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Looking for a vegan soft serve to celebrate National Ice Cream Month this July? Here are 21 of the best places to get your fix, whether you live in the UK or the US.
Read more: McDonald’s Launches New Vegan Ice Cream
Ice cream is one of the most popular desserts in the world. Over 94 percent of Americans regularly purchase ice cream and other frozen treats, while Brits buy more than 147 million kilograms of ice cream per year. (That’s around the weight of a large cruise ship.)
It’s not just the sugar that makes ice cream a go-to comfort food for so many people. It’s the blending of sugar with protein and fat – combined with its cool temperature and smooth texture – that make it so uniquely moreish and comforting.
Like more traditional ice cream, soft serve also combines sugar, protein, and fat. As noted above, this ratio is a big part of what makes all ice cream such a mood-boosting dessert. But soft serve also requires a slight ratio adjustment to achieve its very light consistency.
During the manufacturing process, soft serve receives additional aeration to create its familiar fluffy texture. And while all ice cream must be frozen quickly to avoid the formation of ice crystals, soft serve machines typically keep premixed soft serve just above freezing temperature. This can also make it hard to produce – or store – without specialist equipment.
What is vegan soft serve ice cream made from?
Most plant-based ice cream follows a similar recipe to traditional, dairy varieties: plant-based milk made using oat, nuts, seeds, or soy, combined with vegetable fat, sugar, and flavorings.
Ingredients vary from brand to brand, with some notable innovators incorporating potatoes and cauliflower as part of their plant-based ice cream recipes. Soft serve is much the same, with some variation on the same core ingredients and the additional aeration it requires.
In the UK, Bristol’s Happy Cow ice cream van combines rice milk with coconut oil for its Mr Whippy-style soft serve cones. Some brands use binders and emulsifiers like xanthan gum, while some – like the Illinois-based Temptation, which sells directly to businesses – eschew added vegetable fats entirely. Others, like New York City’s Seed + Mill (mentioned below), emphasize whole ingredients like nuts and seeds for dairy-free fats and protein.
Now that vegan soft serve is so widely available, even more people can enjoy their favorite nostalgic, comforting sweet treat. Here are 21 of the best places to find it.
Read more: Califia Farms Launches ‘Complete’ Kid-Friendly Vegan Milk
Vegan soft serve ice cream in the UK
More cafes, restaurants, and fast food eateries in the UK are offering vegan soft serve than ever before, and there’s more on the way. (One Reddit user who attended London’s World Vegan Expo late last year reported an upcoming Violife soft serve.)
DÁPPA
London’s DÁPPA makes its plant-based soft serve ice cream from a blend of almonds and cashews. Customers can order the vanilla soft serve with a variety of different toppings and in several different sizes, as well as in vegan milkshakes.
The ice cream is also stocked at Halo Burger, Dirty Vegan, Revival Coffee and Doughnuts, Sweet Nothing Bakehouse, Humbledough, Truman Brewery, Joe and Co Burgers, and more.
Find out more here.
Secret Garden Cafe
Cardiff’s Secret Garden Cafe is vegetarian friendly and has a selection of vegan options, including cakes and soft-service ice cream. The cafe has previously served several different flavors, including roasted rhubarb and coconut with a “mint sugar sprinkle.”
Find out more here.
What The Pitta
What The Pitta is an all-vegan Manchester – and Brighton – mainstay and serves a wide selection of plant-based options, including soft serve with Love Raw wafer bars and sprinkles. (The restaurant also offers lemon cheesecake, caramel cheesecake, and baklava.)
Find out more here.
Minted
In Scotland, Glasgow’s Minted serves primarily dairy-based ice creams but offers a selection of vegan options like cake, plant milks, sorbet, and of course soft serve. The business’s soft serve is currently available in mango, blueberry, and coconut Oreo flavor.
Find out more here.
V360
Brighton’s all-vegan V360 serves soft serve by Swish, which is nut, soy, and gluten-free as well as dairy-free. V360 – which is a pop-up beachside cafe – also offers gelato, breakfast baps, hot drinks, shakes, shaved ice, and much more.
Find out more here.
Laughing Dog
Laughing Dog is also in Brighton and serves vegan soft serve complete with a flake-style chocolate bar on the top. While the cafe serves meals containing animal ingredients, it has a selection of clearly labeled vegan options on the menu in addition to dairy-free soft serve.
Find out more here.
Cafe Thrive
Southampton’s Cafe Thrive is completely plant-based, including its Mr Whippy-style soft serve and fully loaded milkshakes. The ice cream is available as “Mini Soft Serve Sundaes” in Smores, Biscoff, and Smarties flavors, as well as in full-sized cones. Customers can also order any of the cafe’s cakes and baked goods with a dollop of soft serve on top.
Find out more here.
Ikea
Swedish home goods company Ikea has long been celebrated for its budget-friendly cafeteria, and in 2019 it first introduced a dairy-free soft serve throughout Europe. In the UK, it costs just 65p for a cone of the strawberry flavored ice cream.
“Our ambition was to create a plant-based treat that is as soft, airy, and delicious as our popular dairy-based soft ice,” Sandra Lindh, Commercial Manager IKEA Food Services AB, said in a statement at the time. “It’s an easy, affordable, and delicious treat for customers that either need or want to skip dairy products and prefer plant-based food options.”
