Confession: We eat ice cream pretty much everyday. You just gotta have something fun to reward yourself for making it through the day, right?! Well, we have no problems with that. 
We love vanilla ice cream because the possibilities are endless. So it is about stinking time we put them to the test. We went with two brands that have all natural options and are pretty widely available. Here we go….
Breyers All Natural Vanilla
Cost: $3.99 for 1.5 quart container at Target (33 cents per serving)
Nutrition: Serving size 1/2 cup: Calories 130, Total Fat 7g, Sugars 14g
Taste: Not as sweet, tastes real, natural Texture: A tiny bit slushy, scoops don’t hold together as well
Blue Bunny All Natural Vanilla
Cost: $4.09 for 1.75 quart container at Target (29 cents per serving)
Nutrition: Serving size 1/2 cup: Calories 160, Total Fat 9g, Sugars 16g
Taste: sweeter, more intense vanilla flavor Texture: Creamy and smooth, perfect scoops
Cost Breakdown: When you break it down by serving Blue Bunny is the clear winner. A bonus is that you also get 2 more scoops per container. We’ll take ‘em!
Cost Winner: Blue Bunny
Nutrition Breakdown: It looks like we have another clear winner here. Breyers has less calories, fat and sugars than Blue Bunny per serving. The ingredients on both products are pretty much the same except that Blue Bunny has egg yolks and Breyers does not. This could be part of the reason for the higher amount of calories and fat in Blue Bunny’s ice cream.
Nutrition Winner: Breyers
Taste/Texture Breakdown: This is where it get a little…unclear. We’ve eaten both of these brands plenty of times but decided to do a blind taste test. Here’s how that went down: Dave choose Blue Bunny. Sarah chose Breyers. The conclusion that we came to was that if you want an ice cream cone, you gotta go Blue Bunny all the way. It scoops perfectly! (We’re guessing this is because of the egg yolk binding the ingredients together and making it oh so creamy.) But for anything else we could really go either way.
Taste/Texture Winner: Blue Bunny (by a hair)
Overall Winner: Blue Bunny
Friends, we really must say that these are two quality products. We will continue to buy both, depending on what is on sale. Unless of course we are having ice cream cones when we’ll reach for the Blue Bunny. That’s what really gives them the edge in this competition. Also, we love the fact that it’s made close to home!
What’s your favorite brand of vanilla ice cream? Are you a cone or cup fan?
Well I do have to say that my Dad makes a mean homemade vanilla ice cream and we even sold it for a year at the farmer’s market in Valley Junction and it was a HUGE hit. I also received the Cuisinart soft-serve ice cream maker for Christmas and it is A. Maze. Ing. You can make ANY flavor you want and it is done in 30 minutes or less. It also has spouts for adding in “crunchies”, as I call them. SO far we have made almond-cinnamon, vanilla bean, and mint chocolate chunk. TOTALLY worth the investment if you love ice cream and fresh ingredients.
Schwan’s makes the BEST ice cream! I love their Vanilla Bean for my go to vanilla ice cream.
I am surprised you did not mention “Tara Gum” in Breyer’s Natual Vanilla, that is not in Blue Bunny All Natural. Tara Gum is a natural (thought to be safe but not digestible) thickener from the tara tree. It prevents ice crystals from forming in shipment…but also (in my opinion) adds an unpleasant viscous gummy quality….it’s like it never fully melts in your mouth.
Blue Bunny uses gums too…but not in their natural vanilla, which melts liquifies fully as you eat it. That is a major part of enjoying ice cream for me. Blue Bunny Natural Vanilla and Haagen Daz are the only ice creams in my supermarket without gums.
Wow, George. Thanks for the insight. Now that you mention it, it does feel like the Breyer’s never really melts. The Blue Bunny does have a much better texture. Thanks again!