9 Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Flavors, Ranked Worst To Best

I may have some serious opinions about a number of food-related topics, but there's one I consider especially near and dear to my heart: ice cream. It's a treat I enjoy more frequently than I'd like to admit, and most of the time, I opt for something cheap — like one from Great Value's extensive flavor lineup. But when I want to relive my college glory days and splurge, I'll buy a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

Curing the midnight munchies or a nasty hangover with a pint of Ben & Jerry's is a normal experience for most college students, but it's a brand that hits home for me. I went to college in Ben & Jerry's home state of Vermont, meaning that freezers across campus were packed with every flavor imaginable, and trips to the nearby factory in Waterbury (which isn't that cool, if I'm being honest) were common. That's to say, I've had my fair share of flavors over the years — but until today, I've never tried its most popular offerings in a single sitting and ranked them from worst to best.

Sure, ice cream is subjective, but I wanted to see, once and for all, which pints boasted the most mix-ins, best flavor balance, and were most worth buying, and which of its signature flavors (if any) were deserving of a spot in the Flavor Graveyard. I had to limit my selection — based on freezer space and to avoid brain freeze — so this list includes only the flavors that the ice cream giant is most known for and excludes limited-edition, Topped, Core, and non-dairy flavors.

New York Super Fudge Chunk doesn't always get the same press as other flavors, and after trying it, I realized why. If you don't like nuts in your ice cream, you'll probably dislike this. The chocolate ice cream houses white and dark fudge pieces, walnuts, pecans, and fudge-covered almonds. As is par for the course with Ben & Jerry's, there's no shortage of nutty and chocolatey mix-ins nestled within the dense chocolate ice cream.

Now, the base itself is decadent and heavy, yet is a good match for the nuts in terms of heft and flavor. However, it's kind of like a chocolate ice cream with obstacles, which is one of the primary reasons why I ranked this flavor low on my list. This ice cream felt discombobulated and forced in a way that some of the more seamless flavors didn't. My taste buds were really captivated by that high-quality chocolate ice cream base before being distracted by a spoonful of nuts, which offered a totally different texture and flavor.

I wish there had been some sort of segue between the base and the nuts — like a marshmallow or caramel swirl — to really bring balance to the bite. The massive chunks of white chocolate also didn't do this pint any favors, and the company should have just added the nuts, sans fudge casing, directly to the pint and added a fudge swirl to fulfill that texture gap.

Netflix & Chill'd (do kids still say that?) initially seemed up my alley. It combines peanut butter ice cream with pretzel swirls and fudge brownies, like a munchies paradise. And while I think peanut butter ice cream can be excellent ... I just don't think this particular ice cream was, hence its lower ranking. I appreciated that it tasted like peanut butter, though it kind of fell to the wayside since it was combined with the chocolatey, dense brownie pieces.

I wish there was a swirl or something to reinforce that flavor amid all the chaos. I will say, though, that the brownies were excellent and added to the almost chewy mouthfeel of this ice cream. You can tell that it has very little overrun, which gives it a tangible density that not many other flavors on this list have. But the pretzel element was absolutely fumbled here. The other flavor I tried on this list with pretzel pieces covered them in chocolate, which allowed them to keep a tangible crunch and stand out against the creamy ice cream base. This Netflix & Chill'd pint seemingly pulverized the pretzel pieces and added them to the pint in "swirls," which gave the ice cream an almost mealy mouthfeel.

Frankly, I didn't think this needed pretzels at all, so it was disappointing that they were supposed to be front and center in every bite. Netflix & Chill'd has potential — and was better texturally than the bottom-ranked entry — but needs direction. I don't know why anyone would buy it when there are so many other, better flavors out there.

I've had friends swear that Americone Dream — featuring a vanilla ice cream base with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and caramel — is the best flavor in Ben & Jerry's lineup, but think it's a bit overplayed. Like Cherry Garcia, the vanilla base of this ice cream is well-done; the delectably creamy flavor isn't so sweet that it falls out of balance with the ample caramel (which isn't too sticky). The fudge-covered waffle cone pieces are plentiful and come in relatively equal sizes, adding both visual intrigue and texture to every bite.

Now, while the fudge-covering was necessary for these pieces — as they'd turn to waffle cone-flavored mush if left uncovered — I got a bit bored after a few bites, which I think is counterproductive to the whole Ben & Jerry's brand identity. And although I don't think Ben & Jerry's intended for the fudge to become such a pivotal flavor in this pint, the fact that the thin waffle cone pieces are absolutely drowned in it doesn't help.

