It’s that time of year again, it’s our short-lived British summertime and all I want to eat is tubs and tubs full of ice cream to make the most of it. Being vegan definitely doesn’t mean you have to miss out on a big bowl of chocolate fudge brownie! You can buy vegan ice cream from pretty much every supermarket and in a huge range of flavours. Even Ben & Jerry’s has 3 classic flavours for you to choose from. We’ve tried quite a few different brands over the past few years and have compiled a list of our 5 favourite supermarket ice creams.
01. PERFECT WORLD CARAMEL AND PECAN ICE CRAM
This has to be a personal favourite of mine, it’s so lovely and creamy, there’s absolutely no way you’d know it was vegan! It’s also pretty healthy, it only contains 423 calories in the whole tub! It also has added B12 vitamins and minerals, making this one of the most healthy ice creams around. Believe me though when I say it doesn’t taste healthy! It tastes equally as decadent as any dairy version out there, and really hits the spot when you’re craving something sweet. You can currently buy this particular flavour in over 500 Tesco stores nationwide, or you can get their full range of flavours from Ocado, which includes double choc chip, pistachio, raspberry ripple & mint choc chip! These tubs sell at £3.99, so it’s definitely more of a luxury product, but still a lot cheaper than Ben & Jerry’s which sells for £5.50, and I honestly don’t think Ben & Jerry’s is anywhere near as nice as the Perfect World flavours. We thought this flavour would go perfectly in an ice cream sundae. We served it with fresh raspberries, Askey’s Chocolate Chunk Crackin Ice Cream Topping, flaked almonds and some dark chocolate shards.
02. ALPRO HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
Alpro is a bit of a powerhouse when it comes to dairy-free alternatives. We always have at least one of their products in the fridge (usually the almond milk when it’s on offer) otherwise we go for the almond breeze. This means that their distribution is massive, so it won’t be hard to find. At around £3.75 it’s only slightly cheaper than the Perfect World, but very often it’s on offer so you can grab a pot of this for around £2.50. For the price, this is by far the best chocolate ice cream on the market. We thought this flavour would work perfectly in an ice cream sandwich. Pairing the creamy chocolate ice cream with the hard ginger nuts not only adds flavour but also adds a beautiful crunchy texture. It’s such an easy little thing to throw together, taking only two seconds to simply squish the ice cream between two biscuits, but it adds that extra touch of care and preparation.
03. SWEDISH GLACE NON-DAIRY FROZEN DESSERT – SMOOTH VANILLA
This is one of the original dairy-free ice creams, having been around for years. I remember being given this when I was a child and having no idea I wasn’t eating dairy ice cream! This tub is significantly bigger than the others in this roundup, at 750ml you get an extra 50% on top of everyone else, and it is also the cheapest! At £2.50 as it’s regular price, if you are looking to grab a tub to share with a group of friends, this would be the one to choose. The Swedish Glace we know so well is the vanilla flavour, however, they also make a chocolate tub as well as some ice cream cones and lollies. The vanilla is beautifully soft, in fact, it is the softest ice cream of the bunch. We thought it would make the perfect candidate to embellish upon, adding boozy peaches and honeycomb, we jazzed up the classic to make a beautiful desert.
04. TESCO FREE FROM TOFFEE AND VANILLA CONES
We have tried a few different cone type ice creams, including the aforementioned Swedish Glace, yet none came close to Tesco’s own brand Toffee and Vanilla Cones. At £2.25, you get a box which contains 4 ice cream cones. At just under 60p a cone, these are far cheaper than any individual cone you would buy from a freezer chest. We both agreed these would be our go-to purchase if we were already out and about and wanting something sweet. The ice cream is perfectly soft and sweet, and the cone has a really nice crunch to it, then when you get to the bottom of the cone you find a chocolate toffee surprise!
05. TESCO RASPBERRY SORBET
And finally, the dessert that every vegan knows oh so well: the sorbet! Every restaurant stocks some kind of sorbet, and it’s usually the dessert that vegans end up eating on a meal out, so you’re probably completely fed up of Sorbet by now! However, we feel we had to include this particular sorbet because of how sweet and fruity it is. Sometimes an ice cream just doesn’t cut through the heat as a sorbet does, and for only £2.20, this tub is the cheapest in the roundup. Tesco makes this in mango and a lemon flavour too.
Have any of you tried any of these vegan ice cream alternatives? We’d love to know what you thought of it, leave us a comment below, or find us on social media.