Summertime and ice cream are linked in our memories. Whether it’s chasing down a neighborhood ice cream truck or trying hopelessly to out-lick a melting cone, it’s more than just a dessert for the end of the meal. It can often be sentimental.
Ice cream has roots going back to around 200 BC, when someone in China packed a rice-and-milk mixture into snow. What we know today as ice cream developed at some point in the 15th century in Italy and England. Since then, ice cream has conquered the world one scoop at a time as one of the most popular desserts on the planet. Americans now eat an average of 23 pounds of ice cream per year, according to the International Dairy Foods Association.
Like most other desserts, ice cream has a pretty steep downside from a health perspective. In its most commonly sold form it’s a mixture of milk, cream and sugar, along with additional ingredients. Some premium ice cream brands use whole milk in their recipes, but many use skim. However, almost all brands use whole-fat cream. When it comes to sugar content, an average half-cup serving of name-brand ice cream from the frozen foods aisle in your local grocery store contains around 15 grams of added sugar and anywhere from 7 to 17 grams of fat with 5 to 10 grams of saturated fat.
All in all, a single scoop of ice cream can account for half of your daily added sugar intake and just about 100 percent, if not more, of what your daily saturated fat intake should be. That’s why, for many, eating ice cream is either a rare occurrence or something that can make you bemoan your waistline.
If you want to beat the summer heat with a sweet treat that’s guilt-free — or at least relatively guilt-free — look no further. Here’s a few of the most popular and delicious ice cream alternatives you can find in the frozen foods aisle:
Halo Top Creamery
Halo Top is the most popular of all the “healthy” ice cream brands. It was one of the first to truly go mainstream, after a 2016 Buzzfeed article advertising its great flavor and incredibly low calorie count went viral. Halo Top ranges between 280 and 360 calories per pint and has one of the largest selections of flavors in the healthy ice cream market, including classics like vanilla, chocolate and mint chip, but also other varieties such as Peanut Butter & Jelly, Lemon Cake and Key Lime Pie. Some flavors also come in dairy-free.
Enlightened Ice Cream
Enlightened is unashamed of labeling itself as healthy. The brand is billed as “The Good For You Ice Cream!” and touts its low-sugar and high-protein content. Flavors carry fancy names such as Movie Night, Glazed Donut and Bananas Foster, along with classic staples and dairy-free varieties. Enlightened’s nutritional claims aren’t unfounded, as the brand does have less sugar, fewer calories and more protein than the other healthy ice creams. As far as taste is concerned, there’s not a distinguishable quality difference between Enlightened and others.
Ben & Jerry’s Moo-Phoria Light Ice Cream
If you’re a name-brand purist, you can’t go wrong with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Moo-Phoria Light Ice Cream. Though there aren’t nearly as many fun flavors as in a traditional selection of Ben & Jerry’s pints, you can still get classic flavors like Cherry Garcia and Chocolate Milk & Cookies. The calorie, sugar and fat counts in Ben & Jerry’s aren’t nearly as healthy as other options on this list — each pint has nearly double the calories of similar brands — but considering that the average pint of regular Ben & Jerry’s is around 1,000 calories, it’s a much healthier choice. Plus, if you’re looking for the best taste in the healthy ice cream market, you can’t go wrong with Ben & Jerry’s.
Arctic Zero Light Ice Cream
Arctic Zero has been on the market just as long as Halo Top and is available in most supermarkets with regular and dairy-free varieties. Flavors include Peanut Butter & Cookies, Chocolate Chunk and Toffee Crunch, among others. Arctic Zero’s nutrition content is comparable to Halo Top, but Arctic Zero pints really should be eaten in one sitting because of their high potential for quick freezer burn.
So Delicious Dairy Free Ice Cream
So Delicious has specialized in dairy-free desserts for a long time and is finally coming into its own with the rise in popularity of and demand for dairy alternatives at the grocery store. So Delicious offers its healthy “ice cream” in frozen pints, bars and sandwiches made with coconut, almond, soy and cashew milks. Some of the most notable flavors are Salted Caramel Cluster (made with cashew milk) and the No Sugar Added Mint Chip (made with coconut milk). So Delicious even offers pints of flavors made with oat milk in some markets.
Skinny Cow
Skinny Cow is another healthy alternative name brand that has been around for years. You’re most likely to find a variety of their light ice cream sandwiches and bars, though in some markets they offer pints as well. The nutritional value of these desserts isn’t exceptionally different from brands like Ben & Jerry’s Moo-Phoria Light Ice Cream, but Skinny Cow offers the benefit of portion control with its bars and sandwiches. Skinny Cow also offers products with added protein and no sugar added, as well as a line of Greek yogurt-based bars. Its best offerings are Snickerdoodle sandwiches, Triple Threat Chocolate bars and the Oh La La Chocolate Truffle Bars, all with only 100 to 120 calories per serving.
Yasso
Greek yogurt is generally regarded as a healthier food in comparison to regular yogurt. With a higher protein content and some fat-free offerings, Greek yogurt can be an essential part of a healthy, balanced diet. Yasso has taken Greek yogurt from the fridge to the freezer with its bars and pints, although most grocery stores only have the bars available. The bars are all made with frozen Greek yogurt, with flavors such as Butter Pecan, Black Raspberry Chip and Cookies n’ Cream. Ranging from 80 to 130 calories per bar, Yasso is one of the healthiest and best-tasting ice cream alternatives out there.