20 Best Van Leeuwen Flavors

When it comes to weird ice cream creations, Van Leeuwen might be leading the pack. Are the people behind this brand masterminds? Or are they crying out for help? Our list of Van Leeuwen’s ice cream flavors ranked worst to best might help answer that.

This ice cream brand has some competition from Salt & Straw, but they’re also responsible for some truly odd concoctions like Kraft Mac and Cheese and Dijon Mustard.

They started off in 2008 selling their unique flavors out of an ice cream truck in New York City’s Soho neighborhood. Now more than 3,000 stores carry their line which includes ice cream flavors for every occasion — from date nights and dinner parties, to tricking your rude coworker into eating frozen ranch dressing.

From the unhinged to the adventurous, to the totally classic, here’s a look at the Best Van Leeuwen Flavors.

1. Kraft Mac & Cheese

According to Van Leeuwen, its OG trend-setting flavor is made with “that buttery, sweet iconic cheese” to “remind you of the comforting bowl of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese you grew up with.”

Unfortunately, it reminded my brother Nick of a different childhood staple: “This is like trying Bertie Botts’ every flavor beans,” he said. “Even the bogey flavor.” His girlfriend, Ali, who is less inclined to make Harry Potter references in conversation, simply said she was “disturbed by the Kraft involvement. They’re trying to make it a cheesy moment, but I don’t want it.”

The flavor is salty and buttery, just like … you know … a bowl of noodles. But while I am all for other forms of cheese in dessert, I had a hard time coming around on this one too.

Creativity: 8/10

Deliciousness: 5/10

2. Planet Earth

On sight alone, I was worried: this flavor is electric blue and green thanks to spirulina almond ice cream with pieces of matcha cake. And on first taste, I knew this was definitely not for me: For some reason, the flavor that comes across immediately is strongly reminiscent of bubblegum. But others loved the color and how the bubblegum flavor somehow turns into almond the more you keep eating it. If you try really hard, you can tell yourself it’s got a marzipan thing going on.

Creativity: 9/10

Deliciousness: 3/10

3. CHOCOLATE CARAMEL CHEESECAKE

Nothing makes us happier than this Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake Ice Cream. Chocolate cream cheese ice cream. Swirls of caramel. Chunks of housemade graham cracker crust. It’s as if everything good in the world moved into a pint-sized condo.

Creativity: 7/10

Deliciousness: 8/10

4. Pizza

Van Leeuwen encourages us to “Put aside any notion that you can’t have your pizza and ice cream together in one crazy, but crazy delicious, flavor,” so we put aside such notions, reluctantly. This one has “cream cheese and mozzarella ice cream with a tomato jam swirl and basil crust cookies!”

Unpromising though it sounded, it was a huge hit. “I’m sorry, but this is delicious,” Ali said, proclaiming it “sweet and sultry.” My brother agreed: “I guess it’s pizza in its inspiration, but don’t let the pizza scare you.”

In the base, the cream cheese comes through more than the mozzarella does, and the tomato jam swirl is strongly reminiscent of strawberries, making it a creative yet recognizable twist on a classic: strawberry cheesecake. The basil crust cookies tasted like slightly herbal shortbread, and it all comes together in a very elegant way. Nick thought it could easily be served at a high-brow restaurant as an elevated version of something familiar (strawberry cheesecake, not pizza). This is the kind of mashup we can get behind, where the gimmick took a backseat to actual tastiness.

Creativity: 10/10

Deliciousness: 9/10

5. Hot Honey

I knew this one would go over well in our crowd of spice lovers. For those of us who think hot honey improves almost anything dairy-related, you’ll love how it’s swirled throughout the vanilla base studded with bits of honeycomb, which add delicious crunch. In fact, our only complaint about this flavor was that there actually isn’t that much of a kick to it. “That one is awesome,” said my mom, the least likely of us to go for a gimmick.

Creativity: 7/10

Deliciousness: 10/10

6. Royal Wedding Cake

I thought this would be another easy win, but I was wrong — very wrong. Inspired by the cake served at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding 2018, Van Leeuwen says this is the closest the rest of us will get to feeling like a royal, which is, frankly, rude. But back to the flavor: “Floral, sweet cream cheese ice cream with chunks of lemon sponge cake with layers of elderflower frosting.” Sounds nice, no? Maybe my group was doomed by our peasant taste buds, but most of us found this one gross. It has a strong soap taste that I found extremely off-putting. “It’s a bit like eating perfume,” Ali said, wincing.

