Gwynedd Stuart
The best stuffing is savory, nostalgic, and, most importantly, easy as hell to make. If you have around five minutes, a cup or so of water, and half a stick of butter, you can have delicious, fluffy stuffing for Thanksgiving dinner. There’s no shame in taking advantage of shortcuts when there’s a big, stupid parade to watch on TV and beer in the fridge to drink, especially when the best store bought stuffing tastes as good as it does. There’s something magical about the way dried bread, dehydrated vegetables and herbs, and powdered poultry flavoring can come together to create something so flavorful and rib-sticking.
How we found the stuffing for our taste tests
This marks the fourth year we’ve reserved time in the Mythical kitchen and cooked box after box of stuffing. In years past, we focused mostly on stuffing that requires little to no effort (I’m talking about the just-add-water-and-butter variety), but in our most recent taste test we added stuffing mixes that require a little more work. Brands like Pepperidge Farm and Mrs. Cubbison’s ask you to add chopped onions and celery, as well as butter and chicken broth to their mix. Stove Top’s simplicity still wins, but we found another really tasty option by putting in the extra effort.
What we looked for in the best stuffing at the grocery store
Fluffy texture: Stuffing should be fluffy, not claggy or clumpy—at least until you stuff it inside a turkey.
Savory flavor: The best boxed stuffing mix includes the perfect blend of herbs and spices—you shouldn’t have to add anything besides what the instructions call for.
Simplicity: Stuffing mix should be so easy to make that you can serve it on a weeknight alongside a rotisserie chicken, not just on Thanksgiving.
Whether you’re preparing a big holiday meal or just craving the comfort of reconstituted bread bits any ol’ time, this is the best stuffing at the grocery store.
The following article contains affiliate links that may generate a small commission to us when you make a purchase through the link. Learn more about how we work with affiliates here.
- Stove Top with Ocean Spray Craisins
-
I mean, sure—you could just add some Craisins to the boxed stuffing you usually use, but Stove Top thought of it first, so they get a shoutout. The little pops of mild sweetness are nice, especially in Stove Top stuffing, which can lean SO salty. It’s nice for balance. Yes, you can do this yourself, or you could save a couple bucks by forgoing the big bag of dried cranberries and just buying a box of this stuff.
Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
- Aleia’s Plain Stuffing
-
We attempted to find the best gluten free stuffing in previous taste tests but kept tasting things we just couldn’t in good conscience recommend—we’ll never tell you to buy crap! Promise! Finally, in our third boxed stuffing taste test, we found a serviceable gluten free stuffing mix. Most GF stuffing gets super grainy, crumbly, and strange once the bread is moistened, but the bits of bread in this Aleia stuffing were flavorful and relatively firm. The downside here is that this isn’t an instant stuffing mix, you need to add sauteed vegetables to the mix for it to come together and taste like stuffing. We didn’t add vegetables because we mostly just wanted to get a feel for the quality of the bread itself, and it passed the test. Needless to say, it will taste even better when it’s been fully prepared and, ideally, drenched in turkey drippings.
Credit: Liv Averett / Pavilions
- Kroger Cornbread Stuffing
-
Stuffing made with cornbread isn’t my preference, but I get why people like it. It’s a little bit denser and mealier than stuffing made with other types of bread, and I imagine that makes it the best stuffing to buy if you’re busting out the waffle iron to make leftover stuffing waffles. This stuffing from Kroger did the best job of channeling the sort of grainy consistency of moistened cornbread. While the Stove Top Cornbread was weirdly salty—yes, all boxed stuffing is salty, but this was aggressive saltiness—Kroger’s cornbread stuffing has a pleasant, rich flavor that won’t have you guzzling water all through dinner. If cornbread is your preference, this is the best boxed stuffing.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Stove Top Turkey Stuffing Mix
-
If you want a boxed stuffing with actual poultry flavor, I’m tellin’ ya, Stove Top is the best stuffing brand. The generics we tried just didn’t have the same, rich turkey flavor. This boxed stuffing actually tastes like there’s roasted turkey drippings in the bread bits, and I think that makes this the best boxed stuffing to make if you aren’t making a turkey and just want that big bird flavor any night of the week. It’s buttery, fluffy, and delicious. All of these stuffings looked nearly identical when I plated them, but Stove Top edged out the others with its added bit of richness.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- Mrs. Cubbison’s Traditional
-
I’d put off trying Mrs. Cubbison’s stuffing because it calls for sauteed onions and celery and, frankly, I’m lazy, but I’m glad I finally decided to put in the extra effort. This stuff rules. It’s so fluffy! It’s well seasoned without being salty. Where Pepperidge Farm clumped, this fluffed. There’s enough liquid to make it moist BUT it’s not claggy—like, if you stuffed a bird with this, it could still take on some drippings without turning into a soggy clump. I love Mrs. Cubbison’s blend of herbs, too—I can’t quite put a finger on the most prominent flavor, but it’s much different than Stove Top. This is the best boxed stuffing if you want to make something that seems just a little more like homemade than Stove Top. Also: Mrs. Cubbison’s Traditional stuffing mix is vegetarian if you don’t add chicken broth (you can just use water or vegetable broth instead). We previously had Pepperidge Farm on our list as best vegetarian stuffing, but this is much, much better.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- Stove Top Traditional Sage Stuffing Mix
-
For the fourth year running, Stove Top Traditional Sage is the best boxed stuffing, the best Stove Top stuffing, and the best stuffing overall. When we’re doing taste tests here at Sporked, we frequently find that the generic and store brand products we source are just as good as name brand products. Welp, that’s not the case with stuffing. Stove Top really does taste better. And of all the varieties (there are many), this is the best Stop Top stuffing of them all. I don’t know if I could necessarily single out sage, but this stuffing is—pardon me—absolutely stuffed with herb flavor. It’s fluffy and savory, and even has a little bit of sweetness thanks to the addition of dehydrated carrots. In fact, this was the only stuffing mix we tried that included carrot bits. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the Stove Top varieties (although their take on cornbread stuffing continues to be a little lackluster), but if you want the best boxed stuffing, it’s worth seeking out Stove Top Traditional Sage. It’s a bit harder to find in stores than other Stove Top flavors, but you can buy it online.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
Best New Stove Top Stuffing
Best Gluten Free Stuffing
Best Cornbread
Best Turkey
Best Vegetarian Stuffing Mix
Best of the Best
Other bagged and boxed stuffing mixes we tried
Live G Free Gluten Free Turkey Stuffing Mix, Live G Free Gluten Free Chicken Stuffing Mix, Specially Selected Brioche Stuffing Mix Lemon Thyme, Specially Selected Brioche Stuffing Mix Garlic Rosemary, Chef’s Cupboard Hawaiian Stuffing Mix Classic Herbs & Spices, Chef’s Cupboard Hawaiian Stuffing Mix Sage & Onion, Stove Top Cornbread Stuffing, Stove Top Savory Herbs, 365 Organic Cornbread Stuffing, Great Value Cornbread Stuffing, Great Value Turkey Stuffing, Gillian’s Gluten Free Stuffing, Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Classic Stuffing Mix
Discontinued: Kroger Jalapeno Cornbread stuffing
Justine Sterling
Danny Palumbo
