Ranking 8 Pistachio Ice Cream Brands from Worst to Best

When I think of pistachios, I think of some of my favorite desserts like baklava, kulfi, and nut brittles. I’m also fondly reminded of a time when my high school math teacher branded those of us who love pistachio ice cream as “weirdos,” and I continue to hold that title proudly. It’s nutty, it’s earthy, and the creaminess paired with chunks of chopped pistachios makes for a decadent treat. While it might not be the first flavor most teenagers lean toward, it has always ranked highly as one of my favorites.

As true lovers of pistachio ice cream know, no two brands make the flavor exactly the same. Some incorporate almonds, some have pistachio inclusions, and others just don’t do the flavor justice. For this review, I grabbed every scoopable ice cream product I could find in my grocery store’s frozen section to see how they compare. For those who love pistachio ice cream, this review will be a great place to find the best of the best, especially in terms of taste and texture. For those who have never tried it but have always been curious, it can be a great starting point for finding a new flavor to fall in love with.

Van Leeuwen is an ice cream brand that has intrigued me for a while, primarily with its occasional launches of unusual flavors like mac and cheese or ranch in a collab with Hidden Valley. Starting as a food truck in 2008, the Van Leeuwen brand has expanded to shelves and scoop shops across the United States. Its dairy products are labeled as French ice cream due to the abundance of eggs in the recipe, which is supposed to make for a richer and creamier product. In the Van Leeuwen pints of Sicilian pistachio ice cream, they only use pistachios found in Mt. Edna of Bronte, Italy, which earned the nuts a certification from the National Slow Food Institute. This alone gave me high expectations for the ice cream.

My first reaction to this ice cream was not a pleasant one but it took a while to understand why. It’s very heavy on the egg yolk flavor, which isn’t something I’m necessarily looking for in an ice cream. I’ve tasted several of its other flavors before and loved them, but this one truly just missed the mark for me. Perhaps it’s the coveted Sicilian pistachios that I’m not a fan of, but something about this ice cream really tasted off to me. Maybe my palate is not as sophisticated as I had previously thought but either way, I had to rank this last because I simply did not enjoy it at all.

I’m a firm believer that anyone with dietary restrictions should still be able to indulge in the decadence of a sweet treat or baked good, so I was excited to see this keto-friendly brand hit the shelves. Made by a couple who cut sugar from their diets, Rebel Ice Cream is a low-carb, low-sugar brand that utilizes erythritol, monk fruit, and chicory root in place of standard granulated sugar. Unlike its competitors, Rebel strays away from higher glycemic ingredients, which can spike blood sugar levels, like skim milk, corn fiber, or corn starch. That way, you can still enjoy a pint of ice cream while remaining in ketosis.

It seems a little unfair to compare a healthier-branded ice cream against the real deal but I think it’s important to include every iteration of pistachio ice cream I could find to cover all options. Like most “healthy” ice creams, it’s not particularly creamy in the same way a standard ice cream is, but if you leave it out to thaw for about 10 minutes prior to consumption, the texture does improve. The pistachio flavor tastes very artificial and unlike any of the other ones I tried. That being said, for an ice cream that doesn’t use sugar, it’s still pretty decent, and I appreciate the availability of a healthier option. Ultimately, it doesn’t quite compare to standard ice cream, however, I enjoyed it far more than the Van Leeuwen version, which is why it ranks low but not last.

While Talenti is technically a gelato and not an ice cream, it’s sold in pints all the same, though with very tightly sealed lids. It’s made with more milk than standard ice cream, typically no eggs, and is stored at a slightly warmer temperature, giving it that recognizable silky, smooth texture. Talenti is known for its many innovative flavors, one of which is Pacific Coast Pistachio, previously named Sicilian Pistachio. It now uses pistachios that are sourced from California, hence the name change.

My overall consensus for this pint of Talenti ice cream was that it was just okay but the texture is exceptionally creamy with a great mouthfeel. Because it is so cream-heavy, I feel it dilutes the pistachio flavor quite a bit. In fact, it’s difficult to discern any pistachio flavor at all. It’s definitely there, but it’s extremely subtle. 

Anyone looking for a rich, noticeable pistachio flavor will be disappointed in this pint, however, I do recommend it to anyone who has never tried the flavor before and would like to dip their toes in. Its subtle flavor with the added texture of pistachio pieces makes for a great jumping-off point for those unfamiliar with the flavor but likely wouldn’t satisfy pistachio ice cream’s biggest fans. That being said, it tasted better than several others, which is why it ranks here.

I had actually never heard of or tried the brand Turkey Hill before moving from Florida to the DC Metro Area, so I had no expectations for what this might be like. Due to its more affordable price, I expected it to be similar to Breyer’s in terms of quality and taste. Turkey Hill describes itself as a dairy brand, but it seems it’s most known for its frozen desserts and ice creams. The brand has been around for almost a century, so I’m surprised I had never really noticed it before, but it clearly has longevity on the market.

This container of Turkey Hill is labeled as a frozen dairy dessert rather than ice cream, and that’s just because the product does not contain enough milk fat to be legally considered ice cream by the Food and Drug Administration standards. Its pistachio flavor includes pieces of almonds in place of pistachios. My only guess for why these brands choose almond inclusions instead of pistachios is purely for the price. Since these brands are more affordable, including a nut as expensive as pistachios may make it difficult to keep the cost down while still including this indulgent flavor thus the use of almonds in their place. 

The dessert itself is good, albeit a little mild in pistachio flavor, though the container notes that it’s artificially flavored. In fact, it tastes overwhelmingly of almond extract. The pieces of almond are delicious but overpower the taste of the pistachio which places this in a lower ranking. For those looking for a cheaper alternative to some of the more decadent pistachio ice creams, Turkey Hill is a great place to start. Though, I would still prefer something with a stronger pistachio flavor.

