13 Popular Vanilla Ice Cream Brands Ranked By Ingredient Quality

People who love vanilla ice cream are loyal to the simple, yet delicious, flavor. Many think that the best vanilla ice cream that you can get is from a local ice cream shop, where the delicious treat is made freshly daily. But sometimes, you just want to have a container in your freezer to have on hand.

Not all store-bought ice cream brands are the same, however. There's some brands that make high-quality vanilla ice cream, and others that barely scrape the surface for any solid ingredients. At the core, vanilla ice cream is made with eggs, heavy cream, milk, sugar, salt, and vanilla beans. If you were to make your own ice cream at home, these are probably the ingredients that you would use.

We combed through many of the popular ice cream brands that you would find in the grocery store freezer section. With the core ingredients of vanilla ice cream that we just listed as a guide-post for quality, we looked at what was used to make these different brands of vanilla ice cream. From there, we organized this list from the lowest quality vanilla ice cream brands to highest quality vanilla ice cream brands. We hope that this list can give you some clear guidance the next time you need to grab a tub for your late-night vanilla ice cream cravings.

Favorite Day is a Target brand that offers indulgent treats like baked goods, candy, soda, and of course — ice cream. One thing that draws people to buy the Favorite Day ice cream is because of its unique flavors, like Hot Cocoa, Caramel Brownie Moose Tracks, or Sea Monster. As for the homemade vanilla ice cream, the packaging (which is very simple and clean) honestly makes it appear like it would be a great quality option.

The third ingredient listed for the Favorite Day Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream is high fructose corn syrup. In the world of high-quality ice cream, that ingredient doesn't exist. It's a liquid sweetener that is manufactured, and is shown to create health issues when eaten in high-volumes. There are other ways to sweeten ice cream that are less processed, like using cane sugar.

This ice cream has no signs of actual vanilla beans being used, and instead artificial flavor is listed right on the front of the container. There is also nonfat milk listed as an ingredient, which will lead to a less-creamy tasting ice cream. Ultimately, this ice cream is lacking the fat from pure cream, the flavor from vanilla beans, and the sweetness from a more pure source of sugar.

Kroger has its own private label, and sells many different types of food at a lower price than other name brands. Its Vividly Vanilla Deluxe Ice Cream is sold at about half the price of other ice creams available at Kroger. Unfortunately, the low price point is for a reason — because the ingredients are not of the best quality.

Immediately when looking at the ingredient list, we noticed that it's quite long compared to many of the other brands that we've looked at. The only high-quality ingredients that are on this list are milk, cream, and sugar — which should be in every ice cream. However, those are overshadowed by the many other ingredients that were added to this recipe. There is both corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup, whey, artificial flavors, and a long list of additives like guar gum, cellulose gum, and carrageenan. These ingredients are not necessary for a great-tasting ice cream, and would never be used by someone making a high-quality ice cream at home. The Kroger Vanilla Ice Cream is also missing egg yolks and vanilla beans — two ingredients that are prevalent in high-quality ice cream brands.

Market Pantry is a Target Brand that offers affordable products. For example, the price of the Market Pantry Vanilla Light Ice Cream is about half the price of most of the other vanilla ice cream products sold at Target. We wish we could say that this affordable ice cream also had high-quality ingredients, but unfortunately that's not the case.

When first looking at the ingredient list, we noticed that there is a long list of items. This is a light ice cream, which means it's meant to have fewer calories than regular ice cream. Because of that, there is no cream in this recipe, which would lead to a thinner, less creamy consistency. There's also no vanilla beans listed, only natural and artificial flavors. Natural flavors could potentially come from vanilla beans, or they could come from something else. Since it's not specified, we can't consider that a high-quality ingredient.

The other ingredients are milk, nonfat milk, liquid sugar, corn syrup, and whey. The corn syrup and whey are not necessary to make ice cream, and are only added to help with the taste and texture. There are also many additives like cellulose gum, guar gum, and carrageenan, which all help with the texture and stabilization of the ice cream. Items like these are generally needed when high-quality ingredients aren't being used, like cream, full fat milk, and pure sugar.

Great Value is Walmart's own brand which offers products that are the cheapest option on the Walmart shelves. It makes ice cream, and has many flavor options — of course including the classic Homestyle Vanilla.

One thing that clued us into the quality of this product is the labeling of vanilla flavored ice cream on the front of the carton. The key word here is "flavored". Ultimately, this means that the vanilla flavoring isn't derived from actual vanilla beans, so it's not a true vanilla ice cream, but vanilla flavored. Other than that, the ice cream does contain milk, cream, plain sugar, and egg yolks as the first couple of ingredients, which does earn this ice cream some points. Those are pure ingredients that are in every well-made vanilla ice cream. Unfortunately, there is corn syrup as well, which is a low-quality sweetener.

