I Tasted 7 Chocolate Ice Creams and One Was a Clear Winner
It’s almost summer. This means that very soon there will be but one sweet confection on everyone’s mind. The one dessert that kids and adults alike can agree on. One that is sure to cool you off, no matter how high the thermostat reaches, and that brings an air of comfort and nostalgia to any event. That’s right. We’re talking about ice cream.
Ice cream and summer go together like peanut butter and jelly or wine and cheese. And this season, we thought it best to pay tribute to the trusty treat by getting back to the basics. Classic flavors like vanilla and chocolate are always there for us–reliable, timeless, and undeniably delicious. But too often, these foundational flavors are overshadowed by trendy mix-ins and limited-edition releases. Vanilla and chocolate may seem simple, but their simplicity is what makes them iconic. We’ve already given vanilla its well-deserved moment in the spotlight, discovering that both Van Leeuwen and Tillamook deliver showstopping performances with their rich, creamy takes on this classic.
Now, it’s chocolate’s turn.
We recently spooned our way through seven different chocolate ice creams to determine which ones truly stand out. From light picks like Halo Top to luxurious heavy hitters like Häagen-Dazs, you never know what you’re going to get. Let’s find out which pints and tubs are concealing a chocolate dream of an ice cream.
Halo Top Chocolate
By now, we’re all familiar with Halo Top’s schtick. The brand produces frozen desserts that carry significantly fewer calories, fat, and sugar compared to others on the market, but that are still considered ice cream–well, “light ice cream”. Its flavors are pretty much endless at this point, especially with the new confection-blasted Mix-Ins in the mix, which means chocolate was a sure-fire find. I paid $3.99 for the pint, which boasts just 300 calories and 18 grams of protein per container.
The Look: Very smooth from the top with no hints that it’s anything other than standard chocolate ice cream in a chestnut brown shade.
The Taste: I have to give Halo Top credit. Its formula upgrade from a few years ago was a real game-changer that took its pints from glorified flavored ice to a creamy product that actually resembles ice cream. Specifically for the chocolate, though, the flavor could still use some work. Considering its calorie count, it’s not bad–a little fudgy in taste, actually. But it’s also a bit bitter with a powdery artificial sweetener taste that reminded me of Nesquik instant chocolate milk. In more elaborate Halo Top flavors with cookie and candy pieces, I think these shortcomings are harder to detect. But in the plain chocolate, they’re on full display.
Breyers Chocolate
Breyers is one of those familiar brands that puts an emphasis on ice cream’s classic trifecta: vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate. All three show up more than once on the lineup and even join forces to create a striped Neopolitan. Just the standard chocolate alone is made with 100% grade A milk and cream, as well as rich dutched cocoa (aka cocoa that has been treated to neutralize its acidity). In one of the brand’s skinny brown tubs, the flavor sells for $4.99.
The Look: You can tell it’s fluffy just by looking at it. It also comes in a dark brown color similar to Halo Top’s but with less of a reddish tint.
The Taste: I don’t have anything particularly negative or positive to say about this frozen treat. It’s definitely light and delicate–my eyes didn’t deceive me–and it carries a pleasant, time-honored kind of chocolatey flavor. It’s just not bold, overly rich, or particularly memorable. Even as an avid ice cream lover, I could take it or leave it.
Friendly’s Classic Chocolate
With their signature Fribble milkshakes and diner-style ambiance, it comes as no surprise that Friendly’s restaurants hit their peak in the groovy 70s. Ever since, its presence has dwindled to just over 100 locations in the Northeast region of the country. But its name lives on, and you can even find its famous ice cream at grocery stores. I found about ten different varieties of the brand’s blue and red tubs at a local market in Columbus, Ohio, not to mention frozen novelties as well, like ice cream bars and cones. I grabbed a container of the Classic Chocolate for $7.19.
The Look: A lighter hue than the previous two choices, hinting at a lower dose of cocoa. It also came with a light film of freezer burn, even fresh from the store.
The Taste: A complete 180 from Breyer’s offering, this chocolate is exceptionally dense. You almost have to chew it when pulled directly from the freezer–a quality I actually prefer, but I know is not everyone’s cup of tea. It is a classic chocolate, just as advertised, but it has a very smooth and balanced quality that I appreciated. The cocoa makes a statement but isn’t too in your face. I can confidently say I would go back for a second scoop.
