I Tried 7 Vanilla Ice Creams, and There Was 1 Clear Winner

Meet the creamiest of the crop from our store-bought vanilla ice cream taste test.

I had a co-worker who once told me that vanilla ice cream was, in her words, “too simple.” Too simple? That comment made me laugh, because I don’t view simplicity as a bad thing. In fact, I believe that the simplest food can be the best food. And whether it’s homemade vanilla ice cream or store-bought, its “basic-ness” is one of the reasons I love it so much. It can adapt, with the addition of surprising toppings, or be transformed into an incredible frozen dessert, and also just be itself in the perfect way that only vanilla ice cream can. It’s why I was excited to taste test seven popular brands and share my favorite with you.

How I Chose the Ice Creams

I chose vanilla ice cream only and avoided any specialty varieties (no vanilla bean or other fancy-sounding modifier). 

How I Tested the Ice Creams

When it came to sampling, I had someone else scoop the ice cream into bowls so that there was no bias in the decision-making. My testers and I observed not just flavor, but also texture, since eating ice cream is also a sensory experience. We found a favorite, but also a few good runners-up. Here are the results.

The Best Store-Bought Vanilla Ice Creams, Ranked

7th Place: Kemps

The first thing we noticed about this ice cream was its color. Unlike the others, which were all white, this ice cream was a creamy yellow-orange color. A quick glance at the ingredient list (after testing of course) revealed why—eggs! Once we’d gotten over the initial color shock, we took a bite and weren’t impressed. It tasted like a cross between custard and sweetened condensed milk. That was okay, but it didn’t deliver on that vanilla flavor we were after. The texture was fine, but we all agreed this wasn’t our vanilla ice cream winner. 

6th Place: Trader Joe’s

The ice cream looked pretty at first glance and had nice flecks of vanilla. After sampling though, we all agreed it was too sweet, which overpowered any vanilla flavor. We appreciated its creamy texture, but overall the ice cream was underwhelming and mostly average.

5th Place: Aldi

We all liked that this ice cream wasn’t overly sweet. One tester even claimed that it was “sweet enough.” Like Trader Joe’s, it had pretty flecks of vanilla and was creamy, but there wasn’t anything special about it that “wowed” us. My recommendation: Save this one for birthday parties. It would be the perfect ice cream companion for sugar-laden birthday cake slices.

4th Place: Tillamook

If you’re looking for the creamiest, smoothest, richest ice cream, this is it. The texture is, as one tester called it, “luxurious.” Each bite was creamy and smooth, which was awesome. The problem is that it tasted nothing like vanilla. More like frozen sweet cream. Delicious, but it didn’t give us the vanilla flavor we were after. While not the top vanilla pick, we agreed that it would be excellent alongside a piece of berry or cherry pie.

3rd Place:  Breyers

Another vanilla bean-flecked ice cream, this one actually delivered decent vanilla flavor. It was smooth and creamy and had a good level of sweetness. It hit all the marks, but couldn’t beat out the top two on the list. I’d buy it again, but would grab a jar of hot fudge (or whip up some homemade) for drizzling over the top. 

2nd Place: Ben & Jerry’s

Without knowing it was Ben & Jerry’s, I just knew it was Ben & Jerry’s. Maybe because I’ve sampled plenty of the brand's ice cream. My testers didn’t seem to know though, so I looked to them for their thoughts. One tester exclaimed, “I love it! It tastes just like the stuff you get from the ice cream shop!” Touché, tester, touché! Another tester liked the subtle vanilla flavor and the smooth, creamy texture. We all agreed we’d happily stock this one in our freezer. 

Winner: Häagen-Dazs

It’s the kind of ice cream you want to eat right out of the carton, and it’s so good that it doesn’t need anything else. We were unanimous in our decision to bestow first place on this ice cream. Not only did it deliver on texture and creaminess, but it had the best vanilla flavor out of all of the brands. Plus, it was perfectly sweet, and we never got tired of tasting it.

Read the original article on All Recipes.