Find out more here.
Neat Burger
The Lewis Hamilton-backed Neat Burger serves vegan soft serve by Oatly in its dairy-free “Thickshakes,” available in strawberry, Oreo, chocolate, Biscoff, or vanilla. If you want to try the Oatly soft serve in its original form, the brand has been known to serve scoops from an ice cream van at festivals over the summer. (It’s also available at Halo Burger.)
Find out more here.
Vegan soft serve ice cream in the US
There are a huge number of locations across the US that serve vegan soft serve, including businesses from dedicated ice cream shops to cafes and even bakeries. Here are some of the most popular options.
Crust Bakery
Philadelphia’s Crust Bakery is women-owned and operated, all-vegan, and aims to balance offering an affordable and quality product while “providing a living wage and supportive work environment to our wonderful staff.” The bakery sells dairy-free soft serve in various flavors, including lavender and birthday cake. What more could you want?
Find out more here.
Carbon Copy
This Philadelphia-based beer and wine-maker also serves food, including several vegan-friendly pizzas and snacks. Carbon Copy’s dairy-free soft serve is available in classic vanilla or as part of a birch beer float.
Find out more here.
Orchard Grocer
Orchard Grocer in New York City is all-vegan and is “inspired by the delicatessens of New York’s past.” That includes hearty sandwiches, vegan pantry items, and plant-based soft serve – including peach and vanilla flavors with optional caramel or hot vegan honey.
Find out more here.
Vaca’s Creamery
Vaca’s Creamery, based in Lincoln Park and Wicker Square, is an all-vegan Chicago chain. The core menu includes vanilla, chocolate, and swirled soft serve, as well as a large selection of toppings, sauces, milkshakes, and “handshakes.”
Earlier this month, Vaca’s Creamery also announced two new flavors: Calamansi Lime at Lincoln Square only, and Watermelon at both branches. Describing the lime flavor on Instagram, Vaca’s noted that the “tart, sweet, slightly bitter” citrus tastes like both lime and orange.
Find out more here.
Yoga-urt
Yoga-urt serves organic, vegan, “handcrafted” smoothies and soft serve across three different California-based locations – Glendale, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica. It has an extensive soft serve menu, including Chocolate Bliss, Lavender, Blossom, Coconut Chai, Gingerbread, Cherry Amaretto, Maple Banana Pancake, and Pecan Praline.
Find out more here.
Runaway Cow
Runaway Cow is a new addition to Chicago’s vegan restaurant community, and the all-vegan ice cream shop has a huge customizable menu. The oat-based ice cream can be ordered in four different sizes of cone – waffle, sugar, or gluten-free – and topped with a huge array of flavors, such as pineapple, cherry, hot fudge, peanut butter, and marshmallow.
At the end of May, Runaway Cow announced the addition of mango-flavored soft serve, which can be ordered as a cone, a sundae, or substituted as part of any other soft serve dish.
Find out more here.
Erewhon Market
Erewhon is an upmarket supermarket chain with several locations throughout California. Customers can order its coconut-based “Cosmic Bliss” soft serve with a shot of espresso. Ask your server about the availability of other vegan-friendly toppings.
Find out more here.
Scoop Deville
Another vegan-friendly ice cream shop from Philly, Scoop Deville has an extensive vegan menu including Chocolate Peanut Butter Indulgence, Cookie Crumble, Philly Samoa Lovin’ (salted caramel, chocolate, and coconut), and vegan parfait with fresh fruit and granola.
Find out more here.
Seed + Mill
New York City’s Seed + Mill offers a unique, tahini-based soft serve ice cream. The women-owned business is 100 percent vegan and gluten-free and produces its own tahini-based chocolate sesame sauce to purchase or top your soft serve.
Find out more here.
Urban Dessert Lab
Urban Dessert Lab has locations in New York City and Los Angeles and offers a 100 percent vegan menu including oat milk-based soft serve. Its “ice crème” selection includes Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel, Strawberry Shortcake, S’Mores, and Cinnamon Apple Crisp.
The company was recently named one of ESPN’s Champion Black Businesses of 2024 and has attracted enormous queues of people waiting hours at a time to try its decadent desserts. Many of the items can also be shipped nationwide via Goldbelly.
Find out more here.
Niu
Honolulu’s Niu is located in Mo’ili’ili, near the historic Old Stadium Park, and offers an entirely dairy-free menu. Visitors can custom-order ice creams by choosing cones, sauces, and toppings, or choose from the sundae and malted shake sections. The ice cream shop also stocks fresh cookies, pies, and “sammies.”
Find out more here.
Ice Queen
Ice Queen in Portland stocks plant-based frozen treats like ice creams, soft serve, and paletas, a Mexican ice pop traditionally made using whole ingredients. “Ice Queen is not just about frozen treats; it’s a celebration of passion, dedication, and a connection to the community,” says the company. Its soft serve is made by Oatly and comes in the brand’s signature vanilla, chocolate, or swirled flavors.
Find out more here.
Read more: The Best Vegan Ice Cream In The US
