We All Scream for Ice Cream! The 32 Best Ice Cream Flavors—Ranked Best to Worst

Which ice cream flavor you prefer may mostly be subjective, but that's not stopping most of us from agreeing that when it comes to a scoop or two, vanilla and chocolate reign supreme. A 2022 report from YouGov America surprisingly found that most of the U.S. were in unison when it came to beloved ice cream flavors, with 11 percent of adults agreeing that vanilla was the best and 10 percent siding with chocolate.

And Instacart shoppers confirm poll findings. According to recent research, America’s favorite ice cream flavor to add to cart is vanilla, making up 30% of all ice cream purchases in 2023. And after that, came chocolate.

We polled the entire Parade team to get their take on the best and worst ice cream flavors, from which flavor is the most satisfying to which flavor you could do without. When it came to ranking, we looked at flavorfulness, creaminess, texture, and all-around what people just enjoyed the most!

From unique ice cream flavors to surprising ice cream flavors, we were careful about the ones that made the cut. So, does your favorite ice cream flavor make the list? Parade ranked 32 ice cream flavors from best to worst. Keep reading to see if yours is below!

32 Best Ice Cream Flavors

1. Chocolate

While we differ a bit with the YouGov report's ultimate pick, we believe chocolate ice cream stands the test of time, and a large number still agree that it's the best flavor there is. Many east coasters, in particular, chose this flavor most often, according to Instacart.

2. Vanilla

Vanilla makes a justifiable runner-up. After all, vanilla ice cream is so refreshing on a warm summer's day. The middle states enjoy vanilla the most, reports Instacart, as does Alaska. 

Related: The 22 Best Vanilla Ice Cream Recipes

3. Strawberry

Rounding out the quintessential Neapolitan ingredients is strawberry-flavored ice cream. It's a great flavor if you want a few fruit chunks in your cone or cup; clearly, it's one of the most popular flavors. Washington D.C. stands alone in naming this pick their number one favorite ice cream flavor.

4. Mint Chocolate Chip

Equally strong flavors mint and chocolate work together to create a green ice cream with chunks of chocolate chips interspersed throughout it. It's heavenly, so long as you like your ice cream minty! The Pacific Northwest and Pennsylvania tout this minty pick as their number one fave.

5. Butter Pecan

Butter pecan ice cream is actually characterized by vanilla ice cream, then mixed with roasted pecans, butter, and vanilla flavoring. It's buttery and rich, making for a smooth ice cream that's nice and creamy. A cool 35 percent of Americans say they like this flavor and eight percent call it their favorite, according to YouGov.

6. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream is exactly what you need when craving chocolate. Featuring unbaked chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough embedded in vanilla ice cream, this flavor hardly ever disappoints. Six percent name this relatively recent flavor addition their number one pick (thanks, Ben & Jerry's!).

7. Cookies n' Cream

Know a cookie monster? Then this is the ice cream for them! Cookies n' cream usually features crumbled-up chocolate sandwich cookies into the ice cream, which is usually coffee or chocolate-flavored. It's a real treat! A sweet 43 percent say they love this flavor.

8. Rocky Road

If you're a chocoholic who loves a little crunch in their ice cream cone, then Rocky Road is always the way to go. This ice cream has a base of chocolate but with chopped almonds and gooey marshmallow pieces mixed in. It's like a chocolatey, nutty s'more in ice cream form! Residents in California, Nevada and Montana all name this flavor their number one favorite.

9. Coffee

Have you ever met someone who loves coffee-flavored ice cream but doesn't enjoy a cup of joe? There's something so universal about the taste of coffee ice cream, hence why so many people love it. Massachusetts is one of four states who couldn't stop buzzing about coffee.

10. Chocolate Chip

Smooth and creamy, the chocolate chip ice cream usually features pieces of chocolate throughout the vanilla-flavored ice cream. This is a far cry from any flavor with big chocolate chunks as the chocolate chip flavor is much more reserved in its chippage. Just two percent of folks name it their number one.

11. Pistachio

Pistachio—you either love it or you hate it. Well, according to You Gov, a surprising amount of American adults love pistachio at four percent (although we don't think many kids will be ordering this flavor any time soon).

12. Neapolitan

Harkening back to numbers 1, 2 and 3 on this list, Neapolitan is simply a combination of all three, all together. It's the most classic ice cream flavor there is! Thirty percent of Americans are fans.

13. Cake Batter

Things are starting to get really sweet! Again, ice cream-lovers either live for cake batter ice cream or can't stand it and that's probably because it's ridiculously sweet. Our favorite part—sweetness aside—is the bits of actual cake batter smashed in throughout. Only 15 percent of Americans said they'd take a lick, and one percent called it their preferred scoop.

14. Salted Caramel

If you love caramel, then you haven't lived until you've tried salted caramel. This ice cream flavor achieves the culinary concept of "flavor layering," which simply means it's both salty and sweet—all at the same time. According to YouGov, 33 percent wouldn't turn it down.

15. Butterscotch

Butterscotch ice cream, for some reason, just tastes like home. Maybe perhaps it feels more homemade than some other super sugary flavors, but the browned butter, caramelized sugar, and molasses in this flavor just feel like sitting on the front porch during a summertime rain storm. Only 16 percent of the U.S. say they like it, but we think it needs a resurgence.

16. French Vanilla

Vanilla may be #2 on this list but french vanilla isn't too far behind. If you're wondering what, in fact, the difference is, french vanilla is marked by a French style of ice cream that utilizes egg yolks in the base. This makes for a creamier, richer consistency as well as a yellow-ish hue as opposed to vanilla's stark white.