When I got a bite full of those fudge pieces (which was most of the bites I sampled), I lost the caramel a bit, and my mouth was overtaken by the fudge. Those waffle cone morsels got gummy on my molars and were ultimately forgettable, as well — and a good Ben & Jerry's pint should be anything but forgettable. Even if I enjoyed it more than the two lower-ranked entries, I couldn't place it higher.

Yes: I'm aware that other brands sell s'mores ice cream. However, I don't think many of them do it quite like Ben & Jerry's, which warrants giving Gimme S'more! a spot in this roundup. For starters, other brands add graham crackers to a vanilla ice cream base, along with the marshmallow and the fudge. But this pint pairs a toasted marshmallow ice cream (which almost tastes like it's graham cracker-based) with chocolate cookie pieces, fudge flakes, and graham cracker swirls. It's as if cookies and cream ice cream got a s'mores facelift, though it was hardly the best flavor I tried.

Conceptually, I like the idea of this pint, but there are some shortcomings worth noting (and reasons why I didn't score it higher). For one, the toasted marshmallow ice cream base doesn't really taste like toasted marshmallows. Actually, it might, but my palate was so overwhelmed by the borderline gritty graham cracker ice cream, which is cinnamony enough to suggest it's supposed to be imitating a graham cracker but not as identifiable as it should be.

Since you can't really tell there's supposed to be a toasted marshmallow-flavored ice cream base, you kind of miss out on one of the most important components of a s'mores. Additionally, I don't hate the cookie pieces, but don't really understand why they're in a s'mores pint. I'd much rather they be swapped out with a marshmallow swirl to deliver more on that part of the equation. It's fun and unique but the execution is lacking, so it comes in sixth.

I'll start with this caveat: I absolutely love cherry ice cream, and perhaps no brand does it quite like Ben & Jerry's (though Tillamook is also up there). Ben & Jerry's puts more cherries into its pint than most other brands I've tried, and like those cherry pieces, the fudge hunks vary in size. Some are small, while others are massive — but there's guaranteed to be a little bit in every bite.

Now, do I think Ben & Jerry's could have tripled the amount of cherries in its ice cream? Of course! This is Cherry Garcia we're talking about, and I think that this pint is deserving of a little more attention in that realm. Instead, there was a little too much emphasis put squarely on the fudge chunks. Some of them that I came across — more toward the middle of the pint than the top — were about the size of quarters, while others were flaked and small. I think this decision did wonders for the overall mouthfeel and consistency of the ice cream, but did so at the expense of the cherries, which should have been the focus.

Compared to the other ice creams that I tried for this lineup, Cherry Garcia falls behind a little bit. It's not as exciting, though it does show that Ben & Jerry's can (and does) do plain vanilla ice cream well — since this is still like half of the pint. Although it's a timeless flavor, I don't feel it's as whimsical as some of Ben & Jerry's better flavors, which pushed it back in my ranking.

Phish Food is one of the most Ben & Jerry's flavors ever created. It has a deep connection to Vermont (Phish got its start in Burlington), and is about as unique and timeless as it gets, with chocolate ice cream housing marshmallow swirls, caramel swirls, and fudge fish. Now, by this point in the ranking, I was kind of hoping Ben & Jerry's was going to play more to the swirls — and I'm glad they came full force in this pint.

This is like Rocky Road for grown-ups — just with caramel and without nuts. The chocolate ice cream base is excellent and is the perfect nesting ground for the sticky caramel and crunchy chocolate pieces (which, upon closer examination, do indeed look like fish). The marshmallow swirl is ample in this pint, too, but it doesn't do it any real favors. Marshmallow gets lost when paired with heavy fudge, chocolate ice cream, and caramel, and I don't really think this pint needs to include it.

This is a good flavor for someone who opposes additional stuff in their ice cream. The fudge fish add just enough textural intrigue to enhance the bite, though I was kind of hoping it had some sort of crunch or textural surprise to make me more invested while eating. It had what New York Super Fudge Chunk didn't — swirls of flavor — though I can't help but think the two could learn a lot from one another. Ultimately, Phish Food is a safer flavor for a brand that likes to push the envelope, so it can't crack the top three.

Is Peanut Butter Half Baked better than regular Half Baked? That's a great question — and not one that I'm going to venture to answer here. I only included the original Half Baked on this list for time's sake (though you can certainly try the two side-by-side if you'd like). Either way, Half Baked is a cookie dough lover's paradise: Vanilla and chocolate ice cream swirled together with cookie dough and fudge brownie pieces. In fact, I knew I was going to be in for a fun time when I saw a dime-sized chunk of cookie dough waiting for me on the lid.

