"I Can't Tell That It's Not Dairy": A Dairy Lover And Non-Dairy Lover Ranked 8 Popular Plant-Based Ice Creams, And You Might Be Surprised By The Winner

If you blindfolded and fed me one of them, I actually don't think I could tell it was plant-based...

We're at the peak of summer — the sun is scorching, my skin is sticky every time I go outside, and the primal need to get a silly little cold sweet treat after every meal is amplified by 10.

NBC / Via giphy.com

I love, love, love ice cream, but unfortunately, lactose intolerance is real, and unfortunately, I have it. Does that stop me? No. Should it at least make me consider what I'm putting my body through whenever I put a tub of ice cream in my shopping cart? Yeah, I guess.

That said, I've never really felt the need to try non-dairy ice cream because, not gonna lie, I've always been a little hesitant. (The hesitance is thanks to the non-dairy yogurt I tried one time, which was swiftly thrown into the trash.) However, in the interest of providing relief to my digestive system this summer season, I tried eight popular non-dairy ice creams to see which ones tasted the best.

Dannica Ramirez / BuzzFeed

As if it couldn't get more exciting, I decided to get ice creams made with different bases not only to showcase the awesome variety of plant-based options but also because I know some people have allergies (I got you, babes). For consistency's sake, I only got vanilla. 

Here are the non-dairy substitutes I was working with: 

– Oat milk (Planet Oat)

– Almond milk (Favorite Day)

– Coconut milk (Cosmic Bliss, So Delicious, and NadaMoo!)

– Fava beans (Arctic Zero)

– Olive oil (Wildgood)

– Avocado oil (Cado)

Even better, so that you guys know I'm not fibbing, I enlisted the help of my friend, Bailey, who's a bonafide lactose-tolerant, dairy-loving gal:

Dannica Ramirez / BuzzFeed

After we foraged through four different grocery stores looking for these ice creams, we made a very professional rubric for scoring. 

Here's what we judged by: 

– Texture

– Flavor

– How does it make you feel? (We summarized using emojis.)

– Could it pass as dairy ice cream? 

– Packaging (Since we do eat with our eyes first — is the packaging cute? Does it look like you want to eat half the tub at 10 p.m. on a Wednesday night?)

We then took the average of our scores to get an overall score, which is what finalized the ranking.

Without further ado, here's our ranking of these eight non-dairy ice creams from worst (meh) to best (talented, brilliant, amazing, show-stopping, spectacular, etc.)!

8. COSMIC BLISS — This ice cream uses coconut milk as its base, and you wouldn't need to read the label to know it.

Dannica Ramirez / BuzzFeed

Bailey: That protective seal did its job a little too well — I almost feel bad for saying I was turned off that it didn't open up all the way. This ice cream is literally like eating a coconut that was grown inside a Bath & Body Works. It's overwhelming, and I feel overstimulated because of it. I love the texture of it, but the flavor isn't sitting well with me.

– Texture: 4/5

– Flavor: 0/5

– How it made me feel: 😵‍💫😵‍💫

– Packaging: 1/5

Dannica: Why did it feel like this ice cream just slapped me in the face?? The coconut flavor is so prominent, I forgot it was supposed to be vanilla bean-flavored. I think this would be a good alternative for people who really, really, really love coconut-flavored things. Also, the texture is kind of giving sour cream...but I love sour cream, so it's not an issue for me. I personally hate ripping a seal off only to find that you only ripped off one layer, so based off me having to punch a hole through the top with my finger, the packaging gets a thumbs down.

– Texture: 4/5

– Flavor: 0/5

– How it made me feel: 🤕🤕

– Packaging: 0/5

OVERALL SCORE: 1.5/5 ⭐️

Cosmic Bliss couldn't pass as dairy ice cream.

7. WILDGOOD — This olive oil-based ice cream was highly anticipated in our lineup solely because it was something neither Bailey nor I have tried before. Not only is it made with olive oil, but the ingredients also include chicory root fiber and pea protein!

Dannica Ramirez / BuzzFeed

Bailey: In terms of packaging, this is not very cute. I like the color scheme, but right when you open the lid, it's so...soupy. But I think I like the flavor!? It's not very sweet, but it's really light — almost refreshing. I think this ice cream is something people will either really love or really hate. 

