Better than coconut milk-based ice cream? My former cheese- and cream-loving husband thinks so. 

It doesn’t happen too often these days, but we were craving ice cream, dairy-free of course. My husband and I walked to the store and the only dairy-free / vegan options available were a $6 per pint coconut milk-based ice cream and pints of Tofutti on sale for $2.50. As virtuous as we like to be, this was not a price discrepancy we could swallow, so for the first time ever, Tofutti went into our shopping basket.

Truthfully, our cheapness was getting the best of us as neither of us expected to like that pint of simple vanilla soy ice cream. My husband generally dislikes tofu, and my taste buds usually favor wholesome treats … something which Tofutti alas is not. Not to mention, for the past two years we have eaten mostly soy-free.

Unfortunately … it was love at first taste … for both of us. After reading the ingredients, we really wanted to hate it. It is far from a health food, and not exactly on Michael Pollan’s A-list for sustainability (see ingredients below). But alas, we couldn’t get enough of it. An addiction was born. In fact, this was the first brand of dairy-free ice cream (coconut milk and rice milk versions included) that my husband has truly enjoyed and wanted a repeat of.

In the next two weeks (for as long as those pints were on sale) we returned to our local market three more times to get another vanilla pint. And another. And another. 

The vanilla Tofutti frozen dessert is amazingly creamy, perfectly sweet, and somehow just hits that “mmm” spot. In a way, it does taste like sweet frozen tofu, but in a very good way (especially for tofu haters like my husband) it does not. Though I wouldn’t call it an identical swap for ice cream by any means, it has its own charms and still fulfills those cool and creamy cravings. It was delicious atop apple crisp, with brownies, and simply drizzled with homemade chocolate magical shell. Yes, we each have a major sweet tooth.

Thank goodness it finally went off sale. The cycle was broken. But what will happen the next time Tofutti goes on sale? We may not be able to resist its allure. But we all deserve a little cheat treat once in a while, don’t we?

Product Notes: Though the Tofutti products are certified kosher parve, they are made on lines that are shared with dairy products. To achieve the parve status, those lines must be thoroughly cleaned between batch runs to remove dairy residue. Nonetheless, if you are dealing with a severe milk allergy, keep in mind that trace amounts could remain.

Ingredients: Water, sugar, corn oil, corn syrup solids, soy protein, tofu, cocoa butter, vanilla and other natural flavors, guar, locust bean, and cellulose gums, carrageenan, salt, veg mono and diglycerides, caramel flavor, and annatto color.

This is a third party review by Alisa Fleming, author of Go Dairy Free: The Guide & Cookbook. For more information on this product, see the Tofutti website.

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