The best part of summer is the heat that serves as an excuse to eat ice cream every day. You can just go buy a carton of ice cream and eat it with a spoon, but sometimes it’s more fun to adventure to an ice cream parlor. Ice cream by definition is chock-full of dairy, so going out for ice cream as a vegan can be difficult. Thankfully, more and more ice cream shops are becoming vegan-friendly.
Here are 15 of the best, most versatile, vegan ice cream shops (or at least vegan-friendly) in the United States. These places are great because they have vegan options (no dairy or eggs) that give regular ice cream a run for its money.
1. KindKreme (Los Angeles/ Pasadena, CA)
All the ice cream here is handcrafted, vegan, and gluten-free. They offer hard and soft serve ice cream, shakes, and specialty treats such as Kombucha floats and waffle sundaes. If you’re ever nearby, make sure to check out this ice cream shop that prides itself on being “Kind to you. Kind to the planet.”
2. Scoops (Los Angeles, CA)
Scoops makes both vegan and dairy ice creams. They have multiple rotating vegan flavors like raspberry tiramisu, green tea, caramel Oreo, and chocolate. The ice cream is cheap, but bring money since this cute spot is cash-only.
3. Peddler's Creamery (Los Angeles, CA)
The coolest part about this shop is that all the ice cream is churned via bicycle. You can peddle to earn a free scoop. Their creative vegan flavors include salted caramel, cardamom, chile mango, candied ginger, banana chocolate chip, and more. Vegan flaxseed waffle cones and chocolate sauce are also made in-house. This seems like the sweetest ice cream store ever, no pun intended.
4. Fairfax Scoop (Fairfax, CA)
Fairfax Scoop is a quaint little scoop shop with plenty of homemade vegan options, from cookies n’ creme made with coconut milk to chai. Even their waffle cones are homemade and vegan! Single scoops are only $2.85, which is so worth it.
5. Yoga-urt (Glendale, CA)
Look no further for "healthier" vegan ice cream. Yoga-urt serves up all vegan and gluten-free soft serve and smoothies. The soft serve is handcrafted and nut-based. Flavors include peanut butter prana, salted caramel zen, and calming coconut chai. Toppings include gummy bears, waffle chips, granola, and brownies.
6. Kippy’s (Venice, CA)
Kippy’s is completely dairy-free, but they do use honey in some of their products. Their ice cream is raw, additive-free, and sweetened by fruit instead of refined sugar. All toppings are made in-house too, from coconut cream to the chocolate magic shell. Delicious flavors include cinnamon date, double dark chocolate, and kosmic matcha.
7. Full Tilt Ice Cream (Seattle, WA)
Full Tilt is known for its all natural ice cream with creative flavors and local ingredients. They have many vegan and non-vegan options, from ice cream scoops to bars to cakes. They have four locations in Seattle, as well as an ice cream truck for catering.
8. Sweet Action (Denver, CO)
Inventive flavors, organic ingredients, and hip events like a Beer Ice Cream Fest each fall make this scoop shop a must-visit. You can get vegan versions of scoops, cones, cartons, and ice cream sandwiches. Vegan flavors rotate from snickerdoodle to strawberry rhubarb to cinnamon roll. You need to go try a donut ice cream stack like the one above.
9. Karma Cream (Gainesville, FL)
Vegan ice cream, coffee, and baked goods...need I say more? You have to check out this place if you're in the Gainesville area, as they serve 12 vegan flavors from Luna and Larry’s Coconut Bliss. They also have vegan grilled cheese and "bacon" sandwiches if you need more sustenance than ice cream.
10. Sweet Ritual (Austin, TX)
If you’re looking for “unicorn poop” ice cream, you’ve come to the right place. Everything on the menu is vegan and made from scratch: unicorn poop ice cream (a Skittles and sprinkles-infused treat), waffle cones, salted caramel sauce, and brownies included. They have scoops, shakes, and banana splits. Go here if you're looking for creative treats like conenuts (pictured above).
11. Love's Ice Cream (Grand Rapids, MI)
Located in my hometown, Love's creates dairy and vegan ice cream flavors daily using local ingredients. They always have four vegan options, from inventive flavors like apple cider sorbet to usuals like chocolate ice cream. There's also always a vegan "mitten pop" on the menu—an ice cream bar in the shape of the Michigan mitten covered in chocolate.
12. Milk & Honey (Traverse City, MI)
Don't be thrown off by the very non-vegan name—Milk & Honey has plenty of organic vegan options made in-house. They'll mix whatever flavors and toppings you want together in front of you for a customizable treat. Vegan options include chocolate, vanilla, matcha, and more. They also have food and drinks if you want real food along with your ice cream.
13. Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream (Madison, WI)
Although Wisconsin is dairy central, this ice cream company makes mean soy-based scoops and Italian ice. Vegan flavors include black cherry, butter pecan, chocolate, espresso Oreo, Oreo, raspberry, and chocolate chip. They have several locations throughout Madison that are open every day, so there's no reason not to get your fix.
14. Scoops & Plates Eatery (Brooklyn, NY)
Everything in this hole-in-the-wall scoop shop is vegan, from the ice cream scoops to the meal plates. They serve multiple flavors of Tofutti vegan ice cream, such as chocolate and cookies 'n creme. This is the perfect stop after a long day spent walking the streets of NYC.
15. Van Leuween (New York, NY/ Los Angeles, CA)
This shop started in New York and has expanded to 10 locations with 10 different vegan flavors like mint chip, chocolate chip cookie dough, matcha, and honeycomb. The rich cream is made in Brooklyn from scratch with few ingredients, including house-made cashew milk. You can always buy their cookbook if you can’t make it to NY or LA.
Take a break from the summer sun and cool down by taking a trip to one of these vegan ice cream shops across the nation.