12 Wegmans Brand Ice Cream Flavors, Ranked Worst To Best

While going out for ice cream is a real treat, it is also always nice to have a gallon or two in your home freezer. Whether you're looking for something cool and refreshing on a sweltering summer day or just want to satisfy that sweet tooth as you cuddle up with a blanket to watch a movie on the couch, the right ice cream can really hit the spot. If you've ever walked down the frozen aisle at the grocery store, then you already know how many different brands and flavors of ice cream there are. I wanted to check on the offerings from one popular chain that has a good reputation when it comes to its store-branded items: Wegmans.

Perhaps you've tried some of the best Wegmans prepared foods, bakery goods, or sauces and marinades, but have you had a chance to sample its ice cream? I tried a dozen different Wegmans brand ice cream flavors, compared their flavor, texture, and aftertaste (if any), and ranked them from worst to best. For this ranking, I focused only on the standard 1-gallon tubs, though the store does offer some lactose-free, vegan, light, and premium options, as well. 

I'll share more information about the methodology I followed to rank these flavors at the end of the article. For now, read on to discover what my top pick was (and which flavors you might want to skip over).

I was excited to give this flavor a try, but wasn't sure what to expect. In my opinion, fruity ice cream flavors can be really sweet and refreshing or they can be a total flop, tasting artificial or having an off aftertaste. I remained hopeful that the Wegmans black raspberry ice cream would land in the first category, especially after opening the lid. The ice cream looked nice and smooth and had a gorgeous pink color — just what you would want for a raspberry ice cream. I dished out a small scoop to my family and fellow taste testers, and licked the bit that dripped onto my fingers, which tasted really good.

Because they were served first, everyone else had started before I took my first real bite. After one of my daughters took a bite, I was very surprised when she said that she didn't really like the flavor (the little lick I had gotten a few seconds earlier seemed to have an excellent raspberry flavor). She said that it tasted good at first, but then the taste in her mouth was weird. I took a real bite to see for myself. Initially, the taste was creamy and really hit that authentic raspberry flavor. However, just a few seconds later, I experienced what my daughter mentioned. That delicious raspberry flavor disappeared quickly. And even worse than just disappearing, the raspberry flavor was replaced by a very off, almost fake, aftertaste. 

If that yummy flavor had just stayed, this ice cream would have easily been towards the top of the list. But alas, it really let me down.

I wasn't sure where I'd end up putting this one. I like peanut butter in my ice cream sometimes. However, it also can make it so salty that it doesn't end up tasting as refreshing, in my opinion. While this sea salt caramel peanut butter ice cream from Wegmans was a bit salty, that isn't the reason it didn't fare so well in this ranking. The flavor of the peanut butter itself was more of the problem. My husband said it best when he commented, "I don't know that I've ever really had a peanut butter that tastes fake, but this one is pretty close." It just didn't have that true flavor that you'd expect when you pick up a gallon of ice cream that lists peanut butter as one of the main ingredients.

Moreover, the peanut butter flavor really overpowered all of the caramel and chocolate in the mix. There are several small chocolate peanut butter cups in each scoop. Until I singled out one to eat by itself, I didn't even taste the chocolate. And even then, the chocolate didn't have the strongest or most enjoyable flavor.

While there are a few positive things about this flavor, I don't think it will end up in my cart during a future Wegmans shopping trip. My favorite thing about it was probably the pieces of chocolate that were mixed in with the ice cream. They are cute heart-shaped chocolates with a hint of raspberry in the center. They'd be really good if Wegmans ever decided to sell them as a straight-up candy.

Beyond those tasty chocolate hearts — which there weren't really enough of in each scoop — the ice cream was disappointing. This ice cream didn't really balance the white chocolate flavor with that of the raspberry properly. While I initially detected the raspberry flavor at the beginning of a bite, it disappeared within a few seconds, leaving a very strong white chocolate taste. And because of how thick the white chocolate is, I detected a bit of film over my tongue after finishing this flavor. Unless you're a white chocolate fanatic, I'd probably recommend skipping this one.

This strawberry ice cream was just OK. When you open the carton, it does have a slightly artificial smell. It honestly took my husband and me a few bites to get an accurate read of the flavor. While it definitely wasn't a premium strawberry with a really fresh and authentic strawberry taste, it also wasn't completely fake. After thinking for a bit, my husband said that it reminded him more of a strawberry syrup. As I evaluated the flavor, I realized that it was making me think of drinking a strawberry fast food milkshake — which seems to match my husband's assessment of the more syrupy taste that the ice cream had.