Founded in 1866 by William A. Breyer, Breyers is one of the oldest and most popular ice cream brands in the United States. I have fond memories of me as a child, shoveling spoonfuls of its now-discontinued black raspberry chocolate into my mouth after a long, hard day at school. I rarely recall a time when one of its flavors wasn’t tucked away in the freezer. With Breyer’s being a household name, it only made sense to include its rendition of pistachio ice cream in the ranking.

I think it’s worth noting that just like Turkey Hill’s pistachio almond dessert, the Breyers pistachio almond flavor is not technically ice cream but is labeled as a frozen dairy dessert because it contains less than 10% milk fat. It’s also not purely pistachio but pistachio almond and includes pieces of almond throughout. For one of the less expensive ice creams in this ranking, it still tastes pretty good. The ice cream itself was creamy and smooth, and the pistachio flavor was present. However, the lack of pistachio pieces was disappointing. Almonds are delicious in their own right, but they take away from the pistachio flavor in the ice cream. That being said, it had a slightly stronger pistachio flavor than Turkey Hill, which is why it ranked above it, however, the almond flavor was still quite overpowering.

Baskin-Robbins is more than just an ice cream company — it’s a cultural staple in the United States. Like many others who grew up with this brand, I would often enjoy Baskin-Robbins shakes whenever I returned home from college. Just as we’ve changed over the years, so has Baskin-Robbins, such as undergoing branding and logo changes, and if you’re not able to stop into one of its storefront locations, you can still find Baskin-Robbins ice cream products in most grocery retailers. With pints available in just over 20 flavors, including pistachio almond, Baskin-Robbins has enough variety to suit anyone’s needs.

Unlike Breyer’s and Turkey Hill, Baskin-Robbins pistachio almond is classified as an actual ice cream product as opposed to a frozen dairy dessert. Perhaps it’s some sort of placebo of just the knowledge that they’re labeled differently, but I feel like you can tell the difference in the thickness of the ice creams. Baskin-Robbins has a thicker, creamier mouthfeel than the other two pistachio almond products, and while it also has roasted almond pieces, it doesn’t completely overwhelm the palate. The almonds do take away from the authenticity of a full pistachio experience, making it fall in third place rather than second or first. It’s good for a more affordable option, but for a richer pistachio experience, I would still look elsewhere.

With a humble start” in Burlington, Vermont, Ben & Jerry’s has become a staple in the ice cream business, and its flavors typically live up to the hype. In its 13-step process, the team at Ben & Jerry’s brings the ice cream pints alive using only thoughtful ingredients as they go from farm to freezer. The brand’s dedication to activism is another reason to love it, but its flavors simply speak for themselves. I’ve always found Ben & Jerry’s to have fun, unique, and well-made flavors, so something as simple as pistachio seems like a no-brainer.

I am a ride-or-die Ben & Jerry’s fan, so I had high expectations for this ice cream. While it wasn’t the best pistachio flavor that I’ve tried, it definitely sits in the top spots. It’s incredibly rich and creamy, and the added roasted pistachios make for a great texture. There’s something very familiar I tasted in this ice cream that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but it’s something I taste in some of Ben & Jerry’s other flavors, too, especially Cherry Garcia. I believe an ingredient in the ice cream base sets them apart from other ice cream brands, but I’m not certain what it is. That said, it’s a delicious interpretation of pistachio ice cream that I would happily eat again. The only thing that could improve it would be salting the pistachios to give it a more well-rounded flavor.

Häagen-Dazs is a household name in the ice cream industry and one I’ve grown to love over the years. Founded by Polish immigrants in 1960, Häagen-Dazs has become synonymous with luxury from the use of the finest ingredients. Whether you’re buying the ice cream in pints or cones at a scoop shop, you’re bound to have an exceptional experience regardless of what flavor you try. I have yet to come across a Häagen-Dazs ice cream that I don’t like, and its pistachio ice cream is no different.

If you’re a fan of pistachio ice cream but haven’t been able to try every brand to find a favorite, I would look no further than Häagen-Dazs. The flavor is rich, the ice cream is perfectly creamy rather than icy, and the inclusion of roasted and salted pistachios gives both a texture and taste that leaves you wanting to go back for more. While I could’ve guessed before doing my review that Häagen-Dazs would rank first, I was still pleasantly surprised when my suspicions were confirmed. This brand does tend to be on the more expensive side, however, its quality proves it’s worth the price time and time again. If I’m ever on the hunt for a pint of pistachio again in the future, my search will start and end with Häagen-Dazs.

To select the products I wanted to include in this review, I scoured the ice cream aisle at my local grocery store and found products that could be eaten with a spoon. There were “novelty” items like mochi and ice cream bars but they included extra variables that could make comparing and ranking them appropriately difficult. Though I did include a keto brand of ice cream, which is arguably going to be very different in taste and texture, it’s a diet that many people follow and should still be represented in the review.

The most important factor in ranking each of these products was, of course, taste. I also considered the texture because I was ultimately looking for an ice cream that was creamy but still had pistachio inclusions. In ranking each flavor, the inclusion of almonds made things a little tricky because while the ice creams themselves were fine, the almonds changed the flavor of pure pistachio to a combination of nuts.

In terms of taste-testing, I sampled the ice cream varieties over the course of a couple of days and retried them as needed to compare. For the brands that had pieces of nuts, I tried the ice cream by itself to examine the overall creaminess and mouthfeel before trying a bite with the nuts. Van Leeuwen was a product I genuinely struggled to take multiple bites of, which made its placement at the bottom ranking very clear.