You give up a lot of tasty food when you decide to go vegan. Luckily, a rise in the number of plant-based eaters and increasing demand for sustainable food has led to more and more vegan-friendly versions of all our favorite foods.
One area where that trend has recently led to some seriously tasty results is in the vegan ice cream niche.
Gone are the days of choosing between a handful of chalky, tasteless dairy-free ice creams. Now, your choices for ethical ice cream brands number in the dozens, and many of them are actually pretty dang good.
Ready to get your ice cream fix? Here are 12 of the best vegan ice cream brands you’ll wish you knew about sooner.
Table of Contents
Our Top Picks at a Glance
Brand | Why We Love It |
Ben & Jerry’s | So. Many. Flavors. |
Coolhaus | Woman-owned and absolutely delicious. |
Nick’s Ice Cream | Low-sugar and delivered right to your door. |
Eclipse | All vegan, all the time. |
So Delicious | Tried and true. |
Halo Top | Low in calories, high in YUM. |
Cosmic Bliss | Super creamy coconut ice cream. |
NadaMoo | All vegan. No waste. |
Van Leeuwen | All about flavor without compromising ingredients. |
Oatly | Sustainable goodness. |
Mauna Loa | Smooth and creamy macadamia nut deliciousness! |
Planet Oat | Good clean yum. |
In Detail: The 12 Best Vegan Ice Cream Brands
Ben & Jerry’s
Why We Love it: Finding a unique flavor of vegan ice cream used to be a challenge. Then Ben & Jerry’s decided to throw their hat into the dairy-free ring. Now the only challenge is finding the time to try each of their 19 certified vegan ice cream flavors.
Ben & Jerry’s has come a long way since starting in a Vermont gas station in 1978. But through the years, there are two things that never changed: the company’s hardline stance on many social and political issues and their passion for delicious ice cream.
All of their vegan ice cream flavors are made with fair trade, non-GMO ingredients. And are just as delicious as their dairy-containing options.
Base Ingredient: Almond milk or sunflower butter.
Where to Get it: Just about anywhere! In addition to being available in many chain grocers, Ben & Jerry’s also has a number of stand-alone ice cream shops throughout the country.
Available Flavors: Caramel almond brittle, phish food, fudge brownie, chocolate swirl, coffee caramel fudge, peanut butter and cookies, mint chocolate chip, cherry Garcia, sea salt caramel, deep dark chocolate, and many, many more (see the full list here).
Coolhaus
Why We Love it: Coolhaus is a woman-powered sweet-treat shop on a mission to save the world by creating inclusive ice cream for all.
These women are all about crafting delicious desserts that utilize clean, all-natural ingredients, so you can feel good even as you indulge.
Their dairy-free line features a multitude of fun flavors all made with their proprietary blend of plant-based proteins and sweeteners. With these awesome pints, you’ll never miss dairy again.
Base Ingredient: Blend of pea protein, brown rice, and cane sugar.
Where to Get it: Whole Foods, Sprouts, and other natural markets. Locate a retailer near you or order online: cool.haus.
Available Flavors: Vanilla, mint, cookie dough, chocolate cookie crumb, dirty mint chip
Nick’s Ice Cream
Why We Love it: Is there anything not to love about a low-calorie, Swedish-style, vegan ice cream that’s delivered straight to your door?
Nick’s is a little different from other brands on this list. For one, they use natural, low-calorie sweeteners in all of their products. And their vegan ice cream contains milk protein… but it doesn’t come from animals!
This ice cream is a love affair between nature and science. Together they deliver delightfully creamy vegan ice cream with a fraction of the sugar of traditional ice creams.
Base Ingredient: Plant oils
Where to Get it: There are a handful of stores that carry Nick’s, but your best bet is to go straight to the source: nicks.com.
Available Flavors: Chocolate, mint chip, peanut butter fudge, hazelnut fudge, strawberry, vanilla, caramel
Eclipse
Why We Love it: We love that many traditional ice cream companies are getting into the vegan market. But what we love more is a company dedicated to producing only climate-friendly, cruelty-free, plant-based ice cream. And that’s what Eclipse is all about.
This company is 100% dedicated to vegan ice cream. It’s all they make, and that dedication shows. Thanks to a unique blend of macro ingredients meant to emulate dairy, these pints are as close to the creamy, decadent texture of cream-based ice cream that you’re going to find.
Base Ingredient: Potato protein, starch, and tapioca.
Where to Get it: Unless you’re in NorCal, your best bet is via their website: eclipsefoods.com.
Available Flavors: Mint chip, dark chocolate peanut butter, cookies and cream, caramel butter pecan, cookie butter, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and mango passion fruit.
So Delicious
Why We Love it: So Delicious has been fighting the good fight in the dairy-free world for over 30 years. In that time, they’ve come up with a number of delicious vegan products from cheese to desserts.
