7 Boxed Yellow Cake Mixes Ranked Worst To Best

What's fluffy, sweet, and yellow all over? No, it's not my adorable Goldendoodle, Maggie Mae, though I suffer from cute aggression and could definitely gobble her up. I'm talking about a boxed yellow cake mix — the cheap, easy, and convenient savior when making a cake completely from scratch is off the table. Using a boxed yellow cake mix shouldn't be judged as a sign of laziness or failure. In fact, it's a realistic choice for both pros and home bakers. When I was a pastry cook working for restaurants, bakeries, and cafes, many of those venues would use some form of a cake mix product to lessen the stress of demanding schedules as well as to purchase cost-effective ingredients. Outside of my professional food industry sector, I have often relied on boxed yellow cake mixes over the years for quickly making layer cakes, cupcakes, and cake pops for family and friends. I've even used boxed yellow cake mixes to make berry cobblers and create creamy truffles.

I thought I had a personal favorite brand, but with so many options out there I haven't tried, I wanted to put different options to the test. Reinforcing my kitchen supplies with tons of cupcake liners and eggs, I tested seven different brands of boxed yellow cake mixes and ranked them from worst to best. If you had a preferred choice, you might want to think twice — see where it falls in my ranking, and maybe you'll change your mind and try something new the next time there's an upcoming birthday party.

This was a classic case of how looks can be deceiving. Though it most certainly looked the part of a cute little cupcake, with a perfect top dome and a light-yellow color, the 365 by Whole Foods Market Classic Yellow Cake Mix received the lowest ranking in both taste and texture. The mix required three eggs, 3/4 cup milk, and 1/4 cup vegetable oil. It baked the driest out of all of the competitors, so its texture wasn't as moist as some of the others that ranked higher. And the weirdly savory, not very sweet taste was a noticeable detriment to the overall enjoyment.

Closely analyzing the reactions of my fellow taste-tasters (everyone's face turned into a disgusted frown immediately after the first bite), I couldn't possibly ignore the obvious signs that this was a loser. When rivaled with the smiles and sighs elicited by many of the other cake brands, the 365 by Whole Foods brand failed to deliver the same echelon of happiness. Understandably, the mission of Whole Foods is to promote high-quality standards with wholesome ingredients, banning foods with artificial food coloring and other additives. But without certain emulsifiers, artificial flavors, fats, sugars, and food colorings used by the other brands, the sweet, nostalgic taste of a favorite childhood treat was sorely lacking. More sodium stearoyl lactylate and yellow No. 6, please.

Not too far behind last place is Bob's Red Mill Classic Yellow Cake Mix, which tasted more like a hearty cornbread than a soft and sweet cake. For this specific ranking, I considered that as a negative characteristic, as I was seeking a more classic interpretation of a yellow cake, one with a delicate and fluffy texture. The mix called for three eggs, 3/4 cup water, and 1/3 cup oil. My fellow taste-testers and I could not get past that oddly granular, chewy texture. It also had a strong aftertaste similar to whole wheat flour or oats that none of us liked. We also were all in agreement that it could easily be treated as a cornbread-like side dish slathered in perfectly softened butter rather than a cake piped with buttercream.

Despite the harsh criticism, there were still some positives to record. The appearance was rather pretty, with a small dome, a subtly light-yellow color, and a consistent crumb with no severe tunnelling when cut in half. Some of the other cake brands suffered from tunneling issues, so it was a pleasant surprise when this one cut beautifully.

This one was unquestionably the ugliest option with the least appetizing appearance. Look at it ... like a big crater in the center. Betty Crocker's Super Moist Butter Recipe Yellow Cake Mix called for three eggs, 1 cup water, and 1/3 cup softened butter (roughly 5 tablespoons), which replaced the typical oil in the recipe. I prepped and baked everything accordingly, so the sinking could have just been an odd, one-off fluke. But despite the ghastly appearance, everyone enjoyed the taste and texture — which is why it didn't rank any lower and was still able to beat out two other mixes. We'll just cover up the flaws in frosting, right? That will be easy to do when paired with one of Chowhound's preferred store-bought frosting brands.

This option had a density similar to a lighter, fluffier version of a pound cake. It was slightly compact and moist but still had a very pleasing tenderness to the texture. The butter offered an additional depth of flavor, which also augmented the other flavor notes, assuming what I tasted was vanilla. "Artificial flavor" is the only clue I have in the ingredients list.

