The UK has been going crazy over a certain new frozen treat called Halo Top Ice Cream, sold out at many stores across the country. But why is it so popular and is it really worth all the hype and craze? I decided to put it to the test by taste testing a variety of flavours.
Halo Top Ice Cream is not new to those in the USA, available in many grocery stores with an amazing selection of flavours. It is sending many following a healthier eating plan, be it Slimming World, Weight Watchers or calorie counting into an absolute frenzy and is appearing in posts all over social media.
What is it that makes Halo Top so appealing? Well, the first reason is quite obvious. Some tubs of Halo Top are less than 300 calories for a whole tub, yes you read that right a WHOLE TUB!! Where as regular ice cream can cost you nearly 200 calories for just a ½ cup (120ml) serving. The highest calories for a whole tub of Halo Top Ice Cream being 360 calories.
Usually though when something is low calories, you often compromise on taste or have an ingredients list, that is pretty long and not very natural. But Halo Top Ice Cream uses all natural ingredients, is low in calories, low in sugar and high in protein. Which is all great, but if it doesn't taste good, those are all pretty pointless.
Firstly in the UK, there may be some confusion over how you measure out a serving when the nutritional information is in mls. The easiest way is to either use measuring cups or a measuring jug. 118ml being a little short of ½ cup. So really easy to measure if you have some of these handy measuring cups. Do not weigh one flavour and then assume all are equal because 118ml of each of the different Halo Top Ice Creams will not weigh exactly the same.
Halo Top UK Flavours
In the UK they offer the following flavours
(check out the Halo Top UK Website for where to purchase)
- Vanilla Bean
- Chocolate
- Mint Chip
- Peanut Butter Cup
- Cinnamon Roll
- Sea Salt Caramel
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Halo Top USA Flavours
In the USA they offer the following flavours:
(check out the Halo Top USA website for where to purchase)
- Vanilla Bean
- Chocolate
- Lemon Cake
- Strawberry
- Mint Chip
- Choc Mocha Chip
- Birthday Cake
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
- Peanut Butter Cup
- Cookies and Cream
- Sea Salt Caramel
- Cinnamon Roll
- S'mores
- Pistachio
- Oatmeal Cookie
- Chocolate Almond Crunch
- Black Cherry
- Red Velvet
- Cinnamon Roll
- Pancakes and Waffles
- Chocolate Covered Banana
- Mocha Green Tea
- Rainbow Swirl
- Candy Bar
- Caramel Macchiato
- Pumpkin Pie (seasonal)
- Gingerbread House (seasonal)
Dairy Free Halo Top Flavours
- plus these Dairy Free Flavours, which are also soy free and Vegan Friendly:
- Caramel Macchiato
- Chocolate
- Chocolate Covered Banana
- Cinnamon Roll
- Oatmeal Cookie
- Peanut Butter Cup
- Sea Salt Caramel
- Birthday Cake
- Candy Bar
- Chocolate Almond Crunch
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
- Pancakes and Waffles
- Toasted Coconut
- Vanilla Maple
Halo Top Ice Cream is also available in Australia, Ireland and Mexico.
For those living in Canada, you will be pleased to know that is was recently announced that Halo Top Ice Cream is soon to be released in Canada. I am not sure yet on flavours, but I would guess it won't be quite as large a selection as available in the USA.
Ingredients in Halo Top
Obviously, they will vary slightly from flavour to flavour, but for most the main ingredient is Milk, Cream and Eggs with Stevia and erythritol sweeteners, as well as Prebiotic Fiber, Milk Protein, Vegetable Glycerin, Cane Sugar, Carob Gum and Guar Gum. Then the other ingredients are for the flavour of each variety.
For the dairy-free options, the main ingredients are Coconut Milk, Rice Protein and Pea Protein and then similar ingredients to the regular flavours above.
You can find the full list of ingredients and nutritional information for each flavour at Halo Top
Review of Halo Top Ice Cream
So which ones have I bought and tested so far:
Birthday Cake - 4 out of 5
I am a sucker for birthday cake ice cream, so this was the first one I tried and I was pleasantly surprised. Usually, when sampling anything with stevia as a sweetener, it can have a bit of a strong aftertaste, but this was lovely and creamy and did have that cake kind of taste if only a hint. The reason I only give 4 out of 5, is because compared to other Birthday Cake ice cream, this was a bit short on the sprinkles and had no cake pieces.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough - 3 out of 5
This had a nice flavour, it does have some cookie dough pieces, but not enough for me to give this a higher score. I guess i've been spoilt with amazing Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream.
Oatmeal Cookie - 5 out of 5
I really loved this one - I love oatmeal, and this had a lovely oatmeal cinnamon brown sugar cookie taste to it, with pieces of oatmeal for texture.
