I Tried 19 Chocolate Cake Mixes and I Didn't See the Winner Coming

When you’re craving something sweet—or need a quick and easy birthday treat—nothing saves the day like a boxed cake mix. It’s the low-effort, high-reward hero of the pantry. Just dump in the mix, add oil, eggs and a splash of water and you’ve got a party-worth dessert.

And while yellow cake, carrot cake and sprinkles cake (AKA Funfetti) all have their fans, sometimes you just need a slice of chocolate cake. It’s rich and fudgy and moist (or at least that’s the hope) and is a total crowd pleaser, whether you top it with simple vanilla frosting, tangy cream cheese frosting or really lean into the richness of it all with chocolate frosting.

The biggest question you might have is how in the world to choose from all of the boxed chocolate cake mixes at the grocery store. There are many brands that make this classic flavor, but even within those brands (Pillsbury, Duncan Hines, Betty Crocker, etc.) there are multiple varieties. Some of the boxes say “moist,” others say “fudgy,” and what the heck is devil’s food again? It’s overwhelming to say the least.

To help you make sense of all of that, I found as many boxed mixes as I could (19 to be exact!), grabbed my trusty team of testers and had an epic taste test to find the best chocolate cake mix. After mixing, baking, cooling and sampling, I created a ranked list with detailed tasting notes to help you decide which box to choose for your next baking adventures. Read on for the full list and see which ones rose to the top.

Related:I Baked Up 9 Yellow Cake Mixes and the Winner Was an Absolute Classic

😋😋 SIGN UP to get delicious recipes, handy kitchen hacks & more in our daily Pop Kitchen newsletter. 🍳🍔

How I Tested These Boxed Chocolate Cake Mixes

After acquiring every single flavor from the most popular national brands, I put the call out to my trusty team of taste testers and three of them answered: Cherie, Dara and Jen. After spending most of the day baking, I labeled each cake with a number and we got to “work.”

We were surprised by how wildly different the chocolate cakes were given that many of them had similar ingredients. Some were dry as dust and chalky, others felt more like brownies than cake and a couple of them were indistinguishable from our favorite homemade versions. What shocked us the most? Sometimes the same national brand landed in both our favorites and our flops.

This was a classic blind taste test. Each cake was baked in identical 9-inch round pans, all on the same oven rack at 350°. I followed the instructions on the box and we judged the finished cakes based on texture, flavor, moistness and overall craveability.

To keep our notes sharp through 19 (!) different cakes, I emailed my taste testers a Google Form and a printed sheet of cake adjectives. Trust me—after cake number 10, you need help finding new words for “moist.” Also to note, my friends are not bakers at all, while I, on the other hand, am a bake-from-scratch kinda gal, so comments on these boxed mixes have a good balance from both sides. 

We tasted each bite of cake without knowing the brand or any other info on the package, and everyone recorded their thoughts in the Google Form. I then sat down and combined my tasters’ feedback with my own notes and averaged out our answers to create the final ranking (there may have been one last taste on my part, too—for research, of course).

Related: I Tried Ina Garten’s Famous Chocolate Cake and It’s the Love of My Life

19 Chocolate Cake Mixes, Ranked Worst to Best

19. Cadbury Moist Chocolate Cake Mix

This cake looked pretty, but it just didn’t hold up in flavor or consistency, which was extra disappointing because this was the most expensive of the bunch ($8.99 at World Market!). After baking, I noted a large divot in the middle as it cooled, which would make frosting this one tough. It had a light color that reminded us of spice cake rather than chocolate cake. I described it in my notes as having a “cheap cocoa flavor, and a bit greasy.” Cherie thought it tasted like chocolate pudding and Jen found it had a light, manufactured chocolate flavor with a hint of cinnamon.

18. Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist Butter Recipe Fudge Cake Mix

This one ($2.99 at Jewel) called for an entire stick of butter, so naturally, I thought it would have been better. However, a disappointing texture and strange aftertaste pushed this one toward the bottom. I thought it was fine—not bad, but not my favorite. “Halfway between sticky and dry” was my main note. Cherie said it had a “grainy texture and weird aftertaste.” Dara noted it “gains flavor the more you chew it,” but Jen summed it up as “bland, grainy texture—bottom of the list.”

Related: The Secret Ingredient for the Richest, Most Delicious Chocolate Cake

17. Aldi Baker’s Corner Devil’s Food Cake Mix

This budget-friendly mix (only $1.25) from Aldi didn’t quite satisfy us. I said it was “dry and not chocolatey enough.” To me, even though there was a cocoa flavor, it wasn’t enough for a chocolate lover. Cherie commented that it was very flavor-neutral: “If I were blindfolded, I might think it was a yellow cake.” Dara called it “bland but moist.”

16. Bob’s Red Mill Decadent Chocolate Cake Mix

The texture of this one, which cost $4.99 at Jewel, leaned more toward brownie than cake, which divided the group. However, it had a pretty minimal ingredient list, which we liked. I wrote, “Sturdy dark cake with brownie-like vibes. Extremely tight crumb. Bit of a nutty flavor.” Cherie liked the flavor but thought it was “too dry/dense—more like a brownie than cake.” Dara described it as “symbolic of dry brownie,” and Jen agreed: “Tastes like a dry brownie. Recognizable flavors but not a typical box cake.”

15. Dolly Parton’s Perfectly Moist Chocolate Flavored Cake Mix

Oh, Dolly. Every baked good we’ve tried in the past from Dolly’s Duncan Hines line has unfortunately landed at the bottom of our rankings. This one ($4.69 at Mariano’s) was one of the pricier options I bought, and it also required four eggs instead of the standard three and almost a full stick of butter. My notes on this one were brief: “Spongy. Tastes like a boxed cake mix.” Cherie noted the color was deceiving—it “looked dark but tasted neutral.” Dara called it “neutral, basic, plain,” while Jen found it “dark, [but] on the drier side.”

Related: We Asked Dolly Parton for the Best Way to Upgrade a Boxed Cake Mix, and Her Answer Was Iconic

14. Walmart Great Value Deluxe Moist Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake Mix

Walmart products have done surprisingly well in our recent taste tests, so we were surprised when we didn’t immediately love this one. At just $1.12, it was the cheapest boxed mix that I baked up, but it turned out to be pretty forgettable. I described it as “middle of the road—a little nondescript.” Cherie said it was “gooey like the inside of a pancake—but not my favorite.” Dara offered a frown and the succinct “It’s cake” (not exactly a rave review there). 

Related: I Made ‘The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe on The Internet’—And I Get Why It’s So Magical

13. Betty Crocker Super Moist Dark Chocolate Cake Mix

This one, which cost $2.69 at Mariano’s, had strong chocolate notes, but ultimately, not enough punch. I said it was “really decent—perhaps in my top three. Fluffy but not overly spongy. Delicious classic chocolate flavor.” Cherie expected more, saying, “Color is deceiving. Expected a heavier chocolate flavor.” Dara thought it was “rich, dense, moist,” while Jen compared it to others in our mix but didn’t think it was different enough to score a higher ranking.

12. Pillsbury Moist SupremeDevil’s Food Cake Mix

This cake was totally average. I called it “all around nondescript. Pretty good. Decent and non-greasy taste.” Cherie said it tasted exactly like some of the other brands and wasn’t a huge fan and Dara noted it was “standard, no surprises.” Jen echoed that: “Neutral flavor, airy texture.” Again, not bad but unremarkable. It was also in the middle of the pack price-wise at $2.69 at Jewel.

Related: The Swedish Way to Make Chocolate Cake 10x Better

11. Pillsbury Moist Supreme Chocolate Cake Mix

After I revealed the brands, it was interesting to see this grouping of Pillsbury mixes. The standard chocolate cake mix, which was also $2.60 at Jewel, ended up in the middle of the Pillsbury pack. I found it had “a little more cocoa flavor than the others. Very light.” Cherie said, “Tastes like pizzelle [cookies]. No chocolate flavor at all.” Dara thought it had a “lighter texture; fluffy,” and Jen said, “Tastes light. First bite was dry, but it improved.”

10. Pillsbury Moist Supreme Dark Chocolate Cake Mix

The Pillsbury dark chocolate mix ($2.69 at Jewel) also struggled to stand out. I thought it was “maybe a bit mealy. Not terrible. In the middle.” Cherie said it was “too gooey. Tastes too doughy/raw.” Dara found it “earthy, simple, soft,” and Jen said it had “very neutral—almost no taste.” Something I noticed about the Pillsbury mixes is that they were the only brand to include food coloring in their chocolate cake mixes. This one, however, was the only Pillsbury mix without it.

Related: The Secret Ingredient for the Richest, Most Delicious Chocolate Cake

9. Betty Crocker Super Moist Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake Mix

We were digging the flavor of this dependable classic. I said it was “still middle of the road—but slightly better than the others” with no detectable chemical taste or greasy mouthfeel (it did, however, sink in the middle a bit). Cherie didn’t love the “crumbly texture” but said the flavor was on point. Dara called it “basic chocolate, pretty good,” and Jen said it had “a good flavor, and very light.” This box cost $2.69 at Jewel.