I didn't have to dig far to find more of them, either; they were all about the same size and scattered throughout the mostly vanilla center. The cookie dough could have been like the nuts in New York Super Fudge Chunk — out of place and taking over the entire spoon. However, I felt that since they had a brown sugar-esque flavor, they blended better into the vanilla ice cream, helping it rank in the top three. The same can be said about the brownie pieces, which were more batter-adjacent than baked brownie-adjacent, and thus satisfyingly fused with the chocolate.

Now, it was great to see the vanilla and the cookie dough and the chocolate in the brownies work well. But the lack of interplay between these two halves made it seem like this ice cream was just a cookie dough and a fudge brownie ice cream that just happened to be mixed in the same pint. Some sort of intermediary, like a caramel swirl or, yes, peanut butter, would have helped tremendously, even if it was still delicious.

Reading the description on the Chubby Hubby container made me wonder why I didn't have 10 pints already stocked in my freezer. Although I hadn't tried it before this ranking, it was right up my alley: Vanilla malt ice cream, "peanutty fudge-covered pretzels," and a peanut butter swirl. There was a piece of chocolate-covered pretzel almost as long as my pinkie in the first bite, and it had a beautiful snap to it. It was light and airy, which isn't something I often get from pretzel-containing ice creams, helping it come in second place.

The pretzel pieces had a beautiful and nicely balanced fudge and peanut flavor. The malt ice cream was also compelling in ways that the standard vanilla ice cream-based flavors were not. It was almost savory, which suited the pretzel and peanut undertones well, though I don't think you'd be able to identify the malt flavor if you weren't aware of it. Additionally, the peanut butter swirl was disappointing. While I was glad each bite wasn't overtly peanut buttery — as its profile tends to monopolize anything it's paired with — when I did dig out a bit, the swirl was stuck to the lid like a piece of gum on the bottom of a shoe. It was very hard and dense, and obviously didn't like the cold, as demonstrated by a piece of pretzel that wasn't quite covered in enough chocolate and was almost stale.

Still, Chubby Hubby is a sleeper hit for sure. If Ben & Jerry's smooths out a few issues, I have no doubt it would be a contender for the top spot.

I wasn't surprised that The Tonight Dough ended up the best Ben & Jerry's flavor I sampled. Inspired by Jimmy Fallon (who I have a bit of a girl crush on, but wasn't a factor when ranking), this pint contains caramel and chocolate ice cream, a chocolate cookie swirl, regular cookie dough, and peanut butter cookie dough. And while Half Baked felt disjointed, The Tonight Dough was smooth sailing from start to finish, earning it the top spot.

The caramel flavor wasn't readily apparent, though it wasn't as dichotomous as the chocolate and vanilla in the Half Baked pint. Instead, the caramel blended into the chocolate, offering a flavor synergy that I hadn't seen yet in the ranking. As I suspected, the cookie pieces were plentiful; the chocolate, Oreo-like ones added crunch and grittiness (kind of like a dirt cake pudding), while the cookie dough pieces were sizable and made my jaw work for it. When I got a piece of cookie dough, chocolate cookie, and each ice cream flavor base in my mouth, it was like sweet tooth nirvana. 

My fear going in was that The Tonight Dough was going to be a bit too busy. After all, it has the most stuff going on in this lineup. But every component played off the other components in the ice cream to make for a cohesive, welcoming, and approachable bite that any ice cream lover can appreciate. There wasn't a single bad bite in this pint, and I can't think of any way to improve this flavor. It is truly the definition of "Vermont's Finest."

In order to give every pint a fair shot, I stirred each to reveal the beloved chunks hiding beneath the surface before sampling. As I ate, I looked at several important factors.

The first one was cohesion. The elements of each pint should work together to create an exciting, unique bite; no component should feel out of place or incongruent with either the base or the other add-ins. Flavors that weren't well-thought-out or seemed hodgepodged together ranked lower than ones that told a flavor story. Also, since I was ranking Ben & Jerry's ice creams rather than the standard flavors you'd find at a scoop shack or in the ice cream aisle, I considered whether or not the ice cream flavor and its components were different enough (either in concept or in quality) to separate themselves from other pints on the market.

If you don't see your favorite flavor on this list, don't be discouraged; I had to limit it to signature Ben & Jerry's offerings for brevity — meaning the non-dairy, Topped, and Core offerings were excluded. I chose to only try flavors I associated with Ben & Jerry's brand. Think of it this way: While other brands can make pistachio, chocolate peanut butter cup, and cookie dough ice creams, there's only one Tonight Dough, and I can assure you: It's worth adding to your cart.