There are some nice chunks of strawberries mixed in with the ice cream. These do deliver that real strawberry flavor. However, the strawberry pieces are almost too big. They're so icy cold that anyone who has a sensitivity to chewing frozen things might not enjoy them. I would have found it more enjoyable for there to be several smaller chunks of strawberry instead of just a few huge pieces.

I'm all for a good chocolate chip ice cream. What's not to like about delicious bits of chocolate mixed into every bite of a creamy vanilla ice cream? Sadly, this Wegmans chocolate ice cream wasn't all that impressive. While the vanilla ice cream itself was nice and creamy and had a nice flavor at the beginning, the problem seems to lie with the chocolate chips. They have a weird aftertaste. This aftertaste is probably the reason why that tasty vanilla flavor disappeared after chewing some of the chocolate bits. After tasting this, I wasn't surprised to discover that Wegmans chocolate chips ranked last in our taste testing of various chocolate chip brands.

If you decide to give this ice cream a try, I definitely recommend adding something to it to counteract the aftertaste from the chocolate. That could be some hot fudge or caramel sauce, or perhaps you could even pair this with a few cookies and prepare some homemade ice cream sandwiches.

Now we're getting pretty solidly into the flavors that rank in the middle. While they're not jaw-droppingly amazing, they're also not something I would strongly recommend against trying. This Wegmans French vanilla is the perfect example of that. It has a really nice and creamy texture, which is precisely what you would want with a vanilla ice cream. The vanilla flavor is also pretty good. It tastes the best at the beginning of each bite. However, it does taper a bit at the end, leaving you longing for a slightly better finish. While the vanilla flavor is good, you can also tell that it isn't a premium Madagascar vanilla.

All in all, this is a good pick if you're looking for some French vanilla ice cream. As a plainer flavor, I also think it could make a good base for some ice cream creations. For example, it could help you prepare a smooth and creamy old-fashioned vanilla milkshake. You could also create an upgraded ice cream sundae with it and some of your favorite toppings.

While I wasn't wowed by the Wegmans chocolate peanut butter swirl ice cream, it definitely had some good things going for it. The chocolate had a good flavor. However, if you're expecting the milk chocolate flavor that you'll find with some other chocolate and peanut butter combos, you might be disappointed. This chocolate was more of a dark chocolate, but I still found it to be tasty. Another thing that this ice cream had going for it was the chunks of peanut butter that were swirled throughout. I tasted them with almost every bite, allowing me to enjoy the two flavors together. Unlike with the sea salt caramel peanut butter ice cream, the peanut butter in this one didn't have that "fake" taste, so that was also a positive.

Now for the not-so-good points that kept this flavor from ranking too high. Sadly, the chocolate ice cream wasn't very creamy. It had a slightly gritty texture, which prevented me from enjoying that smooth taste in my mouth. This flavor was also very salty, likely from the peanut butter. And like several of the other Wegmans ice creams I tried, it lacked a memorable finish. The chocolate flavor, especially, seemed lost by the end of each bite.

For the most part, I really liked this vanilla orange ice cream. When you open the carton, you're greeted by what you would hope to see, given the name: a nice creamy-looking ice cream with stripes of orange throughout the vanilla. Color-wise, it looks almost like an orange sherbet. The taste didn't disappoint me, either. It reminded me a lot of an orange creamsicle popsicle. While I haven't had one of those in a number of years, it definitely brought back good memories of sweet and cold treats on a hot summer day.

However, if you're not a huge fan of orange flavoring, this might not be your top pick. My husband didn't love it. He thought the ratio of orange to vanilla was off, and that it would have been better with more vanilla. While I was reminded of an orange creamsicle, he said this was almost the opposite for him. With a true orange creamsicle popsicle, you start with the orange flavoring on the outside and end with the strong vanilla center. With this flavor, the orange really does take the front seat.

If I was forced to pick a favorite ice cream flavor, it would probably be chocolate. I am definitely a chocolate girl, so I have had more than my fair share of various brands. While I wouldn't rank this as the best chocolate ice cream I've tasted, it is still a solid choice if chocolate is also your go-to. It has a good milk chocolatey flavor, and eating it was an overall enjoyable experience.