– Texture: 2/5

– Flavor: 3.5/5

– How it made me feel: 🤔🤔

– Packaging: 1/5

Dannica: This tastes like the stick of a popsicle that you get from the ice cream truck. You know when you're at the last bit of a popsicle at the bottom, and you gnaw at the stick in an attempt to, like, savor the flavor? That's what this ice cream tastes like — the flavor is almost there, but it's not *there*. After having a second spoonful, I've actually decided that I don't like it that much, and I'm sad that I don't.

– Texture: 2/5

– Flavor: 1.5/5

– How it made me feel: 😷😷

– Packaging: 1.5/5

OVERALL SCORE: 1.9/5 ⭐️

Wildgood couldn't pass as dairy ice cream.

6. PLANET OAT — How low this one ranked might've shocked you, because it very well left me crestfallen. Everyone, welcome to the stage, Planet Oat, which uses oat milk.

Dannica Ramirez / BuzzFeed

Bailey: Hmph, I don't really like this. You can't really taste the vanilla, and it's not very creamy, either. I think I only like oat milk when I get Fraps from Starbucks. It would be so awesome if this brand was space-themed, because the name is so cool. Also, why is the texture so hard? Maybe it just needs to thaw out a little more?

– Texture: 1/5

– Flavor: 2/5

– How it made me feel: 🥴🥴

– Packaging: 1/5 

Dannica: I thought I would be biased because I love oat milk (especially this brand's oat milk), but this ice cream isn't really giving the delicious and creamy vibes I thought it would. You can barely taste the vanilla, and the texture is almost...chalky? It's not horrible, but I expected better considering oat milk is pretty creamy. Also, I would be so obsessed if the packaging was more galactic to match the name. Ugh, I was really rooting for this one, I fear.

– Texture: 3/5 

– Flavor: 2/5

– How it made me feel: 🫥🫥

– Packaging: 2/5

OVERALL SCORE: 2/5 ⭐️

Planet Oat couldn't pass as dairy ice cream.

5. ARCTIC ZERO — Bailey and I were a little nervous because an ice cream made out of beans is not something that sounds immediately appetizing. However, we opened up this tub of Arctic Zero, which is fava bean-based, with open minds and stomachs. Notably, this frozen treat has zero grams of fat and two grams of protein!

Dannica Ramirez / BuzzFeed

Bailey: The way this ice cream is so compressed is so sexy to me, so I definitely love the packaging and how it includes instructions on the seal. Also, I know it's ice cream, but it's so...icy? It's, like, two degrees from being a snow cone. That said, I don't like the texture, but I like how it tastes!! It's not super sweet — the flavor is subtle but satisfying. 

– Texture: 2/5

– Flavor: 4/5

– How it made me feel: 😝😝

– Packaging: 4/5

Dannica: You know what? I appreciate a brand that lives up to its name. This tub has been sitting outside for the past 10 minutes in 90-degree weather, and it's still nice and frozen. If I'm being real, the flavor isn't my favorite. It's not super sweet, and it doesn't taste bad, but it's just not my cup of tea. The texture is more like a popsicle?? It's a tub of popsicles. 

– Texture: 2/5

– Flavor: 2.5/5

– How it made me feel: 🤐🤐

– Packaging: 4/5

OVERALL SCORE: 3/5 ⭐️

Arctic Zero might be able to pass as dairy ice cream.

4. SO DELICIOUS — We ended up getting three coconut milk-based ice creams because some brands we wanted to try didn't have vanilla available (cruel and sad). I didn't think coconut milk-based ice creams would differ too much in taste, but thankfully, I was WRONG!

Dannica Ramirez / BuzzFeed

Bailey: Ooh, I like this one, but mostly because of the texture. This is something I'd choose to eat if I were on a tropical vacation, lying in a hammock. This is more like a coconut ice cream than a vanilla ice cream. The coconut is way, way strong, but I kinda don't mind! And look how fluffy it is!

– Texture: 4/5

– Flavor: 3/5 

– How it made me feel: 😙😙

– Packaging: 4/5 

Dannica: This is wayy too coconut-y. I'm not the biggest coconut fan so I might just automatically be a hater, but this is too much! The vanilla is nowhere to be found — the coconut milk evicted her!! I will agree, though, that I would eat this if I was vacationing on an island. This is an ice cream you eat if you want to feel like you're sunbathing by the beach. Also, I love how confident they were when naming this brand.

