We Tasted 9 Chocolate Ice Creams, and Our Favorite Will Surprise You

Who doesn't have a few pints of ice cream in the freezer for when the craving strikes? If it's not vanilla that you have on hand, it's likely chocolate. And the ideal chocolate ice cream has to deliver on the chocolate flavor, whether dark or milk chocolate, dairy-free or regular—if it says chocolate it better mean it.

While everyone has their favorite brand, the freezer aisle is loaded with over a dozen varieties of chocolate ice cream, and there are likely a few you haven't gotten around to trying. Don't worry, we did the tough job of sampling nine of them for you.

In a blind taste test our editors determined an overall favorite that was rich and creamy, super chocolatey, and without hot fudge or extra toppings, wowed us.

How We Tested

Six of our editors did a blind taste test of nine different store-bought chocolate ice creams to determine which brand is our favorite. I scooped all nine ice creams out of their cartons and into numbered bowls, so nobody knew which was which.

Every editor tasted and then ranked each ice cream on a 0 to 5 scale, recording their impressions of each brand based on flavor, appearance, and texture. After sampling all of the ice creams, each editor selected an overall favorite. I tallied up all the overall favorites to find which brand was most loved.

Chocolate Ice Cream Brands We Tried

• Edy's Chocolate
• Häagen-Dazs Chocolate
• Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate
• Talenti Belgian Chocolate Gelato
• Breyers Extra Creamy Chocolate
• Jeni's Darkest Chocolate
• Publix Premium Classic Chocolate
• Mayfield Chocolate
• Tillamook Chocolate

The Contenders

Recognize one you eat regularly? You may be surprised by how we ranked it.

Edy's Chocolate

While Edy's was nobody's favorite, it also wasn't anybody's least favorite. Editors all said it had a decent chocolate flavor and was creamy, but one editor felt it was icy and thought that compared to the others, it fell flat.

Häagen Dazs Chocolate

Although considered one of the premium brands at the grocery store, Häagen-Dazs came off as pretty average to most of our editors, which took everyone by surprise. Many noted it melted quite quickly; others found it too milky. One editor found the aftertaste to be very off-putting.

Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate

This one split the editors. Some rated it as high as a four, while others thought it was a one. Those who ranked it lower, found it bland and foamy, very pale in color, and thought it tasted low-fat, which it is not. One editor thought it might be good for a milkshake, but didn't love it on its own. On the higher end of the scale, editors praised it for its light texture and more subtle chocolate flavor.

Talenti Belgian Chocolate Gelato

This was one of our lower-ranking candidates. Many editors described the taste as tangy and not very chocolatey. They all noted how pale in color it was in comparison to other ice creams. Only one editor ranked it slightly higher on the scale, enjoying how creamy and sweet it was.

Breyer's Extra Creamy Chocolate

Many editors were surprised when I revealed which ice cream this was, as many considered it a childhood staple. Most editors ranked it as good, but not great. One editor called it a little lackluster, despite being decently creamy. Two editors said they disliked the aftertaste this ice cream left in their mouth.

Jeni's Darkest Chocolate

This ice cream also split the editors, with a little less than half of them ranking it very low at a one and the other half ranking it very high, at a four or five. Everyone noted how it was the darkest colored ice cream of the nine sampled, some disliking how dark and deep the chocolate flavor was. One editor who ranked it lower found it to be icy, while the editor who gave it a 5 found it rich, creamy, and dense in a good way.

Publix Premium Classic Chocolate

This ice cream was ranked all over the place, with editors giving it everything in between a one and a five. One editor found its chocolate flavor to be balanced, while another felt it tasted the most like vanilla somehow. Another editor likened its flavor to a Tootsie Roll, describing it as nice but too sweet.

Mayfield Chocolate

The texture is what the editors noted most about this ice cream. One editor loved how light and fluffy it was, while another wished it had a richer, denser texture and a less artificial flavor. Overall, it was ranked as a pretty classic chocolate ice cream, creamy and not too chocolatey.

Tillamook Chocolate

Much like Mayfield's chocolate ice cream, everyone found this ice cream to be very light and fluffy—too fluffy for at least one editor that disliked its whipped texture. Other editors gave it a five, finding it perfectly smooth with a milk chocolate taste that reminded them of chocolate milk.

And The Winner Is...

Jeni's Darkest Chocolate

The winner seemed to come as no surprise to most editors, many of whom were delighted to find that Jeni's took the number one spot. Four of the six editors ranked Jeni's their overall favorite of the group, with Tillamook winning the other two editors' top pick.

One editor noted that Jeni's had the most robust chocolate flavor and was "delightfully dense." Another editor said it was the winner by a long shot, with a chocolate flavor that lingered and a creamy, smooth texture.

It turns out chocolate ice cream can be a bit divisive. Some prefer a milk chocolate flavor, and others want it as dark as possible. Some want a light and airy chocolate ice cream and others want it super dense and rich. There were a few surprising upsets, like Häagen-Dazs ranking fairly average, but it was nice to confirm the hype behind Jeni's is real.