18 Cheez-It Flavors, Ranked Worst To Best

We think Cheez-Its are one of the greatest snacks of all time, which is especially impressive when you consider that they are not a chip (Lays, Doritos, Tortilla Chips). No, Cheez-Its are merely lowly crackers. But, come on, everyone knows that a box of Cheez-Its is just as enticing as any chip. They have a magical moreish quality that seems underwhelming on paper but knocks your socks off when you actually taste them. They also come in a barrage of flavors, and, recently, shapes and sizes.

We were afraid that trying all these Cheez-Its would destroy our deep love for them. Not so. While we certainly had more than our fair share of exposure therapy, we reaped the rewards: Now we know which ones we could never get sick of. The top-ranked crackers are endlessly enjoyable, and we are so excited to eat more of the previously-overlooked varieties. Tomorrow, though. Now, we're going to drink a lot of water and maybe eat a vegetable.

More cheese! What, are you saying that your original Cheez-Its aren't cheesy enough? Do you need to give us Extra Cheesy to make up for it? Have it your way, but we don't think they're actually an improvement upon the classic, so maybe you're overcompensating a little bit. These taste much more artificial, maybe because we can just taste the artifice since there's more powder to taste, or maybe because they added in something more synthetic.

Either way, they are dustier, but not necessarily cheesier. Are you just a cheese fiend and think that more is always more? We feel you. We all have those days. On days like that, our favorite dinner is basically a pile of melted cheese. The pasta is just a way to hold it all in, right? Anyway, check our ranking of the best frozen mac and cheeses, choose the top picks, and then — here's the kicker — top it off with the best-ranked Cheez-Its, which you will discover in just a few more paragraphs. Deliciousness to the max. These on the other hand, not so much.

There are three major subsets of original Cheez-Its: Grooves, Puff'd, and Snap'd (plus some miscellaneous outliers like Extra Big or Extra Toasty). The Duoz don't count because they are simply two flavors in one box, and don't change the platonic ideal of a Cheez-It in any essential way. We believe that, within this larger ranking, we must also break down the four major categories and rank them. Clearly, we take this whole thing very seriously. So, let's establish that, obviously, the original format reigns supreme. That's easy.

In second place comes the Grooves, which were very close to the original, offering everything we already love about Cheez-Its plus some oft-needed textural contrast. In an extremely close third place, we liked the thin-crust-pizza consistency of the Snap'd, and in fourth, came the oddball Puffs. All this being said, some flavors were better than others, so every Original did not beat out every Snap'd, per se. But when the Puffs aren't our favorite category, and the Cheddar Jack flavor was so good in its original shape and size, the Cheddar Jack Puff'd naturally fell towards the bottom of the barrel. Don't worry, much more is to come on the intricacies of all these factors.

Are you the person who digs around in the box of Cheez-Its, first choosing all the crackers that look the most, honestly, burnt? Don't worry, we won't judge you, as long as you ask everyone whether or not it's okay to touch every single cracker along your quest. So get excited, because Nabisco has created not one but two kinds of Cheez-Its that are entirely made up of your faves: Extra Toasty.

There's not too much to say here, because if you like them over-baked, you should buy this box, and if you think the crackers are fine as they are, don't. But here's another reason to choose these whether or not you believe the original needed the upgrade: We think that these would be excellent on top of our absolute favorite soups (which we have a lot of). You put saltines or oyster crackers on soup all the time, so why not give your bowl an extra pop of cheesiness? It's a great idea, particularly with these extra warming, extra crunchy versions of Cheez-Its.

The Original Cheez-It gets flattened, literally, in the Cheez-It Snap'd Double Cheese. Not in the "flattened" as in, "lost abysmally to its competitor" sense, though, because we like the original square shape better. These are, like Extra Big, better for scooping, but, once again, what you are scooping, and why are you using this cracker? These are also nice if you're willing to sacrifice flakiness for crunch. It's missing those tiny, tiny air pockets. The salt really cuts through the cheese in every single cracker we tried, but this one in particular. Maybe it's because there's a more expansive surface area for the salt to cling to.

