These 4 easy fruit sorbet recipes are dairy free, refined sugar free, and you don’t even need an ice cream maker to make them! You won't believe their creamy texture!
What can I say about homemade fruit sorbets?
First, they're pretty much summer perfection, all wrapped up in a sweet, frozen, healthy treat. You just can't beat that natural sugar goodness.
Second, they're so easy to make -- it's kinda ridiculous.
Seriously -- just grab your fruit of choice, freeze it, and then puree it using a food processor or heavy duty blender. No ice cream maker required.
Ever since I started making homemade fruit sorbets, I've tried a BUNCH of different flavors. It all started with this cantaloupe sorbet and then I was in love.
So, of course, I kept trying new flavors, like banana ice cream and lemon blueberry sorbet.
I have 4 new easy fruit sorbet recipes to add to the collection to share with you, plus tips on how to make homemade fruit sorbet with any fruit.
Life, prepare to get immensely better!
How To Make Sorbet Without An Ice Cream Maker
Learning how to make sorbet without an ice cream maker changed my life. No joke.
When I realized I didn't need to add practically anything to a fresh fruit sorbet, I was able to make my own tasty frozen treats without any added sugars or creams. All you need is frozen fruit and a heavy duty blender or food processor. I also love how I use the whole fruit, not just fruit juice because it adds so much more nutrients to the sorbet.
I use my food processor which is this Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor and it works great, but a heavy duty blender like a Vitamix or similar brand would do the trick. You just need a blender or processor of some sort that can break down chunks of frozen fruit.
In a nutshell, you can make sorbet without an ice cream maker in 3 simple steps...
- Cut up the fruit.
- Freeze the fruit.
- Blend the frozen fruit.
It's really that simple. You can add in other flavors to boost the actual fruit, like lime or lemon juice as well as some raw honey if your fruit isn't quite sweet enough on its own. Or, you can combine fruits to make fun recipes.
See? Life changing.
This Watermelon Sorbet is so sweet and refreshing and perfect for a sweet summer watermelon.
How To Make Sorbet With Any Fruit
Okay, so we discussed the three easy steps to make a sorbet already. But, what fruits are best to make sorbet? Well, that's the awesome part -- you can make sorbet with any fruit as long as you follow the steps.
Here are my favorite fruits to make sorbet:
- watermelon sorbet
- banana ice cream
- lemon blueberry sorbet
- mango sorbet
- cantaloupe sorbet
- honeydew
- peach sorbet
- raspberry sorbet
- strawberry sorbet
- orange
- pineapple sorbet
However, you can make your own combinations with your favorite fruits. You can also toss in a little plain greek yogurt and quickly turn your sorbet into a frozen yogurt. Just sayin...
If you're wanting to make vegan sorbet, it's super easy since adding any sweetener is completely optional and hardly necessary if you're suing fresh, sweet fruit. However, if you need to sweeten your sorbet and want to keep it vegan, just choose pure maple syrup instead of raw honey. Poof: vegan.
This rich and sweet Mango Sorbet is the perfect way to cool down on a hot summer day.
How To Freeze Fresh Fruit For Fruit Sorbet
A question I get asked a lot is if it's necessary to freeze the fruit yourself, or if it's okay to use already-frozen fruit from the store. Personally, I prefer to freeze my own fruit because I can totally control picking out the freshest, ripest, and sweetest fruit available which is in season. However, it's not necessary to freeze your own fruit. If you want to use a bag of frozen fruit (whether you already have in the freezer or you're craving something that doesn't happen to be in season), these recipe will still work perfectly.
A helpful word on freezing your own fruit. Try to make the pieces as evenly sized as possible, since that will make them easier to break down in the food processor. And, when placing the diced fresh fruit on the baking sheet to be frozen, make sure they are spaced out some and not touching. If they touch or are frozen in a pile, they will be harder to break apart and add to the food processor to blend. This is another issue with purchasing pre-frozen fruit, since it's more difficult to control how stuck together the fruit may be.
This Raspberry Sorbet is so easy to make and is the perfect blend of sweet and tart.