Although this ice cream lacks any sort of actual vanilla beans, it does have vanilla extract, which will give the ice cream that true vanilla flavor. The quality of vanilla extract does depend on the kind that is used – as some brands are made more purely than others. Unfortunately, it's not clear where Great Value gets its vanilla extract from.

Breyers has been selling its ice cream since 1896, and although we're not sure what the exact recipe was like back then — we can assume it's changed quite a bit to be able to produce millions and millions of gallons per year.

The front of the Breyers Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream states, "It's how homemade should taste," however the ingredients tell a slightly different story. The ingredient list has some high-quality ingredients, but also contains a good amount of low-quality ingredients. To start off, there is milk, cream, sugar, and egg yolks. Those are all ingredients that we want to see in ice cream. Unfortunately, there is also corn syrup, whey, and a list of additives that aren't necessary. None of those ingredients would be used in a homemade ice cream, even though the carton tries to tell the customer otherwise.

As for the flavoring, it's a bit secretive. In the product description, it claims that the black specks seen in the ice cream come from real vanilla beans. However, vanilla beans aren't listed in the ingredients. What is actually listed is natural flavors, which could mean that the flavors are derived from vanilla beans, but the beans aren't actually in the recipe.

Halo Top, a low-sugar and low-calorie brand, blazed the ice cream scene when it made its debut in 2012. A few years later in 2017, it scored itself the spot for the number one bestselling ice cream in the United States. Customers must think Halo Top tastes great as well, considering it was the bestselling ice cream. Now, what ingredients could possibly be in this ice cream to make it much healthier than other brands, but still taste good?

When looking at the ingredient list for the Halo Top Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, it does look a little bit overwhelming. There's many words that you may not recognize, and some that you'll definitely know. The obvious ingredients are skim milk, cream, sugar, egg yolks, ground vanilla beans, and sea salt. These are all high-quality ingredients, and it's great to see that even though this is a healthy ice cream, it still contains the pure ingredients that make ice cream, well, ice cream.

The ice cream also contains erythritol and stevia leaf extract, which are both low calorie sweeteners. To keep the ice cream low sugar, these sweeteners are needed. It also contains a few thickening agents like soluble corn fiber, cellulose gel, and cellulose gum. Overall, these products aren't considered high-quality, but they're most likely needed to make the low calorie and low sugar ice cream taste good.

Trader Joe's mostly sells its own name-brand products — and there are some great products to buy at Trader Joe's and also some not-so-great. However, many of Trader Joe's products are made with great quality ingredients. When looking at the ingredients for Trader Joe's French Vanilla Ice Cream, we saw that the product definitely falls into the category of a high-quality Trader Joe's item.

There's only a few ingredients in the ice cream, and those are cream, milk, cane sugar, sugared egg yolks, natural vanilla flavor, and a stabilizer blend. Out of all of these ingredients, the only item that isn't necessary is the stabilizer blend. We've seen many successful brands that make a tasty, high-quality product without stabilizers. Other than that, this ingredient list is made with pure ice cream making ingredients, which is great. Unfortunately, there aren't any actual vanilla beans, but there is natural vanilla flavoring, which is derived from vanilla beans.

Ben & Jerry's was the pioneer for innovative and silly ice cream flavors. With the release of many popular flavors in the '80s like Cherry Garcia, Chunky Monkey, and New York Super Fudge Chunk — it's always been a brand that stood out from the rest. But how does Ben & Jerry's ice cream stack up to others when looking at the quality of ingredients?

Ben & Jerry's Vanilla Ice Cream is made from cage-free eggs, fair trade, humanely treated dairy cows, and non-GMO ingredients. All of these are indicators that the manufacturer puts effort into creating a quality product, although that still doesn't tell us if there are low-quality ingredients in the recipe. We took a deeper dive, and found out that these indications were spot on. The ice cream contains cream, skim milk, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and vanilla beans. These are all great, high-quality ingredients that we're looking for in an ice cream.

There's a few questionable ingredients as well, like water, guar gum, and carrageenan. These ingredients aren't entirely necessary, and are mainly added to adjust the texture or stabilization in some way. Overall, there's high-quality ingredients in the Ben & Jerry's Vanilla, but also some unnecessary, lower quality ones as well.

Talenti is one of the few gelato brands out there that are commonly seen on the grocery store shelves. The main difference between gelato and ice cream is that gelato has a bit more milk and less cream, and is churned more slowly, resulting in a denser texture. Talenti sells its gelato in clear containers that simply share the logo, flavor, nutrition, and ingredient information. It lets the look of the gelato speak for itself, instead of plastering curated photos on the outside of the container.

