I ate all 29 Blizzards at Dairy Queen and ranked the flavors from worst to best

The first problem with this seasonal Blizzard was the texture. It had these chewy, colorful bits of sugar that felt a bit off — like they weren't supposed to be in there, and a child added them in at the last minute. 

But the unbearable sweetness of this Blizzard is what earned it a spot at the bottom of my list. This dessert just tasted like pure sugar and my teeth still hurt thinking about it.

I could picture younger kids absolutely loving this, but I can't see myself ordering this one again.

Many people picture M&Ms when they think of a classic ice-cream mix-in. That symphony of crunchy, chocolaty bits with smooth, creamy ice cream is a kid's kryptonite on a summer afternoon.

My M&M Blizzard came exactly as expected — with the bite-sized candies slightly crushed and evenly dispersed throughout the vanilla. It was a simple yet satisfying option.

But this Blizzard was pretty underwhelming, especially when compared to the other ones on the menu. I think it could've benefited from the addition of a brownie to make the chocolate flavor of the candies stand out more. 

Full disclosure: I don't care much for rocky-road ice cream, so I knew I wasn't going to be wild about this one from the start. 

Like rocky-road ice cream, this Blizzard contains all of the essential flavors: chocolate, peanuts, and marshmallow. This dessert has a single marshmallow core in the center of the cup with the ice cream around it and it comes with brownie chunks to offset the strong vanilla flavors.

I can see this being a dream for anyone who loves marshmallows, but I felt that the core overpowered the rest of the Blizzard. At one point, I thought the peanuts were missing, but they'd really just collected at the very bottom of the cup, which made every bite pretty inconsistent.

This Blizzard absolutely lives up to its name. To me, it tasted exactly like a cherry slushie.

It's very, very sweet, but I didn't find that totally offputting. The bits of cherry in this offered a nice pop of tart flavor that made my lips pucker. My order also contained plenty of tasty chocolate chunks, which cut through some of that intense fruity sweetness.

I believe this Blizzard will appeal to a lot of people (Shirley Temple fans, looking at you), but it was too sweet for me to find it enjoyable beyond a few bites.

If I wanted a fruit-forward Blizzard, I'd go with the Raspberry Fudge Bliss.

I'm still so confused about what the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Party was supposed to be.

I thought it would have chunks of peanut-butter cookie dough, but it actually contained chocolate-chip cookie dough. Peanut-butter topping was swirled into DQ's signature vanilla soft serve and — even more confusing — it had a crunchy peanut-brittle topping and sprinkles, which, for me, just added an awkward crunchiness.

Still, it wasn't bad. The sauce was blended so seamlessly into the vanilla soft serve that it tasted like peanut-butter ice cream. However, DQ would have more luck pairing peanut butter with something that would contrast its nutty flavor, like dark-chocolate brownies.

The one-note quality of this makes it seem like it was made for kids

With such a fun name, I had high hopes for this limited-edition Blizzard. Unfortunately, it underwhelmed me. 

Essentially, It's a hodgepodge of chocolatey flavors, but instead of using brownies as the dessert mix-in of choice, it's chocolate chip and chocolate-chocolate cookie dough, which are pretty much indistinguishable from each other.

This had potential, but the similar toppings didn't add much in terms of flavor. If you were to blind taste-test me, I'd probably have a difficult time distinguishing between this one and the regular cookie dough Blizzard, which is disappointing.

I was eager to try the Blizzard because I think Heath is an excellent, underrated candy bar.

The Heath candy bits were finely chopped and distributed well throughout the ice cream. This gave the entire Blizzard a strong toffee taste, which I personally loved.

However, the biggest issue with this one was the texture. Toffee is notoriously sticky and hard, especially when paired with a cold substance like ice cream. As I ate my Blizzard, I noticed the small bits of the candy were getting stuck to parts of my teeth, which made me unwilling to finish it.

Although I personally never attended summer camp myself, I have many fond childhood memories of eating Oreo dirt pies at birthday parties.

Normally, the dessert is made using pudding as a base, but here, DQ is putting its own spin on this with its soft serve.

I appreciate the sentiment DQ was trying to convey here, and I'm sure kids will go nuts for this, but I'm not sold on the gummy worms being mixed into the ice cream.