So, why doesn't it rank higher on this list? I just don't think that the texture was quite there. One of the first things I said to my husband after tasting it was that it seemed pretty icy. I'd much prefer a creamy ice cream that feels smooth and cool as it moves through your mouth. After a few bites, I realized that it reminded me of a fudge bar — a bit more solid and icy than a traditional bowl of ice cream. I do think that this ice cream could be used to prepare a tasty homemade milkshake. You'd just definitely want to combine it with some whole milk to deliver on the creaminess factor. Alternatively, you could try to wake up the bowl of chocolate ice cream with a spicy sriracha topping. I bet you wouldn't even notice the iciness then!

While I admittedly haven't had butter pecan ice cream in ages, I was really impressed with this Wegmans flavor. First, it had a lusciously smooth and creamy texture, which is always a win in my book when it comes to ice cream. The flavor was also really nice. It was definitely rich and buttery, which is what I would expect from something called butter pecan.

There were not a ton of pecan pieces mixed into the ice cream. While I'll occasionally snack on some nuts, I typically don't like them added into my ice cream. So, for me, only having a few pecans in the mix was a good thing. However, if you're someone who wants to have more of a crunch with each bite or is really looking for more of a pecan flavor to balance out the butteriness, then you might not be as happy with this ice cream. I personally thought the buttery base was good enough to stand on its own — and even commented to my husband that I could see buying a plain version of this without any pecans.

This was the first ice cream I tasted. And honestly, I tasted it first to "get it out of the way" since I was pretty convinced that I wouldn't like it all that much, as I'm not a huge coconut fan. However, as you can probably guess based on its second-place ranking, I ended up being very pleasantly surprised. One of the first things that stood out was the texture. My husband described it as having a very aerated, creamy texture. This gave it a nice and light feel, which was very enjoyable.

The creamier texture wasn't the only thing that this Wegmans ice cream had going for it. It had a very pleasant flavor. There were some small pieces of coconut mixed into the ice cream, but the flavor was still on the milder side, which is probably part of why I ended up liking this one so much. I also liked that there were several solid chunks of fudge in the carton. These had a scrumptious dark chocolate flavor. I found them to be the perfect complement to the coconut ice cream base. All in all, this ended up being a really tasty ice cream that really surprised me.

Mint chip is another flavor that I regularly order from an ice cream shop or pick up at the grocery store. Since I've tried so many different brands of mint chip, I know how much of a gamble it can be. While some brands really deliver with a smooth, pepperminty taste, I've been disappointed with many others. I personally do not like mint chip ice creams that have a spearmint flavor. To me, they almost taste like medicine, which is not what I want to be thinking about when digging into something that is supposed to be a frozen treat.

I'd say that this flavor from Wegmans got the right mint flavor. It has a lighter pepperminty flavor, which is very enjoyable. The chocolate chips in the mix also have a good flavor. I was a bit worried about this, as well, since I had already tried the regular Wegmans chocolate chip ice cream before tasting this one. There's no weird aftertaste from the chocolate. Plus, there are lots of small pieces in each bite, so you're really able to enjoy that mint and chocolate flavor combination. 

As mentioned above, many of the other Wegmans ice creams had a good flavor to start, but that flavor had disappeared by the end of each bite. That fortunately wasn't the case with this one. The yummy chocolate and mint flavor really lingered after finishing a spoonful. And it stayed pleasant and didn't turn into something fake or leave a disgusting aftertaste behind.

Before I started tasting and comparing the ice cream flavors available from Wegmans, I had to choose which options I would sample. Because there are so many Wegmans-branded options, I decided to focus on the standard flavors in the line-up to keep things more consistent. So, I did not include any of the premium, light, vegan, or lactose-free flavors in this ranking. Additionally, as I chose flavors, I purposefully included some more common options, such as chocolate, strawberry, and mint chip, along with some of the more unique offerings, such as coconut almond fudge, white chocolate raspberry, and sea salt caramel peanut butter.

After purchasing the ice creams, I sat down with my husband and two daughters to conduct the taste test. We all had a small scoop of each flavor, discussed our initial impressions, and commented on the texture/creaminess and whether there was any aftertaste (either an odd aftertaste or a nice flavor that lingered after finishing a spoonful of ice cream). Between flavors, we took a few sips of plain water to cleanse our palates and avoid having any leftover flavors skew our results.

Finally, once we had tasted everything, we discussed how we would rank them. We started by highlighting the flavors that really stood out to us, either in a good way or a bad way. While there were a few debates about the exact placement of some flavors, we were all generally in agreement about which flavors belonged towards the top of the ranking and those that belonged at the bottom.