This fried ice cream recipe is the perfect summer dessert! It’s easy to make, and you can customize it with your favorite toppings. Serve it with a scoop of ice cream, a drizzle of chocolate sauce, and a sprinkle of chopped nuts.

All you need is some ice cream, a little bit of oil, and a big appetite. If you’ve ever had fried ice cream, you probably remember how mind-blowingly delicious it was. The crunchy shell surrounding a creamy core: what’s not to love? Even the biggest skeptic will immediately convert once they taste this fun twist on ice cream. And who knows? Maybe it will become your new favorite dessert!

Just like its fried dough cousin, the fried ice cream ball can be served alone or with other desserts. It’s perfect for hot days when you want something cool and refreshing but doesn’t have an ice cream maker at your disposal.

The ingredients are simple: ice cream, cornstarch, sugar, and oil for frying. You will want a medium to heavy oil such as canola, peanut, or sunflower. You can even coat the ice cream balls with shredded coconut, peanuts, or almonds, and even use caramel or chocolate sauce, it all depends on your favorite choice and taste.

The secret to making fried ice cream is creating a thick coating around the frozen ice cream balls so the outside can cook in the hot oil while the ice cream remains safely frozen inside.

When tested, this method produced a dessert that was evenly coated and delightfully frozen, with a crisp shell and creamy center. The process is a little more complicated than simply dropping the ice cream balls into the hot oil, so we’ve outlined the steps below. The end result is worth it, though—this is a spectacular summer dessert that everyone will love.

– Add the frozen vanilla ice cream rounds.

– Toss to coat evenly. Make sure the ice cream isn’t touching anywhere in the bowl because this could cause it to thaw and bead together.

– Cover and freeze for at least 2 hours but preferably longer, like 4 to 6 hours. (The longer you let the ice cream chill before frying, the better the final texture will be.)

– Pour the rice flour into a shallow bowl.- Use a fork to lift frozen rounds one at a time out of the bowl and into the rice flour, once again making sure they don’t touch each other.

– Once everyone is coated in flour, place them back in the freezer while you prepare your oil.

– Heat oil in a pan on medium-high until it reaches 350°F/180°C. Using a ladle, carefully drop in ice cream pieces, one by one, ensuring they don’t stick to each other. Fry for about 1 minute until the ice cream turns brown and crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.