Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag (with Video)

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Learn how to make real homemade ice cream in a bag — a fun summer activity (and treat) for kids!

Learn how to make real homemade ice cream in a bag — a fun summer activity (and treat) for kids!

Ice Cream in a Bag

Have you ever made your own homemade ice cream? There are lots of gadgets and ice cream makers for sale, but you actually don’t need any fancy equipment to make ice cream at home!

All you need are 4 simple ingredients and a few basic supplies to make ice cream in a bag! That’s right, you can make real homemade ice cream in a ziplock bag!

This is such a fun summer activity for kids because they can take the bag outside and shake it around, toss it, etc. In other words, they’ll burn lots of energy!

And when it’s all done, they can cool off with the delicious and refreshing ice cream they made!

Learn how to make real homemade ice cream in a bag — a fun summer activity (and treat) for kids!

How it Works: The Science Behind Ice Cream in a Bag

The cool thing (see what I did there?) about making ice cream in a ziplock bag is that it is a science lesson too!

The ice in the ziplock bag has to absorb energy from its environment in order to melt. Adding salt to the ice lowers the freezing point of ice from 32°F to about 20°F, so the ice needs to absorb even more energy to melt.

The ice absorbs heat (energy) from the ice cream ingredients which it comes into contact with, as well as the outside environment. As the ice absorbs heat from your ingredients, the ice cream begins to freeze.

So not only is ziplock bag ice cream lots of fun, but you can feel good about this treat in particular because it has educational value too! Win-win!

— Stacey

Ice Cream in a Bag Ingredients

Supplies Used:

How to Make Ice Cream in a Bag

First, watch our quick 1-minute video to see how to make ziplock bag ice cream, then keep reading for photo step-by-step directions.

Click video to play:

Open a quart size bag and add sugar, half and half, vanilla extract and chocolate syrup. Seal the bag.

how to make ice cream in a ziplock bag

TIP: We love these handy Baggy Rack freezer bag holders because they keep the bag open and upright while we mix ingredients. There’s way less chance to make a mess!

Open gallon ziplock bag and fill halfway with ice. Sprinkle ½ cup of rock salt over the ice.

Place your quart sized bag inside the gallon bag and seal. 

shaking ice cream in a plastic bag

Double-check your bags to make sure they’re well-sealed. Shake the bags vigorously until ice cream forms. Enjoy!

Learn how to make real homemade ice cream in a bag — a fun summer activity (and treat) for kids!

We even made this fun step-by-step guide to make our ziplock bag ice cream:

ice cream in a bag instructions

Have you tried making ice cream with the ziplock bag method? Tell us what you think in the comments below!

Free Printable Copy of Ice Cream in a Bag Recipe

Yield: 2 servings

Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag

Learn how to make real homemade ice cream in a bag — a fun summer activity (and treat) for kids!

Learn how to make real homemade ice cream in a bag — a fun summer activity (and treat) for kids!

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons chocolate syrup
  • Supplies Used:
  • 1 Gallon Ziploc Bag
  • 1 Quart Ziploc Bag
  • Ice
  • ½ cup rock salt

Instructions

  1. Add sugar, half and half, vanilla extract and chocolate syrup to quart sized freezer bag and seal tightly.
  2. Fill gallon freezer bag halfway with ice. Sprinkle ½ cup of rock salt over the ice.
  3. Place your quart sized bag inside the gallon bag and seal. 
  4. Double-check your bags to make sure they're well-sealed. Shake bags vigorously until ice cream forms. Enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 240Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 42mgSodium: 28378mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 0gSugar: 25gProtein: 4g

More Kitchen Science and Sensory Play for Kids

If you liked this ziplock bag ice cream recipe, be sure to check out more of our favorite kitchen kids activities and sensory play recipes:

Edible Gummy Bear Slime

Jell-O Alphabet Sensory Bin

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9 Comments

    1. Hi Eugenie,
      Great question! It’s 10% cream (it can also be improvised by mixing half milk and half heavy cream).

  1. It is easy to make except why do we need rock salt ? I made 2 put i in freazer without rock salt and one in freazer with rock salt and the one without rock salt tasted better th the one with rock salt

    1. Hi Bryony, Rock salt helps lower the melting point for ice so we recommend it if your squishing/churning time will exceed that of the natural melting point of the ice. (Most home churn ice cream devices also recommend using rock ice for this reason.) If you’re able to churn the ice cream without the need for the rock salt, then that’s totally fine!
      – Jennifer

  2. Yes! Ice Cream in a Bag really does present a perfect learning opportunity – one that learners can really sink their teeth into. Thank you for mixing it in.

  3. Brilliant idea. I always thought you needed certain equipment to make this. It’s good to know you dont

    1. Hi Joan,
      If you’re able to use lactose-free dairy milk, that will work fine in this recipe as it’s the fat that is important.
      – Jennifer

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