5 Chick-Fil-A Milkshakes, Ranked Worst To Best

Fast food restaurants know there's no better way to end a savory, sodium-packed meal than with a cool, creamy milkshake. Chains like Chick-fil-A, McDonald's, Culver's, Steak 'n Shake, and more all feature them. As someone who prefers to eat her ice cream melted (cup over cone, always and forever), I'm an enthusiastic fan of any frozen treat that's already in a luxuriously liquid state. There couldn't be anyone more qualified, or more excited, to test all of Chick-fil-A's milkshakes for this ranking. I popped a few Lactaid pills and headed right over to my nearest chain.

A few factors were the same across all the milkshakes. Each one came in the same 16-ounce size, the standard since the 14-ounce and 20-ounce sizes were discontinued in 2021. They all started with the same base: Chick-fil-A's Icedream, a frozen dairy product (that isn't technically ice cream under USDA standards because of its ingredient ratios). For the finishing touches, each one except the seasonal option had the same vanilla-flavored whipped cream and a single maraschino cherry.

From this tasting, I learned that a frozen ice cream alternative, compared to "real" ice cream, didn't make these sippable sweet treats any less satisfying. I really enjoyed mostly all of the tested options. If you favor a refreshing dessert after feasting on crispy chicken and hot waffle fries, read on to see how I ranked Chick-fil-A's milkshakes from worst to best.

Part of Chick-fil-A's newly released 2026 fall menu, the S'mores Milkshake was inspired by everyone's favorite campfire sweet treat and evoked fun memories of late-summer snacking. But after taking a sip, I wasn't feeling too nostalgic. Just as a melty, neglected marshmallow on a stick plummets to its demise into the bonfire, this dessert fell to the very bottom of my list. 

It featured toasted marshmallow syrup, chocolate shortbread, and graham cracker crumbles, topped with toasted marshmallow whipped cream. The problem wasn't the texture — I loved the thick, creamy base, flawlessly mixed with crunchy bits of shortbread and graham crackers. What I couldn't stand was how insanely sweet and artificial the marshmallow component tasted. I couldn't catch a break from my teeth constantly tingling in reaction to all the sugar. That phony marshmallow flavor hit in a quick one-two punch, in both the whipped cream topping and the base. While I consider myself to have a pretty massive sweet tooth, this extreme sugar bomb took me down fast. I didn't enjoy the flavor, and I didn't care to finish it.

While nowhere near the S'mores option's severe sweetness, the Chocolate Milkshake disappointed me in another way, keeping it from earning a higher score. Still, I would much rather have this lightly flavored option, which I could enjoy more of in one sitting, than the excessively sugary S'mores I couldn't tolerate after the first taste. The chocolate flavor was mild and muted, like a weak whisper I could barely hear. I wasn't too surprised, since its pale gray-ish color was an obvious visual giveaway. Chocolate syrup is in the ingredients list, and I wonder if it would taste better with more.

I'm among fellow complainers: Its weak flavor rendered similar criticisms in Chowhound's ranking of chain chocolate milkshakes. It didn't taste terrible, but it wasn't a chocolate flavor I'd crave to get my hands on a second time. If I'm spending another five dollars, I'm not going back to Chick-fil-A for the Chocolate when there are three other choices I'd rather buy.

I knew Chick-fil-A's Cookies & Cream Milkshake would be good. As my favorite ice cream flavor growing up, enjoying it as a shake would be equally satisfying. With a tall mountain of whipped topping and a cherry on top, I had little to complain about as I sipped this perfectly sweet beverage with a balanced, bitter edge from the chocolate.

Even though the base did not include any chocolate syrup, it was a pleasant surprise how strong the flavor came through in the Cookies & Cream version compared to the wimpy-flavored Chocolate. That had to do with the epic amount of ground chocolate cookie crumbs speckled throughout the drink, which gave it both a concentrated cocoa flavor and a fun texture with each sip. The chocolate cookies were an ideal contrast to the vanilla-flavored base, a textbook example of its given nomenclature.

My only gripe, the reason why it didn't rank any higher, was that it could have been creamier. Maybe the cookie crumbs are to blame for the thicker consistency, but this had the most ice crystals and was the thickest option, which made it slightly difficult to sip through a straw at first. But after letting it melt a little more — a difficult task to do since I was impatient to wait for my dessert — all those issues disappeared with some extra time.

Chick-fil-A's Strawberry Milkshake delivered on texture, flavor, and appearance. I wasn't sure this one would have enough flavor impact, given how disappointed I was with the Chocolate option. After my first few sips and seeing small chunks of strawberries speckled throughout the drink (a promising sign of freshness), I had nothing to worry about.

Similar to how I judged strawberry milk in another ranking, I was looking for a clean, clear strawberry flavor that brought back childhood memories of drinking strawberry milk in school. In this refreshing frozen version, the strawberry flavor was bright and fruity, with a subtle acidity balanced by the drink's overall sweetness. It didn't taste fake at all, despite the mix of natural and artificial flavors and strawberries in the ingredients list. I thought I had reached the peak of true bliss, but another captured the quintessence of a perfect milkshake, with silky-smooth richness and delectable flavor.

Chick-fil-A's Vanilla Milkshake reigned supreme. As the foundation for all the other milkshakes, this is the origin of everything, the direct source, the (vanilla) seed of inspiration! This milky-white classic shake had a flavor that was light and lovely, a refreshing taste of floral vanilla and sweet cream. The texture was also a delight to the senses. It was smooth, rich, and creamy, yet still delicate enough to sip easily. Reaching the bottom of the cup wasn't a difficult task to complete.

Drab and plain? Most certainly not. There's a very good reason I ranked the S'mores in last place: its harsh sweetness and catastrophic use of artificial marshmallow flavor, and a very good reason I ranked the Vanilla in the top spot. After tasting one of the most extremely flavored drinks, it was a relief to sip on a simple, straightforward option. It tasted pure and clean, without any unnecessary additions. 

When I order Chick-fil-A again, I'll know exactly what to get: the No. 1 milkshake alongside Chick-fil-A's Original Chicken Sandwich — the top winner of Chowhound's taste test of fast food chicken sandwiches. Winning isn't everything, but it definitely makes things taste better.

I based my ranking on all the basics: flavor, mouthfeel, and appearance. I wanted a milkshake that was sweet without tasting too cloying or artificial. I hoped for a rich, creamy base I could sip through a straw and scoop with a spoon. If there were mix-ins like cookies, I wanted them to be small enough that I could still sip them through the straw. I also wanted to see how vibrant the colors were and whether that meant bolder flavors.

I ordered each one exactly as the menu indicated, with no modifications. Because my local Chick-fil-A was only a few minutes' drive from home, I ordered them all at the same time. Contrary to some of the most common Chick-fil-A customer complaints, I had a quick, pleasant drive-thru experience with phenomenal staff during a busy Saturday lunch rush.

I took them home immediately and tried them all within 20 minutes so they wouldn't melt too much. Given their more liquid-than-solid format, they were very forgiving on an unreasonably hot and sunny Pittsburgh day at the end of summer. Other than the whipped cream losing some fluffy aeration, they were still thick and frozen.