This easy Mexican Fried Ice Cream recipe uses a simple hack I love to get the texture and flavor of fried ice cream, without actually frying ice cream. No need to mess with hot oil or add unnecessary fat. I get the crispy crunch factor, without deep frying!
Mexican Fried Ice Cream is such a great way to elevate simple scoops of ice cream into a fun treat, perfect when you need a dessert that goes with Mexican food or any other dinner.
What is Fried Ice Cream?
Fried ice cream is a popular dessert frequently served in Mexican restaurants here in the U.S. The fun Mexican dessert consists of a scoop of ice cream that is coated in a crunchy layer of cornflakes, cinnamon, and sugar. The in the original version the encrusted ice cream is then quickly deep-fried until the coating is golden brown and crispy.
It's also served in some American Chinese restaurants too.
In the version I share here, a hack is used to save home cooks the hassle of attempting deep frying of the dessert.
How to Make Fried Ice Cream without Frying!
Although it is called Mexican Fried Ice Cream, we can make this classic dessert at home without actually deep frying. Here I will walk you through the simple preparation complete with step-by-step pictures (or hop down to the printable recipe card below.)
The recipe makes 4 servings of fried ice cream.
Ingredients for Mexican Fried Ice Cream
Here is everything needed to make this crispy ice cream dessert. As you can see the ingredients needed are pretty basic items.
- 4 cups vanilla ice cream
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 cups Cornflakes, crushed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Toppings: whipped cream, chocolate sauce, honey, cinnamon, maraschino cherries
Preparation
To start: Leave ice cream out on the counter a few minutes to soften, while gathering the other ingredients.
Now form the ice cream balls: Measure out 1 cup of the ice cream and shape it into a ball with clean gloved hands. Place ball of ice cream on a cold parchment paper lined plate or chilled baking sheet, then repeat this process to form 4 ice cream balls.
Freeze the ice cream balls for 15-20 minutes until firm.
TIP: Don't be too fussy about forming the balls, the ice cream will be covered after and we don't want them to melt.
Prepare the Coating: While the shaped ice cream is firming up, I use the time to make and cool the corn flake coating for the dessert.
Place the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, pour in the crushed corn flakes cereal, sugar and ground cinnamon. Stir to coat with the melted butter. Pan fry the crushed Cornflake mixture over medium-low while frequently stirring. In about 4-5 minutes the edges will be golden brown, then remove the corn flake mixture from the heat and cool completely to room temperature.
Coating: Pour the cooled corn flake mixture into a shallow bowl. Roll the shaped ice cream in the mixture to coat well.
Freeze: Cover the encrusted ice creams with plastic wrap and return to the freezer until you’re ready to serve. Yes, they can be served right away if you like.
Top and Serve: When you are ready to serve, top the fried ice cream ball with the toppings of your choice, such as chocolate sauce, honey, a dash of cinnamon, whipped cream (or Cool Whip), and a maraschino cherry.
Variations on the Recipe
While this recipe resembles authentic Mexican fried ice cream, just done in an easier way, you can ready mix things up with this recipe. Here are a few starters to get you experimenting!
- Try coating the fried ice cream balls with a different cereal such as cinnamon toast crunch cereal (which already has cinnamon and sugar in it, so you could skip those ingredients).
- Graham cracker crumbs would also work well as a coating, especially with some marshmallow fluff and hot fudge sauce on top to make a S'mores Fried Ice Cream.
- Make the dessert with a different flavor ice cream or frozen yogurt.
- Mix nuts, preserves, peanut butter or Nutella into the ice cream and form your balls out of this ice cream mixture.
Keto Fried Ice Cream
If you are diabetic or following a reduced carbohydrate diet, there is no need to miss out.
I have made this with a keto ice cream (i.e. Halo Top) and crushed up Catalina Crunch Cereal. Using a regular sugar-free ice cream would also work and if the cereal is hard for you to find a thin coating of toasted crushed nuts or keto cookies would be a good stand in.
This Mexican dessert would be a fitting choice after a meal of Grilled Shrimp Tacos, Mexican Lasagna, Mexican Sopes or my Instant Pot Salsa Chicken. Another frozen dessert option to consider for meals such as these is my copycat choco taco recipe.
Mexican Fried Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 4 cups vanilla ice cream
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 cups Cornflakes crushed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Toppings: whipped cream chocolate sauce, honey, cinnamon, maraschino cherries
Instructions
- Measure out 1 cup of the ice cream and form it into a ball with clean hands. Place on a parchment paper lined plate or baking sheet, then repeat this process with the remaining ice cream to form 4 ice cream balls. Freeze the ice cream balls until firm.
- In a large skillet, heat the butter over medium heat until melted. Add the crushed Cornflakes and ground cinnamon to the skillet and stir to coat with the melted butter. Pan fry the Cornflake mixture over medium-low heat for 4-5 minutes until golden brown, stirring often. Remove from the heat and cool completely to room temperature.
- Roll the ice cream balls in the cooled Cornflake mixture to coat well. Return the ice cream balls to the freezer until you’re ready to serve.
- Just before serving, top the fried ice cream with the toppings of your choice, such as chocolate syrup, caramel sauce, honey, a dash of cinnamon, whipped cream, and a maraschino cherry.
Anne Dee says
This was very easy and the kids loved it.