‘Out of this world’: the best supermarket chocolate ice-cream, tasted and rated

There’s been a marked shift towards less-processed ice-cream since I tested vanilla ice-cream for this column last summer. Most ice-cream on the market used to be a cocktail of gums and emulsifiers, but now they’re of much higher quality and with fewer additives.

All today’s chocolate ice-creams are sophisticated, rich and complex, with deep, dark flavours, and I scored them on taste and texture first (I favour denser, French-style, custard-based ice-creams). I also prioritised smoothness and mouthfeel.

I awarded extra marks to products that are rich in cream, as well as for provenance and lower processing. Fewer additives were a plus, too. After all, a short and recognisable ingredients list rarely lies, and usually means more cream, better chocolate and a cleaner finish.

The best supermarket chocolate ice-cream

Best overall:
Waitrose No 1 Santo Domingo chocolate ice-cream

★★★★☆

Voluminous, super-rich, smooth and creamy (35% West Country whipping cream). Dark and deeply chocolatey, with complex flavour notes; quite sweet, though. Rainforest Alliance-certified Dominican Republic chocolate and free-range egg. Great Taste one-star award. Remarkably good, and no stabilisers.

Best bargain:
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Belgian chocolate ice-cream

★★★★☆

Rich, dense and very creamy, with a medium intensity. Made with British cow’s milk and (27%) double cream, while the Rainforest Alliance-certified cocoa produces a medium-dark chocolate custard with a sugary, toffee flavour. No stabilisers or emulsifiers beyond the soya lecithin in the chocolate.

And the rest …

Brickell’s all-natural craft chocolate ice-cream

★★★★☆

Out of this world: fudgy, rich and satiating. Very smooth and characterful, with a bittersweet, nutty, complex and strong caramel-molasses flavour from the dark brown sugar. Made with British milk from the family farm, Westcombe Dairy, Pump Street 85%-cocoa Ecuadorian chocolate and free-range eggs. Additive-free, too, and this week’s best splurge.

M&S 85% dark chocolate ice-cream

★★★★☆

Mousse-like, soft, silky and super-smooth. Clean but rich with West Country double cream and honey. The 85% chocolate is subtle and subdued by the milk and cream, but it still provides a bittersweet complexity. No stabilisers or emulsifiers.

Häagen-Dazs Belgian chocolate ice-cream

★★★★☆

Interestingly textural, with 72%-cocoa dark chocolate shards dotted throughout the chocolate custard. Intensely rich (27.4% cream) and sweet, with a strong caramel flavour. Excellent quality, and the benchmark with which to compare other traditional ice creams.

Tesco Finest Belgian chocolate ice-cream

★★★★☆

Light, mousse-like and rich, and made with West Country whole milk, 24% double cream and small chocolate chips for textural crunch. Hits the sweet spot of sugar and fat, and dangerously addictive – it’s a bit like eating whipped frozen chocolate bars. Preservative and stabiliser free, bar the soya and sunflower lecithins in the chocolate.

Morrisons the Best Belgian chocolate ice-cream

★★★★☆

Sophisticated and intensely chocolatey, with bitter cocoa notes dominating. Very sweet, with a smooth, mousse-like, airy texture. Made with Cornish milk and 26% cream. Refreshingly simple ingredients list.

Lidl Deluxe Belgian chocolate ice-cream

★★★☆☆

Luxuriously rich (24% British double cream), smooth, light and airy. Intensely chocolatey, with textural chunks of Rainforest Alliance chocolate. Contains several additives.

Carte D’Or Indulgent chocolate ice-cream

★★☆☆☆

Airy and light, and made with a base of reconstituted skimmed milk, rather than whole milk or cream. Even so, surprisingly good, with a rich, bitter cocoa flavour (though it leaves a greasy feeling on the tongue and has a soya taste, too). Rainforest Alliance-certified milk chocolate pieces add texture. Contains several additives.

Jude’s Belgian chocolate ice-cream

★★☆☆☆

Very airy and light, yet still rich and chewy. At 9.6% cream, it has less than you’d expect in a premium product, and coconut oil is used to boost the fat content. Very scoopable straight from the freezer, and smooth with no ice crystals. A dark and intense bitter cocoa flavour with added depth from vanilla, but a slightly synthetic flavour. Free-range eggs and Great Taste one star. Contains additives.

For more, read the best supermarket dark chocolate and the best supermarket coffee