For those adhering to a ketogenic diet, the longing for a sweet, frozen treat can be a significant challenge. Thankfully, the market has responded with a variety of keto-friendly ice cream options. Navigating this landscape to find the best choice can be overwhelming, but with careful consideration of ingredients, taste, and texture, it's possible to discover satisfying options that align with your dietary goals.
What Makes a Great Keto Ice Cream Bar?
The best keto ice cream bars should emulate the experience of traditional ice cream, providing a creamy, sweet, and rich flavor profile without the high carbohydrate content. Key considerations include:
- Taste: The ideal keto ice cream should not taste overtly "keto." It should effectively mimic the flavor of regular ice cream, masking any artificial sweeteners or unusual textures.
- Texture: Creaminess is key. The texture should be smooth, not icy or grainy.
- Ingredients: Look for ice cream made with real cream and avoid those with milk protein concentrate. Also, be mindful of the sweeteners used, especially if you are on the keto diet because of blood sugar spikes or you have an overall sugar imbalance.
- Macronutrient Profile: While enjoying a treat, it's important to stay within your keto macros.
Top Keto Ice Cream Bar Brands
Keto Pint Ice Cream Bars
These bars stand out with only 2 net carbs per bar and are gluten-free, soy-free, and keto-certified. Flavors include Sea Salt Caramel, Peanut Butter Cup, Strawberry, Mint, and Chocolate Chip. Keto Pint Ice Cream Bars are available at Costco, Whole Foods, Albertsons, Fred Meyer, Walmart, and other select chain stores.
- Sea Salt Caramel: The dark chocolate coating complements the sea salt caramel flavor.
- Some testers noted a slight aftertaste, while others found them indistinguishable from regular ice cream.
Halo Top Ice Cream Pops
Halo Top's Sea Salt Caramel ice cream pop has a smooth texture and a delightful salted caramel taste. This bar does not taste overly keto, which is a good thing.
Enlightened Ice Cream Bars
Enlightened excels at achieving a smooth and creamy texture in their keto ice cream bars.
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Rebel Ice Cream
When it comes to taste, Rebel Creamery has it all figured out. It’s not too sweet, but filling and creamy. Rebel specifically advertises being “high fat.”
A Closer Look at Specific Flavors and Brands
Here's a breakdown of specific flavors and brands, incorporating taste test results and ingredient analysis:
Enlightened Triple Chocolate Brownie
The ice cream cake-flavored pint is sweet without being saccharine and has a classic vanilla-chocolate swirl flavor combination. I really love the ingredients listed, too: butter, cream, egg yolks, dutched cocoa, vanilla, and chocolate liquor. Those just read like good ice cream ingredients.
Mammoth Creamery
Everything from taste and texture to ingredients is just perfect.
Rebel Mint Chip
This is a damn fine mint-flavored ice cream, in spite of it being keto. This ice cream comes fully studded with little chips of dark chocolate, so you get a nice bit of crunchy texture in addition to the somewhat smooth, protein-rich ice cream.
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Rebel Chocolate
Like a real-deal Fudgesicle, there’s something wonderful about this dark chocolate ice cream bar’s delicious sameness. It’s a single texture and flavor through and through; it’s cool, soft (for keto ice cream), chocolatey, and delicious.
Yasso Chocolate PB Crunch
The chocolate was quite bitter, but other than that the flavor was great. The macros on this one are similar to the Rebel Mint Chip, which we also enjoyed.
Killer Brownie
The flavor is pretty good, though. And although it tastes nothing like a brownie, it’s still chocolatey enough. Plus it kind of has a Fudgsicle aftertaste to it, and you know I’m absolutely mental for those.
Other Flavors and Brands to Consider
- Butter Pecan:
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough:
- Sea Salt Caramel:
- Mint Chip:
Keto Ice Cream: Pints vs. Bars
When it comes to keto ice cream, we discovered we’re bigger fans of what comes on a stick than what comes in a pint. In pop form, keto-fied ice cream holds together much better and achieves a creamier texture. Pints of keto ice cream tend to be so rough and hard that you have to dig for a bite with a John Deere excavator.
The Importance of Ingredients
Scrutinizing the ingredient list is crucial when selecting keto ice cream.
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Base Ingredients
Some keto ice cream brands use high fat cream as a base. Look for ice cream made with real cream and not milk protein concentrate. It will taste much better and will be higher in fat. There isn’t one company that uses skim milk only, but rather certain flavors they sell have skim milk in them. Remember that skim milk by itself isn’t keto friendly - one cup has about 12g of net carbs.
Sweeteners
If you’re on the keto diet because of blood sugar spikes or you have a an overall sugar imbalance, watch out for the sweeteners.
Other Considerations
- For those with lactose intolerance, there are keto ice cream brands that cater to this need.
- Be mindful that even keto-friendly options can contribute to weight gain if consumed in excess. Naturally, ice cream made with mostly cream will not be low calorie and if you eat too much of it, you may stall your weight loss goals.
Making Keto Ice Cream at Home
For those who enjoy a DIY approach, making keto ice cream at home is a viable option. Here are a few recipes to try:
- Keto Chocolate Ice Cream: This recipe uses only 5 ingredients and contains less than 5g net carbs per serving.
- Mason Jar Ice Cream: This method is quick and easy, yielding tasty ice cream with only 3g of net carbs per serving.
- Keto Ice Cream Bars: Perfect for summer parties, these bars can be made using popsicle molds and a few simple ingredients, resulting in a treat with 4g of net carbs per bar.
- Almond Milk Ice Cream: This dairy-free option uses unsweetened almond milk and coconut milk.
Specific Taste Test Results and Observations
Several taste tests have yielded valuable insights into the quality of various keto ice cream brands and flavors:
- Killer Creamery, Zero Sugar Salted Caramel: This ice cream was praised for its icy, creamy, and smooth texture, with a sweetness level that was just right. However, it didn't taste like its name and description.
- Killer Creamery, Zero Sugar Cold Brew Coffee: This flavor was overwhelmingly disliked, with testers describing a campfire taste and no coffee flavor.
- Rebel Black Forest Cake: This ice cream stood out for its huge chunks of cherries and chocolate.
- Enlightened Keto Collection Ice Cream Bars, Marshmallow Peanut Butter: Testers found these bars slimy at first, then chalky, and finally fluffy.
- Enlightened Keto Collection Ice Cream, Cookies & Cream: This flavor was a favorite, tasting just like regular Cookies and Cream.
- Halo Top Keto Series, Pistachio: This flavor was misleading, as it tasted like sweet custard and contained no pistachio.
- Rebel White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl: This flavor had a slightly floral/perfumy flavor from the raspberry swirl, with no detectable white chocolate flavor.
- Rebel Peanut Butter Fudge: The chocolate was quite bitter, but other than that the flavor was great.