Dairy Queen Blizzard. As soon as I hear the phrase, my mouth waters. I am always craving a Blizzard, and I am hardly ever sure of what flavor to get. Dairy Queen is a master of variety, which can appeal to some, but deters others. I usually go for Dairy Queen because it has more options, but even so, I always get one of three: Reese’s, M&M, or Oreo. For me, these are reliable, but they don’t work for everyone. How do you know which flavor you should choose?

Let’s first take a look at what options are available at Dairy Queen.

DQ sorts its flavor options into a few different categories. Most of them are available year-round.

Signature Creations are the DQ originals, the flavors that are older in age but still fresh every time. This category includes three particular flavors: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Turtle Pecan Cluster, and Choco Brownie Extreme. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is mostly as expected, custard ice cream with cookie dough pieces mixed in, but it also includes some fudge mixed into the ice cream that adds some chocolatey flavor to the cream itself. Turtle Pecan Cluster is made up of caramel, chocolate shavings, and pecan clusters mixed into the base, so the ice cream is caramely-tasting. Choco Brownie Extreme includes chewy brownie pieces, cocoa fudge, and chocolate chunks, making the base ice cream very fudgy.

These are things you would find at a local bake sale, but are still valid flavors that have their own merits. I tend to lean away from them because I don’t like baked things in my custard (and I am a caramel hater), but most people don’t follow that. It is also important to consider that the ice cream base is more custardy than most, which factors into these flavors’ appeal. It accentuates the custard flavor, while the next category decreases its impact.

Candy Classics are the branded candy mix in flavors that Dairy Queen offers. This includes Oreo Cookie, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Butterfinger, M&Ms, Heath, and Snickers. These are all exactly as expected: small pieces of the candy mixed in with the DQ soft serve. Most of these candies add a color or flavor to the soft serve, whether from their exterior chocolate or the colorful coating that comes with M&Ms.

An important thing in these categories is the texture that comes with each individual flavor. For example, M&Ms comes with the candy coating crunch, while Oreos comes with the signature cookie crunch. Additionally, you have to think about the texture of these things when they are brought down to a somewhat freezing temperature. Snickers caramel may be harder, and M&Ms always get a certain way when they are cold. Each candy provides something unique, so it is up to you to decide which one you want.

The last year-round category that DQ offers is its Royal category, which is the normal Blizzard with a fudge or strawberry center inserted into it. The two flavors in this category are Royal New York Cheesecake, which has cheesecake pieces and graham in the Blizzard itself and a strawberry topping center, and Royal Ultimate Choco Brownie, which has brownie pieces, choco chunks, and cocoa fudge in the Blizzard itself, just like the regular Ultimate Choco Brownie, and then additionally a fudge center.

I have never tried these flavors because they seem like they would be too much, and they violate my preference of avoiding actual baked goods in ice cream. Additionally, I think I avoid these because they remind me of the cupcakes that have a filling, which I very much dislike. I do not enjoy a blending of textures when one of them is so gooey, so I stay away from these, but if that is your style, I predict that you would enjoy the Royal Blizzards.

There are also an abundance of rotating seasonal flavors, each one for a particular month, which you can view on this site. Each new flavor that is available is usually advertised at your local DQ, but you can also order past ones, sometimes, if they have the supplies. For instance, right now, they are serving Girl Scout Thin Mint flavor Blizzards, so I know they have mint flavoring available. I can order a Mint Oreo Blizzard because they have the means by which to make it, even though it hasn’t been a featured flavor since March 2021. The flavors, although assigned to a particular month, are easier to follow as seasonal. The currently advertised ones are Oreo Dirt Pie, Girl Scout Thin Mints, Caramel Fudge Cheesecake, DRUMSTICK, Cotton Candy, and Very Cherry Chip. They are listed on the main DQ website as the limited-time flavors.

I don’t normally go for the limited-time flavors unless they really do entice me. I tried Oreo Dirt Pie, which was Oreos, fudge, and gummy worm pieces, and it was not as good as I had hoped. The gummy worms offset the flavor of the chocolate Oreo more than they should have, and they were very solid because of the cold, which made them hard to chew. I would have enjoyed a Chocolate Oreo flavor, which I can order (at most places) by just asking for it, since I know the flavors are available.

I also tried the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Reese’s flavor they were promoting last fall, which also included peanut butter topping, and it was overkill. There was too much flavor in one Blizzard, and I couldn’t enjoy it. Those two flavors did seem to clash, though. There was also the Reese’s Extreme, which had Reese’s cups and pieces alongside chocolate and peanut butter topping, and although that was also an overload of flavor, it had an appeal that was hard to match because the flavors did go so well together. The richness was too much for me to ever order again, but I enjoyed the taste of it and it still deserves merit.

One last important thing to consider when choosing a Blizzard flavor is that you can customize it. This has already been covered in the discussion about a Mint Oreo Blizzard, but the possibilities with this are endless. You could have a peanut butter M&M Blizzard, or an Oreo Blizzard with extra chocolate, like I mentioned in the above paragraph.

This brings me to the ultimate best Blizzard flavor: Oreo and M&M. It has unstoppable power. You get both excellent crunches: one from the cookie and one from the candy coating. Your ice cream is rainbow-colored at the start. The frozen M&Ms are hard to beat in any scenario, but alongside that delicious Oreo cookie and DQ’s signature soft serve, they are unmatched. You have the milk chocolatey flavor from the M&MS as well as the more graham-esque one from the Oreos, which don’t get soggy like you would expect them to. This is, undisputed, the best Blizzard flavor I have had from Dairy Queen. And with this guide on all the ins and outs of the Blizzard menu, you can find the best flavor for YOUR tastebuds. Enjoy!