Brands Of Vanilla Ice Cream Ranked From Worst To Best

Vanilla is often seen as an ice cream flavor for people who don't take risks. Taste-wise, it's reliable and it doesn't shout at the top of its lungs, so people view it as a blank canvas for other flavors that are more intense. But let's not forget that vanilla ice cream has a gentle complexity and velvety decadence that can make it a standalone star.

With all the brands of vanilla ice cream available at grocery chains, how are you supposed to choose the best options? I've compiled a lineup of vanilla ice creams and nondairy frozen desserts produced by brands that range from artisanal confectioners to budget-friendly classics, and tasted them scoop by scoop to bring you the definitive list of the best varieties out there. Each one was evaluated for its flavor, texture, and how well it conveyed that subtle, authentic kiss of real vanilla. I also did a bit of research to find out more about the quality of the ingredients used, product availability, and whether each brand offers more than one kind of vanilla ice cream.

Whether you're topping a hot slice of apple pie or eating it straight out of the carton, this list will guide you to the best brands of vanilla ice cream stocked in the grocery store freezer aisle. No longer is vanilla a byword for boring! 

The main ingredients that make up most ice creams are sugar and milk, so when you take both of those away, it's not easy to end up with a product that resembles ice cream. When I went to take the first scoop of So Delicious Vanilla Bean Coconutmilk Frozen Dessert, this dairy-free confection was so hard and brittle that it broke off in chunks and shards. The texture was hard and chalky, and didn't at all resemble the rich creaminess of a quality ice cream. 

The dessert did contain flecks of vanilla beans, and there was a vague vanilla flavor, but it was mostly lost behind the taste of coconut milk. Instead of added sugar, So Delicious uses erythritol, a sweetener that made this product taste artificial. And eating too much erythritol can cause digestive issues like bloating, so tread lightly if you're having this dessert. 

So Delicious also carries other vanilla-flavored frozen desserts that are made with added sugar, which I imagine taste better. This brand is focused solely on nondairy ice creams, and all of the ingredients used in their products are non-GMO and vegan. It's also widely available in grocery stores, so while I found this couldn't compete with classic dairy-based vanilla ice cream, if you're a vegan with a sweet tooth, it could be worthwhile to check out other So Delicious products. 

Turkey Hill is the dairy-based ice cream on this list that tastes the least like vanilla, which is why it ranks so low on the list. It's creamy and scoopable, and it has little flecks of vanilla bean, so I thought it might be a great budget option ... but the vanilla flavor is frustratingly absent. It's cold and creamy, and for some people who only like vanilla ice cream as a sideshow, that may be enough. But for a discerning vanilla lover, this ice cream missed the mark.

Call me a snob, but vanilla ice cream is not the place for artificial flavors; vanilla itself has such a delicate, wonderful, warm, floral taste. The ingredients list on this ice cream is one of the longer ones, with corn syrup, caramel color, and cellulose gel all listed. These are perfectly safe ingredients, but a great ice cream lets the basic ingredients speak for themselves, and doesn't need so many additives — a problem shared across varying flavors of this brand's ice cream. Turkey Hill was among the fluffier confections on this list, so while it may be cheap for the volume of ice cream you get, it's also full of air.

I'm not the only one with a less-than-glowing review of this brand. In 2019, Turkey Hill was sued due to a claim that it misrepresented the source of flavoring for its vanilla ice cream. 

Oat milk is steadily becoming more popular, and Oatly is now a major player in the alternative-milk game with its range of products based on oat milk, including a vegan version of ice cream (or, as the company is required to call it, "frozen dessert"). Some people contend that the best nondairy ice creams are made of oat milk. This might be true for confections with more intense flavors like chocolate and coffee, where the flavor of oat milk can play a supporting role — but because vanilla is such a subtle flavor, it gets totally lost behind the taste of oat milk here. I want to be clear: This frozen dessert isn't bad, it just doesn't taste like vanilla ice cream. 

This pint does contain both vanilla extract and vanilla bean, and I appreciate the effort Oatly put into the product, but it's not enough. Also, because oat milk is mostly made of water, the texture is very icy. It's fluffy and easy to scoop, but it's conspicuously lacking the hallmark creaminess that makes a great vanilla ice cream. If you love oat milk and you don't mind an ice cream that tastes like oat milk, then this may be a good pick — but if you want that rich vanilla taste, keep looking. 