How To Make Healthy Sorbet
Sadly, a lot of the store-bought fruit sorbets contain A LOT of added sugars, which really isn't necessary to enjoy the sorbet. Instead, you can make your own healthy sorbet using much less sweetener and, if using any, you can add in raw honey to avoid refined sugars. If your fruit is super sweet to begin with, you don't even need to add in any sweetener, which is awesome and makes for one healthy, guilt-free frozen dessert.
This Peach Sorbet is sweet and creamy and the perfect use for sweet summer peaches.
Whichever fruit you may choose to turn into delicious, creamy, and sweet homemade fruit sorbet, I hope you enjoy it while you stay cool this summer.
4 Easy Fruit Sorbet Recipes
Equipment
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
Raspberry Sorbet
- 3 cups raspberries
- 2 tbsp. raw honey
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- ¼ cup warm water, as needed
Peach Sorbet
- 4 medium peaches, sliced (approx. 3 ½ cups)
- 1 tbsp. raw honey
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- ¼ cup warm water, as needed
Watermelon Sorbet
- 3 ½ cups watermelon, diced
- 1 tsp. lime juice
- raw honey to taste (if watermelon is not sweet enough)
- ¼ cup warm water, as needed
Mango Sorbet
- 2 mangos, diced (approx. 3 ½ cups)
- 1 tsp. lime juice
- ¼ cup warm water, as needed
Instructions
Raspberry Sorbet
- Lay out the fresh raspberries over a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Freeze the raspberries until completely solid, which should take at least 3-4 hours, but I usually just leave them in the freezer overnight.
- Place the frozen raspberries into the bowl of a food processor or heavy duty blender, along with a little raw honey, and freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Blend until smooth.
- You may need to add a little warm water and press down with a spatula to help the process along.
- Eat immediately for a softer texture, or transfer into a freezer-safe container and freeze for 3-4 hours or until firm.
Mango Sorbet
- Dice the fresh mangos and then lay them out over a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Freeze the mango until completely solid, which should take at least 3-4 hours, or overnight.
- Place the frozen diced mango into the bowl of a food processor or heavy duty blender, along with freshly squeezed lime juice.
- Blend until smooth.
- You may need to add a little warm water and press down with a spatula to help the process along.
- Eat immediately for a softer texture, or transfer into a freezer-safe container and freeze for 3-4 hours or until firm.
Watermelon Sorbet
- Remove the rind from a seedless watermelon and dice into cubes.
- Lay out the cubed watermelon over a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Freeze the watermelon until completely solid, which should take at least 3-4 hours, or overnight.
- Place the frozen watermelon into the bowl of a food processor or heavy duty blender, along with freshly squeezed lime juice, and raw honey. (I’ve found letting the frozen watermelon sit at room temperature for 3-5 minutes before blending really helps make the process easier.)
- Blend until smooth.
- You may need to add a little warm water and press down with a spatula to help the process along.
- Eat immediately for a softer texture, or transfer into a freezer-safe container and freeze for 3-4 hours or until firm.
Peach Sorbet
- Slice the ripe peaches and remove the pit.
- Lay out the fresh peach slices over a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Freeze the peach slices until completely solid, which should take at least 3-4 hours, or overnight.
- Place the frozen peach slices into the bowl of a food processor or heavy duty blender, along with a little raw honey, and freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Blend until smooth.
- You may need to add a little warm water and press down with a spatula to help the process along.
- Eat immediately for a softer texture, or transfer into a freezer-safe container and freeze for 3-4 hours or until firm.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This post contains affiliate links for products I use regularly and highly recommend.
Tatjana Durand
Hi, I have made this fruit sorbet with bananas for 40 years, and you don't even mention bananas! They are the best, especially the over ripe ones, cheaper at the store.
I hope you will mention it in your blog. The kids also just ate the pieces of frozen bananas. I also froze grapes, in my opinion better than not frozen. ha!
So now I want to make peach/passion sorbet. Most recipes mention a lot of water and sugar. I have an ice cream machine that I want to use to incorporate some air.
Any suggestions?
