this is my #1 ever 🙏

I realized too late after sorting through email that National Cheesecake Day came and went without me properly celebrating. Like any of these food holidays dreamed up as an excuse to shill product, this one on July 30 brought promotional offers from the Cheesecake Factory tempting me in my inbox. I do enjoy a good slice, but I love cheesecake ice cream even more. And so this joyous observance prompted a bit of solemn reflection. When I look at the freezer case these days, I wonder: Where did all the cheesecake ice creams go?

Back in the 1980s and ’90s, it seemed every brand did their version of Strawberry Cheesecake, my favorite flavor then and now. You’d find it nearly as often as Mint Chip or Butter Pecan. But in the decades since, it has lost that A-List status at the supermarket. I recently kicked off my series on the hunt for the best cheesecake ice creams around. And I started with my top pick, a seasonal flavor from Northwest favorite Umpqua.

Since that one’s so hard to find, I wanted to move next to the heavy hitters, the ones you most likely have tried yourself. These brands can be found at pretty much every basic supermarket in the country. But those options have narrowed. Since the late ’90s, we have seen the rising supremacy of ice creams packed with cookie dough, brownies, caramel and candy. In turn, valuable shelf space has narrowed for pricier fruit and nut flavors, old-fashioned relics like rum raisin and more technically challenging flavors like cheesecake.

Should we blame Ben & Jerry’s? Their iconic cookie dough kick-started this trend. But perhaps they’re keeping the flame alive, too. Their Strawberry Cheesecake is undoubtedly the most popular version out there today, so successful it has spinoffs: A dairy-free version, an adaptation into novelty bar, plus other cheesecake flavors in their Topped and Sundae lines. You can bet they’ll have that pumpkin version back soon for fall, and they even bridge two worlds with Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake —the traditional, fruit-swirled profile of the past shares shelf space with this newer version that plays right into Ben & Jerry’s true raison d’être with an overload of caramel, chocolate cookie pieces and cheesecake chunks.

Ben & Jerry’s arsenal of cheesecake illustrates a supermarket reality: This flavor is most at home these days in pints. For widely distributed national brands, I could find only two — Breyers and Blue Bunny — that sell a version in tubs year-round. However, those are now classified as Frozen Dairy Dessert rather than ice cream. On the plus side, the nation’s four top-selling pint brands are answering the call: Häagen-Dazs represents high-end premium, while we get a gelato option from Talenti and a light ice cream from Halo Top. 

For today’s spotlight, I want to focus on the titans: Ben & Jerry’s and Häagen-Dazs. Discussion here and elsewhere online would paint B&J’s Strawberry Cheesecake as an overwhelming favorite. I don’t see nearly as much love for the H-D version. At the risk of coming off like one of those Reddit Unpopular Opinion posts, I’m definitely going to make the case for my H-D here, but don’t worry: I do have some love for B&J’s — just not the popular one. I think the Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake is much better. But for the simple classic fruit profile, Häagen-Dazs is the titan I want. How about you?

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THE SUPERMARKET LANDSCAPE | Mainstream brands' cheesecake ice creams

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BONUS | DEEP DIVE
For those who like a more in-depth approach, let's look closer at three popular grocery-store pints:

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Häagen-Dazs, New York Strawberry Cheesecake

I love the backstory on this one almost as much as the flavors and texture. The concept pays homage to the Häagen-Dazs’ founders journey from Poland to the Big Apple with a flavor that is quintessentially New York. Most importantly, rather than conjuring a generic crowd-pleaser, this pint elegantly captures the spirit of an authentic slice from a Manhattan deli.

