This Store-Bought Cornbread Mix Is The Best Money Can Buy

The right side dish can take a really good meal and elevate it to amazing, and it's no secret that cornbread is one of those sides. Whether you're serving it with your favorite BBQ spare ribs, a hearty three-bean chili, or using it to replace a classic grilled cheese sandwich alongside a dish of roasted tomato soup, everyone's excited to see cornbread on the table. While you can definitely make it from scratch, there are so many great store-bought boxed mixes out there that this is one shortcut worth taking — particularly when you reach for one brand.

In Daily Meal's ultimate ranking of boxed cornbread mixes, there was a clear winner: Krusteaz Southern Cornbread & Muffin Mix. Why? This boxed mix brings everything you expect from a great cornbread, and leaves plenty of room for you to dress it up any way you'd like.

The thing that makes cornbread great is its savory sweetness. Krusteaz mix is not too sweet, and that's important. You can always make cornbread sweeter with a drizzle of honey, but if what comes out of the box is just too sugary to start with, it's difficult to offset that. Krusteaz has a salty, butteriness that stays moist on the inside and browns perfectly along the edges — this boxed mix is a sure-fire win.

Take a look at the ingredients listed on some other boxed cornbread mixes, and sugar often comes in near the top. While it's also in Krusteaz's version, it's farther down the list. That means you're given a more savory option that's perfect when it's served alongside something that's already sweet, like Kansas City-style BBQ sauce known for its sweetness.

One Amazon reviewer even said that after a diagnosis of being pre-diabetic, the Krusteaz cornbread mix was one of the few options that fit into their low-sugar diet. Want it sweeter? Add some yourself! Other reviewers also shared just how thrilled they were to have found this mix, calling it: "Easy to make and delicious," and "[...] the best cornbread! It is good warm and cold." Another volunteered, "My family gets mad when I use any other kind now, including my scratch recipe which they used to love." 

If there's anything we like more than a shortcut that can make life easier, it's a shortcut that also makes life more delicious. This particular cornbread mix comes with a little something else, too, as one reviewer says that it's serving up some nostalgia. "This stuff is much more like cornbread from my childhood [...] which is when I fell in love with cornbread," they wrote.

There are a few common mistakes that people make when they're making cornbread from scratch, and the beauty of a mix is that some of the most important factors — like making sure you're using the right type and texture of cornmeal — are taken care of for you. But there's another common mistake that Krusteaz's savory flavor profile helps you overcome, and that's not varying the texture of your cornbread. Some Amazon reviewers even testify as to how delicious this mix is when you add a drained can of sweet corn to the mix.

There are a variety of ingredients you can use to upgrade cornbread. Stir in some diced bacon, sprinkle in some shredded cheese or fresh herbs, add some garlic, or if you're really looking to raise the sweetness level without adding plain sugar, try some blueberries. You could also opt for some seasonal spices, like pumpkin spice or cardamom. 

Remember how we said the savory profile makes this a great vehicle for adding fruit? If you have any, you can definitely use your leftover cornbread to top a fruit crumble, and take it from dinner to dessert. It's also excellent for making croutons, thickening chili, and it's also pretty delicious when you turn it into French toast. Add some maple syrup and fresh fruit, and you might just want to make two boxes next time.