The best vanilla ice cream, according to our taste test of 12 top brands
Sixteen Yahoo staffers tasted grocery-store vanilla ice creams from Trader Joe's, Häagen-Dazs, Ben & Jerry's, Breyers and more. These were the creamiest, richest and most vanilla-forward scoops.
Our experts independently review everything we recommend. If you buy through our links, we may earn commission.
Eat enough vanilla ice cream, and you'll realize this flavor is anything but boring. Depending on the brand, vanilla can taste rich and custardy, light and airy or marshmallowy sweet, with everything from pronounced vanilla bean flecks to subtle floral notes. Based on our testing, the best vanilla ice cream is Trader Joe's French Vanilla — its creaminess, sweetness and authentic vanilla flavor kept us reaching for another spoonful.
In this story
How did we land on this top pick? To find the very best store-bought vanilla ice cream, I organized a blind taste test at Yahoo's New York City office featuring a dozen nationally available brands, including Häagen-Dazs, Ben & Jerry's and Breyers (sorry, no Blue Bell in this test!). Sixteen staffers, including a former Food Network producer, a professional baker-turned-writer and several self-described ice cream fanatics, sampled each contender and scored them on flavor, texture and overall appeal.
And though Trader Joe's French Vanilla Ice Cream emerged as the winner, we also found standout options for different vanilla lovers. Whether you prefer your ice cream rich and eggy, light and refreshing or packed with vanilla bean specks, there's a scoop here with your name on it.
Best vanilla ice creams of 2026
Rating:14.9/20
The budget grocery store chain earned the highest score in our taste test for its luscious French vanilla ice cream. Three-quarters of our panel praised its creamy texture, with one taster saying it reminded them of gelato. Testers also loved its pale yellow hue, a hallmark of French vanilla ice cream, which is made with egg yolks. "It even looks creamy," one panelist remarked.
Trader Joe's French Vanilla Ice Cream keeps things simple, with just eight ingredients: cream, milk, cane sugar, egg yolks, natural vanilla flavor and a stabilizer blend of carob bean gum, guar gum and sugar. That streamlined ingredient list may help explain its impressive texture. As one tester put it, "Didn't melt quickly. Photo-quality."
Our panel was slightly more divided on flavor. Some found the sweetness perfectly balanced, while others wanted a bit more or a bit less. In fact, two runners-up edged out Trader Joe's by just 0.1 point in the flavor category. What ultimately secured its win was its rich, luxurious creaminess. If you're looking for an ice cream to sandwich between cookies or pile onto a warm brownie, this is the one to buy.
- Rich and creamy
- Made with natural vanilla flavor
- Appealing yellow tint
- Affordable
- Some thought the flavor was too sweet/artificial
- Only available at Trader Joe's
Rating:14.1/20
Having worked at a food magazine for six years (I've been lucky enough to have written about — and sampled! — a lot of ice cream), I'm not at all surprised this supermarket standby made it to the top of our tasting. It's a classic for a reason, and although Häagen-Dazs also makes a Vanilla Bean flavor, which we tested, this one won out thanks to its authentic, slightly floral vanilla flavor and soft, melt-in-your-mouth scoops.
Noted one taste-tester, "Really nice homemade taste, just a little unbalanced." Some described this one as "icy," which may explain why the first tester felt things were slightly off. On the other hand, a few testers found the frosty quality enjoyable. "Great combo of icy and creamy," commented one fan.
This ice cream contains just cream, skim milk, cane sugar, egg yolks and vanilla extract. And our testers could tell: "Very kid-friendly. Tastes like it's made with real ingredients," praised one.
- Made with just five ingredients
- Rated highest with flavor (tied with ice cream below)
- Many testers liked the off-white color
- Available pretty much everywhere
- Most testers missed seeing flecks of vanilla bean
- Might be too icy for some
Rating:14.1/20
Long gone are the days when you could only buy Van Leeuwen ice cream from a truck roaming the streets of New York City. The luxe ice cream brand now lines the freezer cases of many grocery stores, as well as Target and Walmart. And it's a satisfying scoop, according to our testing panel.
"Best of the bunch," proclaimed the former pro baker, who also detected a hint of salt, which she said made this ice cream taste "more well-rounded." And in fact, it's our only top pick to include this ingredient, which adds to its sophisticated flavor.