Of course, vegan ice cream is what we love this brand for. Over the years, they’ve added a number of recipes and now produce ice creams made with different bases, including almond milk and oat milk.
All the ingredients that go into these ice creams are certified vegan and GMO-free. They always use organic coconuts and put the Earth first in their ingredient selection and manufacturing processes.
Base Ingredient: Coconut milk, cashew milk, almond milk, oat milk, or soy milk.
Where to Get it: Available at most chain grocery stores.
Available Flavors: Banana foster, snickerdoodle, peanut butter and raspberry, no sugar added vanilla, and more (see them all here).
Halo Top
Why We Love it: Halo Top didn’t get into ice cream to change the world. But they were very serious about creating a low-calorie ice cream that tasted just as good as traditional soft serve. After they mastered that, they decided to try the challenge again with dairy-free.
Their certified vegan ice creams have, on average, half the amount of calories as your standard ice cream pints. And they’re made with good-for-you natural ingredients that add plenty of flavor without piling on the sugar or fat.
Low-calorie ice cream that tastes just as good as the real thing? Sign us up!
Base Ingredient: Coconut milk
Where to Get it: Available at Whole Foods, Safeway, Target, and more (find your local hookup here).
Available Flavors: Birthday cake, candy bar, chocolate, chocolate almond crunch, cookie dough, peanut butter, and salted caramel.
Cosmic Bliss
Why We Love it: Cosmic Bliss has been known by many names. They started out as Luna & Larry’s then changed their name to reflect their most beloved flavor, Coconut Bliss. Now they’ve rebranded again to Cosmic Bliss.
This latest name change comes after adding a line of grass-fed dairy ice cream to their once 100% vegan ice cream options. This move upset many and for good reason. But the company still stands by its original legacy of creating healthier, simpler ice cream that’s better for people and the planet.
And, truth be told, we still love their coconut cream based vegan lineup enough to overlook the fact that they now sell dairy ice cream as well.
Base Ingredient: Coconut
Where to Get it: Available at Bristol, Whole Foods, Natural Grocers, Sprouts, and more.
Available Flavors: Chocolate walnut brownie, cherry amaretto, banana, infinite coconut, and more (see the full list here).
NadaMoo
Why We Love it: Each pint of NadaMoo is made from organic coconuts that require only rainwater to produce. And the husks are used to create biofuel. This coconut cream base is sweetened with natural agave syrup—no refined sugar here!
NadaMoo has all the classic flavors plus some delicious creative options. All 20 plus flavors are 100% plant-based and vegan. And made with sustainable practices and no-waste principles.
Some of the awesome whole foods you’ll find on these ingredient lists include organic cocoa powder, organic vanilla beans, and organic peanut butter.
Base Ingredient: Coconut milk
Where to Get it: Available at Target, Whole Foods, King Soopers, Walmart, and more.
Available Flavors: Birthday cake, cookie dough, peppermint bark, strawberry cheesecake, caramel cold brew, mint ice cream, and more (check out the full lineup here).
Van Leeuwen Ice Cream
Why We Love it: New York-based Van Leeuwen has always been about crafting good ice cream. When they say good, they’re talking all about taste, but not without regard to quality. What they deliver is amazingly creamy and flavorful desserts made with natural, easy-to-pronounce ingredients meant to make you happy.
Their vegan lineup is no exception. These plant-based options include coconut, cashew, and oat-based choices mixed with cane sugar, cocoa butter, and other ingredients from the earth.
This company may have started as a traditional creamery, but they’ve grown to include over 16 awesome nondairy ice creams. Buy at your favorite natural market or online here.
Base Ingredient: Coconut, oat, and/or cashew milk
Where to Get it: Available at Whole Foods, Bristols, Sprouts, and other natural grocers.
Available Flavors: Rocky road, pumpkin cinnamon roll, passion fruit layer cake, brown sugar chunk, and more (see the full list here).
Oatly
Why We Love It: When it comes to plant-based milk (which is at the heart of every great non-dairy ice cream) oat is one of the most sustainable options. It has a lower carbon footprint than soy milk and uses much less water to grow than almond milk. Combine a baseline of wonderful sustainability with Oatly’s commitment to building a sustainable non-dairy frozen dessert empire, and you have the perfect ice cream for earth-conscious consumers.
Oatly is hard at work opening new factories that run on renewable energy while finding innovative ways to lower their carbon footprint and reduce shipping needs. They’ve also updated their packaging so it has a 79% lower climate impact, and they utilize sustainably sourced ingredients whenever possible.
In addition to being forward-thinking in the sustainability department, the company also manages to put out some pretty amazing ice cream. And you can feel good eating it too, because oat milk ice cream contains more fiber and less cholesterol and saturated fat than traditional ice cream.
Base Ingredient: Oat milk
Where to Get It: Pretty much anywhere! Most grocery stores, including Safeway and Target, carry Oatly ice cream, as well as most health food stores, including Whole Foods.