As a topping? Fine. But I didn't care for getting random bites of chewy candy in my ice cream. There's already enough texture going on with the cookie pieces and fudge. Plus, it's not like they add that much flavor.

On a more positive note, I loved how the added extra fudge crumbles really doubled down on the chocolate flavor.

This costs the same as the regular Oreo Blizzard, so you're not necessarily out any extra money if you order this over the other. But for my money, I'd much rather get the regular Oreo Blizzard.

This Blizzard brought me back to childhood days at my Grandma's house.

I'd often dig in the back of the freezer looking for chocolaty Drumstick treats, only to devour an entire cone within a couple of minutes. And every time, my fingers (and the floor) would end up covered in a melted mess.

Years later, I'm still a fan of Drumsticks, but I rarely eat them to avoid dealing with that mess.
Thankfully, DQ has solved that problem by creating a Blizzard with Drumstick bits blended right in that I can enjoy with the convenience of a spoon.

And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. As is the case with most of its blizzards, the vanilla ice cream made for the perfect base, accentuating the peanut-waffle-cone-Nestle chocolate flavor in the mix-ins. Peanut was definitely the predominant flavor, but it wasn't so overpowering that I didn't taste the chocolate.

I wish the peanut bits were larger, though, since they kept getting stuck in my teeth. I understand the peanuts on a drumstick are tiny as is, so there was no changing this.

Still, if you're looking for a peanut-butter dessert that's not too chocolaty or sweet, try this Blizzard. 

In my mind, peach cobbler brings to mind a dessert served warm, and topped with ice cream, so I was curious about this deconstructed Blizzard version.

Overall, this was so-so. The tiny chunks of cold cobbler were easily the star of the show, offering a buttery flavor that was delicious against DQ's basic vanilla soft serve and a shortbread-like texture that was pleasantly crumbly.

That said, I don't know if the peach-topping swirls worked for me. It could have been how my Blizzard was mixed, but I found the distribution of flavor wildly inconsistent; I had to dig around before I got any peach flavor. 

Although I enjoyed this Blizzard, it was essentially the same thing as cookies-and-cream ice cream.

On a positive note, DQ's signature vanilla soft serve tasted mellower and had a more delicate finish than what you'd find at the grocery store. I also liked that I could taste the icing bits in the Oreos. 

But I probably wouldn't order this one again unless I was on the go and craving something familiar. For the price, I would rather purchase a pint of high-quality cookies-and-cream ice cream from the grocery store.

Introduced in 2024 as June's Blizzard of the Month, this Ultimate Cookie Blizzard is made for people who appreciate lots of texture.

Featuring a blend of vanilla soft serve and Nabisco's finest — Chips Ahoy, Oreos, and Nutter Butters — every spoonful from start to finish contained some bit of cookie chunk. Yum!

Sadly, The Chips Ahoy were barely detectable under the flavor from the Nutter Butter and rich cocoa notes coming from the Oreos. I'm not complaining because it's all tasty, but I wouldn't call this as memorable or impressive as the Oreo brookie Blizzard.

As a chocolate lover, I was surprised that I didn't like this one as much as I'd hoped. This Blizzard is proof that there can be too much of a good thing.

This comes with brownie pieces, chocolate fudge, and chocolate chunks. I enjoy all those things individually, but it's almost too much when they're all packed together in an 8-ounce cup.

It was clear to me that the chewy brownie chunks were the star of the show, and the other two chocolaty components didn't add much. The brownies were so fudgy that they blended together with the fudge chunks, too. Part of me feels like the fudge chunks were thrown in just to give this Blizzard its "extreme" name. 

The kicker of this dessert is that it came with vanilla ice cream — not chocolate — but I honestly couldn't taste it underneath all of the toppings. 

This Blizzard consists of vanilla soft serve and a generous amount of nutty, scrumptious Butterfinger bits. I immediately noticed the little orange bits sticking out from the creamy soft serve, so everything looked like it had been mixed well. 

Taste-wise, this blizzard was good but not incredible. The candy bar (or bars?). was ground incredibly fine, which allowed the nutty flavor to blend seamlessly into the soft serve.