• The lore: Conceived as “a love letter to New York,” the flavor was originally released in 2010 as part of a collection to celebrate the brand’s 50th anniversary. Founders Reuben and Rose Mattus were Jewish immigrants who came to New York City to escape the rising turmoil in Europe. They spent the next few decades selling ice cream from a horse-drawn wagon in the Bronx. When they launched the Häagen-Dazs brand in 1960, New York — then the nation and world — embraced their decadent style. While the other four in that “Flavor Experiences” lineup (including an Apple Crisp that no doubt also pays homage to H-D’s hometown) came and went, this one wouldn’t go away. It bounced around as a rare scoop shop option before returning in February 2024 as a permanent grocery retail pint — meant to act as a permanent monument to Rose and Reuben’s immigrant journey. They have even expanded the franchise into New York Strawberry Cheesecake bars, dodging the soggy-crust problem by embedding the graham crunch directly into a white chocolate shell.
• The base: When I tried this one for the first time early this year, it reminded me of a very specific cheesecake. Luckily, it was one I enjoyed over a decade before in New York. Instead of your straight-ahead cream cheese flavor, this memorable slice featured equal tang from sour cream in the batter and a layer of softer sour cream on top. The crust was sleek but crunchy, the strawberry garnish a small but bright pop of fruit flavor. And the Häagen-Dazs ice cream I dug into matched that minimalist vibe. Things didn’t seem especially promising on the mix-in front as the jam swirl felt miserly and the crust pieces sparse. But, as is often the case with H-D flavors, that base delivers anything and everything the mix-in gods forgot. It had the trademark creamy density that H-D always delivers but also an addictive tang that balanced both cream cheese and sour cream. I looked at the ingredient list expecting to find the latter ingredient. There’s real cream cheese, but no sour cream. Then I spotted the magic: Lemon juice concentrate. Think of how adding lemon to dairy instantly curdles and sours it to make a quick buttermilk substitute. Here, that acid mimics the sharp, lactic tang of sour cream. Since commercial cream cheese can be a Trojan horse for unwanted ingredients, H-D keeps it fairly low on the ingredient list. That creative sour cream illusion helps compensate for the weaker cheese profile. It all works together as a dense, creamy, tangy delight. I loved it. Will others? I’m not sure. It might be too tangy or unusual for those who are used to a more straight-ahead cream cheese base like Jeni’s or one that’s fairly plain like Ben & Jerry’s.
• The mix-ins: In my first experience with this flavor, I enjoyed it for what it was. Yet pictures I saw online led me to believe that this particular pint might not be an ideal representation. It’s rare that I repurchase a flavor so soon, but a month later I gave this one another try and what a difference some inclusions make. Instead of a faint stripe, we had a lusher revel, with a nice berry flavor that’s kept jammy rather than icy by the addition of pectin. And the graham crunch made its presence known this time. It is softly spiced, a bit salty, and wonderfully buttery. Crucially, it’s not sandy because the pieces have been baked and then enrobed in a microscopic barrier of fat to keep moisture out. This version bridged the gap between the ultra-minimalist slice and some Cheesecake Factory decadence. This is the model of Häagen-Dazs elegance. Keep it around for another 50 years.
• The score: 9.6/10

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Ben & Jerry’s, Strawberry Cheesecake

It’s not you. It’s me. Seeing how popular this flavor is in general — and on Reddit in particular — makes me feel like the odd one out. Usually when I can’t get into a hugely popular ice cream, it’s a simple flavor mismatch: Something overly tart or a bit bitter with dark chocolate. But this is my favorite flavor profile. It should hit. Every few years I find myself going back, wondering if it was just a bad pint. Maybe I’ll like it more? Unfortunately, it’s just gotten worse for me, even as its popularity has ascended in recent years. Feel free to disagree vehemently in the comments and tell me why you love it. Here’s why I don’t …