"Almost a little savory," added another fan, who'd pair it with fruit or chocolate. Our testers also appreciated the creamy, slightly yellow color (derived, as with the other ice creams above, from egg yolks) and specks of vanilla bean. Not everyone was a fan, though. A couple of our panelists gave it middling marks, saying it tasted too milky/buttery.
- Scored highest for flavor (tying with Häagen-Dazs above)
- Most well-rounded taste
- Looks yummy, with flecks of vanilla bean
- Available in lots of grocery stores
- Pricey
- A couple of testers thought it tasted too milky/buttery
Rating:13.9/20
Turkey Hill offers a mystifying four varieties of vanilla that all taste quite different, according to customer reviews: French Vanilla, Homemade Vanilla, Original Vanilla and Vanilla Bean. Of the two we tested (Vanilla Bean and French Vanilla), this took the top spot, and it also made an impressive showing against many other brands.
Tasters loved the way it looked, with its smattering of vanilla bean flecks. "10/10 — perfectly white with some specks," noted one fan. It didn't fare as well on flavor. Some thought it tasted just the right amount of sweet, while others found it artificial. This panelist summed it up best: "Good, not great. A little fro-yo vibe, a bit artificial."
This might be partially due to the lower fat content. Turkey Hill's Vanilla Bean contains 170 calories and 9 grams of fat per serving, about half the amount of our top Trader Joe's pick.
- Extremely appealing look, with flecks of vanilla bean
- Lower in calories and fat than our other top picks
- Available pretty much everywhere
- Affordable
- Some testers found it lacking in flavor or thought it tasted artificial
- Contains 13 ingredients, including corn syrup
Rating:13.6/20
Most of us probably recognize this black container from childhood. I generally wasn't allowed to eat dessert as a kid, but even my health-conscious mom would treat us to Breyer's every once in a while. The vanilla tasted just as I remembered it, with a pleasant sweetness that tastes, for lack of a better description, cold.
Not everyone loved the flavor, but Breyer's did nab the fourth-highest score, thanks mostly to its appearance. "I like the vanilla bean specks. Felt authentic," noted one tester. It includes only five ingredients: milk, cream, sugar, vegetable gum and natural flavor.
- Made with only five ingredients
- Testers thought it looked like the perfect vanilla ice cream
- Not everyone was sold on the flavor
How we tested vanilla ice cream
To find the best vanilla ice cream, I gathered 16 Yahoo staffers who proudly consider themselves ice cream snobs, including a former professional baker and a former Food Network producer. Yahoo's kitchen writer, a culinary school graduate, and I, a former food magazine editor, ran the taste test. To eliminate brand bias, we scooped each ice cream into bowls labeled only with a letter.
Then came the fun part. Testers sampled the ice creams in random order and completed a scoring rubric, rating the following on a scale of 1 to 5, for a total possible score of 20:
-
Flavor
-
Texture
-
Appearance
-
Overall enjoyment
We also asked them to share any thoughts, observations or strong opinions along the way. As expected, preferences varied. What some panelists considered perfectly sweet, others found bland. But a few clear favorites emerged, and once we averaged the scores, the winners were hard to miss. To make sure our picks would work for readers nationwide, we also considered shopper ratings, reviews and availability.
Vanilla ice creams were served blind in lettered bowls at Yahoo's NYC office
Other vanilla ice creams we tested
Ben & Jerry's Vanilla :This pick has earned high marks in other stories about the best vanilla ice creams, so I was surprised that it didn't do better in our taste test. Though some loved the very vanilla flavor, others thought it had a strange aftertaste.
Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean: Considering how well the brand's plain vanilla ice cream did, this version was an unexpected dud. It scored lowest in flavor, likely because most of our testers found it too sweet. A few said it reminded them of other foods entirely, including bubblegum, a root beer float and ... flavored oatmeal!
Tillamook Old-Fashioned Vanilla :This ice cream, from a century-old Oregon dairy company, landed in the middle of our testing pool. Several testers described it as "icy," whereas others appreciated the subtle vanilla flavoring.
365 Whole Foods Vanilla :Whole Foods' house brand ice cream was almost orange in color, which threw off a lot of our testers and led to some pretty odd comparisons. "Not appealing! Looks like a Creamsicle," noted one. Another said the color was reminiscent of a hard-boiled egg yolk.
Battle of the grocery store brands: Whole Foods' excessively yellow vanilla ice cream (left) paled in comparison to Trader Joe's creamy, off-white version. (Nicole Sforza/Yahoo)
Favorite Day Vanilla Bean :Another middle-of-the-pack ice cream, this one, from Target's house brand, scored high for flavor but did just so-so in all other categories. Almost every tester called it "fluffy" or "icy," which proved polarizing.
