Best Hot Chocolate Mix for Cozy Season

The best hot chocolate mix is creamy, chocolatey, and ready in an instant. I mean, who has the time to warm milk in a pot and break out the whisk to make hot chocolate with actual cocoa powder, sugar, salt, vanilla, etc.? Some of us have children and cats and partners and needy potted plants. But even if you go with instant, who has the time to sort through all the different brands and flavors to find the perfect mix to warm your mug and your tum? 

To keep your cocoa list current, the Sporked team ran four taste tests to check out the latest hot cocoa mixes and find the best mix for hot chocolate out there. We used both hot water and milk to taste these hot chocolate mix brands. 

What we looked for in the best hot cocoa mix:

• Chocolate flavor. It should go without saying but the best hot chocolate tastes like chocolate. Not just like sugar. We want real cocoa flavor in our hot cocoa. 
• Creamy texture. Even if it’s made with water instead of milk, hot chocolate mix should result in creamy, milky hot cocoa. 
• Easy to make. We don’t want to stand there whisking away forever. That kinda defeats the purpose of instant hot chocolate mix. The best hot chocolate mix is easily incorporated into hot milk or water. 

Here are our picks for the best hot chocolate mix on the market.

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Fan Favorite

Land O Lakes Chocolate Supreme

Instacart

We were absolutely reamed by Sporked readers for not trying Land O Lakes hot chocolate mix in the first round of our hot cocoa mix taste test. So we made sure to try it in a follow-up taste test. And not just one Land O Lakes hot chocolate mix, all of them. Every single flavor. We thought they were good! It’s not the best hot chocolate mix (sorry!), but we like it. This Chocolate Supreme version is our favorite of the bunch. When made with milk, it’s rich and decently chocolatey. Land O Lakes isn’t just a butter company, people! —Jordan Myrick

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best Minty

Great Value Candy Cane Hot Cocoa Mix

Walmart

If you’re looking for a little extra holiday cheer in your mug, this Walmart hot chocolate mix gives you a tasty mint flavor that doesn’t overpower the chocolate, while also giving you nice, creamy consistency. And as it’s presented in a can instead of packets, you can decide just how much (or little) your portion is. Spoiler: We went with “a ton.” This is the best hot chocolate mix for the holiday season if plain chocolate just isn’t festive enough. — Jon Gutierrez

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best Peanut Butter

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Candy Shop Cocoa

Amazon

If you’ve ever tried a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and wished it was hot and liquidy, then this is the best mix for hot chocolate to make your dreams come true. It’s got a great, authentic-tasting peanut butter flavor, and the Hershey’s cocoa is strong enough to balance it out. The only downside is that the servings are kinda small, as they only make six ounces of drink per packet. Luckily, they give you eight packets per box. I went through the whole thing pretty quickly, almost as quickly as I can devour a pack of peanut butter cups. So, it’s definitely authentic! — Jon Gutierrez

Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best Salted Caramel

Good & Gather Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa Mix

Target

Good & Gather, aka Target, Salted Caramel Hot Cocoa Mix is the best caramel hot cocoa mix we tried. It is so rich, salty, and decadent. It tastes like something you’d get at a local coffee shop. Good & Gather also sells hot chocolate mix flavors like double chocolate and peppermint, which are pretty good too. But for our money, this salted caramel hot chocolate is the way to go. — Justine Sterling

Credit: Liv Averett / Target

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best Starbucks Mix

Starbucks Hot Cocoa Marshmallow

Walmart

While this Starbucks hot chocolate mix isn’t a dupe for real Starbucks hot chocolate, it certainly tastes more like it than the standard Starbucks hot chocolate mix. I think when the marshmallows melt into the cocoa it gives it that extra creamy sweetness that’s missing from the standard mix. If Starbucks hot cocoa is the gold standard for you…honestly, buy the K-cups. But if you don’t have a K-cup machine, then this is the best hot cocoa mix to buy. — Justine Sterling

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best Budget

Trader Joe’s Organic Hot Cocoa Mix

Not only does Trader Joe’s cocoa have the best packaging but the beloved/cultish store also makes some of the best mix for hot chocolate. “It has a nice cocoa flavor,” said Sporked managing editor Gwynedd Stuart. “It’s sweet but not obnoxiously so.” It has a cocoa flavor that stays with you with a pleasantly bittersweet finish. It tastes like real chocolate and it’s cheap, making it the best hot cocoa mix you can buy on a budget. — Justine Sterling

Credit: Liv Averett

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Milk Chocolate

Bettergoods Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa Mix

Walmart

Walmart continues to impress us with its millennial-geared Bettergoods line. This hot chocolate mix makes cocoa that tastes so different from other mixes—it tastes like hot chocolate cereal milk. And it’s super rich. Even though we made it with milk it tasted like we made it with cream. — Justine Sterling

Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best with Water

Nestle Classic Rich Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa Mix

Instacart

If you’re only using water, there is no better hot cocoa mix out there than Nestle Classic Rich Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa Mix. It is so rich and creamy and chocolatey. Even when made with water, it tastes like it was made with whole milk. That makes it a great accessible and money-saving option. — Justine Sterling

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Mexican Hot Chocolate

La Monarca Bakery Chocolate Mexicano

Amazon

We pitted La Monarca’s Mexican hot cocoa mix against Abuelita’s and La Monarca won hands down. It tastes like real cinnamon-infused cocoa (rather than hot cocoa someone dropped a Red Hot into). It’s chocolaty and spicy and absolutely delicious. It’s made by a local Los Angeles bakery chain, but you can and should buy it online. — Justine Sterling

Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Dark Chocolate

Swiss Miss Indulgent Collection Dark Chocolate 

Amazon

Kroger

This is the best hot chocolate mix to pick up if you want a more grown-up version of a childhood favorite, for sure. It’s dark and indulgent. It’s a little fancier—a little more upscale. It’s richer and feels like it’s really warming you up from the inside. It’s the type of hot chocolate you hold with both hands, just under your nose, breathing in the warm, sweet vapors before taking a sip. A cinematic hot chocolate. — Justine Sterling

Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Best of the Best

Sillycow Farms Hot Chocolate

Amazon

Readers told us to taste this hot chocolate mix and they were right to do so. Because this really is the best hot chocolate mix. It tastes like pure, creamy, hot milk chocolate. It seriously tastes like the best chocolate milk but hot! Yes, it’s more expensive, yes you need to measure, but it’s a real treat—especially when you accidentally confuse tablespoons for teaspoons like I did and add more mix than the instructions call for. — Justine Sterling

Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other hot chocolate mixes we tried:

Treat Life, Starbucks Classic, Swiss Miss Lucky Charms, Nestle, Select, Beaumont, Swiss Miss, 365 Organic Hot Cocoa, Beaumont, Good & Gather (all flavors), Land O Lakes (all flavors), Nestle, Numi Drinking Chocolate, Signature Select, Sprouts, Starbucks Classic, Swiss Miss (Lucky Charms, no sugar added, non-dairy, reduced calorie, regular and white chocolate), Treat Life, Kroger Dutch Hot Cocoa Mix Milk Chocolate, Starbucks Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa Mix, Cocoa Classics Caramel & Chocolate Cocoa Mix, bettergoods White Chocolate Hot Cocoa Mix, Raaka Premium Hot Chocolate Mix, Abuelita Mexican Style Instant Hot Chocolate Mix