Ranking Chocolate Ice Cream From 11 Popular Brands

Remember when there was only one brand of ice cream at the grocery store? Okay, maybe there was never just one, but there definitely weren't as many ice cream brands as there are now. These days, a large number of companies seem to be churning out all sorts of ice cream flavors, which can be incredibly overwhelming for consumers. And if you're a chocolate lover, finding a cold, sweet, fudgy treat can be especially daunting since virtually every brand has its own interpretation of chocolate ice cream.

So, we gathered a group of ice cream fanatics for an end-all-be-all taste test to find the best chocolate ice cream worth stocking in our freezers. We rolled up our sleeves, put on some stretchy pants, and headed to the grocery store — cooler in hand — to pick up some contenders.

For the test, we agreed on criteria for what makes chocolate ice cream truly outstanding. The combination of chocolate, sugar, and cream should be perfectly balanced: It had to taste chocolaty but not overpowering; it needed to be sweet but not cloying; it must be creamy without feeling heavy; it needed to be dense but airy, with a silky mouthfeel and a fresh flavor. We were surprised at how low some well-known brands placed and how close the top of the ranking was. Here are our taste results for chocolate ice cream, ranked from least favorite to best.

For over 70 years, McConnell's has made sustainable, organic ice cream without stabilizers, fillers, or preservatives. This Santa Barbara staple takes great pride in its recipes and uses milk and cream from cows that graze year-round on California's central coast. Their use of all-natural ingredients got us pumped to try this family-owned dairy's take on chocolate ice cream.

As expected with a name like "Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate," this ice cream was one of the darkest colored ones in the group. It featured three components: a chocolate ice cream base, a swirl of chocolate ganache, and chocolate chips. The base was extremely heavy (muddied?) with cocoa flavor, while the ganache swirls were almost nonexistent. The texture was smooth aside from the copious amount of tiny chocolate chips, but overall this ice cream needed to be creamier for our liking; one tester felt it had the mouthfeel of sorbet as it didn't coat the tongue. On a positive note, the sweetness levels were on par.

We were surprised to spot coffee on the ingredient list. Coffee is often used in the culinary world to deepen and sweeten the taste of cocoa, making it more flavorsome. This likely explains the pronounced cocoa flavor of this ice cream, but its use may be a bit much. The flavor tasted very earthy, which is fine for a pint of Guinness but not for chocolate ice cream. Ultimately, we couldn't decide if we were underwhelmed or overwhelmed with McConnell's Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate. Either way, we all agreed this wouldn't make the cut.

We really wanted to like Talenti's take on chocolate ice cream (gelato), but the questionable looks on our faces during the tasting made sure this one wouldn't rank very high. The first thing we noticed was that it tasted different than other chocolate ice creams — and not in a good way. Most chocolate ice creams taste like a chocolate bar or hot chocolate, but this one threw us for a loop. It tasted slightly bitter and spicy and had notes of burnt caramel. A few spoonfuls later, it tasted even more bitter.

Talenti's Double Dark Chocolate gelato (which is different from ice cream) contains an unusual ingredient: vermouth, a fortified red or white wine infused with botanicals. This aromatized wine may be the reason for the gelato's unique taste. Indeed, ice cream connoisseurs might describe this frozen concoction as complex and nuanced, but to us, it tasted straight-up odd and incohesive, with multiple flavors swirling in our mouths. It didn't help that the Callebaut chocolate morsels in the gelato were chalky and bitter, which made for an unpleasant eating experience. Nevertheless, this gelato wasn't all bad. We did enjoy its luxuriously smooth, creamy texture straight out of the freezer.

Founded in 1866 by William A. Breyers of Philadelphia, Breyers is one of America's oldest and most well-known ice cream brands. The company touts that its ice cream is made with "fresh cream and real cocoa," and you can taste its unmistakable clean flavor. The list of ingredients is relatively simple, including milk, cream, sugar, Dutched cocoa, whey, and tara gum.

This ice cream was like a walk down memory lane for many of us. It was pleasantly sweet, decently creamy, and had enough cocoa flavor to make us swoon. However, the flavor leaned more towards classic malted chocolate, which may be polarizing for some. The ingredient list includes natural flavoring, which could be why we felt the taste seemed slightly artificial. Even so, you won't go wrong with Breyers Chocolate at birthday parties and movie nights. It's a perfectly fine option when you want a sweet frozen treat that won't break the bank.

Chocoholics, this one's for you! Jeni's Darkest Chocolate comes courtesy of James Beard Award-winning ice cream maker Jeni Britton, who founded her Ohio-based Certified B Corp company, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, in 2002. Jeni's line of ice creams has grown in popularity thanks to one-of-a-kind, crave-worthy flavors made with Direct Trade ingredients and ultra-fresh milk from family dairy farms.

This was easily the darkest chocolate ice cream we had ever tasted. It was cocoa-forward, sinfully rich, and had a serious depth of flavor and color. Its texture was dense with a respectable amount of airiness, but there was a hint of graininess that we guessed was from the high amount of cocoa. As one would expect with high cocoa content, there was a slightly dry, bitter chocolate finish, reminiscent of eating an 80% chocolate bar.

Though this ice cream pint is costly, it would probably last a while in our freezers as it's best for nibbling — and we wouldn't dare make a sundae with it. If you're a serious dark chocolate lover, Jeni's Darkest Chocolate is worth the splurge.

We're slightly embarrassed to admit this, but we didn't expect to like this one. As with most store-bought brands, we expected 365 Organic Chocolate by Whole Foods Market to be run-of-the-mill mediocre. Boy, were we wrong. This brand was pretty darn delicious and needless to say, it took us by surprise.

This chocolate ice cream boasts an appealing dark brown color and has a wonderfully rich, creamy mouthfeel — a texture that gets even better when allowed to soften in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before consuming. The chocolate flavor is perfectly fudgy, thanks to a delightful combination of organic dark chocolate base and cocoa powder, both of which are listed as ingredients. There was no trace of any grittiness, and the level of sweetness was very well-balanced. Whole Foods' 365 Organic Chocolate is a rich little pint of ice cream that solidly delivers. We say, grab a spoon and dig in!