Call me basic, but vanilla ice cream is one of my most favorite desserts. It’s so simple, delicious, and versatile. What else pairs so well with everything from apple pie to coffee?? (Okay probably chocolate ice cream, but let’s stay focused.)
Although I’d love it if I were in a season of life where I could always whip up a batch of homemade vanilla ice cream whenever the craving strikes, alas, I am not. Thankfully, we live in a day and age where we can buy ice cream, already made, at the store. Marvelous! And vanilla ice cream seems pretty hard to mess up. After all it’s just milk, cream, sometimes egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla beans or vanilla extract, right?
Unfortunately, that sort of simplicity seems to be difficult to achieve for many ice cream brands. Sure, they use the traditional ingredients, but they also use some questionable ingredients as well.
To make shopping for the most healthful vanilla ice cream easier, I’ve compiled a list of the all-natural ice cream options made from only natural ingredients (milk, skim milk, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla beans, vanilla extract) and NOTHING else.
What exactly does all natural vanilla ice cream mean?
While everyone has their own definition of all natural, in my opinion, the very best all natural vanilla ice cream does NOT contain any of the following:
- Added flavors, both “natural” and artificial
- Ultra processed ingredients (ie: corn syrup, soy lecithin, sunflower lecithin, milk powder, possibly tapioca syrup)
- Gums (ie: guar gum, locust bean gum, xanthan gum, as all gums seem to affect gut flora)
- Seed oils (ie: sunflower oil, canola oil)
In my opinion, all of the above ingredients are recent additions to our historical diets as humans, and although they’ve been deemed “safe” (as in, not immediately toxic) to use in the American food system, we don’t know for certain the long term effects of consuming them. So why risk it?
Plus, the simple fact is that you don’t need ANY of them to make vanilla ice cream. Not a one.
Many ice cream brands do not make the cut
If we narrow down our choices to those that ONLY use the simplest of ingredients, we eliminate a lot of the more accessible brands, like Blue Bunny (contains natural flavors in their ice cream, and even more suspect ingredients in their “frozen dessert”), Great Value (contains natural flavors, gums, cellulose), Blue Bell (contains high fructose corn syrup, natural flavors, gums), HEB Creamy Creations (contains Fructose, Dextrose, Natural Vanilla Flavor, Natural Flavor, Carob Bean Gum, and Guar Gum), Turkey Hill’s normal line (contains corn syrup, cellulose gel, cellulose gum, natural and artificial flavors, mono & diglycerides, carrageenan), Breyers (their “Natural” vanilla flavor contains vegetable gums and natural flavors), and I’m sure even more.
Unfortunately, several brands that tend to market themselves as higher quality do not meet these requirements either. Alden’s (contains Tapioca Syrup, Tapioca Starch, Guar Gum, Soy Lecithin, Locust Bean Gum, and Xanthan Gum), Alec’s (contains carob gum, guar gum), Adirondack Creamery (contains milk powder, which sounds like it’d be a natural ingredient, but it’s not), Tillamook (contains gums, natural flavors), and Harris Teeter’s (contains “natural vanilla flavor with specks” (specks??)) all fail to make the cut.
(To their credit, Adirondack Creamery seems to both steer clear of added flavors and gums, which is awesome of them and a step in the right direction.)
And as an aside to my sweet vegan and non-dairy friends, take it from me, someone who was vegan for 4.5 years and has always loved ice cream: the non-dairy ice cream market is LOADED with weird additives. I have not found a single one that does not include the questionable ingredients listed above. Your best bet is going to be homemade non-dairy ice cream, banana “nice cream” or otherwise.
Amazingly, there are some brands that have all natural vanilla ice cream options that do fit the bill. Let’s look at them now.
The Very Best All Natural Vanilla Ice Cream: Straus Family Creamery
Straus Family Creamery makes an exceptional all natural vanilla ice cream. Not only do they avoid any of the yucky stuff, but they also use organic ingredients. Their only downside is the price.
Ingredients: Pasteurized Organic Cream and Organic Nonfat Milk, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Egg Yolks, Organic Vanilla Extract, Organic Ground Vanilla Bean.
Price: ~$7.35 per pint (~$0.47/oz)
Where to find it: You can find Straus family ice cream using their search engine. Here in Dallas, you can find this ice cream at some Natural Grocers locations, but not all.
