Every Great Value Cake Mix, Ranked

Boxed cake mix can make even the most inexperienced baker feel like a pro. Its near-foolproof formula is designed to consistently produce fluffy, tender cakes, and its simple mixing instructions mean it takes just a few minutes to prepare. There are chocolate and vanilla mixes, of course, but the choice doesn't stop there, especially with larger brands, like Pillsbury and Duncan Hines.

That doesn't mean you are out of luck if you are a store-brand shopper. I love the savings store-brand groceries offer, as long as the taste and quality are up to snuff. If store-brand condiments can beat out national brands, why not cake mix? That's why I decided to bake every Great Value boxed cake mix. 

Great Value is Walmart's private-label brand. It launched in 1993 as a lower-cost option and covers a wide range of groceries, from detergent to bacon. Great Value has four boxed cake mixes, which I ranked from worst to best based on flavor and texture to see which ones are worth buying. Here are the sweet results. 

I was excited to see spice cake as one of the Great Value cake mixes. Sometimes, you just want a break from chocolate and vanilla. Great Value must agree because despite the box's autumnal design, it's not a seasonal, limited-time flavor. I wanted spice cake to be the surprise underdog that could beat out chocolate, but sadly it ranked last — though not for the reasons you might think.

One of my biggest pet peeves with spice cakes is when they taste only of cinnamon, despite the diversity of warming, earthy spices. This spice cake has a robust spice blend that leads with cinnamon but doesn't stop there. I detected nutmeg-y floral notes and a peppery finish, reminiscent of gingerbread cookies. Despite its unassuming tan color, it was highly spiced and full of cozy fall vibes. 

The problem with this cake mix is the texture. The runny batter produced a crumb so coarse that it looked more like a sponge than a baked treat. I could also feel that rough texture as I ate it, which was hard to get past, despite its flavor. With a reformulation, this could be a fantastic cake mix, but as it stands, it's my least-favorite.

Ranking yellow cake mix third might be controversial to some because it's such a popular variety, but Great Value Deluxe Moist Yellow Cake Mix had some real drawbacks I couldn't get over. The cake was tall and fluffy with a lightly browned top and, true to its name, a yellow interior. It had that classic, slightly faux-vanilla aroma that's the hallmark of birthday cake-flavored treats. But when I cut into the cake, I was faced with a ton of large air pockets and tunnels that made it crumbly and hard to slice. If I were baking this for a birthday party, I would be annoyed and disappointed, and I bet frosting it would make a mess. 

The disappointment continued after I took a bite. Although the cake was soft and tender, it was almost too moist, forming a dense, gummy ball as I chewed. As I tried to avoid choking on the cake, I also realized that the initial vanilla flavor was building into something closer to artificial butterscotch. Both the flavor and texture were too far off from what a good yellow cake should be to rank higher. For what it's worth, it was my son's favorite because he immediately clocked it as birthday cake in all its artificial glory, so it may be perfect for some. 

One of the big differences between white cake and yellow cake is that the former has a finer texture and pale color, due to its egg white base. That makes baking a homemade white cake pretty tricky because if the whites aren't beaten properly, the cake won't rise well, and if it's overbaked, it will be dry. Opting for a boxed white cake mix instead makes total sense to me, and Great Value Deluxe Moist White Cake Mix really delivered. 

This was the only mix that required a different amount of add-ins; it called for more water and four egg whites instead of three whole eggs. The inside was bright white and the crumb was plush and fine, a distinct departure from the spice and yellow cake. 

"Light" is the most encapsulating word for both the taste and texture of this cake. It seemingly melted away delicately as I ate, leaving behind a whisper of sweetness. The vanilla is subtle but there, and it tastes just eggy enough to remind me of homemade cake. Though I judged it plain, the cake seems sturdy enough to hold a decent swath of frosting. The spot-on texture and flavor made this a close runner-up in the ranking. 

A piece of moist chocolate cake is one of the best desserts there is, and Great Value's Deluxe Moist Devil's Food Chocolate Cake Mix makes baking a great chocolate cake easy. The dark cake baked tall and fluffy, with a satisfying chocolaty aroma. The crumb wasn't super fine, but it didn't have the irregularities of the yellow cake mix or the coarse look of the spice cake. Although Great Value scored on the lower end in our previous boxed chocolate cake mix ranking due to a crumbly texture, I didn't have that experience at all.

The cocoa powder-based cake mix has just enough intensity. It's richly flavored yet mild enough to appeal to kids or pair with a chocolate frosting without becoming too much. It was so moist that it almost tasted buttery, which had me going back for repeat bites. The fact that it nailed the flavor and texture of a good chocolate cake, coupled with a gorgeous deep hue, is what gave this mix the top spot in the ranking.

After picking up the four Great Value cake mixes from Walmart, I mixed and baked each cake according to the package instructions using the same carton of large eggs, bottle of vegetable oil, and tap water. The spice cake mix only has instructions for a 9x13-inch baking pan, so, to be consistent, I baked them all in glass 9x13-inch pans. I used the baking times on the box as my guide, adjusting as needed to ensure each cake was fully cooked but not overcooked.

I baked the cakes one at a time for even browning and let them cool completely before slicing and tasting from both the edge and the center of the cake. Since each cake has its own flavor, I ranked them based on how well they matched the taste and texture of the intended style.

As a professional recipe developer for over 15 years, I've baked nearly every brand of cake mix on the market, so I know what to expect from them. However, the biggest reason you can trust my judgment is that I don't particularly like cake mix. Chalk it up to overexposure, but it's not for me. That means I have no cake mix brand preference or allegiance and can assess each on its own merit without bias.