Food & Drink
Cereal Tier List Maker
Rank breakfast cereals from Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops to Cheerios and Lucky Charms. Settle the debate over the best (and worst) bowl in the cereal aisle.
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Meet every cereal (30)
These 30 cereals load into the maker above. Each write-up covers what the cereal is and what to weigh when you rank it. Facts were last checked on .
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Frosted Flakes
Sugar-coated corn flakes introduced in the United States in 1951 and fronted by Tony the Tiger. It's one of the best-known Kellogg's cereals, sold in many countries under the name Frosties.
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Froot Loops
A sweetened, fruit-flavored cereal made of brightly colored rings, with Toucan Sam as its mascot. Its mix of colors is the main reason many shoppers recognize the box instantly.
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Cheerios
Oat cereal shaped like small rings, made by General Mills in the United States and Canada. The plain original is the base for a large family of flavors, from honey to apple cinnamon.
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Honey Nut Cheerios
Introduced in 1979 as a honey and almond flavored take on Cheerios. Wikipedia reports it was the best-selling breakfast cereal in the United States in 2011, so it is a common favorite.
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Lucky Charms
Sold by General Mills since early 1964, it mixes toasted oat pieces with colorful marshmallow shapes such as hearts, stars and rainbows. Lucky the Leprechaun is its mascot.
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Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Cinnamon-sugar squares from General Mills. It is sold under different names in some regions, including Curiously Cinnamon in the United Kingdom and Cini Minis in parts of Europe and Latin America.
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Cap'n Crunch
A corn and oat cereal made by Quaker Oats since 1963, with a sea captain as its mascot. It has added many flavors over time, including Crunch Berries and Peanut Butter Crunch.
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Fruity Pebbles
Part of the Pebbles line that Post introduced on October 20, 1971, with characters from The Flintstones on the box. Fruity Pebbles is the fruit-flavored version known for its bright colors.
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Cocoa Pebbles
The chocolate-flavored member of the Pebbles line that Post launched in 1971 alongside Fruity Pebbles, also featuring Flintstones characters. It has a crisp rice texture and a strong chocolate flavor.
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Cocoa Puffs
A chocolate-flavored puffed grain cereal from General Mills, introduced in 1956. The small hollow orbs are made from corn and rice, and Sonny the Cuckoo Bird is its mascot.
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Trix
A General Mills cereal of fruit-flavored, sweetened ground-corn pieces. The Trix Rabbit is its mascot, and the long-running joke is that he keeps trying and failing to get a bowl.
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Corn Flakes
Toasted flakes of corn tied to the Kellogg brothers, whose company popularized the cereal in the early 1900s. Its plain, low-sugar taste makes it a common baseline against which flavored cereals are compared.
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Rice Krispies
A Kellogg's crisped rice cereal known for the snap, crackle and pop sound it makes in milk, with mascots named Snap, Crackle and Pop. It is also the base for Rice Krispies Treats.
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Raisin Bran
Bran flakes mixed with raisins, sold by both Kellogg's and Post. It is one of the best-known fiber-focused cereals, with natural sweetness coming from the fruit instead of a heavy sugar coating.
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Frosted Mini-Wheats
A Kellogg's cereal of shredded wheat biscuits with a sugar frosting on one side. Its bite-sized shape and mix of chewy wheat and sweet coating set it apart from flake cereals.
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Honey Bunches of Oats
A Post cereal that combines toasted corn flakes, oat clusters and sweet honey-coated pieces. Many varieties add almonds or strawberries, giving it a mixed texture different from single-shape cereals.
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Apple Jacks
A Kellogg's cereal of apple and cinnamon flavored rings in green and orange. Its animated mascots, Cinna-Mon and CJ, appeared on the box and in commercials for many years.
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Golden Grahams
Honey and graham flavored squares from General Mills, inspired by the graham crackers used in s'mores. Its sweet, toasty taste has made it a favorite for people who like a campfire flavor.
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Kix
Small puffed corn balls from General Mills, long advertised with the slogan "kid-tested, mother-approved." It is lightly sweetened compared with most other children's cereals, and the pieces stay crunchy.
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Special K
A Kellogg's cereal of rice and wheat flakes that has been marketed to weight-conscious shoppers and as a lower-sugar choice. Fruit and chocolate variants have also been sold over the years.
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Reese's Puffs
Puffed corn pieces flavored with peanut butter and chocolate, based on Reese's candy. It appeals to people who want a cereal that tastes like a dessert.
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Life
A Quaker Oats cereal of lightly sweet oat and corn squares, best remembered for the "Mikey likes it" advertising campaign. It is milder than most sugary cereals and stays popular with families.
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Count Chocula
Chocolate-flavored General Mills cereal with marshmallow pieces and a vampire mascot. It is part of a monster cereal group with Franken Berry and Boo Berry, and appears more often near Halloween.
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Wheaties
Known for putting prominent athletes on its boxes, this General Mills cereal was introduced as Washburn's Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes in 1924 and is a wheat and bran mixture baked into flakes.
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Chex
Square pieces made from corn, rice or wheat, now sold by General Mills. It was first produced in 1936 as Shredded Ralston and renamed Chex in 1950, and it is also the base of Chex Mix.
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Corn Pops
A puffed, sweetened corn cereal introduced in 1950. Its name has changed several times, including Sugar Corn Pops and Sugar Pops, before settling on Corn Pops, and Kellogg's still sells it today.
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Honeycomb
First released in 1965 and now owned by Post Holdings, it is made of honey-flavored corn pieces shaped like a honeycomb. The big crunchy bits are what set it apart from smaller cereals.
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Cookie Crisp
A cereal made to look like tiny chocolate chip cookies. Ralston Purina introduced it in 1977, and General Mills acquired the trademark in 1997, which is why General Mills sells it today.
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Waffle Crisp
A Post cereal of maple syrup flavored corn pieces shaped like small waffles, first launched in 1996. It is meant to taste like a breakfast of waffles with syrup, but in a bowl.
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Grape-Nuts
Developed in 1897 by C. W. Post from flour, salt and dried yeast. Despite the name, it has no grapes or nuts, and its dense, crunchy texture is unlike almost every other cereal here.
About Cereal
Breakfast cereal covers everything from plain corn and wheat flakes to heavily sweetened, brightly colored brands. Most people judge it on a mix of flavor, texture and nostalgia from childhood mornings.
Part of the fun of a cereal tier list is that milk changes everything: some cereals stay crunchy, others go soft quickly, and a few taste best dry. Decide in advance whether you are ranking with milk, without it, or as a snack.
What to consider when you rank cereals
- Taste
- Crunch and how long it stays crunchy in milk
- Sweetness level
- Nostalgia
- Value for money
Cereal tier list questions
Which cereals on this list are the oldest?
Grape-Nuts dates to 1897, Corn Flakes goes back to the early 1900s through the Kellogg brothers, and Wheaties began in 1924 as Washburn's Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes. Most sugary cereals here arrived in the 1950s to 1970s.
How should I rank breakfast cereals?
Many people weigh flavor, crunch in milk, how long it stays crisp, nostalgia and sugar level. A tier list works best when you pick a rule first, such as taste only, so every cereal is judged the same way.
Do cereals taste or sound different in other countries?
Sometimes. Some cereals are sold under different names, such as Frosted Flakes as Frosties, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch as Curiously Cinnamon in the United Kingdom. Recipes and manufacturers can also differ between regions.
Sources
Facts on this page were checked against these references on .