Thanks to its signature see-through packaging, a jar of Talenti gelato might win a beauty contest. I had high hopes when setting sight on the brand's Madagascan Vanilla Bean gelato, with its rich color and generous flecks of ground vanilla beans shining through. But you need more than attractive packaging to make a great vanilla ice cream. When I took my first bite, the flavor was decidedly odd. A vanilla ice cream should be smooth and subtle, but here the vanilla taste was earthy, to the point of being a little bitter. 

Talenti proudly points out that it makes gelato, not ice cream, which means that the product is more dense than the most of the confections on this list, and I appreciated this aspect. But this gelato didn't have the smooth, velvety texture that I was looking for. Instead, there's an icy, grainy mouthfeel. Given Talenti's classy presentation, I felt a bit misled by the quality of this gelato. While it's in the middle of the pack in terms of price, there are cheaper options that are higher in quality.

Talenti makes many different types of gelato, and their Madagascan Vanilla Bean flavor is used as a base for some of their more creative concoctions, like Vanilla Caramel Swirl and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Despite the occasional struggle with how to open a stuck jar of Talenti gelato, I've had luck with the brand's more far-fetched flavors, so it may be worth giving them a try. 

If you're in a pinch and you need vanilla ice cream, Breyer's is a solid option ... but I'm not raving about it. Its most redeeming qualities are that it's available at most major grocery stores, and it's pretty inexpensive. The flavor of the brand's classic Natural Vanilla variety is just fine, but the taste of vanilla bean is barely discernible, making it taste more like a sweet-cream ice cream than vanilla bean. There are vanilla bean flecks in the ice cream, which signal the inclusion of vanilla, but they do more for the visual aspect than for the flavor itself.

The other issue with this ice cream is that it's icier than most of the brands I tried. Although the ingredients list is impressively simple and it doesn't include artificial additives, this ice cream's texture is a bit grainy, making it feel less rich and decadent than some of the other confections I tried. Unlike other Breyer's dessert flavors, which don't contain enough milk and cream to bear the name "ice cream," this flavor of Breyer's ice cream is the real deal. 

For a widely available, super-reliable choice that's going to give you some bang for your buck, grab a carton of Edy's Vanilla Ice Cream. The brand — long affiliated with Dreyer's — has been around for almost a century, and it's known for classic flavor offerings. The 1.5-quart tub this is sold in is larger than most of the options on this list, but it's not as dense as some of the higher-end brands. That said, the texture is buttery and fluffy, easy to scoop, and super-creamy.

The main issue I had with Edy's is that it doesn't pack enough vanilla flavor. It's a delicious ice cream, but it tastes a bit plain. This might make it perfect to top a hot dessert like pie or a perfect fruit crumble — but when eaten alone, this lacks the earthy, warm, floral vanilla aroma that's stronger in some of the other picks. That said, it's a lot of ice cream for a reasonable price, so if you're throwing a dinner party or feeding a family, this is a great option. Edy's also offers a "Slow Churned" vanilla confection, which has less fat and calories than the original ice cream. 

Making a delicious nondairy vanilla ice cream is not an easy feat. Many plant-based milks have a more pronounced taste than the fairly neutral flavor of dairy milk, and since vanilla ice cream has an especially delicate flavor profile, a nondairy milk's taste can easily become overpowering within the confection. While the flavor of coconut milk in Cosmic Bliss Madagascan Vanilla Bean frozen dessert is present, it's not intense enough to fully eclipse the vanilla, making it the top pick among this list's nondairy options.

Coconut has a high fat content, so it's a great replacement for the cream that gives ice cream its name and rich flavor. However, I wouldn't recommend this pint to anyone who doesn't love coconut, because that's still the dominant flavor. Flecks of real vanilla beans dot the perfectly white backdrop of coconut milk, and the gently floral flavor comes through. Texture-wise, though, this confection fairly closely replicates the dense, creamy, luxurious mouthfeel of a quality dairy-based vanilla ice cream. 

Cosmic Bliss is also committed to using high-quality organic ingredients and is committed to sustainable practices. It's a little pricier than your average ice cream, and it's not as widely available as some of the bigger names on this list — but if you're looking for a delicious plant-based substitute for vanilla ice cream, Cosmic Bliss is a great option. 

