35 Best Cereal Brands of All Time, Ranked

The most popular cereal brands take us back to a simpler time.

When we were kids, most mornings meant precisely two things: cartoons and breakfast cereal. The more sugary, the better — particularly on those oh-so-glorious Saturday mornings when several channels on the dial (ask your resident Gen-Xer what a TV “dial” is) ran animated fare for the young set pretty much solid from 7 a.m. until noon. The more sugar we ate while enjoying those cartoons, the more amped up we would be when our parents insisted we go outside to play after hours on the couch.

Our favorite breakfast cereals needn’t have been packed to the gills with glucose — some were actually quite healthy. Many of them had rather amusing commercials. And we fondly remember them now in this look back at the best cereal brands ever.

35. Basic 4

General Mills / Amazon

Made by: General Mills

Basic 4 was marketed as a healthy cereal back in the 1990s. True to its name, it has four main components: dried fruit, crispy rice puffs, vanilla yogurt clusters and almonds. The yogurt pieces are the tastiest, but the whole cereal is delicious and has 26 grams of whole grain per serving.

34. Nature Valley Granola

Nature Valley / Amazon

Made by: Nature Valley

Most of us know that granola isn’t actually healthy, but we also don’t care. Not when it comes to Nature Valley granola, that is. It tastes exactly like Nature Valley granola bars, only it’s broken up and is eaten like cereal in a bowl. As long as you don’t mind that sugar is its second key ingredient, it’s worth it.

33. Cocoa Krispies

Kellogg’s / Amazon

Made by: Kellogg’s

Kellogg’s Cocoa Krispies combines the brand’s more popular Rice Krispies and Cocoa Puffs into one cereal. They’re a chocolate version of Rice Krispies, making a more exciting version of old-fashioned Rice Krispy Treats. They’re also great topped with strawberries, and the signature crackling sound they make when you pour in the milk? Premium.

32. Waffle Crisp Cereal

Post / Amazon

Made by: Post

Waffle Crisps hardly count as breakfast, but kids couldn’t care less. The first ingredient is sugar, which is probably why they adore Waffle Crisps. The crunchy cereal is shaped like miniature waffles, and they used to have a cult following. Today, it’s only available in select stores in certain states. When it popped up on Amazon, reviewers breathed a collective sigh of relief that their sweet, maple-flavored childhood cereal wasn’t gone for good.

31. Grape-Nuts

Post / Amazon

Made by: Post

Most breakfast cereals aren’t very nutritious, but some options are more health-centric than others. Grape-Nuts was first prepared by C.W. Post, the founder of Post. He baked a high-fiber batter into a rigid sheet, which he crumbled up and ground into “nuts” in a coffee grinder.

That was back in 1897, so the cereal is practically a part of American history. It’s crunchy, high in iron and folate and made with whole grains for a satisfying, filling breakfast. It’s not sweetened, but a little honey turns it into an addictive snack.

30. C3PO’s

Cereal Time TV / YouTube

Made by: Kellogg’s

The whiny multilingual droid from the “Star Wars” universe had his own breakfast cereal for only a hot minute in the ’80s, so you can be forgiven for not recollecting any mornings with C3PO’s cereal. Cereal bits “shaped” like C3PO went great with milk, particularly if the animated show “Droids,” featuring Threepio and R2-D2, was on the tube.

The box even had games and cut-out masks of Luke Skywalker that you could use to “disguise” yourself. Those were the days, right?

29. Wheaties

Amazon

Made by: General Mills

Wheaties gave discerning parents a healthier option in the cereal aisle, and thus, it’s unsurprising that the brand attracted some rather high-octane spokespeople for their boxes and commercials.

Wheaties called itself “the breakfast of champions,” a view endorsed by no less than pitchmen and -women Michael Jordan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mary Lou Retton, Dale Earnhardt and even the all-female Sacramento Monarchs. As they all advised us in those many commercials, “You better eat your Wheaties!”

28. Cookie Crisp

HEB

Made by: General Mills

“Cookies” for breakfast? Oh, cookie cereal! That makes it so much better, right? Cookie Crisp was introduced by General Mills in 1977 and can still be found today at the shelves of Foodtown, Wegman’s or Ralph’s, depending on your geography.

And while McDonald’s had its Hamburglar, Cookie Crisp had the Cookie Crook, who was constantly being chased away from the goods by the Cookie Cop in their commercials. But you can’t really blame the Cookie Crook: After all, the cereal pieces were even shaped like cookies!

27. Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries

BJ’s Wholesale Club

Made by: Quaker Oats

The captain had already been around for a while (more on him later) when the good folks at Quaker Oats released a “spinoff” brand called Crunch Berries. First unveiled in 1967, the Crunch Berries were little round, berry-shaped pieces, and the captain was super, super happy to show them to you on the box cover art. The color of the berries has changed occasionally over the years but always kept the same amazing taste.

Fun fact: For a brief time, Cap’n Crunch shared the spotlight in commercials for the cereal with a happy creature called the Crunch Berry Beast.

26. Honeycomb

Walmart

Made by: Post

Who says that bees should have all the fun when it comes to honeycomb? Indeed, Post had ideas of its own and, in 1956, released its cereal, also called Honeycomb.

The precise formula for Honeycomb has changed somewhat over the years (partly owing to parental concerns over its sugar content), but that same sugary taste, worthy of bees, has continued to prevalent all these years later.

25. Cracklin’ Oat Bran

Amazon

Made by: Kellogg’s

What was it that made this oat bran, ostensibly healthy-sounding, “cracklin’” per se? How’s about flavorings of nutmeg, cinnamon and brown sugar? Now, we’re talking breakfast goodness!

As much of a health punch as Cracklin’ Oat Bran claimed to deliver, it wasn’t enough for some parents and children’s advocates, who insisted in the late-’80s that Kellogg’s alter the recipe so that it excised coconut oil, what with its saturated fat content. Whatever its mixture, we still love us some Cracklin’ Oat Bran.

24. Crispix

Walmart

Made by: Kellogg’s

Crispix is a relatively new entry in the cereal sweepstakes, having “only” come onto the market in 1983. The brand’s patented mixture of rice and corn was a key part of its marketing, and the crunches were of course much exaggerated on any and all of the commercials for Crispix.

But, as the old advertising aphorism claimed, sell the sizzle, not the steak — or, for our purposes, the crunch versus the cereal.

23. Life

Quaker Oats

Made by: Quaker Oats

The term that [fill in the blank] is “life” has been with us for some time, so why wouldn’t Quaker Oats want to checkmate the game by naming their cereal that way? Quaker Oats’ advertising team even came up with a rather clever catchphrase: “Life is full of surprises.”

Life had a rather cute little boy named “Mikey” in its many commercials. An urban legend circulated that Mikey had died when he mixed Pop Rocks and Coca-Cola, causing his stomach to explode. However, we’re happy to report that actor John Gilchrist, aka Mikey, remains very much alive.

22. Trix

Amazon

Made by: General Mills

Trix indeed was tasty, and its pebbles came in multiple colors to add visual fun to a kid’s morning breakfast. And no self-respecting “big kid” has ever forgotten the slogan “Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!”

Thus did many, many child actors, animated or otherwise, admonish the Trix bunny, who eschewed the typical hare diet of grass and hay and just wanted to get his paws on some of that sweet cereal. In hindsight, this really didn’t help teach kids much about the value of sharing, did it?

21. Special K

Giant Food

Made by: Kellogg’s

Rice, barley and wheat have been combined in this rather “special” cereal since 1955, when Kellogg’s introduced us to a healthful morning feast whose initial was of course the same first letter as the maker’s name.

Back in the day, Kellogg’s even sponsored a “Special K Challenge,” in which they challenged people to lose 6 pounds in two weeks by starting out with a bowl of Special K each morning — provided they stick to other Kellogg’s products throughout the rest of the day.

20. Rice Krispies

Stop and Shop

Made by: Kellogg’s

Rice Krispies have been around since 1928, proving that sometimes “they” get it right. The crisped rice of the cereal bits made that famous popping sound when milk was added, and folks of many generations fondly recall “listening” to the cereal do its thing.

And to hammer home the point, Kellogg’s even introduced us to three elfin characters called Snap, Crackle and Pop to sell the cereal. In 1964, no less than the Rolling Stones were paid for writing a Rice Krispies jingle. Talk about selling out to the man!

19. Frosted Mini-Wheats

Walgreens

Made by: Kellogg’s

Is there a better way to start your day than shredded wheat and frosted coating? If there is, we certainly don’t want to know about it. Perhaps that mix of savory and sweet was meant to “trick” parents into buying it, as Frosted Mini-Wheats wasn’t quite the sugary punch other cereals delivered.

