| # NAME | Calories per 100g | Protein per 100g |
|---|---|---|
| 121 kcal | 10.4g | |
| 210 kcal | 3.7g | |
| 210 kcal | 2.3g | |
| 120 kcal | 5.5g | |
| 127 kcal | 10.1g | |
| 138 kcal | 5.5g | |
| 130 kcal | 8.1g | |
| 131 kcal | 2.1 g |
Ice cream is one of life’s simple pleasures. There is never a bad time to enjoy the creamy, sweet goodness of ice cream. But, it’s not exactly the best option for those of us watching our calories.
The good news is the last few years have seen an explosion of delicious low-calorie ice creams and even high-protein ice creams hit the supermarket shelves.
But which should you choose? Here’s our list of the top 8 low calorie ice creams in Australia.
Best Low Calorie Ice-Cream / High Protein 🍨
Fro Pro Chocolate
FroPro is Australian owned and made but only sold at Woolworths stores. FroPro ice creams are also gluten free and made from all-natural ingredients, making it one of the healthier low cal ice-cream options.
Denada Double Choc Chip
Denada is a popular 99% sugar-free ice-cream made from all-natural ingredients. It’s also low carb, low lactose (with dairy free options), and gluten-free. I’d say Denada is my favourite pick, tasting most like regular ice-cream.
Over The Moo Choc Choc
- Calories/Protein/Carbs (per 100g): 210 kcal / 2.3g / 26.9g
- Where to Buy: Woolworths, IGA, and independent grocers.
Over the Moo is 100% dairy-free ice cream, and it’s vegan-friendly and gluten-free. Basically, it’s the ideal ice-cream for those with intolerances. It’s available at Woolworths, IGA and independent grocers.
Tilly’s Choc Brownie
Australian made and owned, Tilly’s is new to the ice cream market and exclusive to Woolworths. Similar to other brands, Tilly’s markets itself around having 300 calories per tub, although this depends on the flavour you go with. Tilly’s also says its ice cream contains no artificial sweeteners.
YoPro Double Choc
- Calories/Protein/Carbs (per 100g): 127 kcal / 10.1g / 13.1g
- Where to Buy: Coles
Yo Pro is more commonly known for its high-protein yoghurts but it also has high-protein ice-cream. They say their products have no added nasties like sugar or artificial ingredients. They market themselves as a brand “to fuel professional and aspiring athletes alike using the best quality ingredients and in the most natural way possible”.
Halo Top Brownie Batter
Available at most major supermarkets, Halo Top markets itself as having around 300 calories per tub. It offers heaps of flavours, with Birthday Cake certainly being an Aussie favourite. Halo Top also offers a dairy-free range, with certain flavours additionally gluten free.
Gym Bod Chocolate Pudding Ice-Cream
- Calories/Protein/Carbs (per 100g): 130 kcal / 8.1g / 4.2g
- Where to Buy: Online at Gym Bod
Gym Bod creates “better-for-you versions” of your childhood favourite sweet treats, including high protein ice cream. The company started in 2018 in a Toowoomba, Queensland garage after importing a 136kg Soft Serve Machine from China where the founders spent weekends mixing various concoctions of Protein Power to create a high protein, low carb soft serve.
Chocolate Paddle Pop Ice-Creams
If you’re looking for a readily available low calorie ice-cream, you can’t beat a Paddle Pop. One serving will set you back just 82 calories! They’re not high in protein, however, or low sugar ice-cream. However, if it’s just a low calorie dessert you’re after, you’re never too far from a Paddle Pop.
High Protein Vs Low Calorie Ice-Cream 🍭
Now, it’s important to note not all low calorie ice-creams are high in protein. In fact, most of them aren’t. However, in most cases, high protein ice-creams are low in calories. Make sense?
There aren’t too many high protein ice-creams available in Australia at this point in time, but there are plenty in the US, which means it’s only a matter of time before it hits our shores.
What’s in Low Calorie Ice-Cream? 🍦
Regular ice-cream contains easily identifiable ingredients like milk, cream, sugar, egg yolk and so on. The ingredients in low-cal and high protein ice-creams are significantly different, with some containing ingredients you might have never heard of, like:
- Protein: Different brands will have different types of protein, but a common one is milk protein isolate.
- Stevia: Stevia is made from a super sweet herbaceous plant. It’s a non-nutritive sweetener, meaning it doesn’t have any kilojoules or carbohydrates, and is about 100 times sweeter than regular sugar.
- Erythritol: Erythritol is a sugar alcohol which isn’t metabolised by our body during digestion; it is also calorie free. While safe for consumption, it can cause an upset stomach in some people.
- Xylitol: Xylitol is another sugar alcohol.
