6 Best Store-Bought Vanilla Frostings of 2024, Tested and Reviewed
Hold on to your sweet tooth, because we have vanilla frostings to match your every craving.
Lesley Porcelli
Maybe you want to recreate that nostalgic childhood flavor of every vanilla cupcake and iced cookie at the bake sale or maybe you’re of the mind that cake exists as a vehicle for the frosting on top. Regardless of your focus, we’ve got our picks for store-bought vanilla frosting to keep things sweet up top.
Our Top Vanilla Frosting Picks
How We Tested
We went through two rounds of testing. In the first, frosting was tasted directly off a spoon. For the second, we tasted the frosting as we’d encounter it in the wild, that is, on top of a vanilla cupcake.
Lesley Porcelli
Lesley Porcelli
Lesley Porcelli
Lesley Porcelli
Lesley Porcelli
Interestingly, the frostings tasted quite different in the two tests. What might be too sweet or cloying off the spoon suddenly often was just what a cupcake needed (good news, because many off the spoon tasted quite overpowering (and none, we are sorry to report, carry that real vanilla aroma).
- Affordable
- Best tasting
- Only available at Walmart
Our testers were surprised that such a subtle frosting would be found anywhere but from the big brand names, but this one was quite pleasant! Again, the predominant note coming forward was not quite vanilla, but that flavor you associate with anything “birthday cake” flavored — which we liked a lot.
- Ingredients Sugar, palm oil, water, corn syrup, corn starch, canola oil, contains 2% or less of: salt, mono- and diglycerides, soy lecithin, artificial flavor, titanium dioxide (color) polysorbate 60, modified corn starch, preservatives (potassium sorbate and citric acid), xanthan gum, FD&C yellow No. 5, FD&C red No. 40, chamomile and rosemary extracts (antioxidants), ascorbyl palmitate, tocopherols (antioxidant)
- Size 16 oz.
- Affordable
- Available at most major retailers
- Runner-up
This one tastes like childhood, likely the way store-bought vanilla frosting has tasted since the beginning of its existence. It’s sweet and creamy, not quite vanilla-dominant but with a strong suggestion of candy corn that works really well on a vanilla cupcake.
- Ingredients Sugar, palm oil, water, corn syrup, corn starch, canola oil, contains 2% or less of: salt, mono- and diglycerides, polysorbate 60, modified corn starch, potassium sorbate (preservative), soy lecithin, xanthan gum, natural and artificial flavor, citric acid, antioxidants (ascorbyl palmitate, mixed tocopherols, chamomile and rosemary extracts), artificial color, ascorbic acid
- Size 16 oz.
- Affordable
- Classic vanilla flavor
- Might be too sweet for some
This frosting rivaled Pillsbury for nostalgic flavor, but turned everything up a notch. If the whole point of frosting, for you, is that hit of sweetness, this is your frosting.
- Ingredients Sugar, high fructose corn syrup, palm oil, corn starch, water. Contains 2% or less of: salt, monoglycerides, polysorbate 60, sodium stearoyl lactylate, sodium acid pyrophosphate, natural and artificial flavor, yellows 5 & 6, citric acid. Freshness preserved by potassium sorbate.
- Size 16 oz.
- Organic ingredients
- Pricier than other frostings
Don’t be put off by its initial look; the packaging instructs to stir before using, and then you’re in business. This one mimics homemade frosting and is nicely balanced—it's the only one where we detected a pinch of salt, which is a welcome inclusion when we’re talking about so much sweetness. As a kid tester noted, “It’s not as sweet, but I think people would like that. I think people who don’t like sweet things would like this one more.” And frankly, this very short ingredient list is the most appealing... but it does come at a price.
- Ingredients Organic powdered sugar, organic rainforest alliance certified™ palm fruit oil, organic tapioca, sea salt, natural vanilla flavor
- Size 11.29 oz.
- No sugar
- Creamy texture
- Pricier than other Pillsbury options
Could it be possible that a product that trades on sweetness could even be palatable in a no-sugar version? Also considering that some products that use sugar substitutes can be so sweet as to be inedible? Call us crazy, but we might even like this better than the original version. This frosting is creamy and not-too-sweet and was nice and subtle on top of a cupcake. If you’re looking to cut sugar in your dessert, this might be a nice place to do it.
- Ingredients Maltitol syrup, palm oil, polydextrose, water, maltodextrin, sorbitol, isomalt, canola oil, cellulose, contains 2% or less of: modified corn starch, citrus fiber, mono- and diglycerides, salt, titanium dioxide (color), polysorbate 60, guar gum, natural and artificial flavor, potassium sorbate (preservative), sucralose (non-nutritive sweetener), soy lecithin, citric acid, yellow 5, red 40 ascorbyl palmitate and mixed toco pherols (antioxidants)
- Size 16 oz.
- Fun to use for decorating cupcakes
- Can be hard to get a hang of
- Pricier than other frostings in a can
The appeal of this one is instantly apparent! It comes already loaded into a pastry bag, complete with star tip for easy manipulation of cute ribbed swoops. We would take this any day over working with a traditional pastry bag, particularly because this one is sealed everywhere but at the tip, so if you’re working with kids, you won’t have that disastrous moment of when the frosting starts squeezing out the top. Take note that this frosting is quite thick, so it’s challenging to do that single squeeze that pools into a perfect frosting mound on a cupcake — rather, you have to spiral the frosting into a coil. This also means that a light layer of frosting is not going to be an option, unless you blob on a small amount and then spread it with an offset spatula.
- Ingredients Sugar, palm oil, water, corn syrup, corn starch, canola oil, contains 2% or less of: salt, mono and diglycerides, artificial color including yellow 5 and red 40, polysorbate 60, modified corn starch, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (preservatives), soy lecithin, xanthan gum, natural and artificial flavors, citric acid, antioxidants (ascorbyl palmitate, mixed tocopherols, chamomile and rosemary extracts)
- Size 16 oz.
