Our Favorite Cornbread Mix Is A Best-Selling Brand (It's Not Jiffy)

Even if you're a cornbread traditionalist who likes to make it from scratch in your cast iron, you have to admit there's a time and a place for the box-mix variety. Whether you're short on time or embarking on a cornbread dressing you can't mess up for a holiday meal, packet cornbread is just easier sometimes. That's why we recently compiled a ranking of the ultimate cornbread mixes, concluding that the best widely available cornbread and muffin mix is from Krusteaz. According to Verified Market Reports, the almost ninety-year-old brand is listed as one of the "Top Key Players" in cornbread mixes, alongside Jiffy and Betty Crocker. 

We loved Krusteaz Southern Cornbread & Muffin Mix for its balanced flavor, light texture, and overall look. There's a real depth of butteriness, matched with a hint of salt and a sweetness that never overwhelms. This mix almost always rises very well and is easy to cut. On top of that, the finished product is a beautiful deep yellow color, just like cornbread should be. It's obvious from the texture that real cornmeal has been used. The slight grittiness from cornmeal is part of good cornbread, but it must be paired with the soft, moist crumb that the brand reliably delivers across its various cornbread mixes. 

It may seem surprising for such a traditional food, but cornbread is a growing market both within the U.S. and abroad. In fact, a recent report from Data Insights Market notes that the global cornbread market, which was estimated at $500 million in 2025, is expected to grow to more than $700 million annually by 2033.

There are a few reasons for this growth, including an increase in international sales driven by growing interest in convenience foods around the world. In the Asian Pacific markets, demand for Western staples in particular is growing. This has led to a surprising 25% of international cornbread sales taking place in the region, according to Verified Market Reports. Krusteaz may well be a key part of this, as the brand opened up distribution to previously unserved areas, including new international markets, in 2023.

This is in keeping with the brand's usual foresight. Presumably noticing a growing trend in gluten-free diets and healthy eating that is now impacting the industry, Krusteaz launched a gluten-free cornbread mix way back in 2014. The brand's mix is also vegetarian, while Jiffy's plain mix contains lard, something which could add a further barrier to growth both internationally and at home in the U.S. Although Jiffy may still be able to justify calling its mixes "America's favorite" for now, the competition is catching up.