6 Stove Top Stuffing Mix Flavors, Ranked

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When you're putting together an entire Thanksgiving meal, sometimes you have to take some shortcuts. While you might choose to make your mashed potatoes from scratch, you may not want to do the same for the stuffing. This is where packaged stuffing mixes can come in handy. Generally speaking, they're wildly easy to make, and they're usually already seasoned, so you really just have to mix them up and serve. While there are plenty of stuffing mix brands out there to choose from, today I'm taking a closer look at Stove Top's Stuffing Mix lineup. There are several flavors to choose from, so you can pick which one works best for your Thanksgiving table.

I picked up all of the Stove Top stuffing flavors I could find at my local Star Market before preparing and tasting them. Now, I'm giving you the lowdown on which taste best and which you can probably leave behind. Honestly, they're all strikingly similar, but some do stand out for their bolder, more savory flavors — these are the highest-ranked of the bunch. On the other hand, stuffing mixes that tasted blander fell to the bottom. Hopefully, by reading through all of these reviews, you'll get a better sense of which flavor you'll want to serve this Thanksgiving (or whenever you get a craving for stuffing next). Just make sure to use this pantry ingredient to give your boxed stuffing a textural upgrade.

Prices are as of the date of publication and may vary based on region.

Out of all of the stuffing mixes I tried for this lineup, Stove Top's Traditional Sage Stuffing Mix, which sells at the Star Market in my area for $3.99, was actually the one I was most excited for. I love sage, particularly during the holiday season, as its concentrated flavor can add so much flair to an otherwise pretty standard recipe. However, when I finally took a bite of this stuffing, I realized that the sage flavor wasn't very strong at all. Yes, there's a hint of it there, but I thought it would be especially bold considering it's in the name of the product. But I should've known better; there's no way a dehydrated herb is truly going to taste fresh, no matter how much sage is packed into it.

Overall, I thought this was the least flavorful stuffing of them all. In addition to its lack of a strong sage flavor, there's also not much else going on. The other stuffings on this list generally had more pronounced umami qualities, which are necessary when it comes to a product that has a base as bland as stuffing does. If I were to buy this product for some reason, though, I'd definitely add some fresh sage to give the dish a much-needed boost of flavor.

Now, I certainly appreciate that Stove Top offers a lower-sodium option for those watching their salt intake. That being said, I absolutely love salty food, probably to an unhealthy degree. That means that, for me, lower-sodium foods never taste as good as I want them to. Stove Top's Lower Sodium Chicken Stuffing Mix, also available at Star Market for $3.99, isn't an exception.

This stuffing is just sort of bland, although I didn't find it unpleasant. There's a subtle chicken note, which is just enough to provide the signature savory, umami quality that I expected. That chicken flavor falls flat, though, due to the lack of salt. It seems like the company tried to compensate by adding plenty of other herbs to the recipe, which helps somewhat, but you're still left with a stuffing mix that's just a little bit ... blah. If you can't have a lot of sodium in your diet for whatever reason, I don't think you'll be too disappointed with this product. But if you're not worried about your sodium intake, I would probably pass on this specific flavor.

If you're making stuffing for Thanksgiving, then Stove Top's Turkey Stuffing Mix might seem like the most obvious choice. I found this product listed for $3.99 at my local Star Market. It's pleasant overall but otherwise unremarkable. Let's be honest: Turkey isn't exactly the most flavorful meat out there, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that it doesn't do a ton to make this stuffing really pop. There's a savory quality to this stuffing, but I think it's a bit less pronounced than it is in the chicken flavors, including the lower-sodium variety. However, if you're working with a lot of other heavy flavors at the dinner table, that relative lightness might not be a bad thing.

You may be wondering, then, why the turkey flavor is ranked higher than the lower-sodium chicken variety. It all comes down to saltiness. It actually feels like you're getting the appropriate amount of salt in this mix. In fact, it might even be too salty for some. I made this stuffing using salted butter, though, so you may want to switch it up and use unsalted if you're worried about making the flavor unbalanced. While I certainly wouldn't recommend this flavor over the other, higher-ranked varieties on this list, you probably won't be disappointed by this mix if you really want to lean into those turkey flavors.

The Savory Herbs Stuffing Mix from Stove Top, which also retails for $3.99 at Star Market, is a solid option and more flavorful than several of the products mentioned on this list. You can actually taste an interesting interplay of herbs here, including parsley and rosemary, which come together to provide a touch of freshness and plenty of warmth. Of course, you can't expect that this stuffing is going to taste like actual fresh herbs were used in the recipe, but I got a much stronger herbal flavor profile here than I did with the sage variety.

That being said, I'm not sure you're getting as much of the savory, meaty flavor here as you do with some of the other types of stuffing Stove Top sells. Yes, this stuffing is plenty salty enough, but it doesn't have that same savory pop I crave. That being said, if you're looking for a stuffing flavor that's a little less heavy and intense, this may just be your best bet. Just like with the sage flavor, stirring in some actual fresh, common kitchen herbs can take this packaged product to a whole new level.

Considering how closely associated stuffing is with Thanksgiving, it would make sense if Stove Top's customers sort of viewed the turkey flavor as the default option. But think about it: When do you really prefer turkey over chicken? For many, the answer is basically never. Therefore, it might make more sense to opt for the brand's Chicken Stuffing Mix, which also sells for $3.99 at Star Market, instead of the turkey variety. I noticed a much more intense savory quality from the chicken flavor than I did from the turkey, which made for a pleasant bite (for a packaged stuffing mix, at least).

Now, do I consider this product groundbreaking in any way? Of course not. It's about as basic as a packaged stuffing mix can be, and you can certainly do better if you do decide to follow a recipe and make your own from scratch. But when you're just on the hunt for a basic stuffing mix that'll get the job done every time, I think this is a pretty good, standard option.

If you're like me, you'd probably never think to buy Stove Top's Pork Stuffing Mix, which, like its counterparts, also sells for $3.99 at Star Market. After all, when I'm making stuffing, it's usually not served alongside pork, so this seems like kind of a random choice. But after tasting all of these flavors, I discovered that the pork variety was by far the most flavorful of them all, with a boldness and richness you just can't get from poultry. Admittedly, I'm not sure why it's so much bolder than the other types listed here, since the ingredients list strangely doesn't actually contain any pork at all.

Odd naming conventions aside, if you're truly looking for the most pronounced flavor in your stuffing mix, Stove Top's pork flavor is absolutely the way to go. You won't actually taste any pork in the mix; you'll just get the strong, savory notes you need to prevent a bland bowl of stuffing from landing on the dinner table.

These Stop Top stuffing mix flavors were chosen based on availability. I cooked all of them according to package instructions, using 2 tablespoons of salted butter instead of 4 (which is a box-approved adjustment). 

I taste-tested all of the stuffings while they were still hot and steaming, as that is how most people eat them. Because these products are all so similar, I determined where each one should land on the list based on its overall flavor and boldness. Stronger and more umami products tended to rank higher.