The Talenti Madagascan Vanilla Bean Gelato has some great quality ingredients. You probably noticed in the title that this gelato is Madagascan. That's because there are vanilla beans in the recipe that are from Madagascar. These specific beans are known to have a high concentration of vanillin in them, which is the property of vanilla beans that provide the signature sweet, creamy, delicious vanilla flavor. The other ingredients in this gelato are milk, sugar, cream, lemon peel, and a few thickening agents. Overall, the ingredients are straightforward and will deliver a strong vanilla flavor. The only points deducted here are for the thickening agents.

Jeni's brand was created in 2002, which is fairly new for the world of ice cream brands. It was founded by Jeni Britton, who strived to make ice cream with high-quality ingredients. According to the website, the ice cream is: "Free of anything fake. Full of the best ingredients we can find from producers and growers who do what they do best — including milk from family-run dairies."

Jeni's has many unique flavors, like Boozy Eggnog, Sweet Potato Marshmallow Praline, and Hot Toddy Sorbet. Even the vanilla ice cream is made just a bit differently than many other vanilla ice creams. Jeni's Honey Vanilla Bean Ice Cream is made with honey as the main sweetener, along with cane sugar. Both of these are high-quality ingredients that sweeten the ice cream in a natural way. The honey that Jeni's uses is specifically from a honey farm in Ohio called Deer Creek Honey — instead of using a generic, low-quality brand. There's no signs of any sort of corn syrup or artificial sweeteners in this recipe. For the vanilla flavor, this ice cream is made with specks of vanilla beans as well as fair trade vanilla extract.

Haagen-Dazs is a major ice cream brand that's been on the market since 1960. The website states, "Since 1960, we've kept it simple. Source the finest ingredients and transform them into the most luxurious ice cream." Just from looking at the container for the Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, there's a simple photo of a vanilla orchid, insinuating that this product is made with the real thing.

The ingredient list reflects that as well. This ice cream actually has one of the smallest ingredient list we've seen — and it's made of all of the right stuff. There is cream, skim milk, cane sugar, egg yolk, ground vanilla beans, and vanilla extract. This is exactly what a homemade style ice cream should be like. Another positive thing about this recipe is that the only sugar that's used is cane sugar. Cane sugar has a slightly different flavor than white sugar — creating a deeper, more molasses-based flavor. This can help the ice cream have a richer flavor overall.

Tillamook ice cream can be found in many grocery stores, and it comes in its signature cylinder-shaped container. When looking at the ingredients for the Tillamook Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream, we confirmed that the website statement held true. There's only a few ingredients listed on the container, and they're all quite simple. The very first ingredient is cream, which lets us know that the ice cream will indeed be rich and creamy. It even advertises the ice cream as "extra creamy" on the grocery store websites. Then, there is milk, skim milk, sugar, and pasteurized egg yolks. These are all simple and pure ingredients that are needed for ice cream. As for what makes it vanilla, there is vanilla extract and natural flavor.

Overall, Tillamook isn't using alternatives to the pure ingredients, like skimping on the cream, using high-fructose corn syrup, and a long list of additives. This ingredient list is similar to what one would use to make pure ice cream at home.

Van Leeuwen is a New York City ice cream delicacy. It opened in 2008 as an ice cream truck on the streets of the city, and since then it's opened shops throughout the United States. Along with the shops, you can find Van Leeuwen ice cream on the aisles of your local grocery store. Van Leeuwen shares on its website that it uses good quality and simple ingredients, and even states in regards to ingredients, "If you can't pronounce it you probably can't digest it. That's why we are obsessed with exactly what goes into our ice cream and what stays out." We were curious to see for ourselves if that was true.

When looking at the ingredient list for the Van Leeuwen Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, we were pleased to see that the company's claims were indeed accurate. The ingredient list is just that: simple. It contains milk, cream, cane sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract, salt, and vanilla beans. This list sets the bar for the high-ingredient list we've been looking for.

The vanilla beans used in this recipe aren't just any vanilla beans. They're specifically from Tahiti, and are cold-ground whole. Tahitian vanilla beans are known to be complex in taste, and have notes of black cherry and plum. The beans have less vanillin than say Madagascan or Mexican vanilla beans, which give it a fruitier flavor. The beans are still sweet — but this gives the Van Leeuwen Vanilla Bean ice cream its own unique flavor.

When considering ice cream that has high-quality ingredients, we first took a look at how vanilla ice cream is made. It's a simple recipe, and mainly needs cream, milk, egg-yolks, sugar, and vanilla beans. Knowing this, we took a look at many popular ice cream flavors that are commonly found in grocery stores across the country. We combed through the ingredient lists, and also checked the company websites for extra information about ingredient sourcing.

With the standard being set to those five main ingredients, we deducted points to ice creams that were missing an ingredient, and added points to those that had all of them. We also paid attention to unnecessary ingredients that were added, which can bring down the quality of the ice cream.