8 Grocery Brand Ice Creams That Taste Just As Good As Name Brands

There's a time and place for popping open the lid to a fancy carton of ice cream. Or rather, many times and many places. Anniversaries. Birthdays. Friday evenings after picking the kids up from school. But as any gourmet ice cream lover knows, those $10 pints of ice cream can really add up. Luckily, there are several grocery brand ice creams that taste just as delicious as their name-brand competitors. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that some of them are better.

Furthermore, gourmet ice cream is often only available in pints — or, at best, quarts. Grocery brand ice creams, on the other hand, can frequently be purchased in half-gallon containers, giving you the most bang for your buck. Not to mention, they last longer in your freezer than a few measly days. If you're still not convinced that you should be buying ice cream at a lower price point, consider this: You're going to be eating a lot of ice cream anyway over the summer, so why not experiment? You can always throw what you don't love into a milkshake!

As someone who ate a bowl of ice cream at 8 p.m. sharp every night as a kid — and whose favorite job to date has been scooping ice cream at an Indian-inspired ice cream shop — I've had more of this frozen dessert than most. Using personal experience and online reviews, I've gathered the most competitive grocery brand ice creams into one list. You can reference the end of this article for more information on methodology.

It's hard to pick a favorite flavor of ice cream, but if I could only eat one for the rest of my life, it would be vanilla. I say that with a caveat, though; it needs to be downright delicious. Let me elaborate. To earn my approval, a vanilla ice cream needs to be rich, sweet, and creamy. Its thick texture should serve as the base for a complex vanilla flavor, where Madagascar and/or Tahitian vanilla are intentionally employed. And it should boast a sweet, floral aroma.

Kirkland Signature Super Premium Vanilla Ice Cream ticks all those boxes, which is why I once ranked it as the best frozen dessert at Costco. It's high in fat and melts slowly, and it comes at an excellent price, with two half-gallon cartons per box. I'm not alone in my love for this ice cream. In one Reddit forum, several folks confirmed that this ice cream is better than Blue Bell's vanilla ice cream. Another Redditor added that Costco's version beats Häagen-Dazs, Van Leeuwen, and Baskin-Robbins.

One of the only complaints I've seen regarding this ice cream is that you must buy two half-gallons at a time. If you're short on freezer space, that might be an issue. However, I really don't think you'll have trouble finding a home for this ice cream if necessary. After all, if you don't already have friends, you'll make them by sharing this treat.

Start your day with coffee and end it with ice cream. Or, do both with Trader Joe's Coffee Bean Blast Ice Cream. I'm not going to specify whether this should be a breakfast-time or after-dinner treat, but I am going to say that there are plenty of reviews online to indicate that it's one of the best coffee ice creams on the market. Indeed, it's one of the best ice creams you can buy, period. Just last year, it handily beat its competition in Tasting Table's list of Trader Joe's ice cream flavors, ranked worst to best. My fellow writer described this product as robust in flavor, largely due to its top-notch set of ingredients. Cream, milk, sugar, coffee, egg yolks, cocoa powder, and a stabilizer blend are all that's required to make this splendid dessert.

But just because the ingredient list is simple doesn't mean that this isn't a nuanced ice cream. Not only are you getting the flavors of brewed Colombian coffee with every lick, but fine granules of French Roast Colombian coffee beans will also coat your tongue. In other words, this ice cream is a textural wonderland that unfolds slowly on your palate. Because it's super premium, it's also dense and slow to melt.

Will Trader Joe's Coffee Bean Blast beat Breyers coffee ice cream? Almost definitely. One Redditor proclaimed this "is the best ice cream that has ever been produced in the history of ice cream." In reply, another customer suggested adding it to affogatos. If that's too much caffeine, though, yet another Redditor recommended pairing this ice cream with chocolate milk.

I love eggnog season. It doesn't even need to be boozy eggnog; I love how whipped eggs, milk, cream, and sugar are more than a sum of their parts, forming a delightfully strange beverage that is simultaneously rich and refreshing. Eggnog nourishes my soul almost as much as ice cream, which is exactly why eggnog is one of my favorite ice cream flavors.

Last holiday season, I tried and ranked several eggnog-flavored products, and Publix Eggnog Premium Ice Cream turned out to be a solid contender. Indeed, it holds up well against other eggnog ice creams from brands like Turkey Hill and Graeter's. Admittedly, it's not on the same level as Jeni's Boozy Eggnog Ice Cream, which pairs Uncle Nearest whiskey with Madagascar bourbon vanilla extract. Nor is it as dense as I prefer. Nevertheless, this premium ice cream is amply creamy and boasts a wonderfully balanced rum flavor without bearing an alcohol warning. That means the whole family can enjoy it at holiday gatherings.

Other reviewers recommend a similar product from Publix: the Premium Bourbon Eggnog Ice Cream. It's said to have a bold bourbon flavor, so much so that one customer did a double-take and had to confirm the absence of alcohol. I've not personally tried this product, but I certainly wouldn't say no to it.

Remember how I mentioned earlier that I'd spring for a scoop of high-quality vanilla ice cream any day? Well, I've not yet tried it, but Wegmans Premium French Madagascar Vanilla Ice Cream might just fit that bill. I do, after all, love French vanilla ice cream, which differs from standard vanilla ice cream in that it's built upon a custard base. It's creamier and, when done well, multifaceted in flavor.

