By Sporked Staff |
Sure, we all scream for ice cream, but we really holler our heads off for the best ice cream. We have tasted a lot of ice cream since we launched way back in 2022, so, to help guide you through the frozen treats aisle, we’ve compiled all the best ice creams we’ve tried so far.
Here’s how we made this list: Each one of these ice cream flavors took the top spot within a separate ranking. And each one of those rankings was decided through rigorous taste tests in which we pitted the best ice cream brands against one another. We prized pure flavors, creamy textures, and quality of mix-ins, when appropriate. So, you’re really getting the best of the best ice cream flavors with this list. Whether you’re looking for the best classic vanilla or the apex of Ben & Jerry’s achievements, you’ll find the best grocery store ice cream here. Get your spoons and your vocal cords ready for some serious screaming over the best ice cream.
- Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
In our vanilla ice cream ranking, Sporked’s Jordan Myrick wrote, “It’s incredible. Like, it’s the absolutely perfect and most delicious vanilla ice cream you can imagine.” The vanilla bean-speckled ice cream is sweet (but not too sweet), extremely silky and creamy, and shockingly complex, considering it’s a simple pint of vanilla ice cream. If you’re looking for the best ice cream to scoop onto a slice of apple pie or to use as a base in an ice cream sundae, or maybe you’re just a vanilla purist, then Haagen-Dazs is the best ice cream brand for you.
Read the full ranking of the best vanilla ice cream
Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
- Straus Family Creamery Organic Dutch Chocolate Ice Cream
You really can’t do better than Straus when it comes to the best chocolate ice cream. It’s extremely smooth and light—but still deeply chocolatey. It tastes a bit like a more solid version of the best chocolate milkshake you’ve ever had. Straus is a bit of a premium brand, but it’s worth the extra cash to secure the best grocery store ice cream for chocolate lovers.
Read the full ranking of the best chocolate ice cream
Ryan Martin / Instacart
- Dreyer’s / Edy’s Cookies ‘N Cream Ice Cream
Jordan admitted to judging Dreyer’s by its packaging (“the carton looks so plain compared to some of the other, flashier brands on the market,” they wrote), but upon tasting they quickly learned that you can’t tell the best ice cream brands by their labels. Dreyer’s Cookies N’ Cream (aka Edy’s Cookies N’ Cream, depending on where you are in the U.S.) is creamy and packed with cookie chunks. Plus, it’s affordable.
Read the full ranking of the best cookies and cream ice cream
Credit: Paula Kunatee / Vons
- Straus Organic Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
“If you’re looking for a high-quality, well-made, impressive mint chip ice cream, look no further than Straus Organic Mint Chocolate Chip,” Jordan wrote in their review. This is an admittedly fancy mint chip ice cream, but you deserve it. The chocolate chips are perfectly distributed and the mint flavor is pure and not toothpaste-y. If you’re looking for an upgrade on a childhood favorite, this is the best ice cream to buy.
Read the full ranking of the best mint chip ice cream
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Ben & Jerry’s Coffee, Coffee BuzzBuzzBuzz!
This coffee ice cream is just as intense as its name suggests. Each bite is packed with earthy, slightly bitter coffee flavor. And the ice cream itself is super rich, thanks to a high percentage of butterfat. That helps temper the bold coffee flavor and keep you coming back for spoonful after spoonful. But that’s not all. Ben & Jerry’s is probably the best ice cream brand for mix-in freaks, and they maintain their reputation with this coffee ice cream. There are big ol’ chunks of fudge throughout and they are absolutely delightful.
Read the full ranking of the best coffee ice cream
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Albertsons
- Tillamook Oregon Strawberry Ice Cream
Tangy, tart, fresh strawberry flavor meets creamy, delicious dairy in this ice cream, which took the top spot in our best strawberry ice cream ranking. There are even big chunks of strawberry (actual strawberry!) in the mix. Take a bite, shut your eyes, and let the home-churned flavor of Tillamook’s strawberry ice cream wash over you. This was the best ice cream by far in our strawberry ice cream taste test.
Read the full ranking of the best strawberry ice cream
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Target
- Peanut Butter Half Baked
As we’ve mentioned before, Ben & Jerry’s is the best ice cream brand if you’re really mostly interested in the mix-ins. And the best Ben & Jerry’s flavor that is simply packed with sweet treats is Peanut Butter Half Baked. The base is a blend of chocolate and peanut butter ice cream stirred together with chunks of peanut butter cookie dough and fudge brownie hunks. It’s salty. It’s sweet. It’s totally indulgent. It’s the best ice cream to eat by yourself while crying.
Read the full ranking of the
- Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert
Even if you can handle dairy, you will love this non-dairy version of fan favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Phish Food. It tastes almost exactly the same. And it’s still packed with all those good, B&J signature mix-ins. Made with almond milk, it’s shockingly creamy (so many vegan ice creams are way too icy). It really needs to be tried to be believed. Vegans, this is the best grocery store ice cream for you.
Read the full ranking of the best non-dairy ice cream
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Target
- Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is simply packed with hunks of dough. “And the dough tastes great,” wrote Sporked editor-in-chief Justine Sterling in her review. “It tastes real.” We’re talking crunchy chocolate shingles and just the right amount of salt. If cookies are simply too cooked for you, this is the best ice cream you can buy.