Available Flavors: Salted caramel, coffee chaos, strawberry confusion, hazelnut swirl, and more.
Mauna Loa
Why We Love It: If the typical vegan ice creams aren’t speaking your language, might I recommend this awesomely creamy macadamia nut ice cream from Mauna Loa? This Hawaii-inspired ice cream company says aloha to your heart, soul, and stomach with an incredibly smooth texture and rich and creamy flavors that only mac nuts can bring.
Some of the supporting ingredients aren’t quite as wholesome as we like to see (I’m looking at you plain sugar and maltodextrin). But all these ice creams are made with natural ingredients, certified vegan, and non-GMO. Plus most flavors are certified gluten-free.
We also love the unique flavors you’ll find with Mauna Loa. They have some classics, but they also throw in some paradise-inspired pints that you just can’t find anywhere else.
Base Ingredient: Macadamia nut milk
Where to Get It: Safeway, Ralphs, Pavilions, Whole Foods, Sprouts, and more. Or purchase online.
Available Flavors: Mac nut, mango lilikoi, strawberry guava, Kona coffee, rocky road to Hana, and more.
Planet Oat
Why We Love It: Another oat-based ice cream brand we can’t get enough of is Planet Oat. These guys don’t put sustainability on their mission statement like Oatly does, but by using oats to make their products, they are miles ahead of many other brands already. But why we love this brand, in particular, is because they excel at making clean products that taste great!
Take a look at the label on any Planet Oat ice cream and you’ll see a simple list of ingredients you can read and understand. Most of their ice cream is gluten-free and all of it is free from preservatives and artificial flavors.
They have a long list of great flavors that is continuously growing, too, making it easy to find your favorite.
Base Ingredient: Oat milk
Where to Get It: This is another ice cream most major grocery stores carry. You can even find it at CVS and Amazon Fresh!
Available Flavors: Chocolate peanut butter swirl, cookies and creme, chocolate chip cookie dough, mint fudge swirl, vanilla, coffee fudge swirl, blueberry oat crumble, and chocolate.
What is the Best Vegan Ice Cream Brand?
The days of bland and boring vegan ice cream are a distant memory. Now, the only problem is deciding which delicious plant-based pint to indulge in.
When it comes to the best vegan ice cream, it really depends on what you’re looking for.
Want variety? Ben & Jerrys, So Delicious, and NadaMoo have you covered. Prefer ice cream on a mission? Eclipse, Cosmic Bliss, and Coolhaus are out to change the world and they want you to come along for the delicious ride.
Or maybe what you’re really after is a decadent treat with less sugar and fewer calories than your typical dessert. Nick’s and Halo Top to the rescue! Or, for the straight-up decadent, it’s all about Van Leeuwen.
The truth is, you can’t go wrong with any of our 12 choices above.
How to Make Your Own Vegan Ice Cream
This classic vegan “n’ice” cream recipe is as simple as it is delicious. The base ingredient is simply … bananas.
Just slice up a couple of bananas and freeze them. Then blend the frozen pieces in a food processor with a little plant-based milk to help get things swirling, and watch as it turns into a smooth, creamy substance that’s similar to soft-serve ice cream. Freeze it for a couple of hours for a harder, scoopable dairy-free frozen treat.
This basic recipe tastes great on its own, but there’s not much to it. By adding flavorings (like cocoa) and toppings (like nuts and berries), you can make vegan ice cream that’s every bit as satisfying as traditional ice cream.
Simple Vegan Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 bananas sliced, then frozen
- 2 tbsp nut milk or plant-based milk of choice
Instructions
- Slice the bananas, spread the slices on parchment paper, and freeze them for about 30 minutes.
- Throw the frozen banana slices into a food process or blender and add the plant-based milk. Blend until creamy, like the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. You can stop here and eat it like this if you like.
- For more scoopable ice cream, spread the mixture into a plastic bowl or parchment-lined loaf pan. Freeze for about 2 hours until firm. Scoop, add desired toppings, and serve.
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I cannot stand NadaMoo ice cream!! It is coconut milk base and all I can taste is the overpowering COCONUT!!! I don’t hate coconut. It has its place. But its place us NOT in my ice cream, or cookies or any other dessert except Mounds bars, coconut macaroons or coconut cake!! Whenever any dessert is made with coconut milk, the coconut flavor overrides any other flavor. The reason this yosets me about the NadaMoo brand is that they are the only vegan ice cream I have found with a Birthday Cake flavor. I was so excited to have a vegan birthday cake ice cream. Yet l I took my first spoonful!! COCONUT was the predominant flavor. I will never buy NadaMoo again!! It’s all coconut based! YECH!!!
You Folks should check out Aldi’s Store Brand Non Dairy Frozen Treat Vanilla and Chocolate. I thought the Vanilla was creamier and richer tasting than the Chocolate. Price: just under $3.00/pint!
Thanks so much for the tip, Karen! We’ll definitely include that one in our taste testing when we do an update.