Costco Vanilla Ice Cream – Kirkland Signature (2024)

Costco sells a 2 pack of their own Kirkland Signature Super Premium Vanilla Ice Cream for $12.99. The two-pack includes two half-gallon tubs of ice cream.

The ice cream will be found in the frozen food aisle near the other frozen desserts and treats such as theBoba Ice Cream,instant boba packs,frozen acai bowls, ormochi ice creams.

The big downside to Costco’s Ice cream is that there is only one flavor: Vanilla.

This is not the ice cream used inCostco’s Food Court.

In today’s world, money rules everything. If large corporations can charge the same amount for a low-quality product, they will gladly do that.

The ice cream industry has transitioned from real ice cream to what is called frozen dessert.Frozen desserts look like ice cream and smell like ice cream but don’t taste nearly as good as real ice cream.

Frozen desserts, on the other hand, are made with vegetable oils, like palm or coconut oil. Many “ice creams” sold in grocery stores today are actually considered frozen desserts.

They don’t mark it in big font on their packaging, but next time you are in the grocery store, look to see what’s actually ice cream and what’s actually a frozen dairy dessert. You may not like what you see.

One thing to Note:This vanilla ice cream is much heavier than regular ice cream.

Similar to how Trident Seafoods has the“Ultimate” Fish Stickname, I initially thought that “Super Premium” was just part of the name of the ice cream.

It was very unlike the Kirkland Signature brand, but I didn’t realize Super Premium is an ice cream category.

There are 4quality segments of ice cream: economy, regular, premium, and super premium.

The category is determined by how much overrun (amount of aeration the ice cream undergoes in the production process), the quality of ingredients, and how much milk fat content is in the ice cream. Higher quality ice creams will have less overrun and higher fat content.

Costco’s vanilla ice cream qualifies for the super-premium designation by having a very low overrun with very high fat content, all while using the best quality ingredients.

This might explain why the ice cream is so heavy!

With ice cream, there is a wide range of quality and price. Ice cream is also one of the items that goes on sale frequently.

On the low end are going to be the store brands that can be as inexpensive as $2.50 for 1.5 quarts when on sale, while premium brands will charge $6 to $8 or even more!

Most major mass-market brands of ice cream retail in this $4-$5 range for 1.5 quarts.

Costco’s vanilla ice cream, while being super premium ice cream, is on par with other retailers’ regular ice cream pricing.

You can definitely get ice cream for less than $4.88 per 1.5 quarts, so Kirkland Signature Premium Ice Cream isn’t the most affordable option, nor are they trying to be.

There is an ever so slight chewiness to the ice cream that you don’t find from the mid-tier ice cream brands.

I wouldn’t necessarily call it artisanal ice cream, but I would be more than satisfied if I was served this ice cream from an ice cream shop.

I did only eat this ice cream plain and as is, but because of the traditional flavor of vanilla, this Costco ice cream will go well with a variety of toppings or syrups.

Before today, I never knew that Super Premium ice cream existed, but it’s obvious that this fits the super premium bill.

This Costco ice cream does contain more calories than traditional ice cream. A serving of Breyers Vanilla Ice Cream is also two-thirds of a cup but has only 170 calories.

Breyer’s ice cream has about half the calories of Kirkland Signatures because of the overrun ( how much air is in the ice cream) and the milk substitutions.

Both serving sizes are the same at two-thirds of a cup, but Costco’s ice cream weighs 144 grams to Breyer’s 88 grams. Kirkland Signature Ice Cream will have double the weight and double the calories.

I guess there is a price to pay with super premium ice cream, and it’s going to be at the waistline. Do keep that in mind, if you like to go on ice cream binges like I do

As mentioned, this is real ice cream, and not a frozen dairy dessert. The Kirkland Signature vanilla ice cream is made with Fresh Cream, Skim Milk, Sugar, Pasteurized Egg Yolks, Vanilla Extract, Carob Bean Gum, and Guar Gum.

There are a few ingredients on the list that I don’t recognize, which is always disappointing.

This is delicious ice cream. Costco and the Kirkland Signature brand knock it out of the park with their Super Premium Vanilla Ice Cream. It’s priced like an everyday grocery store ice cream, but tastes like something you would get from a specialty ice cream shop.

Even if vanilla isn’t your preferred flavor, give this ice cream a try!