is. In the second bowl, stir in the cocoa powder.
  • In the last bowl, add the powdered freeze-dried strawberries and a few drops of red food coloring until you get a light pink ice cream.
  • Layer the chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice creams side by side in a loaf pan using cake cardboard or parchment as dividers. Remove the parchment paper after filling the pan. 
  • Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 5 hours or overnight until firm. Scoop and serve.

Notes

  • Avoid overwhipping the cream. You want the whipped cream to stand up straight when you pull the beater out of it. If the peaks of the whipped cream fold over, then you need to keep going a little while longer. 
  • The amount of red food coloring you need will depend on what type of food coloring you are using. If you use gel food coloring, you will need much less food coloring to get your desired colors. Water-based coloring will require more food coloring. 
  • If you are having trouble splitting the ice cream base into three equal parts, use a food scale. I got about 9 oz of ice cream base in each bowl. 
  • Freeze-dried strawberries are slices of strawberries that have been dried until thin and crispy. They pack a ton of strawberry flavor. These are not dehydrated strawberries that are gummy – those will not work. You need the crispy kind. 
  • To powder the freeze-dried strawberries, place them in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. You don’t need to have it all processed into a powder. In fact, some of the larger pieces become pretty flecks in the strawberry ice cream. If you don’t have a food processor, you can place the freeze-dried strawberries in a plastic bag and roll over them with a rolling pin until finely ground.
  • Layering the three flavors of ice cream side by side is the most complicated way to do it. See more details on how to accomplish this in the blog post. The easiest way to layer Neapolitan Ice Cream is to do it horizontally. First, add the chocolate ice cream to the pan, then the vanilla, and finally the strawberry.
  • You can also dollop the flavors into the pan, alternating as you go to create a tie-dye pattern. You'll have some of each flavor in every scoop this way!
Keyword Neapolitan Ice Cream, Neapolitan Ice Cream Recipe, What is Neapolitan Ice Cream

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