Funnily enough, an early ad campaign for Frosted Mini-Wheats had an animated cereal piece with a personality split between the sweet (frosted) side and the wheat side. The poor cartoon was constantly fighting himself over which side was “better.”

18. Pops

Walmart

Made by: Kellogg’s

The puffy grain cereal Pops came onto the scene in the 1950s and initially had extra words in its name such as “Corn” and “Sugar.” The commercials were hilarious, yet a tad on the sadistic side. They typically featured a kid being teased by his friends or siblings, who were just fresh out of Pops, at which point the kid would go into a voiceover about how he absolutely needed his Pops “fix.”

Fortunately, the commercial always ended with the other kids “revealing” that there were still some Pops left over, and the day was saved.

17. Honey Bunches of Oats

HEB

Made by: Post

Post had been in the cereal game for quite some time when an enterprising company employee thought, hmm, what if we mix pieces from various other Post cereals and sell it to consumers as something entirely new? Brilliant!

That’s precisely the case with Honey Bunches of Oats, which has oat clusters, honey and three different kinds of flakes in its mixture. This magic elixir has been tampered with over the years for other offshoot brands, but the original recipe remains tops.

16. Kix

Garden Grocer

Made by: General Mills

Kix has been around since the Great Depression when a huge number of people couldn’t afford much and, thus, turned to cereal. Then and now, Kix has been touted for its low sugar content and largely healthful properties, leading to such now-familiar slogans as “Kid tested, mother approved.”

Kix engaged in a new marketing strategy during the ’80s, which made the case that “kids love Kix for what Kix has got [and] Moms love Kix for what Kix has not.” How can you possibly argue with that?

15. Raisin Bran

Walmart

Made by: Kellogg’s

We haven’t yet talked about raisins and breakfast cereals, but they’re an absolutely wondrous addition to a bowl of morning joy — and a healthy one at that. Raisins and bran flakes had been manufactured under several banners before Kellogg’s introduced Raisin Bran, but this is the one that really stuck around.

Kellogg’s touts the nutritional wallop of Raisin Bran, which contains wheat grain and bran, raisins (duh) as well as numerous vitamins and minerals.

14. Fruity Pebbles

Amazon

Made by: Post

When trying to sell cereal to kids, it certainly helps to get some of their favorite animated characters involved. Hence why Post struck a deal with Hanna-Barbera to license Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble for its campaign to launch Fruity Pebbles in 1971.

The story should be familiar: Fred has Pebbles cereal (named after his son, of course), and Barney wants them, but Fred is stingy. The only time Fred “freely” shares with Barney is during the annual Christmas ad when Santa basically guilts Fred into handing his pal a bowl.

13. Apple Jacks

Stop and Shop

Made by: Kellogg’s

That cinnamon taste is only part of why Apple Jacks have been as popular as they have over the decades. When the brand first came on the market in the 1960s, the tasty morsels were colored uniformly orange, but Kellogg’s decided to mix it up near the turn of the millennium by introducing green O’s into the mix.

Call us old-fashioned, but eating anything green — especially for breakfast — doesn’t really sound like much fun no matter how much Dr. Seuss tried to convince us.

12. French Toast Crunch

Amazon

Made by: General Mills

In 1996, General Mills hit upon the ingenious notion of marrying together two breakfast staples, cereal and French toast, in a new concoction called French Toast Crunch. Naturally, the product had quite a saccharin taste profile, what with all of that sugary goodness.

General Mills actually discontinued French Toast Crunch in 2006, but nostalgia and consumer demand saw them reviving the brand by 2014, and the world is now much the better for it.

11. Reese’s Puffs

Amazon

Made by: General Mills

What’s better than dessert, you ask? Well, how’s about dessert for breakfast? That’s certainly one way to get the kiddos out of bed in the morning.

Reese’s Puffs have been around since 1994 and, therefore, well past the “classic” period of cereal commercials, but it nonetheless has been flying off the shelves ever since. That’s almost certainly thanks to those kids of all ages (translation: us working stiffs) out there nurturing a morning sweet tooth.

10. Golden Grahams

Amazon

Made by: General Mills

Honey, brown sugar and everything nice went into the recipe for Golden Grahams. Each box contained little squares of serialized (sorry) goodness, which made any morning better, whether you were facing the school bus or a morning commute.