17. Cherry Vanilla

Another variation of vanilla (kinda) is cherry vanilla. This ice cream flavor is usually made with cherries and french vanilla (hence that creamier consistency that makes it feel very homemade). It's the base for one of Ben & Jerry's all-time favorites, Cherry Garcia, which earned Number #2 most popular in 2022.

Related: Ben and Jerry's Flavors

18. Chocolate Peanut Butter

There are all kinds of ways to unite chocolate and peanut butter in an ice cream flavor but most typically, you'll find it done as such: dark chocolate ice cream with swirls of peanut butter throughout. Of course, you could always up the PB ante by throwing in some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups as a topping! Chocolate Peanut Butter scores particularly well with Midwesterners.

19. Maple

Also known as maple creames (pronounced creamy) in Vermont and even parts of New Hampshire, maple-flavored ice cream is a bit of a New England staple. Usually, you'll find this deliciously sweet flavor in soft-serve form, piled on top of a waffle cone.

20. Black Raspberry Chip

Similar in taste to the aforementioned cherry vanilla flavor, black raspberry chip is usually categorized by flavor profiles of vanilla and, of course, black raspberry chunks and swirls. People in the Northeast tend to favor raspberry flavor the most.

21. Moose Tracks

Traditionally—as Moose Tracks is, in fact, a branded flavor only licensed out to a few different companies—this flavor is made with vanilla ice cream, peanut butter cups and fudge swirls. Originating in Michigan in 1988, it's the top pick of Michiganders, Wisconsinites and Iowans alike. 

Related: 12 Best Low-Calorie Ice Creams

22. Raspberry Ripple

Particularly beloved across the pond (it's the 8th most favorite flavor there), Raspberry Ripple is a refreshing ice cream flavor that occurs when raspberry syrup is injected into vanilla ice cream to create flavorful swirls.

23. Strawberry Cheesecake

There are a few different takes on strawberry cheesecake as an ice cream flavor but by far and away, our favorite is Ben and Jerry's (and it's the brand's sixth most popular flavor in 2022.) The Vermont-based ice cream company combines strawberry cheesecake ice cream with strawberry chunks and swirls of graham cracker. It really tastes like a cheesecake—only in a cup or a cone!

24. Cotton Candy

Cotton Candy is perhaps a divisive flavor in that, well, you either love it or don't. Super sugary and categorized by its recognizable pink and blue hue, cotton candy-flavored ice cream is usually eaten by kids, though most adults would rather a different flavor in its place.

25. Watermelon

It's getting real sugary toward the bottom of this list! Watermelon-flavored ice cream is perhaps most famous in the context of Friendly's Wattamelon Roll, a beloved summertime dessert that has a way of showing up at every Fourth of July party and every picnic. While it's not for everyone, this flavor definitely tastes more like an artificial watermelon flavor than it does the actual fruit it takes its name from.

26. Pralines 'n Cream

First introduced by mainstream ice cream company Baskin Robbins, pralines n' cream is a flavor most beloved in the South. Throughout this vanilla-flavored scoop, you'll find praline-coated pecan pieces and swirls and swirls of decadent caramel.

27. Matcha Green Tea

Matcha green tea has been around for 900 years thanks to Chinese Buddhist monks who prepared it traditionally as tea. While it's been popular as simply a flavor in Japanese culture for some time now, it's only taken off in the States these last few years (a 2021 poll showed residents in Oregon named it their number one favorite.) However, this flavor doesn't tickle everybody's taste buds. Unlike most other ice cream flavors, matcha can be pretty bitter, so you have to have a love for the stuff to really rank this high.

28. Banana

Sorry, not sorry. Banana-flavored ice cream just doesn't do it for us.

29. Rum Raisin

We really want to like rum raisin-flavored ice cream more than we actually do, but there's something about the combination of hard raisins and soft ice cream that just doesn't fly. Over in the UK, it's still on the top 10 list.

30. Bubblegum

Even lower in ranking is bubblegum-flavored ice cream. Unnaturally pink in hue, this flavor is mostly ordered by kids (if at all), but we think the flavor itself should stick to gum.

31. Tutti Frutti

Meh. We prefer the jellybean to this vintage, somewhat tropical flavor that unites all kinds of fruity flavors—banana, pineapple, and more—for a kind of sugary, fruity explosion that's just altogether too sweet.

32. Eggnog

Nope. Immediately no, just, immediately no.

What's the least popular flavor of ice cream

Sorry, cake batter. When 1,000 U.S. adults were asked to choose any ice creams they like from 21 popular options, only 1 percent of respondents said this festive choice was their favorite flavor.

What is the most popular flavor in the world?

While vanilla appears to be the most searched flavor in the world according to research done by vanilla extract maker Nielsen Massey, another report by Lexham Insurance (who insurance ice cream vans) analyzed global search data and found chocolate to top searches. The battle rages on apparently.

Which brands have the best ice cream?

• Blue Bell: We're particularly partial to The Great Divide, but read the rest in the Best Blue Bell Ice Cream Flavors Ranked 

• Little Debbie Ice Cream: Oat Meal Cream Pies is a pint full of nostalgic goodness, but check out the rest in Best Little Debbie Ice Cream Flavors Ranked 

• Halo Top: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough just hits when you're looking for a nighttime treat sans guilt, but see the rest of our rankings in Best Halo Top Flavors Ranked 

• Van Leeuwen: Earl Grey Tea typifies this Brooklyn-based ice cream brand's artisanal quality. See the rest at Best Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Flavors Ranked 

• Ben & Jerry's: We're big Half Baked fans, but we know it's a divisive take, so here are the rest at Best Ben & Jerrys Ice Cream Flavors Ranked 

Next up, the 15 best Gatorade flavors, ranked.