We Tried 36 Ice Creams to Pick the Best Healthy Options. You're Welcome.
No, the best ice cream is . . . ice cream.
The kind with cows milk and cane sugar. And as long as youre picking a pint that contains fewer than 200 calories and fewer than or around 20 grams of total sugar per 1/2 cup, youre fine, says Valerie Goldstein, R.D., founder of Eating to Fuel Health .
We taste-tested 36 varieties that hit those nutritional standards and stopped just short of screaming for these winners.
Best Vanilla: Talenti Madagascan Vanilla Bean Gelato
Too many varieties we tested suffered from an overriding sweetness that overwhelmed the vanilla. But this one? Whoooooooaaa baby. Vanilla! Vanilla! Vanilla! wrote one enthusiastic taster. You dont even need toppings.
Per 1/2 cup: 196 calories, 3g protein, 10g fat, 26g carbs (22g sugar)
Find it at: Target, the Fresh Market, Walmart, Instacart
Best Chocolate: Breyers Chocolate Truffle
The ice cream nerds at Breyers figured out how to put a billion chunks of dark-chocolate truffles into dark-chocolate ice cream and still keep the calories in check. Crazy chocolate, one taster said. Like, get this ice cream to a sanatorium.
Per 1/2 cup: 170 calories, 3g protein, 9g fat, 21g carbs (17g sugar)
Find it: Anywhere
Best Coffee: Three Twins Organic Maxine's Coffee
One black-coffee-loving taster said it was weak coffee, but another compared it to a well-poured latte left in the freezer accidentally. Hey, you could always top it with a few chocolate-covered espresso beans.
Per 1/2 cup: 160 calories, 2g protein, 9g fat, 16g carbs (15g sugar)
Find it at: Whole Foods, natural-food stores
Best Fruit: Dolcezza Roasted Strawberry Gelato
Per 1/2 up: 140 calories, 3g protein, 6g fat, 20g carbs (19g sugar)
Find it at: Whole Foods, Instacart
Best Wild Card: Tillamook Cookies & Cream
Cookie punch! Cream kick! one taster, who may or may not have been the Vanilla! person, wrote. Tillamooks version isnt too sweet, like many of the C&C varieties tested. It balances things out with vanilla bean and distributes the cookie crumbles evenly throughout.
Per 1/2 cup: 170 calories, 3g protein, 9g fat, 18g carbs (17g sugar)
Find It At: Stop & Shop, Walmart
Bonus!
Ice cream too frozen to scoop? Put away the hacksaw and run your ice cream scoop under hot water for ten seconds. Then scoop from the edges of the container, where, due to the packaging, the ice cream wont be as hard.