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The 50 most popular cereals, ranked from worst to best

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French Toast Crunch Credit: Amazon / General Mills

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The first time I brought my Italian cousins into an American grocery store, they nearly sobbed in the cereal aisle. It was the sheer quantity of breakfast time bits that sent their jaws flying to the floor—not to mention the jumbo-sized boxes themselves (in true American fashion) blew their minds.

We spent about an hour in the cereal aisle alone as they carefully studied each box. Questions like, “Why is there corn in your cereal?” and “Are these colors bad for you?” were fielded. In the end, we left with a few winners, including their all-time favorite American cereal, Fruity Pebbles.

On that day, history was made—it was the first time an Italian ever admitted that an American food item was better than theirs. Now every time I travel to Italy, they demand I smuggle a box of Fruity Pebbles for them.

We take our cereal VERY seriously here at Reviewed (and had multiple debates and polls during which the office erupted into sheer chaos), so we went ahead and ranked 50 of the most popular cereals from worst to best.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments...but be gentle!

50. Fiber One Bran cereal

Fiber One
Credit: General Mills

This rubbish reminds me of the food pellets you get out of the gum ball dispensers at petting zoos to feed the animals with. SAD!

49. Grape Nuts

So what if they’re high in fiber and protein and full of nutrients—they’re also full of sadness.

48. Boo Berry

Boo Berry
Credit: General Mills

Of the Monster Cereals, Boo Berry’s blueberry flavor is the worst. It misses the mark in flavor, but it is still adorable, and triggers a whole lot of nostalgia.

47. Raisin Bran

Ah, yes. The Monday of cereals. Bold move to build an entire brand on raisins, but somehow Raisin Bran continues to exist.

46. Wheaties

Not, indeed, the breakfast of champions.

45. Kashi Go Lean


44. Honey Smacks

Honey Smacks
Credit: Kellogg

If these weren’t loaded with sugar then they would’ve scored higher. Then again, this "sweetened puffed wheat cereal” is definitely not part of a balanced breakfast.

43. Corn Flakes

Corn flakes aren’t terrible, but admit it—they are always the last box in your pantry. BUT, they are the main ingredient in Momofuku Milk Bar's incredible 'cereal milk' ice cream.

A post shared by BEAUTIFUL CUISINES (@beautifulcuisines) on


42. Chex

Yeah, we know, there are multiple kinds of Chex. But that doesn't matter, considering they all get soggy too quickly!

41. Big Biscuit Shredded Wheat

Shredded Wheat
Credit: Post

Someone in our office was really enthusiastic about these depression-era bricks disguised as cereal, so I indulged him.

“You remember the original Shredded Wheat, with its individually wrapped packages of big, honkin' biscuits? It's super hard to find in stores these days, but you can get a box on Amazon for highway robbery prices. Highlights of this cereal include: Fulfills 97% of daily whole grain intake, Safe to feed to rabbits, AND leaves the milk tasting like milk (because they are almost flavorless).” — Lee Neikirk

40. Apple Jacks

Apple Jacks did have some of the coolest TV mascots (Cinna-mon was always the winner, mon). But the flavor of this cereal is bogus. Cinnamon apples don’t go well with milk, IMHO.

39. Frankenberry

Frankenberry, the strawberry-flavored monster cereal, is definitely better than Boo Berry, but its sickeningly-sweet flavor spooks the life out of my taste buds.

38. Cocoa Puffs

Are we cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs? Eh, not really.

37. Special K Original

Add fruit in and this cereal shoots up in the ranking, but plain Special K is just not satisfying enough on its own.

36. Scooby-Doo Cinnamon Marshmallow cereal


35. Cinnamon Chex

Another cereal I believe to be heinous (why cinnamon?!)—but a fellow coworker loves them so here’s her argument...

“When I was a kid, Cinnamon Toast Crunch was my favorite cereal. But now that I'm older, I can't stomach all that extra sugar. I was delighted to discover Cinnamon Chex, which is basically Cinnamon Toast Crunch for grownups. And, it's gluten-free, if that matters to you.” — Samantha Gordon

34. S’mores Cereal


33. Oatmeal Squares

It pains me to rank Oatmeal Squares so poorly, especially because it is one of my favorite cereals. But when I asked around for more opinions in the office, most people looked at me blankly and said, “I’ve never heard of that cereal before.” THE AUDACITY.

32. Count Chocula

Count Chocula
Credit: General Mills / Wikipedia Even Amos

The best of the General Mills monster cereals, Count Chocula is a Halloween time must-have. It’s chocolatey, and has marshmallows, making it a well-balanced sugary cereal. But, once the spooky season is over, so too is our craving for this cereal.

31. Donut Shop Cereal


30. Frosted Flakes


29. Rice Krispies


28. Frosted Mini Wheats

Frosted Mini Wheats
Credit: Walmart / CNN


27. Special K Red Berries


26. Honey Nut Bunches of Oats


25. Honey Nut Cheerios

“I love Honey Nut Cheerios, but I think they're too sweet all by themselves, so I mix them with regular Cheerios. The thing is, I always end up running out of the Honey Nut first, and end up having to eat the plain ones until I go back to the store.” — Cindy Bailen

24. Trix

New Trix Cereal
Credit: General Mills

There's old Trix (colorful, fun-shaped, but questionable), and then there's new Trix (natural colors, circular, debatable taste).


