Dairy Free Vegan Halo Top Review

I’ve been checking pretty diligently searching lately for the new vegan halo top and finally managed to track down a few dairy free halo top flavors at my local(ish) grocery store! I figured I might as well share my thoughts on it, since it’s not exactly cheap, and sometimes you don’t want to spend $6 on one pint of vegan keto ice cream that may or may not be palatable.

I haven’t tried every flavor, but will be sure to update as I go. I’m also working on some vegan keto recipes using the dairy free halo top, so look out for that!

Flavors: 5/5

Right now, there are 7 flavors, which is impressive for a low carb dairy free line of ice cream.

• Chocolate
• Salted Caramel
• Oatmeal Cookie
• Chocolate Covered Banana
• Cinnamon Roll
• Caramel Macchiato
• Peanut Butter Cup

Price: 4/5

Depending on sales and what store you shop at, this is between $4-$6. Not the most budget-friendly food out there, but pretty much on par with other low carb vegan ice creams, and other coconut-based ice creams in general. Since it’s not an everyday thing for me, I really don’t mind paying $5 a pint for the novelty of it all.

Ingredients: 4/5

I was pleasantly surprised here. Like their conventional ice cream, the dairy free variety is pretty clean. While there are sweeteners that I don’t advocate using every day, on the whole this is a pretty good list. I don’t love that there is a bit of real sugar in each of these (and even corn syrup in some), but for a treat every once in a while, it could be worse. I’m also assuming that the sugar aids in creating the smooth texture here, and helps to keep the coconut milk from crystallizing too much.

Because I found these a little too sweet, I’d be happier with less sugar, but beggers can’t be choosers.

For a general idea of ingredients, here’s the list for the chocolate flavor:

Coconut milk, organic cane sugar, erythritol, rice protein, high fat cocoa, prebiotic fiber, vegetable glycerin, pea protein, organic carob gum, organic guar gum, sea salt, sunflower lecithin,organic stevia.

Macros (per 1/2 cup serving): 4/5

• carbs: 6-8g net (depending on flavor, this is subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols from the total carbs)
• protein: 3g
• fat: 3.5 – 4.5g
• calories: 70-90

Pros:

The big one is that it’s vegan ice cream with under 10g of sugar per serving. In fact, a lot of the flavors have even less (full list with carb counts below). There are also around 12g of protein per pint, which is pretty impressive for the fact that it’s ice cream. When you consider the fact that you are likely to only consume one serving at a time (it’s definitely on the higher end of the carb scale), the 3g of protein per serving seems less important. Still, not too shabby, macro-wise.

There is a surprising amount of flavors for a sugar free, dairy free ice cream (it’s probably legally a “frozen dessert” or some such nonsense), and a lot are unexpected. While Chocolate isn’t exactly revolutionary, things like Chocolate Covered Banana and Caramel Macchiato are certainly not run-of-the-mill.

I’m also pretty excited that these flavors are almost all gluten free. The exception is cinnamon roll, which apparently has little bits of cinnamon bun dough in it. Many flavors are also nut free. Of course, they’re made in a facility that also processes nuts, but if you just have a nut intolerance or mild allergic reaction and can eat things that were once NEAR nuts, this is pretty exciting.

This is a ready-made, vegan keto ice cream that you can buy off the shelf and just eat as is. Honestly, that’s incredibly exciting to me, and I really feel it deserves another mention.

Cons:

So, in the interest of being totally honest here, I find some of these a little too sweet at first. My problem might have been that I started out with Salted Caramel, but wow…it definitely captures that sugary experience (and has about 7g net carbs per serving to show for it). It’s not overwhelmingly sweet, mind you, just a tad bit. But again, I like things on the more subtle side, so this is probably just something with my taste buds.

The texture is definitely interesting, too. Because of the plant proteins used, it is a bit gritty. Honestly, it’s not a problem at all for me, as I’m just so happy this exists. It’s worth mentioning though, as it could be a deal breaker for someone else.

The last critique I have is that there is the slight aftertaste of the rice protein. Honestly, this isn’t at all a problem for me at all, but it’s worth mentioning. I think most of us who are dairy-free are kind of used to things having a bit of an aftertaste, but for those who are expecting it to taste exactly like regular, coconut ice cream, this is something to keep in mind.

Overall Impression: 4/5

I’m so, so excited to have a dairy free, and vegan keto ice cream option that I really don’t mind the little things like a tiny bit of a texture difference, or a slight aftertaste. Right now, chocolate is winning as my favorite flavor (but I haven’t been able to get a my hands on the peanut butter…), which oatmeal cookie as a close second. I’ll be sure to update with changes as I try more, and my tastes change!

Would I buy this again? Yes, absolutely. It’s hard enough to find a vegan ice cream, let alone one that is low calorie and low in sugar. For me, it’s worth the 6ish grams of net carbs per serving, for sure.