If you love ice cream, you’ve got a multitude of vegan choices. Vegan ice cream has gone sufficiently mainstream that even Ben & Jerry’s has entered the business. The best vegan brands are extraordinarily good. This New York Times article chronicles the rise of gourmet dairy-free ice cream. And here’s another comprehensive piece featuring the newest vegan ice creams to hit the market. These products are perfect, not just for vegans, but also for the millions of people who follow a dairy-free lifestyle.
Unlimited Possibilities
What is vegan ice cream made of? Its primary ingredient is any sort of plant-based milk. Both conventional ice cream and vegan ice cream typically contain plenty of fat. Regular ice cream’s fat comes from cream, whereas the fat in vegan ice cream comes from naturally fatty soy, cashew, or coconut milk.
Whether you want to buy vegan ice cream or make it at home, you’ve got all sorts of excellent choices.
Vegan Ice Cream Brands
Commercially-produced vegan ice creams deliver all of the delicious flavor and creaminess of ice cream without harming a single cow. Most supermarkets carry several varieties. And a good natural foods store will stock numerous brands. You can choose from pint-sized containers, ice cream sandwiches, cones, fudge bars, and more.
- Baskin-Robbins: Most stores offer one or two non-dairy ice cream flavors
- Ben & Jerry’s: Non-Dairy Pints
- Double Rainbow: Non-Dairy Frozen Desserts
- Mauna Loa: Macadamia Milk Frozen Dessert
- Nada Moo: Deliciously Dairy-Free Frozen Dessert
- Oatly: Non-Frozen Dessert Desserts
- So Delicious: Dairy Free Frozen Dessert
- Tofutti: Premium Pints & Cuties
- Trader Joe’s: Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert
Any of these brands can make a fully vegan ice cream sundae. Just pick up some vegan whipped cream and chocolate sauce, plus perhaps a banana or a jar of maraschino cherries.
How to Make Your Own Non-Dairy Ice Cream
You can make fantastic vegan ice cream at home with minimal effort. All you need is a great recipe (see the following two sections) and an ice cream maker.
There is, however, one important point you must understand about homemade ice-cream. Commercial brands use special equipment to whip air into the mix. That’s not something you can do with a consumer-grade ice cream maker. As a result, your homemade ice cream will turn rock hard if kept in the freezer for more than a few hours, so you should eat it right away.
Ice cream makers are surprisingly cheap. If you’ve got a family, this 4-quart Nostalgia unit is a terrific choice. Or, if there’s just one or two of you, get this Cuisinart unit that makes small 1.5 quart batches.
Dairy-Free Ice Cream Recipes
Making ice cream at home gives you total control over the ingredients. So if there’s ever a time to get creative and experiment, it’s when making vegan ice cream. Fantastic recipes are readily available. Check out:
- Incredible Vegan Ice Cream, by Deena Jalal
- N’ice Cream, by Virpi Mikkonen
- Dairy-Free Ice Cream, by Kelly V. Brozyna
- Vegan à la Mode, by Hannah Kaminsky
Whether storebought or homemade, you’ve got all sorts of outstanding possibilities when it comes to vegan ice cream. People seeking to avoid dairy products don’t have to give up a thing when it comes to enjoying rich and creamy ice cream flavors.
