I Tried 10 Halo Top Ice Cream Flavors. Here’s the Scoop on Which Ones Deserve a Full Pint Plunge

There is a dream inside all of us. It is a dream that connects us, binds us, tethers us together: We all wish we could sit down and eat an entire pint of ice cream without any serious health repercussions. 

Halo Top, a purveyor of “light” ice cream, has made this possible. Using a base of unfiltered skim milk rather than heavy cream, each pint is significantly lower in sugar and calories than your average ice cream. The questions on your mind are obvious: Is it worth it? Does it scratch the itch? Does it taste good enough to be worth the money? Here are 10 Halo Top ice cream flavors, ranked.

Prices and availability are subject to change.

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A pint of Halo Top rarely exceeds 350 calories. Cutting out lots of the fat and sugar that come along with standard ice cream, Halo Top has made the “eat a whole pint in one sitting” dream a reality. Halo Top’s vanilla ice cream, for example, has 290 calories — a staggering 600 calories fewer than a pint of vanilla Häagen-Dazs. So while it’s not like eating a 350-calorie dessert is healthy, it’s certainly a lot better than classic ice cream.

Related: 20 of the Oldest Ice Cream Shops in America

$4.99 from Instacart

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Calories: 360

In the real world, I wouldn’t even consider grabbing a pint of chocolate ice cream. I’ve just never really felt pulled to chocolate the way a lot of people are. Halo Top’s Chocolate Ice Cream Cake is legitimately excellent. The weird fake-ice-cream consistency is perfect for chocolate, and it brings me back to fond memories of Dixie Cups, tiny wooden spoon in hand. We’ve got little bits of cake crumble and crunchy vanilla icing floating around in there, too. I love it.

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$4.69 from Target

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Calories: 330

There was a frozen yogurt shop in my neighborhood when I was growing up, and they had this peanut butter frozen yogurt that I was nuts about. I ordered it constantly, and I think I always added gummy worms to it, because even back then I was a maniac. That place ended up becoming a stupid Pinkberry. Halo Top's Peanut Butter Cup flavor reminds me of that same peanut butter soft serve, in all of the best ways. I’ll be done with this pint in the next 10 minutes.

$4.48 from Walmart

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Calories: 360

The cookie dough itself is a winner here, and I wish there was more of it. If you’ve got a craving to eat a pint of cookie dough ice cream, I see no reason why this won’t work. Sure, it’s not as good as the real thing, but hey, you’re still eating a whole damn pint of cookie dough ice cream.

$4.48 from Walmart

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Calories: 310

I see cookie bits, but I don’t taste them. They’re more like cookie specks, actually, and that’s the biggest issue here. Adding some more cookies in would work in two ways: First, it would help the overall balance, and second, it would distract from the weird, hardened-whipped-cream vibe that Halo Top has.

$5.29 from Target

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Calories: 300

The caramel is here, that’s for sure, but there’s certainly not enough saltiness going on. Salt and caramel are a time-tested duo, so trust them, Halo Top. Don't be afraid to bring the salt.

$4.48 from Walmart

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Calories: 290

It’s a toughie, this one. On one hand, I want to commend Halo Top. This is, in fact, a frozen vanilla ice cream-style treat. The ability to smash a pint for less than 300 calories is a dream, but at the end of the day, it simply doesn’t taste like ice cream. I think Halo Top needs to stuff some more goodies into their ice creams to help distract from the artificial taste.

$3.88 from Walmart

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Calories: 330

At first: Oh, this doesn’t taste too much different than a regular mint chip!

Then: Oh, wait. Hm. Wait a minute.

After that: No, no, no. This isn’t very good.

Followed by: Yikes. Yikes, yikes, yikes.

Conclusion: Skip it.

$7.29 from Instacart

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Calories: 330

I don’t know what to say about this. It tastes like purple. Not the grape soda kind of purple, more like the very essence of purple. I suppose there’s blueberry flavor in there somewhere. It ain’t for me.

$2.48 from Walmart

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Calories: 300

This one isn’t on Halo Top; I’ve never cared much for birthday cake ice cream. This tastes a lot like a sugar cookie, and while the sprinkles are nice, I just have no interest in it.

$4.99 from Target

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Calories: 570

I suppose if you live a keto lifestyle and you need a chocolate ice cream option, this is something you’d be into. I can’t deal with the chalky consistency at all; I’m not sure how the ice cream with the most calories ended up tasting this bad, but I’m not gonna think too hard about it. It’s a big ol’ pass for me.