– Texture: 3/5

– Flavor: 2.5/5

– How it made me feel: 🤔🤔

– Packaging: 3.5/5

OVERALL SCORE: 3.3/5 ⭐️

So Delicious might be able to pass as dairy ice cream.

3. Favorite Day — Target brands have yet to disappoint me, and this Favorite Day ice cream, which is almond milk-based, made no exception.

Dannica Ramirez / BuzzFeed

Bailey: The packaging doesn't stick out to me, but it's the inside that counts. I'm actually so surprised, because even though it's made with almond milk, the vanilla bean is really prominent and noticeable. It's so creamy, and — you know what it tastes like? Cake made with almond extract. It's good because I can't tell that it's not dairy.

– Texture: 4.5/5

– Flavor: 4.5/5

– How it made me feel: 🤩🤩

– Packaging: 1/5

Dannica: OMG? Almond milk isn't my first non-dairy choice, but this is actually delicious. It's so creamy and fluffy. And, yeah, you can actually taste the vanilla in it. This is something I'd grab if I had a long day and just wanted to rot in bed for the remainder of the night. There's a slightly weird aftertaste, like a strong almond flavor is tickling your tongue at the end, but I think I only notice because I'm supposed to be paying extra attention to the flavor. I love this one!!

– Texture: 5/5

– Flavor:  4/5

– How it made me feel: 🤭🤭

– Packaging: 3/5

OVERALL SCORE: 3.7/5 ⭐️

Favorite Day could totally pass as dairy ice cream.

2. NADAMOO! — The last ice cream of our coconut milk trio is NadaMoo! We did not have high expectations for this one, but alas, this is yet another example that you can't judge a book by its cover.

Dannica Ramirez / BuzzFeed

Bailey: I was scared to try it because we already had a vanilla ice cream flavor fake-out made out of coconut milk, but you know what? This is pretty good. I love how the tub looks, and the texture is legit like real ice cream. I wouldn't be able to tell at all that this was made with coconut milk, but I do wish I could have a tad more of the vanilla. I love being pleasantly surprised.

– Texture: 5/5

– Flavor: 4.5/5

– How it made me feel: 🥹🥹

– Packaging: 4/5

Dannica: Not gonna lie, I thought we were going to peak with Favorite Day, but color me wrong. This ice cream is — as the cool kids say – scrumdiddlyumptious. I mean, look at that perfect scoop. The creaminess is there, the vanilla is front and center, and the brand name is also just so cute. I mean, come on — NadaMoo!?! Adorable.

– Texture: 5/5

– Flavor: 5/5

– How it made me feel: 😨😨

– Packaging: 4.5/5

OVERALL SCORE: 4.6/5 ⭐️

NadaMoo! could definitely pass as dairy ice cream.

And finally, the ultimate supreme:

1. Cado — If you're surprised, so were we! Cado uses avocado oil as its base, and it also uses organic cassava root syrup.

Dannica Ramirez / BuzzFeed

Bailey: The packaging is cute, and I love the name! I was a little nervous for this one, but I'm actually so surprised because it's sooo good! The texture is amazing, it has the perfect amount of sweetness, and honestly? It tastes similar to the sweet cream ice cream we have here. I'm actually shook. 

– Texture: 5/5

– Flavor: 5/5

– How it made me feel: 🫨🫨

– Packaging: 4/5

Dannica: I love this one!! It's so creamy, rich, and velvety, and the vanilla flavor tastes amazing. I could probably eat half the tub in one sitting if I wanted to. And since it's made with avocado oil, I don't think I'd feel guilty about it afterward? If you blindfolded me and fed me this, I actually don't think I could tell it was plant-based. Big slay. 

– Texture: 5/5

– Flavor: 5/5

– How it made me feel: 🥰🥰

– Packaging: 4/5

OVERALL SCORE: 4.7/5 ⭐️

Cado would absolutely, certainly pass as dairy ice cream.

It was an extremely close race between NadaMoo! and Cado, but unfortunately, only one plant-based dessert can reign, and that's Cado!

Dannica Ramirez / BuzzFeed

Cado's otherworldly creaminess paired with the rich vanilla flavor was nothing short of fascinating. Like, I actually cannot wait to eat more of it. Of course, everyone is going to have different preferences, so don't let us stop you from trying out all these awesome plant-based options! We are not the non-dairy deputies. 

Do you have a favorite plant-based ice cream that we didn't try? Do you have the same opinions about these non-dairy desserts as we do? Let me know in the comments!