Most online reviews indicate that this version from Wegmans is done well. It topped our ranking of grocery store-brand vanilla ice creams, leaving brands like Great Value and Favorite Day in the dust. My colleague gave kudos to this ice cream for its pleasant texture, but then said what really makes it so superior is the caliber of its vanilla flavor. Indeed, there's no artificial vanilla flavor to be found here. Rather than being obscured by unnecessary ingredients, real vanilla extract is joined by several types of dairy (cream, skim milk, buttermilk, and milk again), as well as liquid sugar and egg yolks. That's it.

Several customers confirmed that this ice cream easily beats most of its competition, including more expensive and premium brands. One customer compared it to what you might get at the ice cream parlor. With its 16% butterfat content, I'm not surprised. This seems like the perfect topping for brownies, ice cream cookie sandwiches, and French toast.

Growing up with Deadheads for parents, I've been seeing pints of Cherry Garcia in the freezer for as long as I can remember. But while Ben & Jerry's may have brought Cherry Garcia into mainstream consciousness, other brands have built upon the success of this flavor in the four decades since. While nostalgia will always ensure that Cherry Garcia holds a place in my heart, I'd be willing to try Kroger's version of cherry and chocolate ice cream, too. After all, folks commonly say that it's superior to Ben & Jerry's product.

Despite offering up strong competition, Private Selection Amaretto Cherry Cordial Ice Cream isn't an exact dupe of Cherry Garcia. The cherries aren't simply chopped and folded into the ice cream, but are instead sweetened to mimic cordials or candied cherries. That significantly alters the texture of this ice cream, which many customers say is for the better. The chocolate chips have also been praised for being plentiful and well-proportioned.

One more difference between this ice cream and Ben & Jerry's version is the amaretto flavor (and, as one customer noted, the amaretto aroma). If you're not familiar with amaretto, it's an Italian liqueur starring an exquisite almond flavor. I've had it several times in hot chocolate, so I can only imagine how well it complements this cherry ice cream.

Perhaps my earliest memory of eating ice cream was choosing a scoop of Moose Tracks from a New England ice cream stand with several dozen flavors listed on its menu. Having spent our vacation looking for moose, I chose that flavor purely out of excitement for its magnificent animal namesake. But I remember quite clearly that Moose Tracks became my go-to ice cream for years afterward.

The actual flavor of Moose Tracks ice cream marries vanilla ice cream with ribbons of fudge and as many peanut butter cups as the heart could desire. It has just enough salt to balance the sweetness of the chocolate, and the peanut butter cups are a textural delight. Moose Tracks is a licensed flavor, but that doesn't stop spin-offs like Great Value Fudge Tracks Ice Cream from giving the original flavor a run for its money.

Great Value's version swaps the vanilla ice cream for chocolate, making it more akin to Extreme! Moose Tracks than the original flavor. However, one Redditor said the chocolate Moose Tracks produced by other brands pale in comparison to Great Value's Fudge Tracks. Described as a light ice cream that nevertheless contains a generous amount of mix-ins, it's sold at an impressively low price. One pleased customer recommended sprinkling sea salt or cinnamon on top to amp up the flavor.

Though this article might suggest otherwise, my household is 95% vegan. When it comes to work, I make exceptions. And when it comes to Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joe's Ice Cream, I definitely make exceptions. This seasonal flavor mixes my favorite Trader Joe's treat — Candy Cane Joe-Joe's — into peppermint and vanilla ice cream. The result is a crunchy, chewy, complex treat that I reach for not only when I'm craving dessert, but also when I need a mouth freshener.

This ice cream brings me back to childhood, when my mom would stock our deep freezer with half a dozen cartons of Edy's slow-churned Peppermint Stick Ice Cream to enjoy after the holidays ended. Sadly, we had to wave goodbye to that iconic flavor when it disappeared from shelves several years ago. Thankfully, when we tried Trader Joe's version of peppermint ice cream, we found it to be a suitable alternative.

Others agree that this is an ice cream worth buying. One Redditor said that "it tastes like cookies and cream and peppermint/candy cane ice cream had a baby." The peppermint-flavored Hold the Cone treats from Trader Joe's are another dessert worth investigating if you fall in love with this ice cream.

Here's one more ice cream that puts up a good fight against Cherry Garcia. Like the Madagascar vanilla variation described earlier, Wegmans Premium French Cherry Licious Ice Cream stars a 16% butterfat content and egg yolks for additional creaminess. Swirled into this rich base are Bing cherries, black cherry ribbons, and fudge flakes.

Although "natural flavors" are also present, even Ben & Jerry's product contains those. Besides, one customer confirmed that there's no distracting artificial cherry flavor in Wegmans' version, whereas Ben & Jerry's is cloyingly sweet. The same customer said that Wegman's Cherry Licious ice cream would surpass Turkey Hill's Late Night Cherry Chocolate Chunk in a competition, too. Turkey Hill's product isn't a premium French ice cream, so you'll certainly notice a textural difference between the two.

Yet another reviewer complemented the sweet cherry aroma of this ice cream and suggested using this flavor to concoct root beer floats. French ice cream is typically thicker than other types of ice cream, so I'd agree that this would be an excellent way to finish off a carton and make space in your freezer for more.

I curated this list using personal experience, past Tasting Table rankings, and online reviews from fellow customers. To be included on this list, each ice cream needed to have excellent reviews regarding its flavors and textures. For products that I had not personally tasted, I looked for reviews where customers had directly compared the grocery brand ice cream in question with name-brand alternative(s). Though sometimes noted, price was not a factor.

Finally, while some of these ice creams are clearly superior to several name-brand competitors, most of them are not quite as wonderful as the "best" name brands on the market. Of course, that's a subjective label, so feel free to disagree.