I did one of those Kroger curbside grocery pickups where they deliver your grocery to your car after placing an online order. I requested Breyers Extra Creamy Vanilla but ended up with Lactose Free Vanilla as a substitute because Extra Creamy was out of stock. I had the option to reject the sub but I figured it’d be a good one to review given the rise of lactose-free diets.
In full disclosure, I had never tried this ice cream before this review and wasn’t expect the best. If you’ve ever tried lactose-free milk, you’ll notice a distinct flavor compared to regular milk, and for many, it simply doesn’t measure up in taste.
That is because the manufacturer adds a lactase enzyme to the milk to break down the lactose (a natural sugar) into two simple sugars. This alters the taste of milk to generally be sweeter while simultaneously making it more easily digestible.
But when you actually think about it, isn’t a sweeter milk actual good for producing ice cream? Well, let’s get into the review where I’ll let you know how Breyers version of lactose-free ice cream tastes.
The Review
Firstly, let me talk about the texture of this ice cream. It’s super soft straight out of the carton and melts relatively quickly. It’s probably not the best ice cream to serve on hot days or for scooping into multiple cones. However, if a crew of lactose intolerant people are eating it, this dessert will certainly work, but potentially with some frustrations.
You can see some major packaging issues with this ice cream in the image below. There was a moat between the interior carton edges and the actual ice cream. I suspect this from being a soft and light style of ice cream which has difficulty properly filling or maintaining its shape within the carton.
Whatever the reason, its unpleasant from a optics perspective. Furthermore, it gives you the idea that you are getting ripped off because of a the empty space. I’m going to assume the full quantity of ice cream was in the carton as advertised but I didn’t measure it for verification.
The actual taste of this ice cream is surprisingly pretty good despite the lactose being removed from it. It seems a bit sweeter than your average vanilla ice cream. However, it doesn’t taste overly sweetened to the point where it ruins the taste.
A look at the ingredients shows this ice cream contains skim milk as the most predominant ingredient and the front of the carton calls it a “light. ice cream”. In other words, I was highly expecting the worst before eating this ice cream.
In reality, this ice cream has a nice level of creaminess to it and works nicely with the sweet flavor already discussed. The vanilla flavor is mild to medium in strength. I think most people will be pleased with how its flavored with vanilla.
The critique I have of this ice cream is that there is a sort of Cool Whip like flavor to it along with a slight watery taste. This is what signaled to me that this was what I will call a non-premium tasting vanilla ice cream. It doesn’t taste “diet-like” just a bit on the cheaper side of flavor.
The Rating
I give Breyers Lactose Free Vanilla ice cream 6.1 out of 10 stars. It actually beat my expectations in regard to taste.
I think you should try this ice cream if you’re are lactose intolerant. There aren’t a ton of real dairy lactose-free ice creams out there and this one decent for around $3.50 or under per carton if you can get it for that price. I wouldn’t pay more than that.
However, I have had many better tasting vanilla ice creams over decades of enjoy ice cream. This one just doesn’t hold up against many others. If your not lactose intolerant or sensitive to dairy, do yourself a favor and buy a better tasting vanilla ice cream.
Comment below if you have thoughts on this ice cream!