Related: Flourless Mexican Chocolate Cake is the Ultimate Low-Effort, High-Reward Dessert

8. Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist Devil’s Food Cake Mix

This one got the thumbs up and no strong objections from any of us. I described it as “pretty good. Light crumb. Not greasy.” Cherie noted, “Tastes exactly like samples 2 and 8—are they the same brand??” (They were indeed!) Dara said it was “standard. No surprises.” Jen summed it up with “airy texture. Standard in all categories.” It was $2.99 at Mariano’s. 

7. Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix

The dark chocolate fudge flavor ($2.99 at Mariano’s) was the top pick of the Duncan Hines’ options. I said it was sticky and chocolatey but could detect chemical notes, which was a huge turn off. I also didn’t love that this one came out of the oven with a giant crater in the middle, which would make frosting difficult. The other taste testers were bigger fans. Cherie appreciated the “really moist cake—the texture is soft.” Dara found the flavor of this one deeper and richer than the others, and Jen noted “dark chocolate flavor. Denser at the top.”

6. Miss Jones Baking Co. Organic Chocolate Cake Mix

This one was polarizing. I liked it because I could immediately tell the difference in the ingredients used (only nine ingredients) and thought it was the appropriate amount of sticky and dense. Cherie disagreed: “Kind of dry. More bitter. Thumbs down.” Dara called it “crumbly, chewy, dry,” while Jen praised the “chocolate flavor—really good and buttery.” (This one included melted butter as well.) It lost points in the price too: A whopping $7.89 at The Fresh Market. 

Related: Martha Stewart’s Flourless Chocolate Cake is the Easiest Fancy Valentine’s Day Dessert

5. Betty Crocker Delights Super Moist Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix

When this one ($2.29 at Meijer) hit, it really hit—but it didn’t please everyone. I couldn’t get past the “shortening mouthfeel,” but could appreciate the chocolatey and moist flavor. Cherie said it was “tasty! Moist and spongy.” Dara thought it was “a typical chocolate cake,” and Jen said it was “moist and buttery. A top contender.”

Related: I Tried the Viral No-Bake Eclair Cake and It’s My New Go-To Summer Dessert

4. Pillsbury Traditional Chocolate Cake Mix

I found this gem at Dollar Tree for $1.25 and the budget pick cruised its way to the number four spot! I said it was “my favorite so far. All around well-balanced.” Cherie found it “bland, slightly too dry, but overall neutral.” Dara said it had a “balanced texture and simple, chocolatey flavor.” Jen detected a hint of almond or hazelnut flavor but thought it was well balanced.

Related: Audrey Hepburn’s Simple Flourless Chocolate Cake is a Timeless Classic

3. King Arthur Flour Baking Company Deliciously Simple Chocolate Cake Mix

Let me start off by saying that had it not been for the price ($8.99) and the accessibility (online and specialty stores only), this one would have been number one on our list. The combination of regular and black cocoa made the cake deep, dark, dense and delicious. It actually surpassed some of the homemade ones I’ve made recently. As a baker, I appreciated the simplicity of the ingredients list too. It did give the option of adding in nuts or chocolate chips (which I will be doing next time) and used one more egg than the others (four) but it was well worth it. If you come across this mix, buy it.

Related: We Baked Cookies With 10 Different All-Purpose Flours and the Winner Won By a Landslide

2. 365 by Whole Foods Market Classic Chocolate Cake Mix

This one, $3.39 at Whole Foods Market, was dark and rich. I said it “tastes more homemade. Moist, deep cocoa flavor.” “Reminded me of a brownie,” said Cherie. Dara found it “sticky, gooey, chocolatey,” while Jen compared it to “dense, brownie fudge-like texture.” Because of the reasonable price and short ingredients list, combined with how much we liked it, it landed in second place.

1. Betty Crocker Super Moist Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix

This box from Betty Crocker ($2.89 at Mariano’s) was unanimously beloved. I was surprised by how much I liked this one once the brands were revealed. I thought it was a decadent, dark and sticky chocolate cake for the price, availability and ingredients required to make it. Cherie praised it as “moist, spongy, good flavor! A solid choice.” Dara called it “spongy, chocolatey, moist, yum,” and Jen summed it up as “springy texture, wholesome. Top contender.”

Up Next:

Related: We Ranked 15 Popular Nothing Bundt Cakes Flavors