11 Non-Sugary Breakfast Cereals To Try Tomorrow Morning

Sometimes containing up to a hefty 21 grams of sugar per serving, several of today's cereals are so sweet they're better off being labeled as desserts. But those are the crowd favorites many people have grown up with, making them accustomed to their candied taste and whimsical shapes and colors. Fortunately, there are alternatives out there that can strike the same chord of nostalgia while offering a more balanced start to the day. A quick trip to your local grocery store, such as Walmart or Target, can present you with a solid lineup of cereal options with a lower sugar content.

From fruit and veggie blends to chocolate, protein-centered products, cereal can still taste fun while satisfying your hunger and dietary needs. They can contain a whole lot more of the good stuff while cutting down on unnecessary amounts of sweetener. So consider adding a bowl of these non-sugary cereals to your rotation of breakfast burritos and basic buttermilk pancakes, and let's hope we never find these nutrition-packed hidden gems on a list of discontinued cereals in the future.

Starting off strong with an item that certainly lives up to its name, we have Magic Spoon Fruity cereal. This grain- and gluten-free, naturally-flavored product contains very few carbs and absolutely no sugar at all, which must be some sort of magic trick with how nostalgically sweet it still manages to be. Instead of a high sugar content, it has 13 grams of protein per serving due to the whey milk blend it's made from.

And yes, just like how Froot Loops all taste the same, so do these multi-colored hoops. But that doesn't make them any less fun to eat, as it's without a doubt the most attractive to the eye of all the cereals on this list. With vibrant-colored rings, including striking yellow, blue, and pink, the neon nature of this product and its packaging will make your breakfast experience feel like the embodiment of summer. You almost won't want to keep eating because of how aesthetic this keto-friendly cereal is.

You know you're in for a treat when you open a food product's packaging and immediately get hit with an alluring, gratifying scent. That's exactly what happens when you rip into a bag of Cheerios Veggie Blends; a sweet-smelling puff of air quickly follows. It's all thanks to the cereal's use of apples and strawberries, which are part of the one-fourth cup of fruit and veggies per serving. The remainder is composed of spinach, carrot, and sweet potato.

These wholesome ingredients, along with the fact that this cereal only has eight grams of sugar, make this product a suitable choice for picky eaters who need help getting their fruits and veggies in for the day. It's a nutritious, flavorsome blend that tastes mainly sweet due to the apples and bananas but also earthy at times because of the aforementioned vegetables. Plus, it's a good source of both calcium and iron. Between flavor and nutrition, even the most finicky of kids and adults can get on board with this sweetened oat and corn cereal.

For all those struggling to hit their protein goals for the day, boy do we have a recommendation for you. It may come as a surprise (a pleasant one), but the brand Post offers cereal versions of its well-known Premier Protein Shakes. The two available flavors come with 20 grams of protein. This is only 10 grams less than their drink counterpart's amount. And their sugar content? A measly five grams per serving.

As is common with many protein-focused products, this cereal features understated chocolate and almond flavors, to match the subtle taste of the Premier chocolate shake. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, though, as the delicate hints of chocolate mix nicely with the generous amount of large almond slices sprinkled throughout the bag. The ingredients come together even better when eaten with milk, as the dairy creates a richer, more complete experience.

For a slightly more chocolate-forward taste, pick up Three Wishes' gluten-free, plant-based Cocoa cereal. With eight grams of protein and only three grams of sugar, its light, fudgy flavor isn't overwhelmingly sweet yet nonetheless tastes like a treat to begin your day with. It's the vegan cereal's natural ingredients at work, honing in on not only cocoa, but also organic cane sugar, monk fruit, pea protein, chickpeas, tapioca, and more.

The Three Wishes brand also likes to emphasize how, in comparison to the leading cocoa cereal, it's grain-free. A grain-free diet can have several significant benefits for those who suffer from intolerances to the food group. These advantages can range from anything like reduced inflammation and alleviated pain to lowered blood sugar levels and improved mental health. That makes Three Wishes Cocoa an appropriate choice for those who are allergic to grains but still want a way to safely satisfy their sweet tooth.

What's a good list of cereal without one of them being some good old, plain flakes? And these aren't the types that are practically white from frosting and sugar. These are Heritage Flakes, made by Nature's Path, a company that prioritizes organic foods made with no harmful additives. So it's a breath of fresh air to look through this cereal's ingredient list and be able to recognize each one. You've got mineral-rich grains baked together, including Khorasan wheat, quinoa, spelt, and oats, all sweetened with just a touch of honey.

The result is a breakfast food consisting of only five grams of sugar and one-fourth of the total amount of fiber you should be eating for the day. Though the recipe does use honey, it's not evident in the cereal's flavor at all, making this suitable for those who don't want a sickly sweet morning meal. Moreover, Heritage Flakes' superpower is its major crunch factor. It's addicting, and you'll keep going in for more just to get another satisfyingly crisp bite.

Special K has had a long-standing spot on most grocery store shelves since 1955 with its classically fruity, nutty, whole grain flavors, but it was only in 2022 that its high-protein, zero-added sugar cereals were released. In particular, the recent addition of the cinnamon variety is something to be welcomed. Its sleek and simple packaging is an accurate reflection of the cereal's natural flavors and straightforward health benefits.