- Prebiotic fibre: To make low-cal ice-creams “high fibre”, many of these ice creams contain prebiotic fibres, also known as inulin. These help to bulk out the ice cream and basically give it more texture (with no calories).
- Organic vegetable gum: Vegetable gums are made up of indigestible polysaccharides. They’re often used in processed foods because of their texture and how they increase shelf life.
Is Ice Cream Healthy? 🍎
Is healthy ice-cream a thing? Or is it just a marketing ploy? Well, by any dieticians’ standards, the ingredients of ice-cream – whether low calorie and high protein or not – aren’t necessarily healthy. But of course, anything that has natural sweetener and is significantly lower calorie than the “real deal” is going to be better on your waistline and better for your #gains.
These days there are countless low calorie and high-protein ice-creams available, with most of them being low in sugar and fat, and also high in protein and fibre. Yet you shouldn’t be distracted by the “low calorie” branding, because not all ice-creams are made equally, and some ingredients can be questionable.
Calories Compared to Regular Ice-Cream 🐮
When you consider the calories in low-cal ice-cream compared to regular ice-cream, at first glance they seem on par. For example, Aussie favourite Bulla Choc Chip ice-cream has 108 calories per serve, with just 11.8 grams of carbohydrates. It’s pretty similar to the low calorie ice-creams.
However, you need to be careful and consider the serving size. Bulla’s Choc Chip ice-cream serving size is 47g, whereas most of the low-cal options are anywhere from 60g to 85g.
For example, Halo Top’s Chocolate ice-cream’s serving size is 85g with 100 calories per serve and 18g of sugar. That means in reality, regular ice-cream can have around double the calories of low-cal ice-cream.
But at the end of the day, regular ice-cream isn’t too bad compared to low-cal options (as long as you mind your servings and you read the ingredients list).
Most Popular Low Calorie Ice-Creams Among Consumers 🙋🏼♀️
According to the sub-reddit r/1200 Australia (which is a low-calorie living sub-reddit), the fan faves when it comes to low-cal and high protein ice-cream are:
- Tilly’s
- Halo Top
- YoPro
- FroPro
I personally enjoy Denada the best as I think it tastes the most like ice cream, followed by Halo Top
Gluten Free / Vegan Low Calorie Ice Cream 🌱
Most of the above ice-creams have gluten-free and vegan versions, you just need to be mindful and read the ingredients.
Over the Moo is probably the best option for vegans as all of their products are dairy and egg free, with most being gluten-free as well.
Other Healthy Dessert Alternatives
If you don’t love ice cream or would rather make your own low-cal, high-protein dessert at home from scratch, why not give these a try?
- Make your own protein
- Make your own protein custard
- Make or order your own protein donuts
- Enjoy low calorie jelly and protein custard
At the end of the day, if you’re going to sit down a pint of ice cream it’s probably better to pick the low-cal and high protein variety than regular ice cream (as long as you’re not concerned about the artificial sugars).
However, ice-cream is a dessert. It’s a treat. In any case, it shouldn’t be consumed on the reg but rather in moderation. No amount of “healthy” branding can make low-cal and high protein ice-cream better for you than home-made banana ice-cream, for example, or a piece of fruit, you know?
Basically, everything in moderation and go forth and enjoy!
Psssst – Check Out The Rest of Our Ice-Cream Data
If you want more info about the best low calorie, high protein ice-creams in Australia – good news, we have all the important details written down in a handy spreadsheet, which you can view here.
Low Calorie Ice-Cream FAQs
Which ice cream has the least calories?
What is the healthiest alternative to ice cream?
A healthy alternative to ice-cream could be a DIY ice-cream made with banana! All you need to do is grab a frozen banana, blend it with a little bit of water or liquid of your choice and voila, you have banana “nice cream”.
What’s a good fat free ice cream?
Ice-cream is inherently higher in fat due to the ingredients it’s made with. Even if it’s branded as a low sugar ice-cream, you still need to be mindful of the fat content. In saying that, here are some low fat options on the market:
- Halo Top Chocolate – 2.5g fat per serve
- Skinny Cow Triple Choc Sundae – 2.3g fat per serve
- The Protein Pantry Dark Choc – 2.9g fat per serve
Can I eat ice-cream when trying to lose weight?
Of course! Balance is key. As long as your ice-cream fits within your daily calories for weight loss, you can enjoy a scoop or two every night if you want!
Revisions:
- 26 June 2023: Removed Fit Lato Chocolate from the list (closed down)
- 22 November 2023: Remove Noway from the list (no longer available)
I like “Licks” but I notice they are not on the list. Are they not good as well and on par with the others? 🤔
We’ll update the article soon. Theres been a bunch of new ones that have popped up like gym bod too