However, I felt the candy's chocolate coating got completely lost in the mixing process. That wasn't a dealbreaker, but I still wouldn't call this Blizzard my favorite.

The symphony of textures makes Snickers one of the US's most beloved candy bars, and the same holds true when it's paired with delicious vanilla soft serve.

Yummy chocolate, smooth caramel, and crunchy peanuts gave this one a pleasant blend of different flavors and without overpowering the ice cream itself.

Of the candy-themed Blizzards I tried, this was one of the better ones.

Don't ever try to tell me that brownie flavor and brownie-batter flavor are the same thing — they're not. This Blizzard is evidence of that, as it had an almost malted flavor to it, which made it slightly sweeter than other chocolate ones. I absolutely loved it.

This tasted like someone froze a bowl of brownie batter. Even better, DQ was not skimpy about the brownie chunks. I got a bit of chewy, fudgy brownie in every single bite down to the bottom of the cup. They also didn't fall into the trap of having a weird grainy taste to them.

As advertised, this Blizzard came with vanilla soft serve and noticeable chunks of Reese's peanut butter cups. This made me happy because it meant it contained actual chocolate, not Reese's Pieces, which taste like pure peanut butter to me. 

As expected, everything tasted great. The Reese's chunks had that familiar melt-in-your-mouth flavor that I know and love. However, the further I got into my Blizzard, the fewer peanut butter cups there were, and the less enjoyable it became.

Still, if I had to choose a candy-themed Blizzard, I'd probably order this one again over some of the others.

Puppy chow — or "muddy buddies" depending on where you grew up — is a common snack at many a childhood sleepover, movie night, holiday party, or school event. It's a treat made using basic cereal like Chex, melted chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar.

I'm not surprised Dairy Queen turned it into a mix-in. Still, I wasn't blown away by this flavor. 

It was tasty, and the peanut-butter flavor came through nicely on each bite. However, in my order, the few squares of puppy chow in the mix were clumped toward the bottom. Luckily, when I did eat a piece, it was delicious and nicely softened under the weight of the ice cream while still retaining a slight crispiness.

The pieces also added a subtle bit of salt that's missing with the Reese's Blizzard.

Like the chain's traditional Oreo Blizzard, this comes with vanilla soft serve and chewy bits of Oreo cookies. The only difference is that this takes it to the next level by adding globs of yummy, fudgy brownies to the mixture.

This was good but it wasn't much of a standout to me because it seemed like the Oreos were reduced to the background.

The brownies dominated the entire dessert, which wasn't a problem for me as a chocolate lover, but it made me question whether the Oreos needed to be there. 

The blend of buttery pecans, caramel, and vanilla on this Blizzard was absolutely divine. I also liked that my order contained pieces of whole pecans. 

But I found the chocolate fudge shavings to be unnecessary because they weren't noticeable at all. If you didn't tell me they were in there, I would assume they weren't.

That said, this Blizzard earns high marks for its uniqueness and great taste. 

You may be thinking "Wait a second, Dairy Queen has always had a Drumstick Blizzard with peanuts." Correct. But this one is different. This one has all that and caramel.  

The addition is very subtle — visually, it looks no different from the other Drumstick Blizzard. But as soon as I took that first bite, it was clear this was a huge step above the original.

The caramel topping was blended seamlessly into the ice cream, offering a touch of yummy sweetness that paired incredibly well with the peanuts and chocolaty drumstick pieces.

In all, it's a wonderful combination of slightly salty, sweet, and nutty flavors.

People who are hoping to get huge globs of gooey caramel might be disappointed. But if you want something that's delicious and sweet but not quite as intense as some of the candy-flavored Blizzards, this will hit the spot.

Just when you think DQ hasn't done enough with Oreo, the chain adds tiny, dime-sized chunks of brownie-and-chocolate-chip-cookie hybrids. The more cookies, the better. 

Upon the first spoonful, I thought this Blizzard tasted like a typical cookies-and-cream one. But once I got a piece of the brookie, I understood why this was so special. The brookie pieces brought a yummy, fudgy chewiness that was absolutely delightful in contrast to the slightly crunchy Oreos.

The chocolate-chip-cookie component brought in a buttery sweetness that popped against the vanilla ice cream. It was kind of like eating chocolate-chip-cookie dough and cookies-and-cream ice cream with brownie chunks all at once. It was delicious.