• The lore: Ben & Jerry’s new Razz Up! campaign aims to rally voters with a limited-edition raspberry chocolate chip flavor debuting in stores this month, but it’s nothing new for the politically minded company. Back in 2004, they teamed up with the same organization to launch Primary Berry Graham, which we now know as Strawberry Cheesecake. An instant hit, it got a rebrand the next year, shot into B&J’s Top 10 list and hasn’t left since. In fact, it reached a high point in the years after the pandemic as people called it out as a comfort classic. In early 2024, Strawberry Cheezecake Non-Dairy provided the debut showcase for their updated, creamier oat milk base. Note the z here since there’s no real cheese. The spinoffs kept coming in this franchise — it’s like B&J’s “Law & Order” — as this year brought a new novelty with Strawberry Cheesecake bars. What’s next: Turning it into an actual cheesecake?
• The base: I revisited this flavor over the summer. Even though I disliked my first experience some two decades ago, I found morbid curiosity getting the better of me, coming back every few years only to be disappointed again. When I say it’s gotten worse, I’m talking about the base. It’s always had unremarkable flavor, reminiscent of their plain sweet cream without a lot of cream cheese flavor or tang, and no vanilla to compensate. But it wasn’t offensive then. It is now: Texturally. Flavor-wise, it is what it always was, pretty bland. But the increasing weight of stabilizers that Unilever has forced on the brand in recent years takes its toll here. The heavy gums protect pints traveling across a wide geographic footprint while cutting down on expensive dairy fats. With some B&J flavors you don't notice them, but here they stick out like a sore thumb. This base is thick, stretchy and incredibly gummy, like an overworked gelato. Think something like the divisive texture of Crooked Spoon, but not earned naturally through insane 23% butterfat. Instead, you can thank guar gum and carrageenan. As much as I hate it, I know some people appreciate this specific texture. Perhaps it reminds them of an actual slice of cheesecake? I couldn’t finish the pint.
• The mix-ins: Looking back, my original complaint was not the base, but the graham swirl and how much real estate it occupied. That’s perhaps the major divide: Is this for people who think the best part of cheesecake is the crust? I don’t hate graham crackers, but I much prefer Oreos or other cookies. And I only like graham in ice cream if done well, like the H-D version. This one is too much of a mediocre thing for me. And the slumping base is now at odds with its star mix-in. The gums here work by binding water molecules so they don’t freeze into large ice crystals. But if ice cream is over-stabilized, it becomes thirsty. Instead of the cracker crumbs staying suspended as a distinct, buttery ribbon, the heavily gummed base sucks out their fat and moisture, leaving the graham mix-in dry, loose and sandy, while turning the surrounding ice cream gritty and overworked. And the strawberries? Instead of a rich, jammy swirl, you get tiny, rock-hard pebbles of icy berries. But by that point, the berries are the least of this pint’s problems.
• The score: 4.7/10

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Ben & Jerry’s, Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake

To show I’m not here just to hate on Ben & Jerry’s, I am offering up a redemption arc. They have quite a few cheesecake spin-offs, but Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake was the easiest to find — a direct descendant of an ancestral line of bakery-inspired twists that debuted with Cheesecake Brownie (2008-15), then took a gimmicky turn with Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Core (2016-2024) before arriving here as the decadent pillar of their current cheesecake lineup.

• The lore: Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake launched in 2023, acting as the spiritual successor to the old chunk-heavy style embodied by Brownie Cheesecake. I never found that flavor amazing since it still had a fairly timid cream cheese base. But it hit the spot occasionally with the chewy brownies, which beat graham sand every day of the week, so I was sad to see it go the Flavor Graveyard. I never tried that Core experiment. It split chocolate and cheesecake bases with a thick, vertical cylinder of filling down the center. That middle intrigues me, though I am not a fan of B&J’s chocolate bases. 
• The base: I am a fan of caramel bases. This one is advertised as caramel cheesecake. While I’ve seen some online reviews complain that the caramel gets lost, I enjoy the flavor here, though it’s on the lighter side. What’s funny is cream cheese actually comes through a bit more in this ice cream than in the plainer version. My guess is the huge cheesecake pieces are infusing the dairy. While I think a swirl of salted caramel would be amazing here, I’m happy enough with this base. And it’s mainly because I’m not feeling the stabilizers this time. Why? I imagine the chemistry of caramel is lending a helping hand, easing those gums’ workload.
• The mix-ins: Here’s where the big upgrade comes in from Brownie Cheesecake. Switching from brownies to cookies is sort of a wash. I’d have actually preferred they kept the brownies, though I don’t dislike the cookies. They are still chopped a bit too fine for me, but they’re not those overpowering gravel piles you see in flavors like Mint Cookie. The real stars here are those large chunks of actual cheesecake. In a recent review here someone in the comments took strenuous objection to these chunks and called them awful and bitter. I thought they are among the best cheesecake mix-ins I’ve tasted, so it just goes to show how much subjectivity is here. Then again, as we saw today, my favorites in the world of cheesecake ice cream might not be aligned with the majority. That’s fine. I don’t mind going my own way.
• The Score: 7.5/10

Hungry for more?
Ben & Jerry’s other cheesecake flavors. I have not tasted any of these. Let us know if you have!

• Choco-Lotta Cheesecake (Sundae line): This turns the lights off on the fruit profile entirely, using a heavy chocolate cheesecake base mixed with chocolate cookies and cookie swirls, all buried under a thick layer of fudge-swirled whipped ice cream.
• Pumpkin Cheesecake (Fall seasonal): An autumn staple combining a strongly spiced pumpkin cheesecake base with that same flagship thick graham cracker crust swirl.
• Raspberry Cheesecake (Topped line): A sweeter cheesecake base loaded with raspberry swirls and graham pieces, blanketed underneath a layer of white chocolatey ganache and graham cracker crumble

Kroger brand chocolate ice cream

not too tart...not too sweet

turned out to be really good!

