This orange pineapple homemade ice cream is a family favorite, passed down from my grandmother to us. It’s fresh, simple, and so tasty!
This recipe is over 30 years old and came to be because of my grandfather’s (Papa) love of Sunkist Orange soda.
My Mema would get all the ingredients together for this ice cream and prepare it just for him on Father’s Day or on hot, summer days.
We also make a strawberry sherbet homemade ice cream that’s to die for.
While it was Papa’s favorite, the entire family loved it.
Papa was diabetic so she sometimes used Diet Sunkist Orange to help him “stay on track”. While it tasted good, it wasn’t as sweet.
Papa would enjoy it either way. Sometimes he would just “fudge” on his diet and go for the full sugar version because…well..it was just to good to pass up!
We’ve eaten this orange pineapple homemade ice cream for years and years and years.
This ice cream is the perfect dish to end a summer meal and to provide a way for the family to share a “bowl or two” and visit.
We have sat around “chewing the fat” (Southern for leisurely conversation) over many a dish of this delicious and delightful frozen dessert.
While both Mema and Papa are no longer with us, this recipe remains a family treat. We all love it, young and old.
Its vibrant orange color, creamy smoothness, and fresh flavor make it good to the last drop. It is the perfect blend of a beautiful sherbet and a soft, creamy ice cream with a taste of tropical pineapple.
How To Make Orange Pineapple Ice Cream With Your Ice Cream Maker
In our family, we have always used an electric ice cream maker to conjure up this frozen delight. It is fairly simple and can be done from the comforts of a chair. You prepare your ingredients and put them into the inner canister of the machine.
Then place the lid on top and place the entire container into a large bowl or pan. This prevents a mess as the ice melts.
Fill around the outside of the machine with crushed ice and ice cream salt or “rock salt” as we call it. Plug it in and start the process.
We do this outside on the carport or near the pool. You can do it on your back deck or patio. Just settle back in your lounge chair, visit, or read while you wait. You will need to keep putting ice and salt around the outside as it melts to help with the freezing process.
You will know when the ice cream has churned enough because the ice cream maker will shut off. Time to give it a taste!
Ice cream machines can be found easily and are a rather inexpensive purchase from your local WalMart or other department stores.
Why do ice cream makers use ice cream salt?
You use ice cream salt rather than table salt because it lowers the freezing temperature of the ingredients. For homemade ice cream, it allows the temperature of the mixture around the ice cream to get colder, thus freezing the mixture.
Rock salt isn’t processed as much as table salt, and is much chunkier.
How long does it take to make the ice cream with the ice cream maker?
While there is no “set” time for making this recipe, typically ice cream will be ready when using an ice cream maker anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.
It can depend on the recipe, outside temperature, your particular ice cream maker, and how often you add ice and salt.
Can you freeze the orange pineapple homemade ice cream?
If your are lucky enough to have any of this delicious ice cream left, it most definitely can be frozen and enjoyed later.
However, it will be harder than normal ice cream, and you may have to leave it “sitting” out to thaw before you dive back in again.
In our family, there isn’t usually a whole lot left to freeze. Everyone goes back for seconds and thirds. Just remember don’t eat it too fast…brain freeze!!
Can you make ice cream with evaporated milk?
This recipe calls for sweetened condensed milk. This isn’t the same as evaporated milk. The big difference is the amount of sugar.
Sweetened condensed milk is always sweetened while evaporated milk isn’t. Condensed milk is thicker and seems to have a richer flavor as well. Could be that sugar…..
How do you layer the ice and salt in the electric ice cream maker?
The easy answer is you fill the pan surrounding the canister with a couple of layers of ice and a layer of thick salt and continue alternating in this manner until the canister is completely surrounded.
You keep adding ice as it melts and salt as well. There is really no perfect way to add the salt and ice but usually you use more ice. You will need 2-3 bags of ice and 1 box of rock salt (amounts vary depending on size of ice cream maker).
Orange Pineapple Homemade Ice Cream
Equipment
- Electric ice cream maker
Ingredients
- 3 liters orange Soda (you'll need two 2-liter bottles)
- 2 cans sweetened condensed milk
- 14 oz crushed pineapple drained
Instructions
- Drain can of pineapple thoroughly (otherwise it'll make the ice cream runny)
- Mix together one 2-liter bottle of the orange soda with the sweetened condensed milk and drained crushed pineapple. Then add about half of the second 2 liter bottle. You need around 3 liters, not 4 in total.
- Stir really well until blended.
- Put into electric ice cream freezer and prepare as directed on freezer.
- Churn with ice and rock salt for 30-45 minutes (or longer).
- When ready spoon into bowls and enjoy by itself or with cake or cookies.
Notes
- This makes more of a sherbet consistency, not creamy ice cream.
- You can substitute diet soda as well. It might not be as sweet but will still taste delicious.
- The Orange soda can be substituted with Strawberry soda along with frozen or freshly sliced strawberries.
- You can also substitute peach soda and fresh or frozen peaches.
- Be sure and use Sunkist or Nehi sods for richest flavors.
- You will need 2-3 bags of ice and 1 box of rock salt. This will vary based on size of ice cream maker.
- Our favorite remains the orange-pineapple.
The best thing about the orange pineapple ice cream besides the taste is the simplicity of the recipe. You can’t beat only 3 ingredients!
I’m sure this was a mistake but your recipe says mix the ingredients with the flour???
Argh! Thanks for bringing this to our attention. It does NOT include flour. One iteration of this recipe we used a small amount of flour, but tweaked it until that is no longer necessary 🙂
Just a little soft, but otherwise amazing!
Thanks Whitney, we’re so glad you liked the flavor!
What size of ice cream freezer does this recipe make?
Hi Kathy, the total volume of the ingredients comes out to about 4.5 quarts, so for smaller ice cream makers, the ingredient quantities should be reduced proportionally.
Thank you for pointing that out. I just made this and bought 2 2 liter drinks. I barely got one of them in my ice cream freezer and it makes 4 quarts.
I had looked thru all my old recipes for the orange pineapple ice cream made with sweetened condensed milk. I was about to wing it when I decided to google for the recipe. This is it. I made it when my children were in grade school 40 years ago. Love the simplicity. Don’t have to heat up the kitchen making an ice cream custard then having to let it cool before churning.
Thanks
Hi Anne, great to hear! This one is an old favorite of my family as well. Enjoy!
Nope, can’t freeze it. Way too much liquid that turns to crystals and ruins the taste completely. Awesome straight out of the ice cream maker. Also, hand mix the ingredients. I was doing too much at a time and decided to use stand mixer to free up my hands. Calculated risk but really Bad decision with carbonated liquids. Ended up with too much to put in a 2 quart ice cream maker. I only got half in at a time. BUT IT WAS SOOO GOOD. It doesn’t take that much time. 45 minutes to an hour. Great for a summer afternoon just hanging out on the porch!
Karen, thanks for all the feedback! Sorry the freezing didn’t work out, but glad you loved the ice cream!
The recipe calls for “ONE LITER of the orange soda, sweetened condensed milk, and drained crushed pineapple. Then add about half of the second 2 liter bottle. You need around 3 liters, not 4 in total.” That only amounts to 2 liters of soda.
Hi Susan, thanks so much. I’ve edited that wording issue.
Just a heads up, this recipe will not freeze in a frozen bowl-type ice cream maker. I tried to freeze the same batch twice and it still was completely liquid.