Edy’s Chocolate
Did you know Edy’s and Dreyer’s (not to be confused with Breyers) ice creams are one in the same? Both are made by the same company that was started by ice cream maker William Dreyer and candy maker Joseph Edy in 1928. However, the Edy’s name is confined to the East and Midwest areas of the United States, while Dreyer’s dominates the Texas and the West Coast. That means, here in my state of Ohio, Edy’s is the household name, and the specific quarts I find stacked in our grocery store freezers.
As the flavors creator, you’ll never find a shortage of Edy’s Rocky Road on the shelves. But you can also find a standard chocolate sans the almonds and marshmallows for $5.49.
The Look: As a copper brown, it’s closer to Breyers and Halo Top in color. The consistency is hard to pinpoint just based on looks alone.
The Taste: Edy’s achieves a Goldlocks texture that is smack dab in between the softness of Breyers and the sturdiness of Friendly’s. It’s thick yet still creamy and dissolves effortlessly on the tongue. Compared to others, it’s on the sweeter side, but still not cloying, and the light bitterness of the cocoa also balances it out. I’m still searching for a richer, more pronounced recipe. However, Edy’s is a dependable middle-of-the-road pick that comes at a decent cost.
Blue Bunny Soft Chocolate
Blue Bunny changed the retail ice cream game when it came out with its “Soft Scoopables” line in 2023. The new innovation brings soft serve ice cream to the comfort of your home, and by most accounts, the idea seems to have been a success. The brand continues to tack more and more flavors onto the soft lineup–most recently Churro and Butter Pecan–while continuing to offer staples like vanilla, strawberry, and, of course, chocolate. Bypassing the Blue Bunny traditional tubs, I grabbed a quart of the Soft Chocolate for $5.99.
The Look: The light brown substance even looks like it was filled from an ice cream shop soft serve machine. It looks polished and oh-so inviting.
The Taste: I wouldn’t say it’s a dead ringer for that soft serve consistency. It’s more squashy than glossy, if that makes sense. However, it’s about as close as you can get with a freezer product, and the taste doesn’t suffer. While it’s not audaciously chocolatey, it has a malt-like air to it. Or, better yet, it’s sneakily similar to a chocolate Frosty from Wendy’s–almost like a blend of vanilla and chocolate that gives you a low intensity amount of sugariness and cocoa.
Talenti Double Dark Chocolate
Does anyone else appreciate that Talenti presents its ice cream in clear containers so that you can see just what you’re getting? To me, it makes a strong statement that the brand has nothing to hide and they’re willing to put everything on full display to win your business. This is how I found the shop’s Double Dark Chocolate ice cream, in all its glory, sitting amongst a rainbow of other flavors. It’s comprised of dark chocolate gelato with semisweet chocolate chips and a hint of vermouth–an ingredient that adds to the rich flavor, according to Talenti. One pint cost me $6.49.
The Look: The color definitely fits the name. The pint’s contents are a deep chocolate brown, and it’s packed in tight.
The Taste: I tried to judge based on the ice cream alone, taking the crunchy chocolate chip shards out of the equation (since no other ice cream on our list was granted a mix-in). And Talenti still outshone most other options. It’s not terribly sweet but has a rich chocolate presence. A very grown-up, lavish, and complex ice cream that’s reminiscent of hot chocolate that has been frozen. Not to mention, it tips the scales in terms of creaminess. After all that, the dark chocolate morsels were just the cherry on top.
Häagen-Dazs
Häagen-Dazs is a brand that needs no introduction. Its luxury ice creams have been around since 1960, and its long list of flavors can be found at most grocery stores across the United States. Each one is more decadent than the last, and that doesn’t exclude a classic like chocolate. The pint carries an extremely simplified ingredient list, including just cream, skim milk, cane sugar, egg yolks, and cocoa processed with alkali. I paid $5.49 for the frozen confection.
The Look: It doesn’t appear to be anything special from the top. Just a very basic caramel brown ice cream.
The Taste: I’m assuming egg yolks are to thank for this ice cream’s extra creamy consistency. As soon as it lands on your tongue, it tastes and feels like pure indulgence. It’s clearly of high quality, and your taste buds receive just the right amount of cocoa savor. Beyond that, I also detected hints of coffee or mocha as I went in for a second taste. I didn’t trust myself at first, but even my husband confirmed this surprise flavoring. Nothing in the ingredient list lends itself to this experience. But, in my opinion, it’s this element that raises this ice cream from pretty good to luscious must-try.
