Justine Sterling
Dolly Parton food is good. I might not be the biggest Dolly expert (I know “9 to 5,” I know she wrote “I Will Always Love You,” I know she has lots of tattoos, and I know we must protect her at all cost—but that’s about it), but I am a food expert. And I can tell you, after tasting nearly all the Dolly Parton foods that Dolly Parton food products are good. (You can watch the full taste test in the video below, btw.) It’s not just a cash grab. She didn’t just slap her face on a box. Dolly Parton’s foods are clearly made with love—or at least with the desire to make products that genuinely taste good.
What do you mean “Dolly Parton food?”
It may have started with cake mixes, but Dolly has not limited herself to cakes. You can find Dolly Parton cake mix, Dolly Parton frosting, Dolly Parton muffin mix, Dolly Parton syrup, and even Dolly Parton frozen foods.
Over the course of three days, we prepared each and every Dolly Parton product according to the packaging (okay, there was one misstep with the blueberry muffins). And then we sat down to a gosh darn Dolly Parton food feast.
How we judged and ranked Dolly Parton food products
- Flavor. Obviously we wanted big flavor from Dolly. There’s nothing subtle about that woman and that should be the case with her foods.
- Texture. If we were trying cake, we wanted it to be tender and moist. If we were tasting frosting, we wanted it to be thick and not grainy. If we were tasting frozen meat, it better not be hard or rubbery.
- Uniqueness. We awarded extra points to Dolly Parton food products that were original to her. Lots of people make brownie mixes. But frozen chicken and dumplings? That’s new for us.
So, what’s the best Dolly Parton food you can buy right now? Here are 19 Dolly Parton foods ranked from just okay to we will always love them.
Dolly Parton Foods, Ranked
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- Dolly Parton’s Chocolate Cake Mix
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Almost all of the Dolly Parton foods we tried were good if not great. This was one of the exceptions. The cake looked lovely, but the flavor was lackluster. It tasted too much of bitter cocoa powder and it was bone dry. There are much better chocolate cake mixes to be found.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Yellow Cake Mix
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It’s totally fine, if a bit dry and unremarkable. It’s just a bit of a shrug. Try one of the Dolly Parton cake mixes that are higher up on this ranking if you’re in the mood for cake.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Original Syrup
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This pancake syrup is great. In fact, it made it onto our best maple syrup ranking. It’s classic diner syrup—thick and super sweet—rather than real maple syrup. And it comes in a bottle shaped like a guitar. Fun! The only reason it ranks so low on this list is because, while it’s good it’s not exceptional. And, in the end, it’s just good syrup in a guitar.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Beef Pot Roast
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Out of all the Dolly Parton frozen meals we tried, this ranked at the bottom. But it’s still better than a majority of the frozen meals we’ve tried in the Sporked office. The beef itself is on the tough side, but at least it tastes like beef. And the potatoes are tender. But the real stars are the onions, which are so tender and infuse the gravy with delicious roasted onion flavor. It won’t replace your mom’s pot roast but Dolly’ll do ya in a pinch.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Blueberry Muffin Mix
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As implied above, there was a little bit of a hiccup when I was preparing this muffin mix. I left out the oil. But you’d honestly never know. The muffins still turned out great. They have a pleasant blueberry flavor just like any good grocery store blueberry muffin. But they get a leg up on the competition thanks to the streusel topping.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Sweet Cornbread & Muffin Mix
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If you’re looking for a quick and easy side dish, Dolly Parton’s cornbread mix is worth pulling out of your pantry. It has a nice, tender texture—it’s not too mealy. And the flavor is sweet and pleasant. It’d be a good accompaniment to something boldly flavorful like chili. Or you could add your own flavors to the mix. I’m thinking a can of corn and some shredded cheddar.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Buttermilk Complete Pancake Mix
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You know how the first pancake always sucks? Not with this mix. Dolly Parton’s pancake mix produced impeccably fluffy pancakes. Seriously, they looked like they were straight out of a magazine shoot. (Kudos to my colleague Gwynedd Stuart for cooking them so well.) They’re lightly sweet and begging for butter and syrup. Plus, all you have to do is add water! Skip the Bisquick. Buy Dolly Parton Pancake Mix instead.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Fabulously Double Fudge Brownie Mix
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While this mix didn’t take the top spot in our ranking of the best brownie mixes, it did earn the superlative of “Best Fudgy.” And it earned it. This brownie mix makes seriously fudgy brownies with a perfectly crackly top. They’re crazy chocolatey, but that’s totally okay. It makes them a great base for sundaes. Just be sure to buy the best vanilla ice cream.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake Mix
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I swear I made this crumb cake as instructed, but the streusel ended up sinking to the bottom of the pan. Even so, this came close to cracking the top ten because of how good the cake tastes. It’s like a cinnamon bun had a baby with a coffee cake. Maybe you’ll have better luck with the streusel, but if you don’t, just flip the cake over and call it a cinnamon upside down cake.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Banana Nut Muffin Mix
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Finally, you don’t have to wait for your bananas to go totally brown and attract fruit flies to make banana muffins. This Dolly Parton mix produces light, fluffy banana muffins studded with crunchy walnut pieces and topped with streusel. While the muffins don’t taste totally homemade, they don’t taste like super fake banana, either.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Creamy Buttercream
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It’s perfect, classic buttercream. There’s not much more to say.
