Beyond breakfast, cereal and granola are potentially healthy snacks, especially if you eat them with dairy or a plant-based milk and add some fruit and nuts. (Cereals are often highly fortified with nutrients.) You can munch on cereal dry, too, use it to top yogurt, or add it to homemade trail mix. “Combine granola or another cereal with nuts, dried fruit, and some dark chocolate or peanut butter chips,” says Lisa Trone, RDN, an associate clinical professor of nutrition at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Store it in a resealable bag.
If you choose a whole-grain cereal with at least 4 grams of fiber, a little sugar—6 grams or less of added sugars—is okay. In CR’s testing, Grape-Nuts; Cheerios; Post Great Grains Raisins, Dates & Pecans; and Bear Naked Granola Vanilla Almond Crisp were some tasty and nutritious options.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the August 2026 issue of Consumer Reports On Health.