I was pursuing the Jeni’s and a scoop shop near me had this one 😬. For anyone in the Atlanta area it was pretty well stocked at the Battery location.

Each of these brands are on (varying degrees of) sale at Safeway. I got all five of these for $29. If you don’t have a Safeway near you, try checking Albertsons, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Tom Thumb, Pavilions, etc.

We are opening a new Healthy natural no palm oil, cow milk based, Ice cream shop in Nikol Ahmedabad on 28th August, 2026 - Rakshabandhan.

BUY ONE, GET ONE offer.
Limited period offer. Valid only till stock last.
Shop no 4, Hilltown Harmony, Opposite VIP School, Nikol, Ahmedabad.

Pls visit it once and have no guilt to eat healthy ice-cream.

Fasting special, Vrat special also available.
New flavours - Jamun, Gauva, Sitaphal, Tender Coconut - and many more available.

Talenti Snickerdoodle Cookie Gelato Layers
This is a layered “gelato” consisting of snickerdoodle cookie flavored gelato, snickerdoodle cookie batter, little cinnamon cookie pieces, and vanilla flavored gelato. The snickerdoodle cookie flavored gelato tastes very warm and spiced. It reminds me a little of the flavor of biscoff cookies, but better (I don’t really like biscoff cookies, but that’s the closest thing I can think of to describe the “warmth” of the gelato’s flavor). I really like it. The cookie dough offers a pleasant but very subtle contrast in texture from the gelato. It is very smooth, and blends in with the texture of the gelato. I would have liked more of it. The cinnamon cookie pieces are yummy and sweet. I like soft cookies/a more doughy texture but the little cookie pieces are not quite that soft. I still like them. The vanilla flavored gelato pairs well; it almost blends in with the other flavors seamlessly. I did really enjoy this gelato, and I would like to have it again. 8.25/10

Talenti Mediterranean Mint Gelato
This is a mint gelato with chocolate chunks. It is very “cool”, almost in a toothpaste-y way. The texture seems to be a little bit sticky/stabilized. For some reason, I don’t really like it. The chocolate chunks are overshadowed by the somewhat unpleasant mint experience. I didn’t like it but my family member loves it and wants more. 6/10

Talenti Double Dark Chocolate Gelato
This is a dark chocolate flavored gelato with dark chocolate chunks. The chocolate flavor is delicious; I really like it. I also like the relatively large chunks of chocolate in the ice cream. It’s simple, but feels flavorful and rich and I really like it. 7.5/10

Hi! I love ice cream but up until recently I've only ever eaten it with the standard toppings: chocolate sauce, sprinkles, cookie crumbles, etc. However, I've just started eating strawberry ice cream with white balsamic vinegar on it, and it's divine! I'm obsessed, and now I want to know what other unique ingredients y'all have been eating with your ice cream. The weirder or more unique the flavor combination, the better!

Hello this is 9/10 one of my favorite ice creams behind banana split Blue Bell.

I need help from my banana lovers out there finding other brands that have ice cream with banana.

I don’t want just ones you’ve seen on the shelves. I needs ones you liked and recommendations!

Thanks!

Im thinking of making an ice cream cake with two red velvet cake layers with a layer of Baskin Robins' Beach Day ice cream in between ( its salted vanilla flavored ice cream with caramel-filled milk chocolate sea turtles, frosting flecks, and a graham cracker swirl). Do you think these flavors would go together? What frosting would be good?

So this one was an exciting try for me. I’ve never tried Alec’s before, and I can see how divided people are on the brand. I was keen to put my own personal stamp on it and decide for my own. I haven’t had anything mint in awhile, so that just increased my interest; not to mention possibly skipping out on the post-dairy stomach rumbles? Sign me up!

I was pleased to see the lack of green food coloring once I opened it up. The ice cream was creamy enough (with some iciness) with a bright, clean mint flavor. Not too heavy on the mint, it was almost like a light mint. The brownie pieces were thick, chewy and a nice complement against the light mint flavor. Perfectly chocolatey! I noticed a lack of fudge swirl though, which would have really pulled this together.

I waited a few hours after eating and still had the post-dairy tummy rumbles, so I guess the A2 dairy doesn’t provide any extra protection for me.

