Best Brands of Vanilla Ice Cream Ranked Worst to Best

2. Haagen-Dazs… Rich But With A Cost

Haagen-Dazs is not as old nor as foreign as one might think. In the 1960s, two Polish immigrants selling ice cream at their relatives’ Bronx lemon ice shop came up with a fake Danish-sounding name but ignored Danish pronunciation rules. This ice cream has a fancy reputation, but does it hold up to such high expectations?

Flavor: Surprisingly, it doesn’t have a very strong vanilla taste, though out of all of the ice creams, the vanilla flavor lasts the longest on the tongue. However, for a more robust, in-your-face vanilla flavor, their vanilla bean ice cream would be a better buy.

Texture: It has a great texture, velvety and smooth, not separating as it softens. When it did soften, it had the consistency of soft serve ice cream.

Richness: Of all of the ice creams tested, it was the richest. The ice cream tasted as if it had a lot of milk fats in the base, making for a decadent dessert experience. Haagen-Das was creamy, never having any crystalized or granular grittiness, it was smooth in all states of hard, softened, and melted.

Price: High. Ranging anywhere from mid $4.50 to over $5 for just 14 ounces, it was the most money per ounce.

1. Perry’s… The Goldilocks of Vanillas

Perry’s has been run and operated by the same family for four generations in a town outside of Buffalo New York. Perry’s accounts for a small portion of the ice cream aisle, but they dominate most of the hard ice cream sold at ice cream stands or retail shops spanning from New England and as far as eastern Ohio.

Flavor: There is a strong vanilla flavor, without being sweet. Like Friendly’s ice cream, it had a yolky color which may or may not have added to a placebo perception of an intense vanilla taste. But out of all of the ice creams, it had the strongest natural vanilla flavoring.

Texture: This is one of the richer of the ice creams, and is easy to soften, but it melted into almost a thick and luscious cream sauce (which is never a bad thing, it tasted equally as delicious and could be a great cream sauce with a slice of pie). Outside of the Haagen-Dazs, it was one of the smoothest of the ice creams tested.

Richness: This ice cream is rich, but unlike the Haagen-Dazs, it wasn’t too creamy. It borders the line on being creamy, but not uncomfortably rich.

Price: This was the second most expensive brand pricing at $6 or over for 1.5 quarts (48 ounces).

There you have it! Perry’s takes first place. Here’s our ranking for each category.

Flavor: Perry’s, Haagen-Dazs, Breyer’s, Friendly’s, Store Brand
Texture: Perry’s, Haagen-Dazs, Friendly’s, Breyers, Store Brand
Richness: Haagen-Dazs, Perry’s Friendly’s, Breyers, Store Brand
Price (cheapest to most expensive): Store Brand, Friendly’s, Breyers, Perry’s, Haagen-Dazs

What’s your favorite vanilla ice cream?