While Dolly Parton is famous for embracing a larger-than-life, excessively flamboyant approach to her fashion, her line of boxed yellow cake mix from Duncan Hines is a good example of how more is not necessarily better. The cake mix requires four large eggs (one more than all the others), one cup of milk, and a whole stick of melted butter. The ingredients list is just as over-the-top as the queen of country herself.

Here's the problem: Even with all these supplementary ingredients, not to mention the added grocery expenses and extra work involved to crack an extra egg and melt and slightly cool all that butter, the final result wasn't any better than the top contenders that simply used oil, water, and fewer eggs. It still looked nice and had a decent crumb with a slightly sturdier texture and some minor tunneling concerns. But it wasn't anything special and didn't really deserve a top spot when standing among the bigger giants of the at-home baking industry.

With such a high and mighty rise that stood out from the rest, the Duncan Hines Classic Yellow Cake Mix snatched an honorable third-place spot on my list. Requiring one cup of water, three large eggs, and 1/2 cup vegetable oil, it rose to the occasion of being a classic yellow cake choice that was easy to prepare and bake, but it wasn't everyone's favorite selection. I received the most mixed reviews from my group of taste-testers.

Some of the taste-testers on my panel thought the flavor was on the weaker side and could have had a more impactful taste, while others enjoyed that the subtle notes of vanilla were not too overpowering. Others thought the cake was stiffer and not as light and fluffy as some of the top contenders, while others appreciated its stiffer structure for making layer cakes. But we all agreed that the color of the cake was the worst of the bunch, since the yellow hue was disappointing, dull, and looked nearly gray.

Betty Crocker's Super Moist Yellow Cake Mix came so close to winning the gold medal, but it still proudly sits at second place with only some microscopic complaints. The mix called for one cup of water, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, and three eggs. The cake had a light and lovely yellow hue and rose well. Upon slicing a cupcake in half, it had a very even crumb. 

What really impressed all of us was that it had one of the most delicate structures of all the cakes we tested. This delightfully cloudlike quality was similar to a traditional light and airy sponge cake, but without the time-consuming necessity of having to whip egg whites. Many of my taste-testers agreed that it tasted exactly how you want a yellow cake to taste. Betty Crocker's yellow cake is even Duff Goldman's favorite cake when covered in canned fudge frosting. While I agreed with most of my taste-testers' reviews, I still thought that the flavor was just a hair too subtle for my liking — where's the yellow cake I couldn't wait to eat as a kid at every birthday party growing up?

And, here it is. Pillsbury's Moist Supreme Yellow Cake Mix left everyone giggly and giddy after just the first whiff. With that kind of initial reaction from a mixed panel of adults and kids, nostalgic magic (paired with a crafty combination of natural and artificial flavors) was wafting in the air with this one. We all knew this one was a winner, well before even the first bite. The cake mix required one cup of water, 1/2 cup oil, and three eggs.

We all loved that it looked like the quintessential classic yellow cake with a perfect dome, a tall rise, and a bright yellow color. And we were all obsessed by how delicious it smelled and tasted. It was light, fluffy, and moist but still had enough structure to give it textural character. My stepson described it best, saying it smelled and tasted like vanilla icing. Without any doubt or hesitation, we all agreed that this is the cake we would choose for our next birthday party. But we really would come up with any kind of excuse to celebrate something, just so we could bake off another batch of Pillsbury's cake. Happy hump day, I guess!

For this ranking, I focused exclusively on classic yellow cake mixes, avoiding any options that were diet-specific, such as gluten-free, sugar-free, or vegan options. I followed the recipe's ingredients and instructions exactly as written, with a few of my own rules when they were necessary upon preparing each boxed cake mix. For example, when the type of oil was unspecified, I defaulted to vegetable oil as a neutral oil. As another example, when the size of the egg was unspecified, I defaulted to large eggs. I baked each cake mix as cupcakes and gave the cupcakes enough time to cool down completely before testing.

I invited my husband, stepson, and a small handful of food industry friends to help with the test-tasting and ranking discussion. Prior to tasting, we first analyzed the additional ingredients required for each boxed cake mix as well as the ease of preparation. During the tasting, we openly discussed our thoughts on smell, texture, taste, appearance, and price points. As this was a test strictly regarding the yellow cake base, we did not test these with any frosting or icing. Despite these deep analyses, the final — and arguably most important — question we needed to answer was: Which cake would you want to serve and eat at your own birthday party?