Read the full ranking of the best cookie dough ice cream
Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
- Trader Joe’s Sublime Ice Cream Sandwiches
According to Jordan, these are not only the best ice cream sandwiches you can buy, but also some of the best Trader Joe’s products to buy, period. “The cookie is soft without being mushy, the ice cream is creamy, and the chocolate chips along the sides provide the perfect texture,” they wrote in their review. We must insist these have a place in your freezer.
Read the full ranking of the best ice cream sandwiches
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Trader Joe’s
- Halo Top Sea Salt Caramel Keto Pops
The best keto ice cream is actually an ice cream pop. Sorry if you had your keto heart set on using a spoon. The pops are relatively creamy (most keto ice cream is not) and the flavor is on point. It is salty. It is caramelly. This is not the best ice cream to buy if you aren’t going keto, but if you are, these pops will get you your ice cream fix.
Read the full ranking of the best keto ice cream
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Instacart
- Raspberry Cheesecake
Imagine a creamy, tangy slice of cheesecake. Now imagine it frozen and stuffed into a tub, shocked through with fresh raspberry puree. That’s what this Talenti gelato tastes like. It’s so delightful and one of the best grocery store ice creams out there. It’s so good you can serve it for dessert at a dinner party and everyone will applaud.
Read the full ranking of the best Talenti flavors
Credit: Merc / Talenti
- Specialty Selected Dulce de Leche
Out of 23 different pints and tubs of Aldi ice cream, this was the best ice cream we tasted. It’s caramel ice cream with a caramel swirl. It’s truly a caramel lover’s dream ice cream. Plus, since it’s Aldi, you can count on it being cheap. This ice cream punches way above its weight class and cements Aldi’s Specially Selected as one of the best ice cream brands out there.
Read the full ranking of all the Aldi ice creams
Credit: Merc
- FatBoy Sundae Best
These sundae cones straight up taste like an ice cream sundae in a cone. There’s the gooey fudge and caramel sauces. There’s the crunchy nuts. There’s the creamy ice cream. It’s the best ice cream cone you can buy at the grocery store, no question.
Read the full ranking of the best sundae cones
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Trader Joe’s Mini Hold the Cone Pumpkin Ginger
Some people look forward to pumpkin pie when fall comes around, but we’re all about pumpkin ice cream. And of all the pumpkin ice creams we tasted, Trader Joe’s adorable mini cones were the best ice creams for seasonal, handheld enjoyment. The cone is gingery, the ice cream is spiced and pumpkiny, and the size is perfect.
Read the full ranking of the best pumpkin ice cream
Credit: Merc
- Favorite Day Peppermint Bark Ice Cream
In their review, Jordan said that this wasn’t just the best peppermint ice cream, it was the best seasonal ice cream they’ve tasted. “The base is so creamy, the pieces of bark are plentiful, and the mint flavor is just right.” Target doesn’t always hit with their Favorite Day brand, but in this case, they knocked it out of the park with one of the best ice creams for wintertime licking.
Read the full ranking of the best peppermint ice cream
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- Mikawaya Vanilla Mochi Ice Cream
Call us boring, but we stand behind our opinion that Mikawaya’s vanilla mochi ice cream is the best mochi ice cream you can buy. “The vanilla flavor in these is big and bold without being overpowering,” Gwynedd wrote in her review. And that flavor contrasts against the mild, marshmallow-y flavor of the mochi coating. These little cupcake-shaped mochi treats are well worth getting your fingers all powdery.
Read the full review of the best mochi ice cream
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Instacart
- The Original Klondike Bar
Sometimes originals just can’t be beat. Such is the case with the Klondike Bar. The classic combo of vanilla ice cream and the thin chocolate coating cannot be bested. Klondike Bars are one of the best ice cream treats you can hold, and the classic chocolate-vanilla flavor is the best of the best.
Read the full ranking of the best Klondike Bar flavors
Credit: Merc / Klondike
Best Vanilla
Rating:
10/10
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Best Chocolate
Rating:
10/10
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Best Cookies & Cream
Rating:
10/10
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Best Mint Chocolate Chip
Rating:
10/10
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Best Coffee
Rating:
9.5/10
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Best Strawberry
Rating:
9.5/10
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Best Ben & Jerry’s Flavor
Rating:
10/10
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Best Dairy-Free
Rating:
10/10
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Best Cookie Dough
Rating:
10/10
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Best Ice Cream Sandwich
Rating:
10/10
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Best Keto
Rating:
8.5/10
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Best Talenti
Rating:
10/10
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Best Aldi Ice Cream
Rating:
10/10
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Best Sundae Cone
Rating:
10/10
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Best Pumpkin Ice Cream
Rating:
10/10
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Best Peppermint Ice Cream
Rating:
10/10
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Best Mochi Ice Cream
Rating:
10/10
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Best Klondike Bar
Rating:
10/10
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About the Author
Sporked Staff
The Sporked Staff tastes everything and anything. They are obsessive about groceries and finding the best of any type of food or drink, from frozen fried shrimp to Dijon mustard to gummy candy. And they're always on a hunt for the best new products. When they aren't eating professionally, they're eating recreationally. And often they're browsing grocery store aisles, just for fun.
