I have always been a boxed-stuffing boy. I was an embarrassing number of years into my alleged adulthood when I learned there are people out there who actually make stuffing from scratch. Those people, I learned, spend hours tearing, dicing, preheating, melting, mixing, and baking. The first time I tried it, I was struck by how delicious homemade stuffing could be.
Delicious, yes, but different from my beloved boxed version. Homemade stuffing is decidedly not boxed stuffing mix, and sometimes I find myself craving that very specific flavor I grew up on. I always look forward to the occasions when it might appear under roast chickens, and of course, in a big baking dish on Thanksgiving.
Premade stuffing mix is more convenient than homemade, and when you’re fretting over the rest of an extensive meal, convenience goes a long way. To make sure we found the best boxed stuffing on the market, we tried seven mixes. The highs were high, the lows low, but in the end, one stuffing mix came out on top.
How we set up our blind taste test
We prepared each contender according to its package instructions. While most mixes required adding some liquid (water or chicken broth) and butter during the cooking process, others called for additional mix-ins (more on that in a minute) to enhance flavor and texture.
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What we were looking for
A good stuffing should share the hallmarks of a comforting casserole: soft interior, crispy bronzed top, and savory flavor that tastes like the food equivalent to your favorite knit sweater. We assessed our contenders for texture and flavor. High marks went to discernible bread cubes or croutons—especially if they sported a rustic, hand-torn look. They had to absorb moisture without turning stodgy. Flavor-wise, we wanted our stuffing aromatic and buttery with a distinct presence of herbs like parsley, sage, and rosemary.
The workhorse stuffing: Pepperidge Farm Herb-Seasoned Classic Stuffing
Photograph by Isa Zapata
Senior test kitchen editor Shilpa Uskokovic described this ingredients list as basic, with “no bits and bobs that might bring texture.” That’s because Pepperidge Farm stuffing mixes ask home cooks to add their own onions, celery, and chicken stock. It makes the prep more involved than other boxed stuffings’, which usually don’t ask for extra ingredients, but your effort is rewarded by a far superior texture in each bite.
Why it won us over: The bring-your-own veggies element of this stuffing mix added a welcome crunch (thanks, celery). Those fresh flavors gave this boxed stuffing the boost it needed to stand out from its peers, including Pepperidge Farm’s cornbread stuffing mix.