At first, it tastes more snappy because of all that salt. Then, the salt lingers and leaves you feeling a little bit parched. It's a fine, fine line. If you want a Cheez-It that almost tastes more like a cheesy thick-cut potato chip than the typical cracker, this is it. As far as the promise of extra cheese, it seems to have just the same as an original Cheez-It in this shape.

We've talked about the "more is more" approach to Cheez-Its: Extra Big, Extra Cheesey, etcetera. But what about extra cheese varieties? The Italian Four Cheese crackers fit Romano, Parmesan, mozzarella, and asiago cheeses into a relatively small space. The general takeaway we had? It tastes like the topping of a cheese pizza. Not the sauce, not the crust, just the cheese. It must be that combination of Parmesan and mozzarella, the two Italian classics.

We can't exactly say that we tasted the other two, but does anyone actually taste four distinct kinds of cheese when under the four, five, six, or 10-cheese umbrella? It's a nice alternative to all those cheddars, but we do think it could have used some pizza seasonings such as oregano, basil, or crushed red pepper to liven it up.

When there's a wider cracker to chomp, it makes perfect sense to use a wider palate of seasoning. In the Snap'd Parmesan Ranch, there is cheese, of course, but of the Parmesan variety. And we all know that Parmesan, with its boldly salty and nutty-tasting notes, is practically a seasoning itself. It's a great addition to this Cheez-It. But that's not all, and not even our favorite part: The buttermilk, herbaceous ranch really uplifts the cracker to a new level.

Now, pair these with a luscious creamy spinach dip, and we're in a really good snacking spot. The Parmesan in the dip would bring out the Parmesan in the chips, and the herby ranch seasoning would taste fresher than it actually is when contrasted with something so decadent.

What's better than one Cheez-It? Two Cheez-Its. What's better than two Cheez-Its? Two Cheez-Its that are different flavors. And best of all, you don't have to buy two separate boxes of Cheez-Its when there are boxes of Duos on the shelves. The only box on our shelves, sadly, was the Duoz Sharp Cheddar & Parmesan. The gimmick works, at least halfway. It looks much more fun from a visual perspective, and from a taste perspective, who doesn't want more flavor?

The former flavor is essentially a regular Cheez-It, albeit with slightly more sass. It's really just a foil to the latter. Let's get a whole box of these funky, peppery, and effervescent Parmesan Cheez-Its, please. They are what makes this box of crackers a box of crackerjack.

The White Cheddar Cheez-Its are shockingly moreish. Well, every Cheez-It is, but these, in particular, prompted us to eat just one more. Part of the reason, we figured out, was that we really only felt like we got that terrific sharp flavor once we were a few crackers in. Other Cheez-Its struck us from the very first taste. This is why they don't rank even higher because that flavor really is incredible. It's so tangy.

How can you not love these? Did you know that the color of your cheese might provide some significant clues as to where it was made? The ivory hue of white cheddar, for example, likely hails from the Northeast as opposed to, say, the dark golden hue of cheese often from the West or Southwest. But no matter what, if you're eating white cheddar, you're going to get some nice, sharp bites of cheese.

At first, we didn't understand how the Cheddar Jack Cheez-Its would taste different from the Originals. And are we talking about Monterey Jack? Colby Jack? Clearly not Pepper Jack... but whatever this stuff is, we're on board. It's hard to say that anything so close to the Original could possibly be better, but we're confident in this ranking. Though the Original's somewhat fabricated cheesiness is charming, now we taste honest-to-goodness cheese in a Cheez-It for the first time.

We loved these crackers. As far as snacks are concerned, we found them to be a small revelation. Most of us agreed that we would be picking up a box on our next trip to the grocery store after this taste test, with some even saying they would stock up with at least two or three. We can guarantee that this current pictured box was empty by the day's end, that's for sure.