Food & Cooking Recipes Drink Recipes Whether You Need to Chill Lemonade or Cocktails, These Best-in-Class Ice Cube Trays Help Get the Job Done Our picks include different shapes and sizes of ice cubes as well as different styles of trays. By Bridget Shirvell Bridget Shirvell Instagram Twitter Bridget is a freelance writer for MarthaStewart.com. Editorial Guidelines Published on August 17, 2021 09:50AM EDT Share Tweet Pin Email We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more. Photo: Courtesy of Food52 Ice cube trays are essential for every kitchen. Even if your freezer has an automatic ice maker, you'll need this basic home product as it's a must-have for making frozen coffee cubes for your cold brew, creating flavored ice cubes, storing leftover stock or soups, or those times when you need to make more ice than your ice maker can keep up with. And if you don't have an ice maker, then you'll likely to be all the more interested in finding the very best ice cube trays, which ensure you always have plenty of pure, clean ice on hand for a morning smoothie or a five o'clock cocktail. There are countless ice cube tray options on the market. The best ones are affordable, durable freezer workhorses, but they should also be easy to clean. We sorted through the online reviews to bring you the best ice cube trays for using in water bottles, chilling cocktails, and more. Best Ice Cube Trays to Buy in 2021 Best Overall: W&P Everyday Ice Cube Trays with Lid Best Budget-Friendly Option: OXO Good Grips Ice Cube Tray Best for Parties: Arrow Home Products Arrow 60 Cube Ice Tray Best or Cocktails: Tovolo Sphere Ice Molds Best for Clean, Freshest Tasting Ice: Onyx Stainless Steel Ice Cube Tray These Are the Best Wineglasses for Everyday Drinking Best Overall Courtesy of Amazon favorite cold beverage Functional and visually appealing, you'll love opening your freezer and seeing these ice cube trays waiting to help chill your favorite cold beverage. Since they're made entirely from bendable silicone, removing ice cubes from the tray couldn't be easier. Plus, they're dishwasher safe, and the lid prevents weird smells from other foods in your freezer from penetrating the ice. What's more, they're available in various colors like pink, blue, and even confetti. Shop Now: W&P Everyday Ice Cube Trays with Lid, $23.86, amazon.com. Best Budget-Friendly Option Bed Bath & Beyond dishwasher safe For an affordable yet powerful ice cube tray, there's nothing better than this one from OXO. For $6, you get a 14 slot ice-cube tray with a lid that makes stacking easy. Plus, the lid's wavelike design lets you take out as many or as few cubes as you want at a time. Did we mention it's also dishwasher safe? Shop Now: OXO Good Grips Ice Cube Tray, $5.99, bedbathandbeyond.com. Best for Cocktails Courtesy of Amazon after-work drink Avoid watery cocktails with these large sphere ice cubes that chill quickly and melt slowly. Admittedly, these wouldn't be great for a cocktail party (it would take a lot of work and patience to make enough cubes), but for an after-work drink, they're ideal. Made of silicone and plastic, they're easy to clean, and the tight-fitting lid keeps out smells and makes stacking easy. Shop Now: Tovolo Sphere Ice Molds, $14.19, amazon.com. Best for the Cleanest, Freshest Tasting Ice Courtesy of Food52 Cutting down the use of plastic in the kitchen Cutting down the use of plastic in the kitchen is an ongoing challenge, but there is an ice cube tray option for that all thanks to Onyx. The company's two-part stainless steel tray is reminiscent of one your grandmother might have had in her refrigerator. It's important to note that it can take a bit of elbow grease to get the cubes out; the trick is to leave the tray out on the counter for a few minutes before cracking with the easy-release lever. These will likely be the freshest cubes you taste. Shop Now: Onyx Stainless Steel Ice Cube Tray, $30, food52.com. Best for Parties Courtesy of Amazon One of the most challenging parts about not having an automatic ice maker (or having one that is so slow) is what to do when you need ice for a large group. These BPA-free trays make 60 mini ice cubes at a time, which means it's a snap to keep everyone's drink refreshingly cool. Plus, most reviewers say they freeze in about two to three hours. The only downside: It can be hard to get the corner pieces out. Shop Now: Arrow Home Products Arrow 60 Cube Ice Tray, $9.15 for three, amazon.com. Best for Water Bottles Courtesy of Food52 If you're trying hard to drink more water, you're likely toting around a reusable water bottle wherever you go. The problem is, you may find that you're not drinking all of it before it starts to get warm.That's where these ice cube trays, designed specifically to work with water bottles, come in handy. They make long spears of ice, so they easily fit into your reusable water bottle. Shop Now: W&P Water Bottle & Everyday Ice Cube Trays with Lid, $38 for three, food52.com. Best for Soups Courtesy of Williams Sonoma vegetable soup Picked up too many tomatoes at the farmers' market? Make soup and freeze it. Available in various sizes, from two tablespoons to two cups, these cubes make making and freezing soup or stock easy. The lids will prevent freezer burn or weird smells from getting into your vegetable soup, and as the mold is silicone, it's easy to pop out one at a time when you need a quick soup meal. You can also use them as large ice cube trays for other liquids. Shop Now: Souper Cubes Freezer Tray with Lid, from $19.95, williams-sonoma.com. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit