7 Strawberry-Flavored Cereals, Ranked Worst To Best

Go down the cereal aisle at your local grocery store, and you'll be met with seemingly endless options. Not only are there so many different brands to choose from, but there are so many variations within each of those brands. This can make it difficult to choose which box to grab, unless you're looking for a specific flavor profile. But if you tend to like most fruity cereals, then there's probably a good chance that you'll also enjoy strawberry-flavored cereals. It turns out that there are plenty of them from which to choose, so it may be a category worth exploring. 

As a true cereal lover, I've tasted seven different strawberry-flavored cereals to deliver the 411 on which ones taste best ... and which are best left on the shelf. Note that I've selected only boxes in which the cereals themselves are strawberry-flavored, not those with more neutral-flavored cereals and dried strawberries added to the mix. I've ranked these cereals based on flavor and texture, with the most balanced (and often least sweet) rising to the top of the ranks, and the soggiest falling to the bottom. Take a closer look, and you might just find your next favorite cereal.

I'm actually shocked at how deeply I dislike Frosted Flakes Strawberry Milkshake. Before opening the box, I was already hesitant, since this isn't just a basic strawberry cereal — rather, it's supposed to taste like a strawberry milkshake. I guess that's kind of true, considering how cloyingly sweet this product is. Unlike standard Frosted Flakes, which is just one of many cereal brands owned by Kellogg's, in which you can really taste that sweet corn flavor, this cereal basically only tastes like the added strawberry milkshake flavoring. That wouldn't be a bad thing if it tasted like an actual strawberry milkshake, but instead, it tastes very medicinal, with an artificial strawberry note that somehow cuts through all that sugar. Pair that with the fact that Frosted Flakes generally get very soggy after only a few minutes soaking in the milk, and it's clear why this cereal ranked last.

My only positive take on this Strawberry Milkshake Frosted Flakes is that they turn your milk pink after a short time. That's definitely not enough to make me want to eat them again, but it's a novelty that might appeal to little ones.

I usually love Chex cereal, so I was expecting to enjoy Strawberry Vanilla Chex. But as soon as I poured the cereal out of the box and into my bowl, I immediately became suspicious. This stuff looks like regular Chex, except it's covered in a sort of pink sugar. It certainly looks very pretty, but not particularly appetizing. Upon tasting the cereal, I realized how crunchy it is — not from the normal crunch of the Chex themselves, but instead from that pink, crystallized sugar. It yields an unpleasant texture and makes what's supposed to be a breakfast cereal taste more like an ultra-indulgent dessert.

The vanilla note in this cereal is far too strong, and the strawberry tastes like an afterthought. The most predominant flavor in this cereal, though, is just intense sugary sweetness. Sure, I'd expect a strawberry and vanilla-flavored cereal to be quite sweet, but this one goes way overboard. It's not a product I'll be revisiting anytime soon.

These days, there are a surprisingly large number of high-protein cereals on the market, which is perfect if you're looking for a way to add more protein to your diet but still want a quick, easy, and sweet meal first thing in the morning. Strawberry Cheerios Protein is a solid option if you fall into this camp because it's already a recognizable cereal to most cereal lovers. That being said, the flavor of the pea protein that this stuff is made from isn't super pleasant, as it has an odd, unnatural aftertaste that has a slight bitterness to it. And while I enjoy a crunchy cereal, this one doesn't soften up nicely in milk, which means it's losing points on the texture front too.

However, compared to the strawberry-flavored cereals that rank lower than this one, Strawberry Cheerios Protein is a huge step up both in terms of flavor and texture. It's too sweet for my taste, but it's not overwhelmingly sweet, and the fruitiness is appropriately muted. There are much better cereals out there to explore, but if you're craving strawberry cereal specifically, this isn't your worst option.

Out of all the cereals that could possibly be infused with strawberry flavoring, Cinnamon Toast Crunch was one of the ones I expected the least. After all, Cinnamon Toast Crunch already has a strong flavor profile without anything added, thanks to its coating of cinnamon sugar. Surely, the addition of strawberry flavor on top of that would be overkill, right? Actually, I found the flavor to be pretty balanced in this cereal. Cinnamon is still the dominant flavor, and strawberry seems to play more of a supporting role. It works quite well because the strawberry has a lightness to it that you wouldn't get from, say, apple, which is a more traditional accompaniment to cinnamon.

Texture-wise, this cereal is solid, albeit not amazing. The cereal starts off with serious crunch, but it quickly gets soggy in the bowl. You also have some secondary crunch from the sugar sitting on the surface of the cereal, but it's not nearly as egregious as the Strawberry Vanilla Chex. Although I do find this cereal to be far too sweet for my tastes, I think it's one of the less offensive strawberry cereals on store shelves.

We taste tested and ranked a variety of Kashi cereals, and the Kashi Strawberry Banana Smoothie Loops actually landed in the second-worst spot on the list. I still stand by that ranking, but this cereal performs better on this list, thanks to some of the truly unpleasant strawberry-flavored offerings here. Unfortunately, the strawberry portion of this cereal does taste a bit artificial, but that artificiality isn't very pronounced. Blessedly, the banana flavoring isn't as strong as I imagined it would be — banana can sometimes be quite overpowering, and that isn't the case here. One thing I really like about the flavor, though, is the fact that it kind of does taste like a smoothie. As someone who isn't a big strawberry banana smoothie lover myself, that's not a huge selling point for me personally, but I appreciate that the actual flavor is staying true to its intention.

What really earns this cereal its spot in this ranking is the fact that the texture is really nice. Although the pieces of cereal are a similar shape as Cheerios, they have a smoother, denser texture to them, which feels elevated. They also stay crunchy for quite a while after swimming around in milk, although they take on a subtle, pleasant softness after a while.

Something I look for in a cereal is a somewhat neutral flavor profile. I think of cereal as the base of a dish, like rice. You can add various toppings to elevate your bowl of cereal for a more interesting and filling meal. Therefore, I don't actually want cereal to have too much flavor at all, since you can get that from added fruit, nuts, sweeteners, and other toppings. That's one reason Cheerios are such a solid breakfast cereal, and it's why Strawberry Banana Cheerios are in the top two in this ranking. Can you taste those notes of strawberry and banana? Yes. But they're quite subtle, and they leave you tasting more of the grain in the cereal than any added flavorings. Additionally, neither the banana nor strawberry flavors taste artificial, which isn't always the case when it comes to strawberry-flavored cereals.

This cereal may not have the most interesting texture, but it's solid enough that I can't complain. You have some crunch, even after spending some time in milk. It can't quite beat the best-performing cereal on this list, though.

Frosted Mini Wheats has always been one of my favorite cereals thanks to its ultra-crispy texture. All those tiny strands of wheat make for a supreme crunch when you bite into a piece of the cereal dry, but when this cereal gets wet, it's even more delicious, with all those tiny nooks and crannies filling with rich, creamy milk. That being said, I was skeptical about how good Frosted Mini Wheats would taste in its strawberry form. Upon tasting the cereal, I found myself very pleasantly surprised.

Basically, this cereal tastes like normal Frosted Mini Wheats — the real flavor of the grain, that signature subtle sweetness — with just a hint of strawberry. That strawberry flavor doesn't taste artificial at all, which is surprising for a cereal that doesn't actually contain any real pieces of strawberry. Plus, this cereal also turns the milk in your bowl slightly pink. That's not really important on the flavor front, but it's still a nice touch that makes me a bit more excited to eat a bowl. If you're looking for a strawberry cereal that's not going to hit you over the head with its intense strawberry-ness, Frosted Mini Wheats Strawberry might just be your best bet.

I selected these strawberry-flavored cereals based on availability at my local grocery store. I tried each of them with cold, unsweetened, and unflavored almond milk straight out of the refrigerator. The criteria for this ranking include flavor, for which I focused on balanced, not overpowering, sweetness and lack of artificiality, and texture, for which I looked for decent crunchiness and cereal that didn't disintegrate after spending some time soaking in a bowl of milk. The best-ranked cereals on this list aren't too sweet and taste as natural as is possible for this kind of cereal and hold onto their texture even after being exposed to milk for several minutes.