Early commercials for Golden Grahams featured a parody of the song “Oh, Dem Golden Slippers” by James A. Bland — but this time, of course, it was “oh, dem Golden Grahams.” Shameless, perhaps, but it worked.

9. Cap’n Crunch

Target

Made by: Quaker Oats

Cap’n Crunch has been waging war against the Soggies since 1963. The Soggies were exactly what their name implied: little creatures out to turn the fearless skipper’s crisp cereal into waterlogged sludge.

This always struck us as a bit odd considering that, well, adding milk to cereal would eventually make the grains start to sag a little bit. We guess the lesson here is to not let your cereal hang around in the milk for too long. The captain would concur.

8. Lucky Charms

Amazon

Made by: General Mills

When you’re trying to sell your cereal brand to kids, is there any harm in fashioning a stereotypical cartoon leprechaun? Perhaps that’s best left up to a classroom discussion.

But despite his name, Lucky was yet another cartoon cereal mascot who was constantly trying to evade those meddling kids out to steal his charms — once again proving that kids can be greedy little monsters who are never content with what they have (but we promise we’re not bitter).

7. Golden Crisp

Walgreens

Made by: Post

Perhaps wisely realizing that the name “Sugar Crisp” might give health-conscious parents cause for concern, Post altered the name of this cereal brand in the 1980s to Golden Crisp. Because “golden” sounds much better, right?

Never mind that Golden Crisp still packs quite a lot of sugar and was blamed as the cause of more than a few cavities back in the day. Whatever you call it, and however much sugar is in it, we still love our Golden Crisp!

6. Cheerios

Amazon

Made by: General Mills

The original Cheerios remains one of the top cereal brands of all time 80 years after General Mills first introduced it. That partly has to do with the healthy aspects of the cereal, which boasts a very small amount of sugar content and nearly 50 percent of your recommended daily intake of iron. Solid!

The honeybee who has been a mascot for Cheerios remains one of pop culture’s most identifiable characters to this day.

5. Froot Loops

BJ’s Wholesale Club

Made by: General Mills

For those who aren’t exactly in the know, a toucan is a tropical bird known for its rather colorful beak and penchant for sugary cereal. OK, we’re only making some of that up, but if you were around in the past few decades, doubtless you recall Toucan Sam, who entreated kids for years on commercials to “follow my nose; it always knows!” on his way to a happy bowl of Froot Loops.

C’mon, if you can’t trust a cartoon bird to lead you to morning nutrition, who can you trust?

4. Cocoa Puffs

Amazon

Made by: General Mills

Recall earlier when we discussed Kix, also from General Mills? Well, the manufacturer knew a good opportunity when it saw one, and they dressed up Kix in chocolate and — poof! — Cocoa Puffs was born.

To catch the eyes of young consumers out there, General Mills introduced the Cocoa Rabbit, who was “cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs” — and who was yet another victim of stingy children not sharing their cereal with him. Parents, do something about this!

3. Frosted Flakes

BJ’s Wholesale Club

Made by: Kellogg’s

For 70 years, Tony the Tiger has been proudly reminding us that, when it comes to Frosted Flakes, they’re grrrrrreat! Tony has been the face of the cereal for over 50 years, with that smiling animated tiger enticing generations of kids to try out the Kellogg’s-patented formula of sweet-tasting morning cereal flakes.

And how could we possibly resist Tony, who only ever seemed to have our best interests in mind morning after morning?

2. Honey Nut Cheerios

Amazon

Made by: General Mills

Cheerios was quite a hit for General Mills, but in 1979, the company introduced us to a sweeter variation to the original, and the world of morning breakfast cereals has never been quite the same.

Naturally, the honeybee was there again to push the new sweetened cereal, which may have had more sugar than its ancestor, but that made it all the more liked among kids of all ages. Honey Nut Cheerios has had many taglines over the years, but can any top the original: “It’s a honey of an O”?

1. Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Garden Grocer

Made by: General Mills

The breakfast cereal makers for years had tried new spins on old formulas, but none of them breathed quite as much life into stale precedents as did General Mills’ Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The tiny graham cracker-shaped cereal bites, sprinkled as they are with cinnamon and sugar, remain the gold standard for taking breakfast cereal to a whole new level.

Little wonder that the ad reps for Cinnamon Toast Crunch came up with such slogans as “The taste you can see” and “Crave those crazy squares.”