Summer is here. As this may be one of the hottest summers yet, we’re all looking for a way to stay cool. And who doesn’t enjoy a cold summer treat? A favorite of mine for those hot days has always been popsicles.
As a child, I remember coming inside the house after basking in the warm sun and reaching into that box in the freezer for a cold popsicle. I still love a good pop as a way to cool off, but I don’t go for any of the brands I had as a child. The popsicles may have tasted sweet, but learning what was in them makes the memories bittersweet. The ones I had as a child were all filled with some of the worst ingredients you can find in food, including high fructose corn syrup, MSG, artificial dyes and flavors. Many of them lacked any real ingredients.
Fortunately, things are beginning to change. Since starting my blog almost a decade ago, I’ve seen a steady a growth in popsicles made with real fruit. I seem to discover a new real popsicle brand pop up (no pun intended) every year. In addition to using fruit in place of chemicals for flavor and color, a number of these natural popsicles also include some vegetables. Some of the companies make creamsicles using either grass fed or plant based dairy. A couple of these popsicles use no sugar or added natural sweeteners while others add a small amount of cane sugar.
The idea of popsicles also essentially dates back further than we think. In the ancient countries, such as China and Japan, where water would freeze over snow cap mountains, we had water ice where water, flavors, and sweeteners were combined. This predates even ice cream. Sorbet, which combines with fruit juice or fruit purée is believed to originate in Persia in 500 BC.
Origins to the popsicle specifically are traced to 1872 when two men formed a company called Ross and Robbins. They sold a frozen fruit on a stick under the name Hokey-Pokey. The ice pop though was popularized by Frank Epperson. As a child, he accidentally froze a glass of lemonade with a spoon in it as he left it on a windowsill during a cold winter night. As an adult, Epperson originally worked in real estate, but wanted a change and working on selling his frozen dessert. He first introduced his concoction at a firemen’s ball. He original called it the “epsicle”, based on his last name Epperson and an icicle. As he was a dad, his kids referred to it as “pop’s icicle. Epperson then shortened that to the popsicle.
There are several different types of popsicles. The first is the classic ice popsicle on a stick. Then there are the freezies, or freeze pops, which are water based as opposed to the ice popsicles being juice based. Freezies come in plastic sleeves and don’t require refrigeration. And more recently, we’ve seen the emergence of a new type of popsicle known as a smoothie pop. These are essentially frozen smoothies which also come in plastic sleeves, but do require freezing.
In alphabetical order, here are the 11 best popsicles with real ingredients:
Blendtopia
Certified raw food and holistic nutritionist Tiffany Taylor learned early on that whole food nutrition is the key to living healthy. She founded Blendtopia so there could be company which offered better-for-you foods which were easily accessible and great tasting. Her desire to start this brand was due to both her devotion to clean eating and helping a friend with cancer. Tiffany views the science behind her products to be as important as the ingredients which go in them. Blendtopia has smoothie pops in multiple flavors plus smoothie kits and superfood lattes.
Chloe’s Pop
Chloe Epstein was assistant district attorney who started to pay more attention to eating healthy food as she was pregnant with her first child. After leaving the law, she began experimenting to create a product with just fruit, water, and cane sugar. First, a shop was opened in New York followed by the product being sold in stores as well. Chloe’s has regular fruit popsicles, fruit popsicles dipped in chocolate, oat milk popsicles, popsicles with licensed Marvel Comics and Nickelodeon characters, and even pina colada popsicles powered by Zumba.
Country Orchard
Kisko is a family run business which has been making high quality freeze pops, popsicles which are stored in plastic sleeves and don’t require refrigeration. Recently Kisko introduced an organic line known as Country Orchard. Their juice pops contain 100% organic ingredients and are free of all major allergens, artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives. Country Orchard flavors are strawberry mango, orange pineapple, tropical passion, and berry blast.
DeeBee’s Organics
Dionne Baker has a PhD in medical research in the field of maternal-fetal toxicology. She wrote her doctorate on the effects of exposure to chemicals in terms of fetal development during pregnancy. Dr. Dionne strongly supported the health science behind organics and wanted start a company which would allow people to snack consciously while still being able to have fun. One afternoon at home in her kitchen, one kid was making tea while the the other was making popsicles. The two kids were fighting for help from their mom. Then the older child came up with the idea of joining forces and making teasicles. Soon TeaPop was created. Now known as DeeBee’s Organics, Dionne focuses on freezies in the variety pack options of tropical superfruit and classic superfruit. And recently, DeeBee’s has added plant based gelato pops to its line.
