The 7 Best Ice Creams You Can Buy at the Grocery Store

My favorite season is easily summer. It’s the one often associated with water activities, outdoor adventures, beach vacations, road trips, and ice cream. There’s nothing quite like a cool, refreshing scoop (or two!) on a blistering hot summer day.

Visit any supermarket and browse the freezer aisle, and you’ll probably feel overwhelmed with the ice cream choices (unless you already have a long-time favorite). You may also find mom-and-pop shops that sell homemade ice creams made with locally-sourced ingredients. Which one should you try first? 

To make it easy, we asked five chefs across the nation to name their favorite brands and flavors. These are the tubs they stock in their freezers.

When Julie Shih, owner of DD Mau, a fast-casual Vietnamese restaurant in St. Louis, is looking for a delicious Asian-inspired ice cream, she reaches for Mavens Durian. “Finding fresh durian is kind of difficult in St. Louis, so I really love [this],” she said. Made from Musang King durians, the ice cream is rich and creamy, with a custard-like texture and a “perfect sweetness that stays true to its flavor … Eating this reminds me of my trips to Thailand and Vietnam with my family,” she added.

Buy: Mavens Durian Ice Cream, $11.09, 14 ounces at Instacart

Pastry chef Claudia Martinez, a James Beard Award semifinalist, has been recognized for her pastries and sophisticated desserts at Bar ANA in Atlanta. When she’s not churning out caramel whiskey ice cream for her banana cream shortbread tart, she’s reaching for a pint of Talenti. “The ice cream texture is smooth, the flavor combinations are good, and the sizing is perfect,” she said. 

“And it’s affordable too.” Talenti offers over 40 flavors, and the one that always makes her smile is caramel cookie crunch. 

Buy: Talenti Caramel Cookie Crunch Gelato, $5.99 for 16 ounces at Amazon

Self-taught chef Heena Patel of Besharam, a regional Gujarati restaurant in San Francisco’s Dogpatch district, is drawn to global flavors. Think: roasted mango with chile, miso caramel, jaggery coffee, toasted fennel, black sesame, and makrut lime. “I love ice creams that surprise you halfway through the bite,” she said. “For me, Malai understands restraint and balance, and their flavors linger instead of overwhelm you.” 

Malai highlights South Asian ingredients and aromatic spices, and offers unexpected twists like the ones in Heena’s favorites: mango and cream, guava chile, and a dedicated chikoo flavor. The ice cream is eggless and churned with very little air, which results in a more robust flavor and the creamiest texture. You can pick up pints at scoop shop locations in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia or order them online at Goldbelly.

Buy: Malai Ice Cream, $89.95 for 4 pints at Goldbelly

As someone who owns the plant-based bakery Sixteen Mill Bakeshop in New York, Talia Tutak is always looking for ice creams that feel intentional, contain simple ingredients, and that still deliver that nostalgic, comforting experience. Which is why Organic Nectars’ plant-based Cashewtopia gelato, especially the pistachio flavor, is one of her favorites. “It’s incredibly light and refreshing, not overly creamy and heavy, but still smooth,” she said. 

“It actually reminds me of the pistachio scoops I used to get with my family every Sunday in my small town in Poland. Those ice creams obviously contained dairy, but they had that same homemade feeling and delicate pistachio flavor.”

Buy: Organic Nectars Pistachio Cashewtopia Gelato, $8.59 for 1 pint at DoorDash

Once chef Claudia Martinez heard about ice cream maker Jeni Britton winning a James Beard award, she had to try out her flavors. As soon as she did, she fell for the flavor combinations, admiring Jeni’s “creativity.” Though it’s admittedly “more expensive” than other brands, explains Claudia, that hasn’t stopped her from buying pint after pint of the brambleberry crisp flavor, which layers oven-toasted oat streusel and a sweet-tart brambleberry jam throughout vanilla ice cream.

Buy: Jeni’s Brambleberry Crisp Ice Cream, $9.69 for 16 ounces at Amazon

Like a lot of chefs, Matt Glickert prioritizes quality over quantity. As the executive chef and co-owner of Westchester STL in Chesterfield, Missouri, Matt revealed he sources “quality” ice cream from Clementine’s and uses it as part of the menu offerings. “The salted cracker caramel is a staple [at The Westchester],” he said. 

Made with high butterfat, low overrun, and locally sourced ingredients, the ice creams are characterized by rich texture and bold flavors. “Clementine’s has so many incredible signature and rotating flavors, so we love to switch the flavors seasonally as well. Personally, the Madagascar vanilla is always a winner,” he added.

Buy: Clementine’s Ice Cream, $89.95 for 4 pints at Goldbelly

“When I am craving a piña colada, but don’t have all of the ingredients, I’ll reach for the pineapple coconut ice cream from Häagen Dazs,” says Shih. “It will not only satisfy my craving,” she adds, “but it takes me on a mini vacation — at home.”

The iconic ice-cream brand with the Dutch-sounding name is beloved for its smooth, custardy consistency, simple list of ingredients, and generous add-ins in like chocolate chip cookie dough. (It was also the unanimous choice of chefs for best vanilla ice cream.)

Buy: Häagen-Dazs Pineapple Coconut, $3.48 for 14 ounces at Amazon

Did your favorite store-bought ice cream make the list? Tell us about it in the comments below.

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: Chefs Agree: These Are the 7 Best Grocery Store Ice Creams You Can Buy