Peanut Butter Cup - 2 out of 5
I am really fussy about my peanut butter and really not keen on peanut butter powders. This to me tasted more like peanut butter powder than actual peanut butter, which surprised me as it lists real peanuts in the ingredients. But I am guessing with the protein powders, it just didn't cut it for me in the taste department. It was edible, but not one of my favourites.
Pancakes and Waffles - 0 out of 5
I'm so sorry Halo Top, but I couldn't even give this a score of 1. If you have ever been to a cheap American diner and had that horrible artificial syrup that is not even real syrup, then you may understand what this tastes like. Living in Canada and only having good quality Pancakes and Waffles with 100% Maple Syrup I had high expectactions. Everything about this flavour could have been so good, but in fact, it was so very very bad. Horribly bitter and with this very overpowering artificial taste that just was not pleasant. None of my family would eat this, so it sadly ended up in the bin.
I also purchased the following but am yet to taste and give my review, there is only so much ice cream even I can eat in such a small amount of time (watch out for those to be added here soon).
- Candy Bar
- Chocolate Covered Banana
- Rainbow Swirl
- Red Velvet
- Sea Salt Caramel
As I purchase more Halo Top Ice Cream flavours, I'll be sure to add those to the list too, although I can't guarantee I'll taste test every flavour they have, some flavours just don't appeal to me.
Wondering what to serve with Halo Top Ice Cream?
Check out some of these recipes:
- Classic Belgian Waffles
- Cookies and Cream Oat Bites
- Raspberry and White Chocolate Baked Oatmeal
- Squidgy Chocolate Cake
- Fluffy Pumpkin Oat Waffles
- Cinnamon Oat Rhubarb Crumble
or if you would like more recipe ideas - head on over to the FULL RECIPE INDEX where you will find over 900 delicious recipes with calories and you can search by meal type, ingredients, course, diet and more.
All recipes on Slimming Eats have estimated nutritional information for your convenience.
Kate says
Can you please tell me how you measure 1 serving of this? I don't know if I'm being really thick, but ml is liquid form, and you can't weight it as grams is different to ml. I have been guessing with my tubs but really would rather measure properly but just don't know how!!
Thank you.
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Kate, if you read up my full review of the halo top, I give instructions on how to measure out a serving. The best way is to either use a measuring jug or my favourite thing to use is measuring cups which come in 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 and 1 cups. 118ml (one serving of halo top) is just under 1/2 cup (120ml), so you can either use a 1/2 cup measure or use a jug and measure the ice cream to just under the 120ml mark. It's quite standard to measure this way in the US, but I know can be quite confusing when you are used to grams. Hope that helps, let me know if you still are confused. You can get measuring cups from most home stores, including ikea or online at Amazon. They are really handy to have.
Sarah says
Hi I am in the UK and have tried Cinnamon Roll, a little bit grainy but was a lovely creamy taste. Shame we don't have all the other flavours like the USA. xxxx
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Sarah, yes we are quite lucky with all the flavours. I haven't yet tried Cinnamon Roll, hubby is not too keen on cinnamon. So it wasn't a popular one for us to get and try. I did try Chocolate Covered Banana tonight and that has been my fav so far. It has a lovely banana flavour. Hopefully, now they are so popular in the UK, they will bring over some more flavours.
Heather McLean says
I am a bit confused as to the calories.....the whole pint or tub has the calories marked on the front....right?
BUT....a pint has four 1/2 cups......so it actually has four times what is marked on the tub? OR does 1/2 cup only have 1/4 what is marked on the tub ?
Plus....is the sugar count high? Even the natural ones?
Thanks
Heather
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Heather - yes you get 4 servings in each tub and 1 serving is 1/2 cup which is what I have posted the syn values for. The calories on the front is for the whole tub, not for 1 serving (1/2 cup). Hope that makes sense :).
Sarah says
Where in the UK can u buy these thanks Sarah x
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Sarah, I believe asda and tesco sell them. If you go to the halotop website it lists who stock them in your area.
Norma Trevenna says
Tesco had them on offer but I missed it. They are now £5 a pot which I think is very expensive.
I use my kitchen scales for measurements, weigh the container, zero the scales the add ingredient. I can change to whatever I need mls, grams, ounces etc.
shelley greenaway says
hi! i don't have those measuring cups so could you tell me how many scoops could i get out of 118 ml? thanks
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
Hi Shelley. You get 4 servings in a tub. So just divide the tub by 4 to get 1 serving.
shelley greenaway says
fair enough but the serving says 118ml which is unless i'm wrong 63.4 grams
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
I am not sure where you got 63.4grams from. A tub is 473mls which is 4x118.25ml which is pretty much the one serving of 118ml - so 1/4 of a tub. 🙂
Sylvia says
My favorite flavors are blueberry crumble and strawberry cheesecake! Was not too impressed with cookie dough or peanut butter cup either, but strawberry cheesecake and blueberry crumble are almost too good - hard to stop at one serving 🙂