Take care, Tatjana
Jen Moderator
Hi Tatjana, banana sorbet sounds like a great idea! Lacey does have this recipe: 1 Ingredient Banana Ice Cream Recipe Without An Ice Cream Maker which you can access here: https://www.asweetpeachef.com/banana-ice-cream-recipe-without-ice-cream-maker/ Check it out and let us know what you think! -Jen
Lacey Baier
I actually do have a banana sorbet recipe, but I call it banana ice cream! 🙂 You can find it here: https://www.asweetpeachef.com/banana-ice-cream-recipe-without-ice-cream-maker/
Tina
Hello
Can I Use frozen Fruit instead?
Jen Moderator
You can!
Lacey Baier
Yes! You totally can.
Lindsey
Hi can you just blend the fruits with ice cubes and leave out the water instead of freezing the fruit? I have ice cube crusher on my blender..
Lacey Baier
I have never tried that, but it sounds like an interesting method. My only concern would be it would taste watered down.
T
Just curious to see how they freeze up if you save for later... do they stay super solid like an ice cube or stay relatively soft and easy for scooping?
Jen Moderator
Hey T! Based on our experience, it's somewhere in between : ) Not as solid as an ice cube but you'll probably want to use an ice cream scoop warmed under hot water for best results.
Tegan brown
I just made this with my 5yo using frozen strawberries instead of raspberries. It turned out perfect! Simple recipe thats easy to follow and very very tasty to eat!
We used a hand held bar mixer with the bowl and blade attachment. It whizzed up the frozen goodies easily.
Can wait to make more flavours.
Thank you 😀
Lacey Baier
Yay! I'm so happy y'all enjoyed it 🙂
Eva
Thanks Lacey. I am making the water melon sorbet this weekend.
Lacey Baier
Woot!!
Eva
So refreshing. I am making the water melon recipe this weekend. 😂
Lacey Baier
Great! Enjoy 🙂
Bobbie Matson
I love all the recipes you have and happy I found your blog on you tube.
Lacey Baier
I'm so happy you found me, too! 🙂
Dora May Damatta
THANKS for the vidio, God bless y
Nada
Hey, in the case that my processor is not heavy duty, would it make a big difference if i blended the fruit first, then froze it in those ice cream stick molds?
Lacey Baier
Not really, but the consistency will be more like a posicle in that case, which is still delicious.
Suzy Hawes
this is great Lacey, but I'd like to know if the sorbets will last in the freezer without further churning in the blender? That is can I make the sorbet, freeze it for a week or so, and then serve it from the container without further blending? I'm taking some to a friends house for chirstmas and i don't want to have to bring my blender, or assume that they will have one.
!
Lacey Baier
They will last and require some thawing to mix back together. The consistency is never quite as smooth and perfect as it is immediately after blending. I have found using a CREAMi fixes that issue, however.
Deb Comstock
Thank YOU for this wonderful/versatile/flexible recipe !!!! What I did: filled the vitamix up to the top with fruit, doubled the lemon and instead of water, I used Knudsen's Pineapple Coconut juice and no sweetener. Had to haul out the tamper to get it moving....WOW. Next time I will omit the juice and keep with the water to lower the carbs. So easy !!!!
Lacey Baier
Sounds great!!
Marcy
Hi Lacey,
Would you please advise me how to make sorbet using lemons as the main ingredient? I've never tried making any sorbets before; this will be my first attempt.
I am on a post-surgical full liquid diet for a week; but the following week I graduate to pureed and chopped foods!
Any advice would be most appreciated!
S.M
If it’s any help here is a recipe for lemon mint sorbet
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 cup of mint chopped
2 lemons
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Combine sugar, mint, lemon zest and mix. Add boiling water and stir until sugar dissolves. Add vanilla, mix, and let it sit for 20 mins then drain. Add the juice from the 2 lemons and stir. Chill until it’s cold then pour into ice cube tray or metal cake tin then freeze it. Enjoy 🙂
Lacey Baier
That's a great question. You'd need to use primarily lemon juice int hat case. I've found it best to use a CREAMi for those instances when there is only liquid.