Edy's Vanilla :(FYI, if you live in the western U.S., you'll know this brand as Dreyer's.) The flavor scores for this pick were all over the place. "Subtle but sweet," enthused a fan who awarded it four points; "Has a weird, chalky aftertaste," wrote a far less happy tester, who gave it zero.
Turkey Hill French Vanilla :Most testers thought this vanilla ice cream was too sweet and artificial-tasting. It also struck out on appearance: "Good scoop but weird khaki yellow color," as one panelist put it.
Vanilla ice cream FAQs
What brand has the best vanilla ice cream?
If our taste test is any indication, the best vanilla ice cream comes from Trader Joe's. Its French Vanilla Ice Cream earned the highest overall score thanks to its rich, creamy texture and crowd-pleasing flavor.
Don't live near a Trader Joe's? We also loved Häagen-Dazs Vanilla and Van Leeuwen Vanilla Bean, both of which delivered excellent flavor and texture. Any of these three would be a worthy addition to your freezer.
What type of vanilla ice cream has the most vanilla flavor?
Look for ice cream that lists natural vanilla flavor and/or real vanilla extract among its ingredients. For vanilla ice cream that's rich and custardy, make sure it also includes egg yolks, which is a hallmark of French vanilla.
Editor-approved scoops, bowls and more
Prefer to go the DIY route? True to its name, this clever contraption consists of two mugs that you churn ice cream in, using a detachable motor. Its user-friendly design is perfect for anyone who's dipping their toe into homemade ice cream, and cleanup is also a breeze — just rinse the mugs, paddle and mixer shield with soapy water and wipe down the motor.
This aluminum ice cream scoop has been around since 1935 and is a favorite of many pros, including Tyler Malek, cofounder of Salt & Straw ice cream, and Christina Seid, owner of Chinatown Ice Cream Factory . The handle is filled with liquid that captures the warmth of your hand and flows down to the scoop to ensure easy scooping and releasing. It works so well, we named it one of the best ice cream scoops of 2026 .
In testing, our resident kitchenware tester, Lisa Schweitzer, found it comfortable to hold and effective, especially when you're dealing with near-frozen pints. It creates "near-perfect orbs," she noted.
A Yahoo reader favorite, these stainless steel bowls boast an impressive 4.7-star rating from more than 1,300 Amazon reviewers. I've also put them to the test, and while they won't keep your ice cream frozen indefinitely, they do slow the melting process compared with a standard paper bowl. In my informal experiment, two scoops of ice cream held their shape noticeably longer in the insulated bowl; after about 15 minutes, one scoop was still mostly intact, while the ice cream in the paper bowl had nearly melted completely.
What really won me over, though, is how lightweight and durable these bowls are. They're also just the right size for a generous serving of ice cream — about three scoops, give or take. And let's be honest: Is there really such a thing as too much ice cream?
Prefer a paddle-shaped scoop? Live out your Cold Stone Creamery dreams with this Norpro spade, another of our top picks for the best ice cream scoop . Its simple and sleek design works best for cartons larger than a pint. "This tool is built for speed as opposed to creating uniform orbs of ice cream," explained Schweitzer.
She also added that it's easy to hold, and like the Zeroll, it has defrosting fluid in the handle to help make scooping hard ice cream easier.
These pretty glass bowls will make any ice cream feel like a special treat, with emphasis on the special. Schweitzer used them when she was testing the Swirl by Ninja Creami soft serve maker and found them utterly delightful. The scalloped design looks like something straight out of a 1950s soda shop, doesn't it? These babies are also dishwasher- and freezer-safe, and at $5 a pop, you can't beat the price.
Did you know there's such a thing as ice cream spoons? I admit they're by no means an essential kitchen tool, but they're certainly fun to have! Like our favorite ice cream paddle, these utensils have blunt edges that help you dig into frozen scoops. The colorful handles scream "ice cream party" and make it easy to keep track of who's eating what.
Don't let your go-to pint melt on the go. Just like S'well's excellent water bottles , this triple-layered, vacuum-insulated canister will keep contents cold for hours (up to four, if you want to get specific). When not on sale, it's pricey, you can't really put a value on an ice-cold pint of the good stuff when you're out at the beach or park.
Update, July 16, 2026: We checked all product prices and availability and added a pick for best old-school vanilla ice cream, based on our testing.
