Aug 7, 2021

Italian Ice

Cold and refreshing vegan Italian ice recipe that is easy to make and customize.

Italian ice is one of the easiest cold treats to make. It takes a bit of freezing time, but the flavour can be easily customized. I've chosen lemon in this recipe, which is a classic Italian ice flavour, but this could easily be made with orange, lime, grapefruit, vanilla, etc. You can even use canned soda to flavour the ice; however, the amount of sweetener would need to be drastically reduced.

This Italian ice is vegan; however, if you don't need it to be, you can swap the monk fruit sweetener for granulated sugar, or any other sweetener alternative you prefer. But note: Using sugar will also dramatically increase the number of calories per serving from 2 with monk fruit sweetener to 92 calories when using granulated sugar.

Adjust the amount of sweetener based on your own preferences and the flavour you choose to make, i.e., a sweet orange will require less sweetener than a lime or lemon.

If you make this recipe, I'd love to see what flavours you chose to try. Post your photos on Instagram and tag @400CalorieRecipes.

TIP: An alternate method to make this recipe is to freeze the prepared liquid in small-cube, silicone ice cube trays rather than a casserole dish, then use an electric or manual ice shaver, or high-powered blender, to crush the cubes once frozen. However, this will not give you the same level of control over the consistency.

TIP: Another alternative is to use an ice cream maker with a setting for sorbet. Once mixed, refrigerate the liquid for a few hours to make it very cold before placing it in the sorbet maker. Churn until it reaches your desired consistency. Transfer into an air-tight freezer safe tub or container and store in the freezer.

Ingredients

(Makes 8 servings)

4 cups (1,000ml) water
1 cup (200g) granulated monk fruit sweetener (or granulated sugar)
juice and zest of 1 large lemon

Directions

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the water and granulated sweetener. Whisk only until the sugar completely dissolves. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Into a small bowl, zest a large lemon then juice the lemon into the same bowl.

Once the water has cooled to room temperature, add the lemon juice and zest then mix. Pour the mixture into a casserole dish, or the largest dish that can be fit into the freezer without tipping.

Transfer into the freezer and freeze for 4 to 5 hours, breaking up the ice with a fork every 30 minutes until it reaches your desired level of solidity.

Spoon and serve immediately.

Nutritional Information Per Serving (Using Sugar):

Nutritional Information Per Serving (Using Monk Fruit Sweetener):