4 Other Good All Natural Vanilla Ice Cream Options
Although not organic, below are four other ice cream brands that make an all natural vanilla ice cream that meets the requirements, some of which being much easier on the wallet.
Turkey Hill’s Simply Natural Premium Ice Cream
Please note that Turkey Hill’s normal ice cream line is filled with all sorts of nasties, including their normal vanilla. To get actually natural ice cream, you need to make sure you’re getting their “Simply Natural” line (the ones with the black accents on the carton.)
Homemade Vanilla
Ingredients: Nonfat milk, cream, sugar, vanilla
Vanilla bean
Ingredients: Nonfat milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, vanilla bean
Price: ~$6 per 48 oz (~$0.13/oz)
Where you can find it: You can see Turkey Hill’s full list of where to get their ice cream, but note that the list refers to all of their offerings, not just their Simply Natural line. From what I can tell, you can get the Simply Natural Vanilla at Harris Teeter and Shop Rite.
Van Leeuwen
Van Leuwen’s french-style Vanilla Bean is straightforward, delicious, but a little pricey.
Ingredients: milk, cream, cane sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract (grain alcohol, vanilla bean), salt, vanilla bean
Price: ~$6.79 for 14 oz ($0.49/Ounce)
Where to find it: You can order Van Leeuwen online, find it in some grocery stores (here in Dallas you can find it in some Whole Foods locations), or at one of their scoop shops.
Häagen-Dazs
Ah, the classic. I think Häagen-Dazs was the first brand brought to my attention within the crunchy circles as an ice cream option free of weird ingredients. They too have two all natural vanilla options, one with the ground vanilla beans, and one without.
Vanilla
Ingredients: Cream, Skim Milk, Cane Sugar, Egg Yolks, Vanilla Extract
Vanilla Bean
Ingredients: Cream, Skim Milk, Cane Sugar, Egg Yolks, Ground Vanilla Beans, Vanilla Extract
Price: Price can vary quite a bit depending on retailer and size of container, but I saw a range of ~ $6.49 for 14 oz (~$0.46/oz) to ~$16 for 64 oz (~$0.25/oz)
Where to find it: Kroger, Walmart, and more.
Your local ice cream shops
Though not as convenient as a grocery run, your local ice cream shop may be another excellent option when it comes to sourcing all natural vanilla ice cream. If you have a local scoop shop, feel free to check out their website or shoot them an email asking for more details on their ingredients.
For example, here in Dallas, we have a little shop called Parlor’s Ice Creams. Although they don’t list all of their ingredients online for all of their flavors, their Sweet Cream flavor does have the ingredients listed, and they’re simply milk, cream, eggs, and sugar. Their Vanilla is described as their Sweet Cream plus vanilla, making this another excellent all natural vanilla ice cream option for us in D-town. And as an added bonus, they’re big on partnering with local farmers and businesses to make their ice cream. Gotta love a business that shops local!
Price: $5.75 for 14 oz ($0.41/oz)
Where to find it: 6465 E Mockingbird Ln Suite 465 Dallas, Texas 75214
Honorable mention: jeni’s
jeni’s ice cream is delicious, but it makes honorable mention (instead of being an official member of the list) because 1. they use tapioca syrup, which I’m personally on the fence about, and 2. it’s kinda pricey. But I really appreciate that they don’t use any gums or natural or artificial flavors, so I’d say they’re a solid option if you’re willing to splurge.
Ingredients: Milk, Cream, Cane Sugar, Nonfat Milk, Tapioca Syrup, Honey, Fair Trade Vanilla Extract, Sea Salt, Vanilla Bean Specks
Price: ~$9.61 per 16 oz. ($0.60/oz)
Where to find it: To find their flavor specifically, I’d recommend using jeni’s grocery finder and filtering for their Honey Vanilla Bean flavor.
That concludes my findings re: all natural vanilla ice cream. If there’s a brand I’m missing, or if you notice a brand has changed their ingredients since this was posted in April 2024, feel free to leave a comment below so I can keep the list nice and updated.
And of course, please remember that one of the best things we can do for our health is to relax. So we do our best to make good choices based on the information we have, and then don’t sweat the rest. Enjoy your vanilla ice cream! We do what we can, then let go and let God, as they say!