I’ve eaten a lot of Ben & Jerry’s in my day. In fact, I rarely leave the supermarket without a pint of one of my favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavors. If there’s a sale, you can expect my freezer to be full to the brim. 15 years ago I had my first ever spoonful of Ben & Jerry’s, and that bowl of Chocolate Fudge Brownie changed my life in the best way possible. Through my extensive ice cream eating experience, I’ve realized that some flavors are better than others. Here’s my ranking of the 12 best Ben & Jerry’s flavors money can buy.
12. Peanut Butter Fudge Core
Confession: I think the flavors with cores are overrated. The core is always delicious, but it’s never evenly distributed throughout the pint. The bites of this flavor that feature the peanut butter and chocolate ice creams, the mini PB cubs, AND the peanut butter fudge core are unreal. But the bites that are missing the core just don’t measure up. Here’s a ranking of just the core flavors, should you be interested.
11. New York Super Fudge Chunk
If you love nuts in your ice cream, you’ll go nuts for this flavor. It features chocolate ice cream with white and dark chocolate chunks, fudge-covered almonds, pecans, and walnuts. I think this flavor could use a fudge swirl as well, to break up the flavor of the ice cream.
10. Pistachio Pistachio
There’s no denying it, this is a good pistachio ice cream. The chunks of pistachio are numerous and the flavor is natural without overpowering your taste buds. But since this is Ben & Jerry’s, I wanted a little bit more. This felt too simple and predictable for a brand with so many flavor combos.
#SpoonTip: If you want a chocolate kick, top this flavor with homemade hot fudge.
9. Mint Chocolate Cookie
This is no ordinary mint chocolate chip ice cream; it features peppermint ice cream with chunks of chocolate cookies. However, I do wish the flavor packed even more of a minty punch, as it’s a bit too subtle for me.
8. Chocolate Therapy
Chocolate Therapy is the perfect flavor to comfort you after a terrible exam or a fight with your significant other. The rich chocolate ice cream with swirls of chocolate pudding ice cream and chunks of chocolate cookie will never disappoint you.
7. Americone Dream
If I had to pick a vanilla-based flavor to buy, it would be Americone Dream. After all, it’s hard to resist the siren call of chocolate-covered waffle cone and a caramel swirl. Luckily, if you can’t make it to the store, you can whip up Americone Dream at home.
6. Salted Caramel Core
Like the Peanut Butter Fudge Core, I wish the core was more evenly distributed throughout this pint. However, the perfection of the sweet cream ice cream and blondie chunks in this flavor make up for my issues with the core.
5. Half Baked
Half Baked is the bomb diggity. It features both chocolate and vanilla ice cream with large chunks of cookie dough and brownie. Personally, I think it would be a stronger flavor if it had just chocolate or vanilla, rather than both.
#SpoonTip: If you love Half Baked, you can make it at home.
4. Chocolate Fudge Brownie
As a chocolate lover, there’s no denying my love for Chocolate Fudge Brownie with its generous chunks of moist brownie. The only reason it isn’t higher on this list is because it isn’t a very unique flavor.
3. Cherry Garcia
No ranking of the best Ben & Jerry’s flavors would be complete without this fruity-heavy hitter. This cherry ice cream with fudge flakes and cherry chunks is famous for a reason: it’s delicious. It also pairs perfectly with a nice Cab.
2. Phish Food
Phish Food was my go-to flavor choice for years. As a little kid, I was endlessly entertained by the little fish-shaped fudge candies that are mixed into the rich chocolate ice cream and marshmallow swirl. Who am I kidding, those little fish still crack me up today. You can even make Phish Food brownies out of this versatile flavor.
1. The Tonight Dough
The Tonight Dough is hands down the greatest flavor of Ben & Jerry’s to ever grace our freezers. If I’m ever in dire need of an ice cream fix, you know I’m going for this combination of caramel and chocolate ice cream with a fudge swirl, chocolate chip cookie dough chunks, AND peanut butter cookie dough chunks. Seriously, peanut butter cookie dough should be in every ice cream flavor ever.
The moral of the story is, you really can’t go wrong when it comes to Ben & Jerry’s flavors. Hopefully this ranking can serve as a guide if you feel overwhelmed next time you hit the ice cream aisle.