Creativity: 8/10

Deliciousness: 2/10

7. Bourbon Cherries Jubilee

You know it, you love it. This is Cherry Garcia without the chocolate. It is familiar, and it would be familiar to your mom and your grandma, too. Nothing out of the box, but nothing not to love. The bourbon cherry compote is just plain delicious.

Creativity: 3/10

Deliciousness: 8/10

8. Wild Blueberry Shortcake

Vanilla ice cream blended with wild blueberries, swirled with some more for good measure and studded with chunks of shortcake. Again, what’s not to love? This reminded me of summers at camp in Vermont and was another top crowd-pleaser.

Creativity: 4/10

Deliciousness: 10/10

9. Van Leeuwen Strawberry

When you’re a kid, strawberry ice cream is the be-all and end-all, but somewhere between 10 and adulthood, many of us grow out of it and grow into a more mature palette. Still, Van Leeuwen’s strawberry is bright, bold and creamy—a true grown-up’s version of the childhood favorite.

Creativity: 6/10

Deliciousness: 8/10

10. Peanut Butter Brownie Honeycomb

And nothing makes us happier than this Peanut Butter Brownie Honeycomb Ice Cream. To our peanut butter ice cream, we add chunks of chewy brownies, pieces of honeycomb and swirls of peanut butter. Then we see if anyone is looking and we sample said Peanut Butter Brownie Honeycomb Ice Cream. You know, for quality control and whatnot.

Creativity: 8/10

Deliciousness: 6/10

11. Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin

Nothing makes us happier than this Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin Ice Cream. This is what happens when lemon ice cream, poppy seeds, swirls of lemon curd and honey cornbread muffin get in the hot tub that is your mouth.

Creativity: 7/10

Deliciousness: 10/10

12. Glass Onion

WHY GLASS ONION? Because searching for the perfect bite is kind of like channeling your inner detective to find a guilty suspect. So dig in and check out Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery on Netflix 12/23.

Creativity: 8/10

Deliciousness: 2/10

13. Sicilian Pistachio

Nothing makes us happier than this Sicilian Pistachio Ice Cream. Certified by the International Slow Food Institute, these special pistachios are only found on Mount Etna. In Bronte, Italy, to be precise. So they’re renowned for their fragrance and flavor. And their neck scarves.

Creativity: 5/10

Deliciousness: 8/10

14. Buttermilk Berry Cornbread

Nothing makes us happier than this Buttermilk Berry Cornbread Ice Cream. We mix in pieces of honey cornbread with buttermilk ice cream. Then we add in swirls of sweet and tart raspberry. You add your spoon. Before you know it we have a mouth band.

Creativity: 4/10

Deliciousness: 10/10

15. Malted Cookie Dough Shake

Nothing makes us happier than this Malted Cookie Dough Shake Ice Cream. Malted ice cream. Chewy cookie dough. Generous amounts of dark chocolate chips. It’s the shake, er, pint you’ve always wanted. If you wanted a pint of malted ice cream, chewy cookie dough and dark chocolate chips.

Creativity: 5/10

Deliciousness: 8/10

16. Marionberry Cheesecake

Nothing makes us happier than this Marionberry Cheesecake Ice Cream. If you’re going to go all the way to the freezer for this, the least we could do is make our graham crumble in-house and go to Stahlbush Island Farms for the marionberries that we use to make the jam.

Creativity: 8/10

Deliciousness: 8/10

17. Cookies & Cream

And nothing makes us happier than this Cookies & Cream Ice Cream. Nothing. Not children. Not dogs. Not rainbows. Nothing. Dark chocolate cookies + a rich cream filling + cold-ground vanilla bean ice cream = non-child, non-dog, non-rainbow happiness.

Creativity: 6/10

Deliciousness: 9/10

18. Black Cherry Chip

Nothing makes us happier than this Black Cherry Chip Ice Cream. We supply the cherry ice cream, pieces of black cherries and dark chocolate chips. You supply the mouth.

Creativity: 7/10

Deliciousness: 8/10

19. Brown Sugar Cookie Dough Chunk

Nothing makes us happier than this Brown Sugar Cookie Dough Chunk Ice Cream. Dark brown sugar ice cream. Cookie dough. Candied walnuts. Brownies. It’s a collection of all the best stuff. Like an ice cream platypus whose den is your mouth.

Creativity: 5/10

Deliciousness: 8/10

20. VL x BIGFACE Coffee Affogato

Nothing makes us happier than this Affogato ice cream made in collaboration with Jimmy Butler and BIGFACE coffee. Coffee drives us, inspires us, connects us, and revives us. And it also makes a damn good ice cream flavor. Pro tip: replace your morning cup with a scoop.