The Vanilla Ice Cream That Uses The Best Ingredients Hands Down

Every excruciatingly long school or work day should end with a chilled bowl of luscious vanilla ice cream, don't you think? Yet finding a store-bought variety that's made with high-quality ingredients takes some effort. If you lack the motivation to kick your vanilla ice cream up a notch with olive oil and sea salt every night, choose a pre-made variety that's awesome on its own. In Food Republic's ranking of vanilla ice creams with the highest and lowest quality ingredients, Van Leeuwen's proves to be top-notch. 

According to the Van Leeuwen website, its ice cream is made with "only good ingredients you can pronounce," and its vanilla bean flavor is no exception. Made with only milk, cream, cane sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract, salt, and real vanilla bean, this simple dessert doesn't contain any artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, or stabilizers.

Unlike many vanilla ice creams that lack depth of flavor, Van Leeuwen's has a custard-like taste with notes of caramel and fresh dairy. The flavor comes from Tahitian vanilla beans, which imbue the frozen treat with a nuanced floral sweetness. There is also just enough salt for the perfect balance of flavor.

While you might be impressed to find that Van Leeuwen's Vanilla Bean Ice Cream contains real Tahitian vanilla, part of the Brooklyn-based company's mission is to source standout ingredients from all over the world, including hazelnuts and pistachios from Italy and coconut cream from Indonesia. Besides what goes into its vanilla ice cream, what doesn't go into it is equally important.

Many ice creams contain sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup and stabilizers like carrageenan, the latter of which gives frozen milk a more custard-like consistency without using extra eggs, the traditional source of richness in ice cream. However, too much carrageenan may cause the dessert to become overly thick and almost gummy. To avoid the use of stabilizers, Van Leeuwen's ice cream is made with extra egg yolks, which gives the brand's vanilla flavor an unbeatable texture and taste. The vanilla beans also go the distance, as products like Breyer's Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream are missing this key ingredient, and you can taste the difference.

Since the Van Leeuwen company uses all-natural ingredients, the price tag per pint is higher than many other brands. If you don't want to pay roughly seven dollars per pint, try another top-rated vanilla ice cream from Food Republic's list of recommended brands. For example, a pint of Tillamook's Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream is also made with quality ingredients, yet costs a few dollars less.