Even though the chocolate was the standout flavor here, I didn't find it as intensely cocoa-flavored as the Oreo brownie Blizzard. Since the chunks of brookie are smaller than a coin, they didn't really overpower the Oreo flavor.

In all, this is a winner.

Much like the cheesecake Blizzard, this came with a decent amount of cheesecake chunks. The only difference is that this one's also mixed with Oreo cookies.

I accidentally ordered this with chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla but, even so, it tasted the same as the chain's vanilla soft serve but with a hint of chocolate syrup. 

In my opinion, this is a great option for the cheesecake lover who also wants a little bit of chocolate. The ratio between the two ingredients was fairly even, which meant no one taste dominated the other. In fact, they enhanced each other. The cocoa in the Oreos popped each time I got a bite of them with the creamy cheesecake.

Cookie dough is one of the most popular ice-cream flavors in the US, and I totally get why. 

The dough bits in this Blizzard were just the right size and, best of all, there were so many of them. This Blizzard was heaven with a great ratio of ice cream to cookie dough. 

The chocolate fudge really made this Blizzard standout from standard, store-bought cookie dough ice cream from the grocery store. The fudge made the ice cream chocolaty, which brought out the sweetness of the doughy bits. It was a nice change from the chocolate-chip ice cream cookie dough's usually paired with. 

Frozen Thin Mints are a thing for a reason, and I'm glad DQ found a way to harness that perfectly cool, chocolaty deliciousness into a Blizzard.

Here, the ice cream had a nice, delicate minty flavor that tasted like a dead ringer for the iconic cookie. The use of vanilla soft serve with mint swirled into it lends to a pleasant, refreshing sweetness that prevents this from tasting like a cup of toothpaste.

The bits of Thin Mint cookies were basically the cherry on top here: perfectly chewy, with their smooth chocolate flavor dancing on the creamy, cool vanilla-mint swirl.

This ended up being one of my favorite Blizzards. The addition of a fudgy chocolate swirl is the only thing that could make this even better. 

My initial thought on seeing this Blizzard was that it seemed the most "adult" to me because it's the only one with actual fruit in it. 

By far, the best part of this Blizzard was the fresh raspberries. They added a layer of tartness that counteracted the intensity of the chocolate-fudge chunks.

I just wish there were more of them in the Blizzard because once I got a quarter of the way in, all that I tasted was vanilla and chocolate.

This Blizzard has the perfect level of sweetness. The small amount of frosting on the animal cookies gave it just a hint of that sugary taste without being too much. 

The cookies also had a nice chewiness to them and they stood up well to the ice cream without getting soggy. 

Best of all, after a few bites, the colorful icing and sprinkles on the cookies melted into the soft serve, which made the entire thing taste like a delicious confetti cake.

I'm always a fan of a good dessert within a dessert when it's executed well — fortunately, this Blizzard was a hit. 

The creamy cheesecake chunks made for a superb mix-in for Dairy Queen's soft serve: They had a slightly chewy yet smooth texture that stood up well to the ice cream. I also found that they had a pleasant, sweet flavor that didn't taste artificial or overly sugary.

But it was the strawberry mixture in the center that seriously elevated this Blizzard. As soon as I got to the core, strawberry flavor began to seep into every corner of the cup, giving every subsequent bite a burst of berry flavor.

When two classics come together, you're bound to end up with something delicious. That's exactly what happened with the s'mores Blizzard, which is why it was my absolute favorite.

Unlike the Royal Rocky Road, which was overpowered by marshmallow, and Chocolate Brownie Extreme, which was too chocolaty, the s'mores Blizzard had just the right amount of everything. 

Instead of mini marshmallows, which can easily turn rubbery when cold, it has chocolate chunks that contain marshmallow filling. It also has graham-cracker pieces and graham-cracker dust that courses throughout the entire Blizzard, causing the ice cream to adopt that irresistible, toasty flavor.

Because of the graham-cracker dust, every bite tastes like a s'more. In other words, this Blizzard is the perfect summer treat, and I can't wait to order it again soon.

This story was originally published on August 17, 2020, and most recently updated on June 13, 2024.