We tested 11 cornbread mixes: here are our favorites

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and if cornbread is a staple of your celebration, as it is for mine, you may be considering making it from scratch. We have plenty of great cornbread recipes if you want to take the homemade approach, but if you’re already overwhelmed by the prospect of having to prep and cook an entire Thanksgiving feast, all while entertaining family members or friends, it might be time to consider going the easy route: a boxed cornbread mix. Homemade cornbread is good, but do you know what’s better? Make Thanksgiving as stress-free as possible.

With plenty of solid cornbread mixes to choose from online and in grocery stores, there’s no reason to lose sleep over that particular big-day decision. With that in mind, we rounded up 11 different cornbread mixes you’ll likely find at your local supermarket, made them into muffin form, and asked our tasters to taste them without knowing which brands they were trying. After tasting all 11 cornbread mixes, we found not one but two winners that we’d be happy to serve at our own Thanksgiving tables, along with a few other worthy contenders. Read on for all the details.

The criteria

Talk to our editors and you’ll find they all have very strong opinions about what makes good cornbread. Some, like our business editor Grace, like it sweeter with lots of butter and a drizzle of honey, while our business editor An enjoys a healthy dose of jalapeños in hers. Others, like our associate editorial director Megan, prefer it sugar-free Southern style, perfect for pairing with savory sides like collard greens and black-eyed peas. Like Grace, our Senior Social Media Editor, Kelli, appreciates a touch of sweetness and she’s also open to including whole corn kernels.

Although all of our cornbread preferences differ greatly, we all agree that good cornbread should be tender and moist, with the pleasant earthy aroma of dried corn. It should be well seasoned with salt, but it should not be too salty or too sweet to the point of passing for a cake. (As our Editorial Director Daniel noted in his Southern-Style Cornbread recipe, “Cornbread doesn’t have to be overtly sweet, but it do it takes just enough gentleness to avoid feeling like the fabric of the universe has been torn apart and you’re desperately trying to lick the crack. Point taken!)

The cornbread should also have a nice golden color and be neither excessively pale nor fluorescent yellow. While cornbread made from a can doesn’t need to taste homemade, it should be good enough that you can happily make it when you want an effortless option or when you’re just too tired to make it from scratch.

Overall Winner (Tie): Flesichmann Simply Homemade Cornbread Baking Mix

Almost every taster loved this cornbread mix, and this one was Daniel’s favorite. “This one seems to be the sweet spot in terms of texture and flavor,” he wrote. Megan described it as “cheesy and sweet”, and although it was sweeter than she liked, she thought it was well balanced, tender and “a decent muffin”. Likewise, Amanda, our Assistant Visual Director, thought this cornbread had “a great balance of crunchy and chewy” and noted that it was the only sample she wanted to come back and eat more of. With yellow cornmeal as the first ingredient, this mix has a robust flavor and aroma reminiscent of homemade cornbread with good quality cornmeal.

Overall Winner (Tie): Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix

In our tests, Jiffy tied with Fleischmann’s for first place. Almost all tasters noted that this blend was not overly sweet and everyone found it balanced, had just the right amount of corn flavor, and was nicely tender. Kelli described it as “simple and straightforward, and exactly how cornbread should be,” and added, “Is it a Jiffy? I think it is.” Jiffy was one of the best cornbread mixes we’ve tried, and at 10 cents an ounce, it’s also the most affordable mix we’ve sampled. One thing to note: Jiffy is the only blend containing lard and the only non-vegetarian product we sampled. So if you avoid pork products, this one is not for you.

Runners-up: Our Favorite Cornbread Mixes

Another great cornbread: Martha White Sweet Yellow Cornbread Mix

With the exception of Amanda, all tasters gave this blend rave reviews. Daniel thought it had a classic flavor and gave it full marks for taste. Likewise, Kelli noted that this mix “tastes like cornbread is supposed to taste.” Megan felt it had a “real corn flavor” and liked that it wasn’t too sweet. In fact, she liked it enough to say that this blend had her “favorite flavor of the bunch,” which made it her first choice overall, even though it wasn’t her best in terms of texture. Indeed, although it scored well on the flavor front, many tasters thought this cornbread was slightly dry and would benefit from a generous dollop of butter.

The Best Cornbread Mix for Those with a Sweet Lover: Krusteaz Honey Cornbread and Muffin Mix

“Good corn flavor, although a slightly offensive, almost artificial sweetener aftertaste,” Megan noted. For what it’s worth, there’s no artificial sweetener here, just sugar and a touch of powdered honey. Kelli thought this cornbread had a little too much sugar, but if you like your cornbread sweeter, then this may be the mix for you. Looking at the ingredient list, this isn’t a surprise, as this mix contains more sugar than cornmeal. Texturally, this mixture also had tiny shards of cornmeal, which gave a nice crunch that Amanda and Daniel enjoyed.

The suitors

• Bob’s Red Mill Golden Cornbread Mix ($3.69 for 13 ounces)
• Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix ($0.89 for 8.5 ounces)
• Kentucky Kernel Old Fashioned Cornbread Mix ($3.72 for 10 ounces)
• Famous Dave’s Cornbread Mix, Original Recipe ($3.39 for 15 ounces)
• Martha White Sweet Yellow Cornbread Mix ($1.46 for 7 ounces)
• Betty Crocker Cornbread and Muffin Mix ($1.01 for 6.5 ounces)
• Old El Paso Southwestern Style Cornbread Baking Mix ($4.42 for 13.5 ounces)
• Fleischmann’s Simply Homemade Cornbread Baking Mix ($3.99 for 15 ounces)
• Krusteaz Honey Cornbread and Muffin Mix ($3.99 for 15 ounces)
• Trader Joe’s Cornbread Mix ($2.99 ​​for 15 ounces)
• Whole Foods 365 Cornbread and Muffin Mix ($3.79 for 15 ounces)

Editor’s note: These are the prices at the time of publication; prices are subject to change.

In conclusion

Every cornbread mix we sampled was incredibly easy to make, requiring little more than whisking the mixture with an egg or two, oil or butter, and milk or water. Fleischmann’s Simply Homemade Baking Mix Cornbread, which tied with Jiffy for our top spot, has three important differences from most other mixes we’ve tried that likely contribute to its better, more robust flavor. First, cornmeal is its first ingredient, rather than wheat flour, which tops the list for many mixes. Second, this cornmeal is yellow rather than white, and yellow cornmeal tends to have a more pronounced nutty, cheesy flavor than white. And finally, Fleischmann’s cornmeal has not been degerminated.

When corn is processed into flour, the kernels are ground and the germ and endosperm are often removed to produce refined corn flour. The germ, however, contains many fibers, oils and amino acids that can contribute to corn’s rich flavor and aroma. If, like us, you prefer a strong nutty, cheesy flavor in your cornbread, we recommend purchasing a cornbread mix like Fleischmann’s that contains yellow cornmeal that hasn’t been degermed.

Our testing methodology

All taste tests are carried out with completely hidden brands and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample 1 first, while taster B will taste sample 6 first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving an advantage to one sample. Tasters are invited to fill out our tasting sheets classifying the samples according to different criteria. All data is tabulated and results are calculated without editorial input in order to give us the most unbiased representation of actual results possible.