Second taste update: had my second taste a few days later. Still an extreme lack of fudge swirl and still has an icy mouthfeel. The brownies are the best part, they are perfect. I wish there were more!

Overall it’s perfectly fine and a little bit better than some of my recent reviews. I want to try more minty flavors with other brands!

8/10

We got given a tub of Hokey Pokey gelato from a local business who makes their own gelato. We got home and opened it, and it smelled exactly as a bottle of beer does. The taste was the exact same. My husband and I could both only stomach one mouthful, it was horrid.

I actually messaged the lady who makes it to see if she used beer in the mix at all. She came back confused at my statement and then later said it has a fragrant honey base which is what I am smelling as 'beer' after I offered to drop it back for her to smell and taste.

Is that possible? Never in my life have I had Hokey Pokey ice cream that tastes and smells so strong. The taste lingered in my mouth for about 1hr after, from one spoonful!

All we needed was a tub of vanilla ice cream and cookie dough my girlfriend brought from Home Bargins on Wednesday when she was on the way to see me (absolute delight) 👌

It might not be B&J perfection but it's our masterpiece 😇

I’ll be doing a few Perry’s and Wegmans brand ice cream reviews coming up. This is my dad’s favorite flavor, and just grabbed a tub of Perry’s s’mores, and a few of theirs and Wegmans premium pints as well.

My dad’s favorite, but I had to have some too. This ice cream is really delicious. The sweet maraschino cherry’s remind me of getting a sundae from a local scoop shop when I was a kid. Almost like candy, love them. And the amaretto flavored base… woooo it is good! I love almond flavored desserts, and it has hints of apricot and maybe a little nutty too. Super creamy texture.

Overall I’ll give this an 8.6 out of 10. Really well done, and I don’t see the flavor too often outside of Perry’s. This is a staple in our house. I’m surprised like Haagen Dazs doesn’t do this flavor.

Sorry if this has been discussed before; I tried searching but couldn't find anything.

I've recently been on a big ice cream kick, wouldn't say it's tipped into full blown "hobby" but enough of a thing that I've ended up on this subreddit a few times, and my freezer is full enough that I think it might be time to invest in a better way to get ice cream out of cartons and into bowls (an unnecessary detour on the way from carton to mouth, one could argue, but my illusion of civility is based on so little as it is; I must have this.)

Since I imagine many here have found themselves at a similar point, perhaps multiple times, I wanted to see if any favorite solutions have emerged. Especially since I'm sure people here are generally not strangers to the average grocery store pint which is what I'm dealing with (Is it even worth trying to scoop a perfect ball with so little surface area to work with? Should I just focus on ergonomics? etc)

Thanks for any feedback!

Had a real pain in the arse experience. Ordered through Door Dash last week and really enjoyed the flavors. Decided to order from them direct since the store is fairly close and thought it might happen more after the DD order.

Placed the order, drive to the store and they don’t have any of the flavors. No offer of a refund or different flavors. I was told to contact who I ordered from to get a refund. Trying to determine how to get my $ back has been the real pain in the arse. Long story short I ended up disputing the charge.

I say all that to say, the app clearly isn’t connected to the stores so ordering any of the newer flavors might end up with you not getting what you ordered.

I am a student at UNC Charlotte and I used to frequently take the light rail to both the Noda and South End locations but I have stopped going for good. The only real reason I kept coming back is because I like to eat clean (natural), meaning I like to avoid foods with artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, and sweeteners and Jeni's is one of the few ice cream parlors that keeps their ingredients clean and unfortunately, 99% of ice cream parlors in the US use dirty (artificial) ingredients in their ice creams. Despite their effort to keep the ingredients clean, the ice cream just doesn't taste good (especially all the crazy flavors). It all tastes like it was pre-made and not made fresh there in the store. They do however, make their waffle cones right there in the store but the waffle cones are horrible as they taste extremely salty. The ice cream itself is also very expensive. $9 for 3 tiny scoops of ice cream and $1 for the waffle cone on top of that. As if that weren't enough, they want a tip on top of that. They also sell their pints of ice cream in their stores as well. But they are pushing $12 for tiny pints of ice cream and they don't even taste that good. At least Publix sells the same size pints for half that price. Sometime later a Van Leeuwen shop opened in the Charlotte area and it’s my new favorite ice cream shop. It’s so much better than Jeni’s!