22. Froot Loops

Toucan Sam is a legend.

21. Corn Pops

Who remembers the dark, aluminum-looking bag these used to come in? Pops was one of those addicting cereals that we aren’t even sure tastes good but we know we loved the sugar film that it left in our mouths.

20. Oreo O’s

Oreo O's
Credit: Post

Oreo cereal. C’mon. This stuff is brilliant.

19. Cocoa Pebbles


18. Cap’n Crunch Berry


17. Krave

Creepy, cannibalistic commercial, great cereal.

16. Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheerios

“If I could subsist on these alone, I would. They taste a little like Reese's Puffs cereal (but better). Plus, you're getting 16 grams of whole grains per serving." — Ashley Barry-Biancuzzo

15. Lucky Charms

Lucky Charms
Credit: General Mills

Now with UNICORNS!

14. Waffle Crisp

“I went to the store the other day and was scanning the cereal aisle. I saw Waffle Crisp out of the corner of my eye and since I hadn't had it in a while decided to give it a shot. At the checkout counter, the cashier was like, "Wow never heard of that, sounds interesting." I told him I used to eat it when I was 7 so I wanted to try it again. Still just as good.” — Connor Whooley

13. Peanut Butter Toast Crunch


12. Rice Krispies Treats

Rice Krispies Marshmallow
Credit: Amazon

“I wasn't allowed to have sugary cereal growing up, so basically every traditional cereal just tastes like candy to me. I remember watching commercials for Cookie Crisp and Lucky Charms and thinking how ridiculous it would be to eat tiny cookies and marshmallows for breakfast! But one time my friend gave me a bowl of Rice Krispies Treats cereal during a camping trip and it completely blew my mind.” — Jeremy Stamas

11. Honey Comb

Honey Comb
Credit: Amazon / Post

Definitely a fan favorite, Honey Comb was one of those cereals that you fought over with your siblings. Although it left the milk tasting a bit odd, the cereal itself was craveable. So, why didn’t it make our top 10? Simple, because of the terrifying commercials Honey Comb subjected us to in the '90s.

Creepy.

10. Fruity Pebbles

Fruity Pebbles
Credit: Post

As I said above, this is like a drug for my Italian cousins. If I don’t bring these with me when I visit them, then I’ve made the 8 hour trip for no reason at all.

9. Cheerios

An obvious favorite among babies, parents, and... lazy millennials?

“My boyfriend and I keep little mason jars filled with our favorite Cheerios in our nightstands so we don't have to get out of bed if we're peckish but lazy (so, always). It's great after a night out, or in the morning after an exceptionally fun night out.” — Samantha Gordon

8. Kix

"The most interesting thing I can say about Kix is that, like, every tenth corn puff is unusually sweet compared to the bulk of them, and it’s this occasional burst of savory sweetness that really makes Kix fascinatingly moreish." — Michael Desjardin

7. Life

Life is life.

6. Cinnamon Toast Crunch

“Growing up my favorite cereal of all time was Cinnamon Toast Crunch. If left to my own devices, I could easily polish off a whole box in high school (and then did so often in college). There's a trick, though, a secret not many know. You have to let it sit in the milk for about a minute and a half before you start eating it.

In my time, one commercial break between Saturday morning cartoons was just about perfect. You don't want it too soggy (gross) but you don’t want it too crunchy either (RIP roof of my mouth). Letting it sit for a little before you dive in ensures you get the perfect bowl of al dente cereal you truly deserve.” — Mike Roorda

Yes, he did just say “al dente cereal."

5. French Toast Crunch

French Toast Crunch
Credit: Amazon / General Mills

The geniuses that brought us Cinnamon Toast Crunch also graced us with French Toast Crunch. Introduced in 1995, these adorable little toasts (that also taste amazing) were discontinued in 2006, but after demands from the public, they brought it back in 2014. What a time to be alive.

4. Reese's Peanut Butter Puffs

“Reese's have been my favorite candy since I can remember and when I found out there was a breakfast version of the treat as a child, I obviously ate it every day. There's literally no better combo than peanut butter and chocolate. Plus, I still get the rap from one of their commercials stuck in my head from time to time (you know what I'm talking about).” — Courtney Campbell

3. Cap’n Crunch

A true classic. The Captain, a hero of sorts, also gets bonus points because this cereal tastes great on top of froyo or ice cream.

2. Golden Grahams

It was a close call between these and Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but everyone agreed Golden Grahams had a slight leg up. There's just nothing like stacking a bunch of these up and eating as many as possible in one bite.

1. Cap’n Crunch Sprinkled Donut Crunch

Credit: Amazon

Everyone knows Cap’n Crunch is an incredible cereal, so when they came out with a sprinkled donut version!? Yeah, no contest. A+ for taste, A+ for presentation. This cereal tastes like sugar cookies, and LOOKS LIKE LITTLE DONUTS.

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