When you want ice cream, but you need to keep your wallet under wraps, then this recipe for Poor Man’s Ice Cream is a must. A vintage 1940s recipe, this recipe harnesses the power of the freezer and three ingredients to make a frozen treat that tastes like churned ice cream.

What’s in Poor Man’s Ice Cream?

Evaporated Milk — Make sure to put the can of evaporated milk in the refrigerator the night before.

Powdered Sugar — You can adjust the powdered sugar to be slightly less sweet.

Salt — A little goes a long way to balance the sweetness.

Vanilla Extract — While vanilla is a classic, you can substitute vanilla for a variety of different extract flavors.

Pour the chilled evaporated milk, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla into a chilled bowl. Whip the mixture until it starts to thicken. 

Wrap the bowl in plastic wrap, chill for one hour, and then whip again until further thickened. Now the hardest part is to wait for several hours until it is more frozen. 

As you scoop the ice cream out, you’ll see that it has a smooth but super thick texture, just like a pint of hard ice cream. 

Piled up in a bowl, it’s a perfect carbon copy of the real thing. The evaporated milk has a rich vanilla flavor that is further amplified by the vanilla extract. 

Being able to adjust the sweetness allows you to have a more balanced flavor to suit your preferences. 

Poor Man’s Ice Cream is crazy similar to ice cream, but without having to make a custard or use a fancy ice cream maker. With only four ingredients, you get a frozen treat that’s packed full of rich vanilla flavor.