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Homemade dulce de leche ice cream with caramel swirl, being scooped with a metal ice cream scoop.

Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

Ice Cream From Scratch
You'll fall in love with this rich, creamy recipe for dulce de leche ice cream, made from scratch and churned to perfection.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Chilling/Freezing Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 45 minutes
Course Ice Cream Recipes
Cuisine Dessert
Servings 6 Servings
Calories 602 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt
  • 1 ½ cups dulce de leche divided
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
 

  • Chill the ice cream bowl for at least 24 hours or until solid. You should not hear any water sloshing around when you shake the bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and granulated sugar until smooth and pale yellow in color.
  • Add the milk, salt, and 1 cup of the dulce de leche to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the milk to a simmer and then remove from the heat. Be sure not to boil. 
  • Add about 1/2 cup of the hot milk to the egg and sugar mixture and whisk constantly until combined. 
  • Then, add the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk. Heat the saucepan on low. Stirring constantly, heat until the base has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. This should take a few minutes. 
  • Strain the mixture into a bowl to remove any pieces of egg that may have cooked. 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, or until cold. 
  • Churn the ice cream mixture in the bowl of your ice cream machine according to your manufacturer’s instructions (mine took about 20 minutes), until it is thick and the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.
  • Spoon the ice cream into a loaf pan. Add the remaining ½ cup of dulce de leche and swirl with a spatula. 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.

Notes

    • I like to add additional dulce de leche after the ice cream churns because it makes such a pretty ribbon of sauce when you scoop the ice cream. You can omit if you prefer.
    • It's easiest to buy premade dulce de leche that is sold in a can or jar. You can also make this ice cream with your favorite homemade dulce de leche if you prefer.
    • Plan ahead by making sure that your ice cream maker bowl is in the freezer at least 24 hours before you're going to make ice cream.
    • Homemade ice cream can be stored in the freezer for up to one month. Keep it in an airtight container with a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper pressed to the surface of the ice cream to keep ice crystals from developing.
    • Homemade ice cream should be easy to scoop if you let it soften at room temperature for 5 minutes after removing it from the freezer.
Keyword dulce de leche ice cream, dulce de leche ice cream recipe