I Asked 3 Food Editors To Name the Best Cornbread Mix, They All Said the Same Brand

Cornbread is a topic that encourages passionate opinions, but when I spoke with three food editors about their favorite mix, the choice was unanimous.

Jul 29, 2024 - 16:00

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Cornbread in cast iron skillet with dollop of melting butter on top of the cornbread — Simply Recipes / Getty Images

Cornbread is one of those Southern staples that encourages passionate opinions—sugar or no sugar, cakey or bready, from scratch or from a mix? For every Southern cook, there’s a firmly guarded opinion, likely handed down from generations before.

I have room in my heart for plenty of variations on the theme, whether it’s the classic salty cornbread with a little grit or a lofty, fluffy sweetened version, or even an amped-up mix loaded with cheese and jalapeño peppers—they’re all welcome at my table.

I was curious, however, which brand was beloved by folks in the know, so I asked three food editors for their all-time favorite cornbread mix, and the results confirmed my hunch.

The Panel of Cornbread Experts

Megan Scott: Senior Editor of News and Features at Simply Recipes and co-author of the 2019 edition of Joy of Cooking
Lucy Simon: Food & Wine Assistant Editor and wine, spirits, and food writer
Deb Freeman: Creator of the Setting the Table podcast, Food Editor of Style Weekly, and Executive Producer and Host of the docuseries, Finding Edna Lewis

Jiffy corn muffin mix box over a colorful background — Simply Recipes / Photo Illustration by Wanda Abraham / Jiffy Mix

The Best Cornbread Mix, According to Food Editors

When I think of cornbread, I immediately think of that little blue box of Jiffy cornbread mix, and I was pleased to learn that I’m not alone. The three food editors I talked to all said the same thing: When it comes to cornbread mix, it’s got to be Jiffy.

Nostalgia was a recurring theme in the answers. Mixing up that classic box brought up warm, fuzzy feelings of baking with mom, according to Food & Wine Assistant Editor Lucy Simon. “I grew up making Jiffy cornbread with my mom every summer, and it is still my go-to. I love how it’s slightly sweet, and the bread is fluffy and delicious.”

Jiffy matriarch Mabel Holmes is credited with creating the first pre-made biscuit mix in the 1930s to help families struggling through the Great Depression. In 1950, Jiffy released the product that it would come to be known for: cornbread muffin mix.

The instructions call for adding one egg and one-third cup of milk to the 8.5-ounce box of mix before pouring the batter into muffin tins and baking. The simple mix inspired a host of imitators, but none quite match the original.

What Food Editors Love About Jiffy

The editors I talked to weren’t afraid of a little sugar in their cornbread. Sweetness was a virtue among this panel of experts. Deb recalls that Jiffy cornbread mix was one of the few store-bought products her grandmother trusted. “However, using the directions on the box as is was a big no-no,” says Deb. “Instead, she used extra milk, eggs, and butter to create a more cake-like cornbread, which was delicious!”

Meg shared a similar story, saying, “Even though I grew up in a Southern family that mostly made unsweetened cornbread, one of my grandmothers would use Jiffy in a pinch. The flavor is so nostalgic for me that when I pick up a box of cornbread mix at the store, it's Jiffy without question.”

That sweet nostalgia casts a powerful spell, encouraging new generations of cornbread bakers to embrace the blue box.