I tasted 15 breakfast cereals to find out which ones stood the test of time.
The All-Time Best Cereals from Childhood, Ranked
Published on Jan. 14, 2025
15. Cocoa Pebbles
This cereal isn’t chocolaty enough for my grown-up palate, which has long had the freedom to eat as much chocolate as it wants. No responsible adults telling me to stop before I get sick anymore! Maybe Cocoa Pebbles will satisfy a kid whose chocolate intake is strictly rationed, but not I.
14. Reese’s Puffs
I personally think this cereal is too sweet, but in the wise words of my son: “It’s supposed to taste like candy, so that’s OK.” If you serve Reese’s Puffs with milk that’s been mixed with chocolate syrup and peanut powder, it tastes even more like candy, but with extra protein, which makes this totally cool to eat for breakfast. It’s all about perspective, right?
13. Froot Loops
Eagle-eyed (or toucan-eyed?) consumers have long known that this cereal is so far removed from the realm of legitimate fruit that it’s legally not allowed to use the word in its name, lest its candy-colored branding be factually false. The cereal tastes fine, but I have a lot of problems with anything that’s trying to hoodwink people before the sun comes up, so it loses major points for ethics.
12. Cookie Crisp
God bless America for not only believing that a bowl of teeny tiny cookies could be part of a nutritious breakfast but for believing it so hard that Cookie Crisp has become a veritable breakfast staple. Even our most ridiculous dreams can become a reality as long as we’re willing to fully commit. This cereal is a meal and an inspiration.
11. Apple Jacks
Apple-flavored things almost always pale in comparison to actual apples, which are a top-tier fruit. In a country awash with applesauce, apple cider and all sorts of apple pie variations, it takes moxie to base your entire brand around the fruit while providing the absolute minimum amount of apple flavor. And, somehow, it has turned into a bonafide American classic. There’s probably a metaphor in there, but I’m too busy eating cereal to find it.
10. Frosted Mini Wheats
I have a major soft spot for original, non-sweetened Shredded Wheat, so on one hand, I truly appreciate Frosted Mini Wheats for its texture. On the other hand, whenever I taste the wheat beneath the sweetness, it reminds me that I could be making a better decision. If you’re personally committing to eating a bowl of sugar, choose something that goes all in—not mostly in.
9. Golden Grahams
If a graham cracker cereal can exist, I don’t see any reason why I can’t fill a bowl with Teddy Grahams and milk and eat it with a spoon. Ergo, Golden Grahams loses major points for being square-shaped instead of bear-shaped.
8. Lucky Charms
No one would dream of mini marshmallows being a staple food group at lunch or dinner, but at breakfast, anything goes. Then again, a stack of pancakes is literally a layer cake drenched in butter and syrup, but because they were made in a pan instead of an oven, they’re a great way to start the day. Here’s a fun fact: The prototype for Lucky Charms was a bowl of Cheerios mixed with chopped-up Circus Peanuts!
7. Corn Pops
Honestly, I don’t know why this cereal hasn’t become a way bigger deal after 11 a.m. Replace the Rice Krispies in any Rice Krispies treats recipe with these puppies, and you have yourself a sweet treat that’s at least 37 times greater than the original. Corn Pops are a top-tier sugary cereal that’s meant for way bigger things than we’ve previously given them credit for.
6. Honeycomb
Revisiting this cereal in adulthood, I’m kind of shocked that we don’t make a bigger fuss about Honeycomb. The shape is geometric perfection, engineered for maximum buoyancy and long-lasting crispness. They’re sizable and filling, but most of all, flavorful. If you didn’t eat this as a child, it’s definitely worth checking out as an adult.
5. Trix
According to my kid, Trix “tastes like what a fruit cereal should be.” When I asked him to clarify what that meant, he said, “It tastes artificial, like chemicals and food dye. It’s incredible.” I’ve spent the last 16 years buying and making healthy, nutritious meals for this kid, and we ended up here anyway. I guess that means if you’re a parent stressing out over your kid’s eating habits, you can stop now. No matter how hard we try, in the end, all of us are powerless against a cartoon rabbit.
4. Cap’n Crunch
Eating Cap’n Crunch in adulthood makes me grateful my mom wouldn’t let me eat it when I was a kid—because if it was in the house, I would easily have torn through a few boxes a week. This stuff is so stupidly delicious that I’m angry. How can I love a cereal so much?
3. Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Curling up on the couch at night with a mug of hot tea, a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and a YouTube queue full of weird bird videos is pretty much my version of heaven on earth. Cinnamon Toast Crunch is good for breakast, too, if you have time for weird bird videos before leaving for work.
2. Cracklin’ Oat Bran
People born after 1990 are too young to remember the true taste of the decade, and that taste was oat bran. Meanwhile I, who was born in the ’80s, vividly remember the onslaught of oat bran products that ushered in the decade, all because of a nationwide panic about cholesterol.
This was an era where egg yolks and whole milk were the enemy, and fat needed to be avoided at all costs. If you weren’t eating fiber-rich oat bran every day, it was just a matter of time before your heart exploded. You can be as nostalgic as you want about cereal marshmallows, but it will never change the fact that Cracklin’ Oat Bran is the truest taste of the ’90s you can find in the cereal aisle.
1. Cheerios
Cheerios are a perfect cereal, no matter the decade. It’s delicious without needing an obscene amount of added sugar. The O-shaped pieces are safe for babies to eat. It’s also one of the easiest cereals to jazz up with with blueberries or sliced bananas. Or, you can buy them coated in honey. They’re also the only cereal that has a pumpkin spice variation worth buying.
Truly, Cheerios is the gold standard by which other cereals should be judged, and we should all pause for a moment of silence to reflect on its magnificence.
