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Perusing grocery-store freezer aisles is far different these days, especially when it comes to ice cream. Premium brands line the frozen chambers, often standing out for things like superior ingredients, fewer additives, and higher prices. While many premium-level ice cream and everyday favorites come packed with goodies, there’s something deliciously simple about plain vanilla ice cream, as noted in our list of 13 popular vanilla ice cream brands ranked by ingredient quality. The one that landed on top of that side-by-side comparison is the one-and-only: Van Leeuwen Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.
Van Leeuwen started in 2008 as a yellow scoop-truck operation on the streets of New York City, and despite stellar growth and popularity, it basically sticks to a throwback minimalist philosophy of making ice cream with simple, natural ingredients. They’ve branched out with creative flair over the years, but the company’s core vanilla-bean flavor stays true to French-style custard traditions rarely found in modern mass-marketed ice creams.
Top-notch ingredients are crucial for balancing all those characteristics, which the company calls “only good ingredients you can pronounce.” It’s all about simplicity, with an ingredient list specifying milk, cream, cane sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract (grain alcohol, vanilla bean), salt, and vanilla bean. But that last one brings a defining twist: This ice cream is made with cold-ground whole Tahitian vanilla beans.
What makes Van Leeuwen vanilla bean so good
If colors could speak, the yellow hue of this luscious vanilla-bean ice cream from Van Leeuwen would tell the full story. The color comes from the remarkable eight egg yolks per quart of vanilla ice cream, per the “Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream” recipe book. The subtle flecks of black dotting the yellow cream are those ground Tahitian vanilla beans bursting with rich, earthy flavor.
The combination of vanilla extract and real vanilla beans, plus a lack of fillers and preservatives, is what gives this brand a well-deserved spot in consumer grocery carts. Pints of Van Leeuwen ice cream, including the standout vanilla-bean flavor, are widely available from major grocery chains, including Whole Foods, Kroger, Target, and more, depending on location. If you’re lucky enough to visit a Van Leeuwen walk-in scoop shop, even better. You’ll find them in at least 14 states, including New York, Colorado, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Florida. In cities with scoop shops, the company offers local delivery and pick-up options as well.
The “good things” ingredients in Van Leeuwen ice cream extend beyond the ice cream, including the beloved French-style vanilla bean flavor. They feed into a whole-life philosophy shared by Ben Van Leeuwen in a 2025 commencement speech at his alma mater, Greenwich High School. He told new graduates that a life without anything good is bad, “so, fill your life with good: good food, good people, good memories.”
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