This instant no-churn ice cream recipe uses dragon fruit to give a unique taste and bright magenta colour. Fresh young coconut meat makes this dairy-free ice cream also oil-free. No sweetener is added as the dragon fruit and the cashews are enough to naturally sweeten.

Suitable for raw vegan, plant-based, sugar-free and paleo diets. Try before serving and add maple or coconut sugar to sweeten if you prefer.

Dragon Fruit Ice Cream Video

I’ve seen people use them in recipes and assumed it was more for the colour than the taste. Now I know they not only are a great alternative to beetroot for adding natural colour but also have a subtle sweet fruity flavour.

I first had dragon fruit a decade ago in Thailand where it was white, tasteless and full of seeds that got stuck in my teeth.

It wasn’t until earlier in this year I tried a small piece of a magenta fleshed dragon fruit and it was a revelation.

It was used as a garnish and was I surprised at that the fruit was so sweet and tasty. Similar to a very sweet version of a kiwi.

The ice cream wasn’t particularly set so was more of a whip consistency. This is mainly due to the ice box I had in Bali not being particularly powerful.

If the chunks of dragon fruit are frozen solid you will get a nice mr whippy style ice cream similar to my Strawberry Cashew Ice Cream. To get a consistency that you can scoop return to the freezer in a wide dish for an hour or two.

Dragon fruit can also be called pitaya but I much prefer the literal name based on the scaley appearance of the fruit. If you’ve ever owned a cactus that has flowered you won’t be surprised to learn that this central American fruit grows on a cactus.

Despite its prickly appearance, the flesh inside the tough leathery skin is soft and sweet. The seeds are also very soft and do not give the ice cream a grainy texture. Dragon fruit seeds are similar to soaked chia seeds in consistency and contain essential fatty acids.

In the photos the ice-cream is served with fresh dragon fruit flesh sprinkled on top. It also works really well as a smoothie bowl topped with fresh tropical fruit and shredded coconut.

You just need the coconut meat/jelly inside a young coconut. These are often called a jelly nut or green coconut and are what’s left after you drink the coconut water. A mature coconut (the brown hairy type) has thick solid coconut meat that isn’t suitable for this recipe.