Alden's Organic Vanilla Bean Ice Cream is proof that quality ice cream made with organic ingredients doesn't have to be fancy. Sure, it's a bit pricier than some of the budget options, but Alden's takes an ethical approach to making ice cream, with an organic list of ingredients that are GMO-free and don't include any artificial flavorings or colors. This works well because vanilla is such a subtle flavor, and good vanilla ice cream relies on a roster of high-quality ingredients to support it.

The texture of this is smooth and scoopable, although it feels like there's a bit of air mixed in to give the ice cream more volume. The first thing you notice when you peel back the lid is the generous amount of dark-brown vanilla bean flecks, which visually convey the warm flavor of vanilla you're about to enjoy. There's nothing flashy about this carton of ice cream, but it's a reliable pick for those who look for solid ingredients at a reasonable price point. 

Tillamook is where value meets quality. One of the less-expensive ice creams on the list, this carton of frozen decadence is also one of the best. Tillamook has been around for over 100 years, and the company offers all sorts of dairy products, from cheese to yogurt to sour cream. This experience shows when you take your first bite of this intensely creamy, flavorful French vanilla ice cream.

What sets French vanilla apart from regular vanilla is the inclusion of egg yolks, which gives the Gallic version a deeper, more nuanced flavor and a slightly yellow hue. I wasn't bothered that this ice cream lacked the flecks of vanilla bean present in some of the other brands, because I could taste the vanilla come through here in all its subtle complexity. Tillamook ice cream also comes in a larger-sized container than many other brands. The standard 1.5 quart cartons are enough to satisfy a whole family (or one greedy food writer). Tillamook's texture isn't as dense as some of the other options, which makes this bit easier to scoop, but also causes it to melt faster. 

With its characteristically subtle flavor, vanilla ice cream is all about the balance between sweetness and richness, which Häagen-Dazs strikes perfectly with this vanilla bean variety. When removing the lid, the first thing I noticed were the flecks of real ground vanilla beans, which provide a nice contrast with the off-white color of the ice cream itself. The ingredients list is super short, containing just cream, milk, egg yolks, cane sugar, and vanilla — and the confection shines in its simplicity.

While some vanilla ice creams are only good enough to play second fiddle to a slice of pie, a scoop of this ice cream can be savored on its own. The vanilla flavor comes through, elevated by the perfectly rich, creamy texture. Häagen-Dazs is also denser than the average ice cream, which gives it a richer taste and texture.

In addition to this vanilla bean ice cream, Häagen-Dazs offers a standard vanilla flavor that doesn't contain ground vanilla beans, so it's pure white. You can find Häagen-Dazs at grocery stores across the country, and among the widely available options on this list, it's the best. 

Simplicity can triumph when it's perfectly executed, which is exactly what happened in Van Leeuwen Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. While the brand carries a lot of wild, experimental flavors (such as Van Leeuwen's Grey Poupon ice cream), this vanilla variety is a testament to the solid fundamentals of the company's production process. Van Leeuwen makes a French-style ice cream, which uses more egg yolks than the average American ice cream, and gives it a super-creamy texture and extra hint of velvety richness.

Cane sugar provides just enough sweetness to complement the buttery texture, and vanilla extract provides a hint of floral flavor that goes perfectly with the ice cream's milky base. Vanilla beans are also used, and little flecks of dark brown adorn the ice cream's attractive pale-yellow color. Unlike most ice creams on this list, this one contains salt as well as sugar, giving it a bit of added complexity. It's denser than most ice creams on the list, so you've really got to put in some effort to dig out a scoop — but the work is well worthwhile when every bite melts in your mouth. 

For this taste test, I rounded up a range of ice cream and frozen dessert brands, from fancy-looking artisanal pints to budget cartons. I also wanted to include a variety of dairy and nondairy options, and I was mindful to include brands that are available at grocery stores across the country.

When it came to evaluating each brand, taste was obviously the most important criterion. I was looking for a subtle but distinct warm and floral vanilla flavor couched in a creamy milk taste. Next, I assessed the texture — paying attention to the creaminess, smoothness, and overall mouthfeel — while looking for ice creams that melted luxuriously without being icy or gummy. For each brand, I also noted the ingredients used, and finally, I looked for value, comparing each ice cream's price with its quality to get a sense of how to get the most bang for my buck.