The Best Vegan Ice Cream, From Vanilla To Mint Chip, Based On Taste Tests (2024)

As an ice cream enthusiast, recipe tester and cookbook author, I did not take lightly my mission to find the best vegan ice cream on the market. I sampled 30-plus pints from 11 popular brands that make the frozen dessert using a variety of bases, from oat milk to cashew milk. For those who like classic, straightforward flavors, you can’t go wrong with McConnell’s Dairy-Free Vanilla Bean or Cado Chocolate Mud Pie. If you’re a fan of mix-ins, Van Leeuwen Peanut Butter Brownie Honeycomb and Ben & Jerry’s Netflix & Chilll’d impressed my taste buds.

Here are all of the winners from my testing process:

Vegan ice cream has come a long way since it first appeared on grocery store shelves in the 1980s and ’90s. Back then, soy milk and protein were the de facto base (and “icy” the de facto texture). These days, you can easily find pints with all kinds of delicious, flavor-packed bases: cashew milk, coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk and even avocado puree. “More companies are popping up with simple, real and fresh ingredients to match the full and creamy consistency of dairy ice cream,” says Gabrielle Yacoob, vice president of development for the Museum of Ice Cream. Whether you prefer your ice cream simple or bursting with mix-ins, you’re bound to enjoy one of the best vegan ice creams on this list.

Great vanilla ice cream is tough to get right—and that’s even more true with vegan vanilla ice cream. With no chocolate, flavorings or mix-ins to hide behind, it’s up to the manufacturer to nail the flavor profile perfectly. Luckily, McConnell’s delivers—and then some. The fact that the brand does it with a surprisingly short and simple ingredient list is just a bonus. Here, the creamy oat milk base gets added richness from cocoa butter, and a sultry vanilla flavor is complemented by visible specks of vanilla, thanks to a mix of real vanilla beans and pure vanilla extract. The base is neither too oat-y nor too icy, and it’s delicious served all on its own. But a dollop of hot fudge and a spoonful of sprinkles wouldn’t hurt.

I wasn’t sure what to think when I first sampled this avocado-based ice cream, and I found myself wondering, skeptically, how the texture might compare to other vegan and traditional ice creams on the market. But the Cado Chocolate Mud Pie flavor surprised me in the very best way. To my delight, the avocado puree base is creamy and smooth with no detectable avocado flavor. Instead, this ice cream offers a welcome hit of chocolate—or three hits, I should say, as there’s a triple dose here: The cocoa powder in the ice cream base is combined with bittersweet chocolate swirls and gluten-free chocolate cookie mix-ins. Suffice it to say, just one scoop would be enough to satisfy even the most intense chocolate craving.

There’s no other way to put it: Gelato Boy has simply cracked the code on vegan strawberry ice cream. The brand’s version of the classic—which is technically a gelato—is satisfying, just sweet enough and made with an impressively short ingredient list. Despite the more basic makeup of the pint, though, the ice cream’s overall impact is anything but simple. This ruby-toned option is bright, fresh and bursting with real strawberries (which are blended directly into the base). I’ll admit that I’m not generally a fan of coconut milk–based ice creams; the tropical coconut flavor too often overpowers everything else in the mix. But here, the subtle coconut essence felt like it added to, rather than detracted from, the overall profile.

Over the past 16 years, Van Leeuwen has grown from a roving, New York City–based ice cream truck to a nationally beloved brand with nearly 50 shops across the country. More recently, Van Leeuwen pints have become available in select grocery stores—and after trying the vegan Peanut Butter Brownie Honeycomb, I can attest that it’s worth the trip to the supermarket. Made with cashew milk, this option earned my designation for the best vegan peanut butter ice cream. It’s luscious and decadent, and the flavor is spot-on—rather than overpowering you with too many competing flavors, it’s surprisingly creamy and subtle. For sweetness and chocolatey heft, there’s just the right amount of fudgy brownie chunks alongside swirls of vegan “honey.” Had I not read the ingredients on the package or been actively testing vegan ice creams, I never would have guessed that this was, in fact, free of dairy, eggs and honey.

I live in a household of mint chip ice cream fanatics, so I wasn’t sure I’d be able to sell them on a vegan version of the classic treat. The Salt & Straw Freckled Mint Chocolate Chip proved me wrong and won all of them over instantly. And no wonder: Its coconut cream base is silky smooth, and I can assure any skeptics that only a tiny hint of lingering coconut flavor remains. In its place, each bite is infused with clean, refreshing peppermint oil and heaps of melt-in-your-mouth, organic dark chocolate flecks. Finally, it’s nice to know that the ice cream’s delicate green color comes from natural vegetable dyes rather than anything synthetic.

Everything about a lemon bar appeals to me, from its crumbly shortbread base to its thick layer of wobbly, sweet-tart citrus. So, fellow lemon bar aficionados, believe me when I say: Jeni’s Lemon Bar ice cream, which is somehow free of both dairy and eggs, tastes exactly like the real thing. There’s a lemon curd swirl that’s mouth-puckeringly lemony, and it gets its sunset color from turmeric rather than egg yolks. The delicate and creamy base, meanwhile, is flavored with Madagascar bourbon vanilla extract, and there are shortbread bits throughout that taste incredibly buttery, too (of course, there’s no butter in the recipe).

