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.
.Over the course of three taste tests, we tried a bunch of instant stuffing mixes, as well as a few brands of store bought stuffing that require a bit more prep. Truly instant stuffing reigns supreme, but we did add a good vegetarian stuffing option to the list, as well as a good gluten free stuffing (finally).
After these taste tests, we firmly believe that stuffing shouldn’t be a thing we only eat on Thanksgiving. The best boxed is an incredibly quick and easy weeknight side that makes something like a grocery store rotisserie chicken feel special. 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.
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- Aleia’s Plain Stuffing
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We’d 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—much like the vegetarian stuffing option on this list (see #4), 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 Jalapeño Cornbread Stuffing
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Spicy stuffing isn’t for everyone, and this boxed stuffing is surprisingly spicy. I know, I know. It says “jalapeño” right there on the box, but we were still pretty wowed by the boldness of the heat. Still, if you’re hosting a grown-ups-only Thanksgiving or perhaps a friendsgiving for your childless buddies, this stuff will please the heat-seekers at the table. In addition to being spicy, the jalapeño brings a fresh, vegetal flavor that a lot of store bought stuffing—even the best store bought stuffing—just doesn’t have. It’s a fun new take on the best cornbread stuffing (see #3) and it’s the best stuffing for people who want to spice up the typical Thanksgiving spread.
Credit: Liv Averett / Ralphs
- Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Classic Stuffing
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This Pepperidge Farm stuffing is made with very realistically torn-up pieces of white bread and wheat bread. It really looks like it was made from scratch. A few caveats: If you follow the instructions on the box, it comes out very, very dry, but I think that makes it well suited for stuffing a bird. It’s going to soak up all those drippings really well. Another caveat: You have to add diced onion and celery to this mix, so it does require more prep work, which is a bummer. I did not do that when I made it (I only added chicken broth and margarine), but it still had that nice bouillon and dried herb flavor you’ve grown to love in the best stuffing mixes.The flavor is very celery seed forward. A great thing about this store bought stuffing? It’s vegetarian—several sites even claim it’s totally vegan! Obviously, if you want to keep it meat-free, you’d need to swap out chicken broth for vegetable broth—and I’d definitely recommend adding more liquid than the instructions call for if you aren’t putting it inside a bird. This is the best stuffing if you need a vegetarian stuffing on your table.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- Kroger Cornbread Stuffing
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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
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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
- Stove Top Traditional Sage Stuffing Mix
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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 was a little lackluster), but if you want the best stuffing, it’s worth seeking out Stove Top Traditional Sage.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
Best Gluten Free Stuffing
Best Spicy
Best Vegetarian
Best Cornbread
Best Turkey
Best of the Best
Other products 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