Not only does the Special K Zero Cinnamon cereal provide a whopping 20 grams of plant-based protein, but it also provides some potassium, and more notably, 15% of the recommended daily value of iron. Iron is a mineral needed to make hemoglobin and myoglobin, which are proteins that help carry oxygen to the muscles throughout your body. Soaking up all this nutritional value is also pleasantly easy due to the cereal tasting like a baby-puff version of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, making it all the more fun to pop pieces into your mouth one after the other.

Math has never been so fun as when Ratio, a Keto-friendly food company, does it for you. The brand carries an assortment of drinks, yogurt, crunchy bars, granola, and cereal, all made to provide a healthful level of nutrition. More specifically, its Maple Almond Crunch Cereal is a wonderful example of how the company crafts its products with macros in mind, as it's created with just three grams of sugar, seven grams of fat, nine net carbs, and 10 grams of protein per serving.

These numbers are only part of the reason why this breakfast food is worthy of being pulled off the shelf and added to your grocery cart. Its texture is unlike any other with its light and airy maple squares and thinly sliced almonds. The real flavor comes from the product's incorporation of pumpkin seeds and nut clusters, though. They're crispy, crumbly, and the perfect amount of sweet. The only complaint that could be said of them is that there simply aren't enough scattered throughout the bag. But when you do get a spoonful of all the cereal's ingredients together, the ratio feels just right.

Your morning bowl of gruel should start with a good base. And General Mills Total cereal is the one to use, as it contains a faint wheat and bran taste that's minimal enough in flavor to still go swimmingly with countless toppings. This can be anything like berries, nuts, cocoa chips, and drizzled honey.

There's also lots of room to get creative with fun additions when you're working with a foundation that already supplies all the nutrients you need. Providing 100% of the daily value of 11 vitamins and minerals and only six grams of sugar, Total has you covered, from vitamin C and vitamin E to zinc and niacin. These flakes being made of whole grains come with numerous other advantages, too. So long as you aren't struggling from an insensitivity to grains, you can enjoy benefits like improved cholesterol levels and lowered blood pressure from eating this cereal.

Yet another keto-friendly option to grace this list is Catalina Crunch Cinnamon Toast. From its practical packaging to its wonderful nutritional information, this low-carb cereal feels like the adult version of the childhood favorite, sugar-loaded Cinnamon Toast Crunch. But Catalina Crunch's version thankfully has zero grams of sugar, 11 grams of plant-based protein, and nine grams of fiber to better support your nutritional needs.

And while it doesn't have the same sugary coating as Cinnamon Toast Crunch, which some people might actually find overbearingly sweet, Catalina Crunch still has an undeniable kick of cinnamon that will surely wake you up in the morning. The spice's presence makes itself known upon your first spoonful of the small, bite-sized squares. Also, because the cereal comes in a convenient nine-ounce pouch, it's the perfect product to take on the go for a quick yet satiating snack, whether it be for the car ride, school, or work.

When you open the heavy cardboard box of Post Grape-Nuts, you'll be surprised to see the cereal pieces are smaller than uncooked grains of rice and seemingly just as solid, too. They provide big nutritional benefits, however, such as seven grams of fiber and almost the full recommended daily value of iron, folate (vitamin B9), and vitamin B6. B vitamins have many roles, according to WebMD, but they're especially important when it comes to ensuring proper cell functions like transporting nutrients to parts of the body and breaking down carbs. Magnesium and zinc are also represented in Grape-Nuts nutritional roundup (albeit in smaller quantities), so you can take in these crucial vitamins and minerals all while only consuming five grams of sugar per serving.

Just be prepared for Grape-Nut's unique mouthfeel. As tasty as they may be, describing them as crisp and crunchy is an understatement of how firm and dense these cereal grains are. For this reason, the cereal might be better used as a layer in your parfait or even mixed into some granola rather than eaten on its own. Try sprinkling it atop your mango sago or apple-cinnamon oatmeal for a better balance of textures.

Those who grew up watching the popular commercials advertising Post Honey Bunches of Oats are no strangers to the cozy, comforting feeling that comes from eating the nourishing cereal. While this food is already a shoo-in when it comes to supplying a few key nutrients, Walmart takes it a step further with its equivalent store-brand version. It has more of certain vitamins and minerals and less of others when compared to Post's nutritional value, but The Great Value Crunchy Honey Oats is about half the price. It also contains a smaller amount of sugar, coming in at seven grams.

Palate-wise, just as honey itself never expires, neither does people's love for the intensely sweet, bee-produced substance. The flavor present in Walmart's cereal offers a strong, honey-infused taste just as its name-brand parallel does. Its golden flakes and crumbly granola pieces can easily be eaten with or without any milk, as there's no need to supplement these already flavorful bits with anything else. You'll truly find yourself eating this cereal straight out of the bag by the handful. Ultimately, Great Value fulfills its name, offering a breakfast option with great taste and great nutrition for an even greater price.