Fudgy Pop
Fudgy Pop co-founders Deborah Gorman and Nicole Cardone through the matchmaking efforts of Nicole’s mother-in-law who knew they both wanted to start a business. Deborah was a private chef while Nicole was in finance. The two shared a deep love of dessert and began selling sorbet at farmers markets. The two picked up the nickname the SorBabes and that became their business name. Their pints evolved of sorbet evolved into fruit bars. As Deborah & Nicole were both children of the 80s, they also grew up loving fudge pops and felt they could launch a sister brand devoted to their love of chocolate. So they created the sister brand Fudgy Pop, selling dairy free fudge pops with all natural ingredients. Along with regular fudge, Fudgy Pop can be found in the flavors of orange, mint, and berry.
GoodPop
While GoodPop founder Daniel Goetz was college student in Texas, one hot summer day he was in need a cold treat. Unfortunately, all of the places were selling popsicles filled with artificial flavoring, coloring, and ingredients he couldn’t pronounce. So he decided he needed to make ones with natural ingredients himself. GoodPop has dabbled into all kinds of flavors. Along with various fruit combos, they have a couple of dairy free coconut cream pops. These include orange ‘n cream and a gluten free cookies ‘n cream flavor. GoodPop also has expanded into making freezies and push pops. GoodPop also partners with a number of nonprofits and organizations.
JonnyPops
JonnyPops dates back to when its founders Erik Burst and Connor Way were college roommates and they perfected the recipe in their college dorm basement. The ingredients have always been real fruit, heavy cream, cane sugar, purified water, and a pinch of salt. The name JonnyPops is in memory of Erik’s cousin Jonny who began on the journey with him. As the founders believe in sharing kindness to make the world a better place, a good deed is printed on every popsicle stick. In addition to their fresh cream pops, they also have flavors dipped in chocolate, dairy free pops with oat milk, and organic fruit popsicles. JonnyPops also partners with local communities to create Smart Snack-approved pops where they take part in anti-bullying campaigns in schools nationally.
Nia’s Arc
After Nia’s Arc founder Laura Ramsey’s second child was born, Laura was feeling depleted and knew she had to make a change. So she cleansed her system of toxins plus dealt with the fears confronting her. Laura enrolled in herbal school and learned about the healing powers of plant medicine. She felt called to ingest the plants into her life and others. Laura then incorporated the benefits of the plants into what would become Nia’s Arc. As Laura had loved the song “Somewhere over the Rainbow” since she was a child, the boxes frozen pops come in a rainbow of colors. The varieties also are seen under the labelings of a body box to repair your body and a soul box to nourish your soul.
Nomz 
Back in 2013, Jana Al Zaibak founded Nomz after improving her health by eliminating refined sugar from her diet. Jana went on to create healthy versions of her favorite desserts, using ingredients such as nuts, dates, cocoa, and sea salt. Nomz has a wide range of products, including organic bites, nut butters, and superfood mixes. It also has a product called the Nomzicle, which consists of the four simple organic ingredients cashews, dates, fair trade cocoa, and spring water.
Real Pops
The origins of Real Pops can be traced back to its founders making cold pressed juices at home with organic produce. They noticed that fresh pressed juice tasted brighter and was more energizing. They next went on a journey of developing a process to extract the natural freshness of the whole ingredients and incorporate it into easily accessible consumer products. Out of this, the idea of Real Pops was born to produce ice pops using fresh ingredients without so much sugar. Real Pops are sweetened only fruit juice monk fruit. The popsicles come in various flavors along with the sister brand of Real Sips which can be added to flavor your beverage of choice.
Sweet Nothings
Beth Porter found herself in the common scenario of looking for healthy snacks which her kids would want to eat. Beth noticed that people of all ages love smoothies. The problem with smoothies though was she neither had the time for making them or for the cleanup involved. One day while opening the freezer, the idea came to Beth to make the smoothies and then freeze them. Sweet Nothings was born. All of the smoothie pops contain various fruits and vegetables plus chia seeds and only dates for sweetening. In addition to the smoothie pops, Sweet Nothings produces spoonable smoothies and nut butter bites.