The best low calorie ice cream is fluffy and creamy—not icy and disappointing. If you wanted Italian ice, you’d buy Italian ice, am I right? A big ol’ bowl of ice cream should be decadent and satisfying, even if you’re keeping an eye on cals.
Low cal ice cream—which might also be labeled as lite or light ice cream—isn’t as popular as it used to be. Nowadays, everyone is focused on carbs and sugar, so you’re more likely to come across keto-friendly ice cream at the grocery store. But make sure to look at the label. While it may be low sugar, it can also be high in fat in calories.
We did our best to source low cal ice cream—i.e. ice cream with fewer than 200 calories per ⅔ cup serving—from a variety of stores in a variety of flavors. These are all very different and they’re all good, so instead of ranking them from better to best, I went ahead and ranked them from highest calorie content to lowest calorie content. Looking for low fat ice cream? Well, a lot of these are low fat, too. Dig in!
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- Sundae Shoppe Sea Salt Caramel Light Ice Cream (160 calories, 4 grams of fat)
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Our local Aldi only had a couple of low cal ice cream options in stock, but both were very, very good. This sea salt caramel ice cream could probably use a little more salt (just so it lives up to its name), but it’s tasty all the same. The ice cream base tastes nice and caramelly, and then there’s a caramel swirl to amp things up even more. It’s really decadent and really delicious. The base is creamy and a little fluffy; not at all icy. It’s higher in calories than all of our other faves, but it’s still light ice cream, so that’s a win! This Aldi ice cream was actually the best low calorie ice cream we tried in terms of overall flavor.
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Sundae Shoppe Peaches & Cream Light Ice Cream (140 calories, 3 grams of fat per serving)
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I am an absolute freak for peaches and cream ice cream (just watch me go off about Tillamook Peaches & Cream), but this low calorie ice cream is shockingly delicious. Yes, it contains various gums and syrups, but the flavor is pure peach. And I love the chunks of peach! Sometimes chunks of fruit can contribute an icy texture to a tub of ice cream, but this is very, very creamy. I would absolutely eat a whole container of this low cal ice cream. Nice one, Aldi. If you’re a fruit ice cream lover like me, this is the best low calorie ice cream to seek out.
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Market Pantry Light Vanilla Ice Cream (140 calories, 4 grams of fat per serving)
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Target has a few house brands, including its very aesthetically pleasing line of Favorite Day products. While Favorite Day is often a hit for us (their seasonal candy slaps), their line of Halo Top dupes were pretty disappointing (you’ll know them by the calorie count in big text on the label). This big ol’ quart of low calorie ice cream from Target’s less trendy Market Pantry brand was better than any of the trendier pints. Market Pantry doesn’t always make our lists, but this light vanilla ice cream rules. I am very used to eating light vanilla ice cream; my local grocery store carries one that I couldn’t find for this taste test—but it’s not this good. That stuff is icy. This stuff is creamy, probably because it contains corn syrup. But hey! It’s still low cal. The base is very, very decadent and the vanilla flavor is nice and rich. This is the best low calorie ice cream to serve at a birthday party—no one will know the difference.
Credit: Merc / Target
- Halo Top Peanut Butter Cup (110 calories, 3 grams of fat)
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We previously ranked all the best Halo Top flavors, and our faves made this list, too. Halo Top Peanut Butter Cup is fluffy and wonderful—it might even be better than I remember, to be honest. My favorite part? There’s a peanut butter swirl in this pint. It’s that frozen peanut butter effect that you get when you eat an Uncrustables that didn’t properly defrost. I love it. This is pretty excellent peanut butter ice cream, but it could use more chocolate in the mix. It’s mostly just peanut butter ice cream with a peanut butter swirl—but it’s very decadent and that makes it some of the best low calorie ice cream, period.
Read our ranking of the best Halo Top flavors
Credit: Merc / Target
- Halo Top Strawberry (90 calories, 1.5 grams of fat)
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This Halo Top flavor takes the number one spot on our list of the best low calorie ice cream by virtue of being SO low calorie. I mean, 90 calories a serving is basically nothing. It’s pretty wild! Strawberry Halo Top also ranked high in our Halo Top taste test, and, like Peanut Butter Cup, it was even better than I remembered it being. It’s creamy and fluffy, and even though it’s sweetened with sugar alcohol, it doesn’t have too, too much of that fake sugar flavor—it’s detectable but tolerable. This one is all about the texture—it’s so fluffy. It’s practically like soft serve. The strawberry flavor is classic, too.
Credit: Merc / Target
Best Overall Flavor
Best Fruit Flavor
Best Plain
Best Texture
Best Fruit Flavor (Runner-Up)
Other products we tried: Favorite Day Chocolate Peanut Butter, Favorite Day Chocolate Pecan Pie, Favorite Day Mocha Cold Brew, Nick’s Birthday Cake, Nick’s Peanut Chocolate Cup, Nick’s Strawberry, Halo Top Fudge Caramel Brownie
Have you tried Target’s Favorite Day light ice creams? Think generic Halo Top. I think they are better than Halo Top.