Credit: Merc / Ralphs
- Dolly Parton’s Strawberry Cake Mix
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I haven’t come across a lot of strawberry cake mixes in my time, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t demand. Luckily, Dolly is here to solve it with this bright pink cake mix. It bakes up fluffy and tender. The strawberry flavor is present without being saccharine, so feel free to have a heavy hand when it comes to slathering on the sweet, sweet buttercream.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Creamy Strawberry Frosting
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This canned strawberry frosting tastes like room temperature strawberry ice cream. It has an unexpected tang that balances out the sugar. It’s really delightful.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Creamy Chocolate Frosting
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Not into strawberry? Grab Dolly’s chocolate frosting instead. It tastes like brownie batter. Spreadable, lickable brownie batter. Yum.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
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I was skeptical about this Dolly Parton mix. If you’re going to go with a chocolate chip cookie shortcut, why not just buy the premade dough? Because this mix makes near perfect chewy-crispy chocolate chip cookies, that’s why! Each cookie comes out packed with chocolate chips, just the right amount of saltiness, and a texture that can’t be beat.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Chicken & Dumplings
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The dumplings in this Dolly Parton frozen meal are more like big spaetzel than the dumplings we’re used to having in chicken and dumplings—but we love them all the same. They’re super satisfying and comforting. And the gravy is savory and creamy and there’s lots of it. The chicken is fine, if a bit processed. But this frozen meal earned mucho points for its uniqueness. The best Dolly Parton foods are the ones that tap into Dolly’s Southern roots and it doesn’t get much more Southern than chicken and dumplings.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Coconut Cake Mix
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Speaking of Southern things, this coconut cake mix really knocked it out of the park. It’s the best Dolly Parton cake mix to buy, hands down. The cake ends up with a balanced flavor that is just coconutty enough but doesn’t cross over into sunscreen territory. It’s wonderfully fluffy. And it’s so good with Dolly’s buttercream. Sprinkle some dried coconut on top and you’ll be the Southern baking belle of the ball.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Country Fried Steak
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Hey look! More Southern food! Yep, of all the Dolly Parton frozen meals we tasted (and we tasted all of them except for the shrimp and grits, which wasn’t available in our area, sad face) the country fried steak took the top spot. The mashed potatoes are creamy and cozy, the bacon-studded green beans are incredible, and the country fried steak, while not crispy, is good! Our one complaint? More gravy, please!
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Dolly Parton’s Sugar Cookie Mix
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This baking mix produced the best sugar cookies any of us have ever had. The cookies are so chewy but crispy on the outside at the same time—almost like a macaron. And the flavor is simply delicious cookie flavor. I have never been wowed by a sugar cookie, but these cookies wowed me. Make them as directed and enjoy, or use the dough to make little cookie Dollys to decorate. Then thank them for giving us this gift of a baking mix.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
Chocolate Cake Mix
Yellow Cake Mix
Syrup
Beef Pot Roast
Blueberry Muffin Mix
Cornbread & Muffin Mix
Pancake Mix
Brownie Mix
Crumb Cake Mix
Banana Nut Muffin Mix
Buttercream
Strawberry Cake Mix
Strawberry Frosting
Chocolate Frosting
Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
Chicken & Dumplings
Coconut Cake Mix
Country Fried Steak
Jon Gutierrez
Gwynedd Stuart
Jordan Myrick
