11 Best Vegan Ice Creams, According to Our Taste Tests

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream started as a yellow truck on the streets of NYC in 2008 with a mission to make good ice cream from good quality ingredients. The brand grew quickly and now has shops located in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, DC and California. Plus, you can find its pints and ice cream bars on the shelves of many grocery stores across America.

The brand's vegan ice cream is made from a base of oats, cashews or both, depending on the flavor, and taste testers said they could tell the blends were made from high-quality ingredients. Vegan Sicilian Pistachio and Vegan Choc Chip Cookie Dough earned top scores in taste tests, and we loved the super creamy consistency, which was far superior to other non-dairy pints we tested. Plus, the ingredients are purposeful and recognizable.

Founded by James Beard Award-winning ice cream maker Jeni Britton, this brand prides itself on one-of-a-kind flavors and direct and fair trade ingredients. The dairy-free line uses high-quality coconut cream for a super creamy texture and body.

Dairy-free flavors include Texas Sheet Cake, Banana Cream Pudding, Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns, Cold Brew with Coconut Cream, Dark Chocolate Truffle and Lemon Bar. Both taste testers and GH staffers were especially fans of the Texas Sheet Cake flavor. Deputy Editor Sarah Gregory Wharton said, "It has a deep chocolate flavor that really hits the spot." Deputy Food Editor Trish Clasen Marsanico in the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen also praised this flavorful blend.

The iconic Cherry Garcia ice cream you know and love is now available in a non-dairy version. You'll find cherries and fudge pieces in each scoop of the creamy almond milk base. But our dietitians say it is certainly a more decadent option with high added sugar and saturated fat counts.

Samantha Macavoy, an Assistant Editor in the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen, is also a fan of the brand's new Strawberry Cheezecake Non-Dairy Pint made from an oat milk base with thick graham crackers swirled throughout. "It really has the richness and tanginess you’d expect from cheesecake," she said.

With an oat milk base, this popular non-dairy frozen dessert from Oatly is Certified Vegan and Certified Gluten-Free. The brand's lineup of dairy-free pints includes more flavors than many other brands and features Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Banana Split, Cookie Dough, Raspberry Swirl, Fudge Brownie, Salted Caramel, Mint Chip and Coffee.

Nicole Papantoniou, Director of the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances & Culinary Innovation Lab, is a fan of the Fudge Brownie variety. "It’s not super rich but it’s very satisfying and decadent and a little sweet. I love adding it to my espressos to make an affogato," she said.

Born out of Craig's Restaurant in West Hollywood, this line of non-dairy frozen desserts uses cashews for a creamy and delicious base. Several staffers we spoke to raved about this line, and our registered dietitians appreciate that the pints excel in flavor while keeping added sugar counts down.

"Craig's is a plant-based option that I'd happily eat over and over again," said Alyssa Jung, Senior Nutrition & Fitness Editor. "The texture, mouth feel, and meltability are all reminiscent of traditional dairy ice cream." She adds that the flavors are unique, and she appreciates the dose of bonus fiber that comes from its cashew base. Kursten's PB Krunch (the brand's landmark flavor) and the Cold Brew Coffee are her go-to pints.

Refreshing and super smooth, this avocado-based ice cream is dairy-free and satisfying. Avocados are picked, ripened and cold-processed for each batch, resulting in a fresh frozen treat. Each pint is free from artificial flavors, corn syrup, sugar alcohols and stevia. Plus, it has significantly less sugar than other options.

Best of all, the brand has a large selection of flavors ranging from Chocolate Mud Pie and Mint Chocolate Chip to Simply Lemon and Cherry Amaretto. The Deep Dark Chocolate was a star in taste tests. "I couldn't believe how smooth and creamy this was," one tester said. "It had a rich chocolate flavor and really hit the spot after dinner. Even my kids loved it."

So Delicious is known for its Certified Vegan dairy-free food and beverage products that include everything from frozen desserts to creamers. We appreciate how many frozen ice cream options So Delicious offers with a variety of bases including almond, cashew, coconut, oat and soy.

The non-dairy pints performed ok in taste tests, but the ice cream bars really stole the show. The dipped bars were especially noteworthy and received rave reviews, and the coconut milk variety was a favorite. "These are out-of-this-world good," one tester commented. "The ice cream is creamy but that crunchy shell was my favorite part."

Made with high-quality plant-based ingredients, GoodPop's frozen desserts include fruit ice pops, creamy ice cream bars and more. These dairy-free ice cream sandwiches were a top performer in our taste tests. The sandwiches pair gluten-free cookies with a creamy oat milk base and use only fair trade ingredients.

Our dietitians were impressed with the nutrition facts too. Each sandwich comes in at only 110 calories and has just 7 grams of added sugar. They are also free from GMOs, sugar alcohol sweeteners and artificial dyes. "Other vegan ice cream sandwiches I've tried either have a weird consistency or very strong coconut flavor," said one tester. "But these were outrageously delicious. I like that the cookie is gluten-free too. It checks off a lot of boxes."