Ahh, ice cream, the sweet, creamy, and delicious, milk-based dessert that’s such a summer staple.
Is there a worse way to cut your sunny day short than with an upset stomach?
But fear not those who elect to consume an animal product-free diet, and those felled by the devil that is dairy; there are ice cream options all over this city for those who wish to indulge in the sweet cold dessert during those hot summer months.
Van Leeuwen (152 West 10th St)
Van Leeuwen’s vegan ice cream is made from house-made cashew milk, coconut milk, coconut oil, cane sugar, cocoa butter, and organic carob bean—all natural ingredients—and those scoops come in a huge variety of delicious flavors that include cookies & cream, caramel swirl, salted caramel, mint chip, and peanut butter chocolate chip, among others.
Honestly, you’re not going to notice the difference between the vegan scoops and the dairy ones.
Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit Co (25 East 17th Street)
Hey, just because all these ice creams are vegan, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a healthy option.
If you’re looking to save on animal by-products and the calories, then Chloe’s Soft Serve is your one-stop shop for super healthy vegan ice cream. The ingredients are as follows: fruit, water, and a little bit of cane sugar.
Here you can get soft serve sundaes, like their Mango Madness—a swirl of mango soft serve piled high with blueberries, strawberries, coconut flakes, almonds, and a dark chocolate sauce.
Scoops & Plates Eatery (624 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn)
Scoops & Plates, or Scoops Ice Cream Parlor (this place seems to go by two names) will transport you back to an old-school Caribbean spot the moment you step inside.
You’ll be wanting to ask your sweetheart to the ice cream social, but here’s the gag: this ice cream social is a vegan one. Every ice cream on the menu here is made with soy, meaning it’s completely dairy free.
Blossom Ice Cream (196 Court Street, Brooklyn)
Who knew you could combine veganism with the oh-so-instagrammable, Thai ice cream rolls? At Blossom Ice Cream, you can. In addition to their dairy-laden flavors, there are a plethora of vegan options for those leaning away from lactose, such as rose, key lime pie, and piña colada.
Here’s the best part - you can have as many toppings as you like… for free! This isn’t a froyo place just waiting to charge you out the ass for too many chopped nuts and gummy bears.
This is a free-for-all!
Snowdays (241 East 10th St)
Thai shaved ice cream is probably going to sweep the ‘gram as the next most insta-worthy ice cream. It’s like a shaved-ice-meets-ice-cream type of situation. But that doesn’t mean vegans have to miss out on the trend.
At Snowdays, lactose-intolerant folk can get in on the action, as these guys offer at least two vegan flavors (currently those are strawberry and coconut) and then you can load up on as many toppings as you like!
Ice Cream House (2 Church Avenue)
With three locations spread out across Brooklyn, Ice Cream House has been serving sweet treats to those who have omitted dairy from their diet, and those that are kosher.
At Ice Cream House, any item on the menu can be made dairy free, and those menu items include soft serve ice creams, hard ice creams, huge ice cream cakes, intricately designed petit fours, and even ice cream hats.
What’s an ice cream hat? I don’t know, but I’m certainly tempted to order a dairy-free version.
By CHLOE. (185 Bleeker St)
By CHLOE. is renowned for having queues lining down the block, chock-full of people dying to get a taste of the oft-talked about vegan fare on offer here. What you may not know is that by CHLOE. has a great selection of vegan ice cream options too.
Here you can buy 4 oz pints that come in flavors like kale cookies (not nearly as gross as it sounds, in fact it’s delicious), salted peanut butter, chocolate chocolate, and s’mores.
You can also get your hands on some tasty push pops, specifically birthday cake or horchata ones.
Enjoy sweet, creamy soft serve and cool, cool shaved ice, and those imminently-grammable rolled up ice cream situations. A vegan diet or an aversion to lactose won’t keep you ice cream free any longer.
If you’re the kind that wants to start off savory and then finish off with something sweet, why not chow down on some vegan tacos before rounding out your meal with some vegan ice cream?