Anyone who’s ever walked their cart past Whole Foods’ bakery case has probably seen, sampled or ogled their in-house Berry Chantilly Cake. It’s a tender, golden vanilla cake layered with whipped cream and fresh berries, and it’s tantalizingly delicious. In fact, it’s so beloved by customers that the brand decided to turn it into a vegan ice cream flavor. The result: a smooth, almond milk base that tastes just like boxed birthday cake. With a mixed berry swirl, it’s got just the right amount of tart fruit flavor, which helps to offset the sweet base. Priced at well under $6 a pint, this option is also far less expensive than many of the other premium brands on this list. And better yet, for regular vegan ice cream consumers, it’s frequently on sale for under $3.

Ben & Jerry’s is the reigning champion of creative ice cream mix-in combinations, so it’s no surprise that one of the brand’s vegan pints made this list. In my opinion, the brand’s non-dairy Netflix & Chilll’d flavor is a standout. With an oat milk base, it’s just as creamy and satisfying as its non-vegan counterparts, and the combination of rich peanut butter, sweet and fudgy brownie bits and chunks of salty pretzel was downright delicious. Simply put, it’s the perfect choice for a movie night with friends—you’ll all want to eat this one straight from the container. Sampled side by side with dairy ice cream, I maintain that it would be very difficult to tell which scoop was vegan.

Other Vegan Ice Creams I Tested

There’s certainly a wide range of quality when it comes to vegan ice cream brands, ranging from thoroughly unappetizing to downright transcendent. I’d like to note that I got lucky here: All of the brands I tried had their fair share of redeeming qualities, and I found none of them to be completely unappealing. That said, here are the ones that did not make it onto my winners list:

Juiced Gelato: I tried several flavors of Juiced Gelato—a brand that turns organic, cold-pressed juices into low-sugar gelatos. And here’s the thing: Many of them were absolutely delicious. I particularly liked the refreshing Spicy Lemon and Carrot Apple Ginger flavors. Tasty as they were, though, they more closely resembled sorbet than true gelato, both in flavor and texture. So, do I recommend trying them? Yes, for sure. But not if you’re specifically in the mood for the richness and creaminess of traditional ice cream.

Oatly: I sampled four flavors from Oatly, including Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry and Coffee, and I have to admit that I was disappointed across the board. The base’s oat-y flavor was far too noticeable, in my opinion. It simply distracted from the other flavors at play. Strawberry was the best of the bunch, to be sure—but even so, I’m not sure I’d choose to eat a scoop of it on its own. Instead, it’d fare better inside of an ice cream sandwich or other ice cream–based dessert.

So Delicious: I have tried and enjoyed some of So Delicious’ vegan ice cream bars in the past, so I was excited to sample the full pints. Unfortunately, none of the four flavors I tried—Snickerdoodle, Vanilla Bean, Dark Chocolate Truffle and Salted Caramel Cluster—successfully satisfied my sweet tooth. The Vanilla Bean flavor tasted primarily of coconut milk, the Dark Chocolate Truffle was equally one-note and the Salted Caramel Cluster was overly sweet and had an ersatz aftertaste, like bottled pancake syrup. Snickerdoodle was better, offering exciting hints of cinnamon and graham cracker. But all in all, these flavors just didn’t live up to the ice cream brands that did make it onto my favorites list.

Why You Can Trust My Advice

The Forbes Vetted team is dedicated to finding the best products on the market, testing them firsthand and delivering top recommendations to you. That’s certainly the case with the site’s overflowing kitchen and dining coverage, where you can find tested reviews of everything from knife sets to toaster ovens to electric kettles.

• I, Leah Koenig, the author of this article, am a food writer with 17 years of experience. I’ve written seven cookbooks and am also a regular contributor to Forbes Vetted, where I’ve tested and reviewed the best ice cream makers and rounded up the best ice cream brands.
• For the research portion of this story, I spoke with Gabrielle Yacoob, the vice president of development for the Museum of Ice Cream. Yacoob offered her insights on the world of frozen treats, and she knows what she’s talking about: In addition to dairy-based ice creams, the Museum of Ice Cream also offers vegan options at many locations worldwide.
• The Forbes Vetted team regularly refreshes all of its stories to make sure all of its recommendations are up to date. This article was first published in August 2024 and will be updated as new brands and flavors are released.

How I Chose And Tested The Best Vegan Ice Cream

The field of vegan ice cream has expanded widely in recent years: Both small scoop shops and bigger ice cream manufacturers want a piece of the pie (or cone, for that matter). While selecting my contenders, I aimed to include a mix of both independent, artisanal companies, such as Cado and Gelato Boy, and larger companies, like Ben & Jerry’s and 365 by Whole Foods Market.

• I tried to ensure that every ice cream I sampled was either widely available in grocery stores or could be shipped nationally. Finally, I asked each company to send me two of its best-selling flavors alongside a plain vanilla and plain chocolate option, if applicable, to provide some parallel comparisons. A few of the ice creams I considered were dairy-free but included eggs or other non-vegan ingredients, and these were not ultimately included in my testing process.
• After the research portion was complete, I worked alone to taste-test a whopping 34 ice cream flavors from 11 brands. With each pint, I allowed the ice cream to stand at room temperature for 10 minutes so it could soften a bit.
• While tasting, I assessed each ice cream’s texture, noticing whether it had the rich and creamy mouthfeel that dairy ice cream is known for, or if it had any noticeable grit, gumminess or iciness.
• I noted if the flavor of the “milk” in the base was prominent and overpowering, and I took note of whether it was made from coconut cream, oat milk, almond milk, cashew milk or avocado. I also considered the flavor and texture of mix-ins (if any), as well as the overall value of each pint.