Ice cream is a treat that everyone loves. For those who are sugar-conscious, healthy ice cream can be tough to find, but there are still some sugar-free or low-sugar alternatives out there!
When it comes to healthy ice cream options such as sugar-free or low-sugar, it might not sound like it would taste good. But just because something has less sugar than the next brand, doesn’t mean that it has to taste bad.
Sugar-free ice cream has become a semi-staple in my own family’s household. However, it can be pretty hard to find on the markets out there. There’s really not too much out there that will still satisfy the major sweet tooth that you may have or crave for.
In the coming slides, I’ll go over some of the best sugar-free and low-sugar varieties of ice cream (in absolutely no particular order) that are out there (including one that has since been discontinued, but I still would like to include it as an honorable mention here).
Sugar-free ice cream still tastes great! In fact, some of the brands that I will be talking about can go as far to say that when eating them, you don’t really miss the full sugar all that much.
Come dive in to some of the best (and some that are just ok to me) sugar-free and low-sugar ice creams that are out there.
1. Clemmy’s
This is the honorable mention here, so I figured that I should include it first on this list before diving into actual suggestions. Unfortunately, this brand has been completely discontinued or out of business in some areas, and I am unable to find any leftover pints anywhere (near me, of course)!
Like many other ice cream brands, they had all sorts of flavors, but I’ve gotta admit that the Chocolate Chip flavor was my personal favorite, followed by just the plain Vanilla and Chocolate flavors as well. This was also a personal favorite of my Dad’s who swears by this brand and wishes (like me) that it would come back to a store nearest to us.
Clemmy’s was one of those brands that, to me, tasted the most like regular ice cream and didn’t make me miss or even want regular ice cream.
If you find this at a store near you (which, for your sake, I hope that you do), pick up every possible flavor that you can and give it a try. Upon doing some research on this brand in particular, I found that it is being sold at some Walmarts through in-store purchases only.
Definitely, if you see this brand anywhere, give it a try and send some pints my way while you’re at it (please)!
2. Breyer’s Carb Smart
This brand has my personal favorite chocolate ice cream ever. Carb Smart is reduced sugar, so it’s not totally sugar-free, but still perfectly safe for those watching their levels of consumed sugars. Like Clemmy’s that you read about in the previous slide, Breyer’s Carb Smart tastes so much like regular ice cream that you could give it to a kid and they would never, ever know the difference in all honesty (at least I don’t think so personally).
Currently, there are eight different varieties of Breyer’s Carb Smart, but I’ve only seen the Chocolate and Vanilla flavors. Here are there other flavors that are advertised on their website:
- Carb Smart Peanut Butter
- Carb Smart Almond Bar
- Carb Smart Vanilla Bar
- Carb Smart Fudge Bar
- Carb Smart Mint Fudge Bar
- Carb Smart Caramel Swirl Bar
In the Vanilla flavor, there are 6 grams of fat and 4 grams of sugar. In the Chocolate flavor, there are 6 grams of fat and only 3 grams of sugar (not too bad).
Now, personally, my favorite way to eat either of the flavors above, is to squeeze on and top it off with some Smucker’s Sugar Free Caramel Sauce or Smucker’s Sugar Free Chocolate Sauce (although the Caramel is my favorite, together, they make a pretty yummy combo)!
3. Rebel
For me at least, this is a newly discovered brand that my Dad brought home a couple weeks ago. It had some flavors that I didn’t even know were even possible to make into sugar-free ice cream. Sure, they’re delicious and sugar-free, but this ice cream comes with a price. Since it’s also labeled as Keto-friendly ice cream, it’s low-carb, but high in fats (not necessarily the worst thing, but not the best either).
In comparison to the Breyer’s Carb Smart, which has 6 grams of fat per serving, Rebel has roughly 19 grams per serving, in their Peanut Butter Fudge flavor (so, in reality, perfect for a Keto diet, but if you’re not on a Keto diet, oh well). Currently, there are 14 flavors listed on their website, and they go as follows:
- Triple Chocolate
- Salted Caramel
- Cherry Chip
- Cookies & Cream
- Coconut Almond Swirl
- Black Raspberry
- Peanut Butter Fudge
- Mint Chip
- Butter Pecan
- Cookie Dough
- Coffee Chip
- Strawberry
- Chocolate
- Vanilla
I’ve personally tried three of the flavors on this list above: Cookie Dough, Peanut Butter Fudge, and Coffee Chip (my personal favorite out of them all that I’ve tried already). I’ve gotta say that this ice cream isn’t as smooth as the Breyer’s Carb Smart, for example, but it’s still delicious and tastes like the full-sugar flavors of their alternatives nonetheless!
4. No Sugar-Added Dilly Bars (DQ)
This can be found at any Dairy Queen (DQ) locations, and might be sold in stores, but don’t quote me on that. I am concluding with the Dilly Bars because they are, once again, one of my Dad’s personal favorites.
To me, this really tastes no different to a regular Dilly Bar with full sugars in it. If you’re unsure of what a Dilly Bar actually is, it’s basically a circle-shaped bar of Vanilla flavored ice cream dipped in a hard Chocolate shell (one of the most delicious-tasting things ever and such an amazing flavor combination that is so simple you wouldn’t think would be so delicious, yet it is.
While the regular Dilly Bars are available in Cherry, Chocolate, or Butterscotch flavors, the No Sugar-Added Dilly Bars only come in Chocolate Dipped with Vanilla ice cream, but that’s the best possible combination out there, so who cares?!
To me, this is one of the best lower-sugar products out there because it’s sold at ice cream places, and that means that even if you’re watching your sugars, that you can still enjoy a nice ice cream date with the family, and not have to feel like you’re missing out on anything!
Either there should be low or no sugar ice cream places opening up, or more typical popular ice cream places should take notes from DQ and start selling some of their fan-favorite products and flavors as sugar-free or no sugar-added (low-sugar)!
All in all, as you can see, there are still several brands out there that make it a bit easier for those watching their sugars to still enjoy ice cream, and even the toppings that go on them as well.
It’s not impossible to find such products, but you do need to make sure that you’re looking hard and reading all of the nutrition facts to make sure that the sugars really aren’t there, or that they really are being reduced as such products should advertise likewise.
If you can get your hands on any of these products as listed in all of the previous slides, please do. It’ll be such an amazing guilt-free way to indulge in some ice cream and be the perfect ending to a cheat day or a cheat meal alike as well.
Sugar-free or lower-sugar ice cream doesn’t have to taste bad or be that much different than regular full-sugar ice cream varieties. Another honorable mention here is Wink Desserts. The flavors are okay and the texture is a bit off, but it’s still worth mentioning here in case that’s more your speed or cup of tea. You can access their website and products right here.
Let us know down in the comments what your favorite flavor of ice cream is! Also, give some of these brands (or all of them) a try and let us know what you think, if you haven’t already!