The Best Supermarket Ice-Creams To Try
Hackney Gelato
Hackney Gelato is the brainchild of two chefs who met while working at Michelin-starred Locanda Locatelli in London. In 2015, the pair spent a summer touring Sicily, Calabria and Basilicata, learning to make ice-cream with master gelatieri. Hackney Gelato was originally sold at Brick Lane’s Sunday market, before making its way into some of the best restaurants in the country. Made by hand in small batches in east London, the team has won 22 Great Taste stars in the last three years and picked up fans like Nigella Lawson and Jay Rayner along the way. Now available on Ocado, some of its bestselling flavours include Pistachio, Almond & Lemon, Butterscotch and Peanut Butter & Chocolate.
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Halo Top
One of the best things about Halo Top? The calorie count: as well as being creamy and delicious, this ice-cream only comes in at 280-380 calories per tub and also offers plant-based options across its range. New for this summer, you’ll find the brand’s Blueberry Crumble tub, but of the choice of 23 flavours, we’re big fans of its Oat Milk Caramel Chocolate Pretzel Ice-Cream, Red Velvet and ever-popular Birthday Cake variety – an ideal way to celebrate someone’s big day on a hot day.
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Jude’s
Jude's is made by a family of ice-cream makers. Churning its ice-cream in small batches, the team uses single-estate Colombian cacao, Madagascan bourbon vanilla and milk from Matterley Farm, just down the road from its production site in Hampshire – just one of the reasons the team has 50 Great Taste Awards to date. As well as its chefs' range, the brand now makes lower-sugar treats for kids and, vegan and lower calorie flavours: our favourites include Flat White, Sticky Toffee Pudding and Gooey Chocolate Brownie. Jude's is also Britain's first carbon-negative ice-cream and dessert company.
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Grom
Italian gelato purveyors Grom launched a handful of parlours in London a couple of years ago. Specialising in naturally sourced, traditional gelato, the team only use carob flour as a thickener, ensuring that the gelato is as authentic as possible. Popular flavours include ‘Crema di Grom’ (pastry cream gelato with corn biscuits and chocolate chips) and ‘Gianduia’ (made with Venezuelan chocolate and hazelnut chips). Takeaway tubs have always been available to buy in store, but are now also available on Ocado and Waitrose. Come summer, we love to dig into its vibrant green pistachio favour.
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Remeo Gelato
Remeo Gelato was created in London by Italians Jacopo and Filippo in 2014 after they struggled to find non-sugary ice-cream in gelaterias or supermarkets across the capital. Free from artificial additives, each generously-sized tub contains just seven natural ingredients, and the brand has gone on to win big at the World Dairy Innovation Awards. Of the collection, we love its indulgent Stracciatella gelato, made with fiordilatte and a drizzle of 50% organic plain chocolate shavings.
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Roar
Roar is a plant-based, dairy-free ice-cream brand. Stocked on Ocado and at Sainsbury’s, the company currently has three flavours: Hazelnut Chocolate Cookie, which takes smooth hazelnut ice-cream made with hazelnut paste and loads it with chopped salted hazelnuts and chocolate cookies; Hemp Seed Chocolate Brownie, made with cocoa, hemp seeds and fudgy chocolate brownies; and Coconut, Passionfruit & Mango Oat Cookie. Best of all, Roar is partnered with Panthera and its 'Tigers Forever' program, which aims to increase tiger numbers by at least 50% over a ten-year period.
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Northern Bloc
Northern Bloc makes its ice-cream using fresh, natural ingredients and a chef's approach to flavour. The team’s World Championship-winning ice-cream master uses a blend of classic and pioneering techniques to create its natural products, which are all vegan. Made with responsibly sourced ingredients – and no palm oil, artificial colourings, flavourings or preservatives – the Vegan Society-approved tubs come in three flavours: Chocolate & Orange Blossom, Peanut Chip and the extremely more-ish Chocolate Mint Biscuit.
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Oppo Brothers
Oppo Brothers is another brand that comes with fewer calories than you might expect from a tub of ice-cream: its Caramel Cookie Melt – smooth sea-salted caramel ice-cream with thick milk chocolate swirls and shortbread biscuit pieces – comes in at 199 calories per half tub. Made with low sugar and extra protein, Oppo uses fresh milk from meadow-grazed cows, is vegetarian friendly and has won Great Taste awards for its products, which also include the popular Vanilla Praline Pecan Crunch.
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Yee Kwan
Yee Kwan is the woman behind this Yorkshire-based ice-cream and sorbet company, which focuses on Asian-inspired combinations. Using the flavours of her Chinese heritage, she uses milk and cream sourced from her local farm to create her delicious, authentic ice-creams. The flavours – which include Matcha Green Tea, Chocolate & Miso, Lychee and Black Sesame Seed – are blended by hand, have gone on to win Great Taste awards and are now served in over 500 pan-Asian restaurants across the UK and Europe.
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Frill
Frill bills itself as a healthier alternative to ice-cream, made from whole fruits, vegetables and natural ingredients. A ‘frozen smoothie’ rather than a traditional ice-cream, you can thaw the mixture to create a mousse or breakfast bowls, stir it into a smoothie to cool it down or use it to bake a raw cheesecake. Frill’s three favours – which include our favourite, Frozen Smoothie Nutty Caramel – contain half the sugar of regular ice-cream and ten times the amount of fibre.
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Oatly
Oatly might be best known for its excellent dairy-free milks, but did you know the Swedish brand also has four plant-based ice-creams to its name? Free from lactose, milk protein and soya, each tub is 100% vegan. Available in Hazelnut Swirl, Chocolate Fudge, Vanilla and Salted Caramel, we love the fact the hazelnut option comes with added texture in the form of crunchy nuts.
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Booja-Booja
Booja-Booja has been making organic, vegan confectionary for well over 20 years. Now, alongside its award-winning chocolate truffles, the brand sells delicious dairy-free ice-creams, which have won 42 awards since 2005. Of the eight flavours, we’re big fans of its Organic Hunky Punky Chocolate Ice-Cream, which contains no refined sugar. Trust us, there’s a reason it’s got five-star reviews across the board on Ocado.
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Speakeasy
Speakeasy makes its adult-only ice-creams in collaboration with award-winning drinks companies. Of the collection, we really rate the Ramos Gin ice-cream, which is made with an infusion of multi-award-winning Bathtub Gin from Ableforth's, giving the ice-cream flavours of orange peel, juniper, coriander, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Taking its inspiration from a Gin Fizz cocktail, the result is a rich texture with a light, citrussy taste – one that works really well when served with berries and fruit-based desserts.
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Banana Scoops
This retro-looking, plant-based ice-cream is made from bananas instead of dairy. Its signature base is made by blending the fruit with dates (which are used in place of sugar) to get that rich creaminess you expect from traditional ice-cream, without the added calories or fat. In fact, half a tub comes in at just 203 calories. Made mostly from fruit, these three tubs – which come in chocolate, vanilla and raspberry flavours – are some of the heathiest out there and taste delicious sprinkled with nuts or served as part of a banana split dessert.
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