ComScore

The 6 Best Banana Bread Mixes, All of Which Are Legitimately B-A-N-A-N-A-S

PureWow editors select every item that appears on this page, and the company may earn compensation through affiliate links within the story. All prices are accurate upon date of publish. You can learn more about the affiliate process here.

Banana bread is often an exercise in patience: You buy ingredients in advance, waiting days for bananas to brown—and hoping your family doesn’t gobble them all up beforehand. When the moment is right, you have to pounce quickly, baking up a loaf before that fruit starts attracting flies. But you can have homemade banana bread practically on demand; several brands sell box mixes made with dried bananas, so you don’t even have to provide your own.

Of course, you may be wondering, could they possibly taste as good as my go-to recipe? And which is the best banana bread mix out there? We were too, which is why we put them to the test in our latest PureWow100 series.

What’s the Best Hot Chocolate Mix? We Put 14 Brands to the Test


The Best Banana Bread Mixes, At a Glance:

Scroll down for in-depth reviews of each.

best banana bread mixes, baked as muffins and loaves next to bananas on a table
Candace Davison

Methodology:

Each banana bread was blind-tasted by three people, who judged it on overall flavor, aroma and texture (including how close it tasted to homemade). We followed the package’s instructions to a T, making muffins only when the mix didn’t offer directions for preparing them in a loaf pan. To that end, we noted how involved each process was, how easy the instructions were to follow and just how much easier the box mix was to make versus preparing banana bread from scratch (because, let’s face it: It’s one of the easier desserts to make).

The Best Banana Bread Mixes of 2023:

Closest to Homemade-Tasting

1. Krusteaz Protein Banana Nut Muffin Mix

Krusteaz

  • Value: 19/20
  • Quality: 19/20
  • Ease of Use: 20/20
  • Flavor: 18/20
  • Texture: 18/20

TOTAL: 94/100

We’ve all tried protein baking mixes that taste gritty. Not so with this surprisingly light, airy mix. Nobody could guess these muffins contain a whopping 12 grams of protein per serving, and across the board, it received highest marks for tasting closest to from-scratch. There was light banana flavor, but it wasn’t the overwhelming, banana Runts taste some mixes had (which, BTW, those blends were not included in this feature, since we’re highlighting only the best).

Best for Small-Batch Baking

2. Martha White Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix

Martha White

  • Value: 19/20
  • Quality: 16/20
  • Ease of Use: 20/20
  • Flavor: 17/20
  • Texture: 18/20

TOTAL: 90/100

If you live by yourself or with a roommate, you don’t want to whip up two dozen muffins. How about six? That’s exactly how many each just-add-milk Martha White mix makes, resulting in a cupcake-like, more vanilla-forward muffin that’s studded with chocolate chips. At $1 a pouch, the price is hard to beat, and it makes for a great dorm care package. Just sayin’.

two slices of pillsbury banana bread next to blue pillsbury box, one of the best banana bread mixes to buy
Candace Davison

Fluffiest Banana Bread

3. Pillsbury Banana Quick Bread & Muffin Mix

Pillsbury

  • Value: 18/20
  • Quality: 17/20
  • Ease of Use: 19/20
  • Flavor: 16/20
  • Texture: 18/20

TOTAL: 88/100

When you want banana bread now, this is the mix to seek out. It’s available at most major grocery stores and it’s incredibly easy to use. (Plus, you can make a loaf or muffins, and it’s a solid base for all kinds of mix-ins, so bring on the chocolate chips.) Some tasters noted that it had more of an artificial banana flavor—though the box notes it features real banana—than other mixes, but otherwise, it was a hit.

best banana bread mix: chrissy's banana bread box next to slices of her chocolate chip banana bread
Candace Davison

Most Gourmet-Tasting

4. Chrissy’s Ultimate Banana Bread Mix

Cravings by Chrissy

  • Value: 16/20
  • Quality: 20/20
  • Ease of Use: 19/20
  • Flavor: 19/20
  • Texture: 19/20

TOTAL: 93/100

Nobody knows the challenge of finding perfectly browned bananas like Chrissy Teigen (remember her 2017 Twitter saga?). Well, the cookbook author developed a mix based on her famous recipe—which thankfully doesn’t require you to trade anyone’s boxers for bananas. It features the dark chocolate chunks and unsweetened coconut, like her actual recipe, and tastes every bit as amazing. Taste testers raved about the hint of coconut and how the ribbons of chocolate infused the ultra-moist cake. It’s a pricier box mix option, but the unique flavor made it worthwhile in our book, especially considering the price of quality dark chocolate.

yellow and white simple mills box next to two slices of banana bread made using mix
Candace Davison

Best Gluten-Free Banana Bread

5. Simple Mills Banana Muffin & Bread Mix

Simple Mills

  • Value: 17/20
  • Quality: 20/20
  • Ease of Use: 19/20
  • Flavor: 17/20
  • Texture: 18/20

TOTAL: 91/100

It’s gluten-free! It’s Paleo-friendly! It’s non-GMO Project verified! You can feel good about eating Simple Mills’s banana bread, which features a straightforward list of ingredients. Organic cinnamon gives this bread a more robust, complex flavor than some of the other mixes on the list, and tasters loved that the bread was dense and hearty without weighing them down.

best banana bread mix: gonanas peach bag next to two slices of banana bread made using mix
Candace Davison

Best Variety of Flavors

6. GoNanas Banana Bread Mixes

GoNanas

  • Value: 16/20
  • Quality: 20/20
  • Ease of Use: 17/20
  • Flavor: 20/20
  • Texture: 18/20

TOTAL: 91/100

At first, we balked: This mix called for providing your own bananas, maple syrup (or honey/agave), non-dairy milk and coconut oil. At that point, why not just make it from scratch?! The flavor is why, dear reader. Taste testers were blown away by how decadent these mixes tasted, particularly the Salted Caramel flavor. It made for a dense, almost fudgy banana bread that people went out of their way to devour seconds and thirds of, gobbling up the loaf faster than any other we tested. Plus, the mix itself is gluten and nut free, and it can be made dairy free as well.

The PureWow100 is a scale our editors use to vet new products and services, so you know what’s worth the spend—and what’s total hype. Learn more about our process here.


candace davison bio

VP of editorial content

  • Oversees home, food and commerce articles
  • Author of two cookbooks and has contributed recipes to three others
  • Named one of 2023's Outstanding Young Alumni at the University of South Florida, where she studied mass communications and business