Ranking the Best Pancake Mixes
There’s a lot to be said for the humble boxed pancake mix, but which truly reigns supreme? We cooked up batches with some of the most common mixes and graded them by: taste and texture, price (by volume), AND if they have any special additional factor that makes them stand out.
Meet our Contestants!
Now to keep this battle as equal as possible, we tried to stick with the mixes that required at minimum: eggs and milk – however, several of these brands also had a ‘Just Add Water’ version, and that may be a taste-test for another day.
(post taste test edit: absolutely not, see comments on Western Family for why, bleh)*
Also yes, there was so much leftover box mix, we’ll definitely be diving into recipes where you can use these that aren’t pancakes or waffles.
We chose the brands that were the easiest to find, and for store brands we went with those that were the most common.
(you may notice we’ve omitted Wal-Mart’s Great Value brand, that is because as stated: we attempted to stick to boxes that required eggs and milk and not ‘Complete.’)
Method: All pancakes were made and tasted on the same day, time, and griddle.
Bisquick
- Original
Average Price: $5.47/ 1.13kg box
$0.48/ 100 g
No sweetness and rather bland with a crumbly texture that falls apart easily when doused in syrup. Not terrible, but better as biscuits. Extra point for its well marketed versatility.
Coyote Pancake and Waffle Mix
- Original
- Buttermilk
Average Price: $5.06/ 900 g box
$0.56/ 100 g
These have a great nutty flavor from the whole wheat flour, and a rather soft texture. Not sweet at all, making this mix great to use for easy biscuits (recipe coming soon).
Note: Our batch was made with the egg and sugar listed as ‘optional’ on preparation instructions.
Pearl Milling Company
(formerly Aunt Jemima)
- Original
- Buttermilk
Average Price: $4.70/ 905 g box
$0.52/ 100 g
Diner style, sweet and fluffy but don’t fall apart in syrup. One taster described it as “the most cake-like of pancakes.” Extremely soft, with the buttermilk variant slightly less sweet than original. Easily the most flavorful.
President’s Choice
(Loblaws, No Frills, Independent)
- Original
- Buttermilk
Average Price: $3.64/ 905 g box
$0.40/ 100 g
Extremely basic flavor, soft but little bounce back. One comment was “inoffensive but bland,” another said “vaguely cardboard-esc aftertaste.” Buttermilk was considered “chewy, not in a good way.”
Compliments
(Sobeys brand)
- Original
- Buttermilk
Average Price: $4.49/ 905 g box
$0.50/ 100 g
Fluffy and soft texture for both varieties. However, buttermilk was considered superior with a better, if still neutral, flavor (we’d like to think it’s because the preparation instructions add melted butter). Original was commented on “tasting like nothing with a hint of bitter.” Which they refused to elaborate on further.
Western Family
(Save-on Foods brand)
- Original (Complete)*
- Buttermilk (Complete)*
Average Price: $4.49/ 905 g box
$0.50/ 100 g
During university, one of our tasters survived off of nothing but Cambell’s tomato soup, oatmeal, and black tea for a month. They said they would rather eat that for an entire year than ever try these again. Dense, rubbery texture for both, although buttermilk was slightly less so. Both were terrible.
Winner
The reigning queen for a reason, we have Pearl Milling Company. For texture and flavor this is the go-to pancake mix!
Our runner-up is Coyote, for its flavor and the added bonus of using whole wheat!
Best Store Brand
Our best store brand was Compliments, with a tender texture and bready, not sweet flavor.
Most Affordable
Per 100 g, the most affordable we tried was President’s Choice however, it ranks low in overall taste.
And there you have it, our ranking of pancake mixes going in 2024! We’d like to thank our sacrifices volunteers, for their time and tastebuds (and colorful commentary, much of which had to be omitted)!