Stracciatella Ice Cream

Stracciatella Ice Cream is a homemade version of a popular Italian gelato flavor.

This French-style churned ice cream recipe features a vanilla ice cream base laced with crispy thin bits of decadent bittersweet chocolate.

Homemade stracciatella ice cream is like a trip to Italy on a cone, and it’s gluten-free and nut-free too.

One of the most popular gelato flavors in Italy is Stracciatella gelato. It’s a simple ice cream flavor: rich and creamy vanilla ice cream with thin shavings of bittersweet chocolate.

In Italian, the word stracciatella means “little rags” or “little shreds”, and while that might not seem particularly tasty, homemade Stracciatella Ice Cream definitely is!

Some of the best ice cream desserts in the world come from Italy! Make sure to visit our recipes for mascarpone ice cream, neapolitan ice cream, and semifreddo with raspberries.

Or, learn how to make a classic affogato coffee with any ice cream flavor you love!

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

It’s like chocolate chip ice cream – but different, and potentially even better! If you don’t enjoy chewing big pieces of chocolate while you’re eating ice cream, then you’ll love the method used in this recipe.

Melted chocolate is added to a pastry bag and then streamed into the ice cream maker at the end of the churning process.

The result is very thin, flaky ribbons of chocolate that melt in your mouth, and won’t get stuck in your teeth.

Can I Make Stracciatella Gelato at Home?

Stracciatella ice cream is the closest thing to gelato that you can make at home without a special gelato-making machine.

Making gelato from scratch requires a gelato machine, which is different than your regular at-home ice cream maker, and significantly more expensive to buy.

A gelato machine makes frozen desserts more slowly so that the finished product is denser, and with much less added air than ice cream.

Instead of going through all that trouble, I like to make my favorite gelato flavors like pistachio, coffee, and now stracciatella, in my Cuisinart ice cream maker. It’s the next best thing, and just as delicious and creamy!

Ingredients in Homemade Stracciatella Ice Cream

Egg Yolks – These create the base for our rich and delectable ice cream custard. We’ll gently heat the egg yolks to pasteurize them, but you can also purchase pasteurized eggs if you prefer.

Sugar – For sweetness and amazing ice cream texture, plain, white, granulated sugar is a perfect choice.

Whole Milk – Milk is cooked with the egg yolks and sugar to create our custard base.

Salt – Just a bit of salt balances the sweetness and makes everything taste a bit brighter.

Heavy Cream – You can’t make great ice cream with just milk, or just heavy cream. A blend of both is what gives us the best creamy texture.

Vanilla Extract – Vanilla is a must for almost all of our ice cream recipes. It elevates the simple flavors of milk, sugar, and cream.

Bittersweet Chocolate – Chop four ounces of bittersweet chocolate for this recipe. You can also use dark chocolate, semisweet chocolate, or milk chocolate if you prefer.

How to Make Stracciatella Ice Cream from Scratch

Start the day before by making sure that the bowl for your ice cream maker has at least 24 hours to freeze solid.

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and granulated sugar until smooth and pale yellow in color.
2. Add the milk and salt to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the milk to a simmer and then remove it from the heat. Be sure not to boil. To temper the egg yolks, add about 1/2 cup of the hot milk to the egg and sugar mixture and whisk constantly until combined. 
3. Then, add the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk. Heat the saucepan on low. Stirring constantly, heat the ice cream base until it has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. This should take a few minutes.
4. Strain the mixture into a bowl to remove any pieces of egg that may have cooked. Then, add the heavy cream and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap making sure to have the plastic wrap touching the surface of the ice cream base. This will help keep it from forming a skin while chilling. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
5. Churn the ice cream mixture in the bowl of your ice cream machine according to your manufacturer’s instructions (mine took about 25 minutes), until it is thick and the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.
6. While the ice cream is churning, add the chopped chocolate to a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring in between until the chocolate is melted. Add the melted chocolate to a pastry bag or Ziploc bag with the tip cut off.
7. In the last 2 minutes of the churning process, stream the bittersweet chocolate into the ice cream while it is churning. The chocolate will freeze and break up into flakes as it churns.
8. Spoon the ice cream into a shallow container or a loaf pan. Press plastic wrap or wax paper to the surface of the ice cream. Freeze for at least 4 hours, or until solid. Let sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes before serving.

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

How to Store Stracciatella Ice Cream

Store this homemade stracciatella ice cream in the freezer in an airtight container. Be sure to press waxed paper or parchment paper to the surface of the ice cream to prevent crystallization. Store for up to 1 month.

Tips for Making This Stracciatella Ice Cream Recipe

Use quality ingredients – When making homemade ice cream, you’ll want to make sure you are using high-quality ingredients. Look for high-quality bittersweet chocolate (between 60 and 70% cocoa). The better the chocolate, the better your stracciatella will be!

Chill out – If possible, always start with chilled ingredients. This is important for homemade no-churn ice cream recipes and ice cream maker recipes. Since this ice cream base is cooked, it’s very important to let it chill completely before churning it.

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, but it also helps with the texture. Sugar is essential for the creamy texture of ice cream.

How to Make Dairy Free Stracciatella Ice Cream

Instead of the vanilla ice cream base used here, make creamy vanilla Oat Milk Ice Cream using our recipe, and add the melted chocolate to it during the last few minutes of churning.

Is Stracciatella a Cheese or an Ice Cream?

Interestingly, the word stracciatella can be used to describe a gelato from Lombardy, a soft creamy cheese from Puglia, or a egg drop style soup from Rome.

All three of these dishes are named from the word stracceti (little rags), but for different reasons.

So, if you’re in Italy, be careful what you’re ordering! Chances are good though, if you’re ordering stracciatella from a gelateria, you’ll end up with a scoop of this delicious chocolate flake ice cream.

If you aren’t in Italy right now, I suggest you whip up this recipe soon, so you can feel like you are!

No Churn Directions

Chill a shallow container or a loaf pan in the freezer while you mix the ice cream ingredients.

Pour the ice cream mixture into the prepared pan and freeze for 3-4 hours. Stir the ice cream every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours to help add air. This will help create a creamy, smooth texture.

After two hours, transfer the semi-frozen gelato to a different loaf pan, this time in several layers, with a thin layer of melted chocolate in between. Freeze until solid.

Add-Ins

Adding additional items to this ice cream has the potential to interrupt the chocolate ribbons, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be done!

I suggest first adding the melted chocolate, then letting it churn for 1 minute to harden. Then add your other mix-ins and finish churning.

To keep this gelato-inspired recipe authentic, try adding other common gelato add-ins, like hazelnuts or pistachios.

A drizzle of raspberry compote or your favorite fruit puree would be lovely too.

More Homemade Ice Cream Recipes

If you love how rich and creamy this ice cream recipe is, you will love all of our French-style ice cream recipes! Here are some favorites to start with:

• Lemon Custard Ice Cream
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
• Orange Ice Cream
• Rocky Road Ice Cream
• Avocado Ice Cream

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