The best Vegan cereal guide – Top 7 brands (2023)

There are plenty of healthy plant-based breakfasts, but sometimes all you want is a bowl of cereal. 

Maybe you switched your regular milk to plant-based milk but are ready to go entirely vegan. If you recently went vegan or have been plant-based for quite some time, you are probably wondering what cereals are vegan.

When it comes to vegan cereal, there are quite a few options.

Vegan cereal brands

If you are new to the vegan lifestyle, you may be surprised to hear many of the classic cereals you enjoyed before are vegan. Whether you are looking for a new cereal brand to enjoy for breakfast or a snack, it will be helpful to know what cereals are vegan. 

In some cases, your favorite cereal brands and flavors are accidentally vegan. Here are some of the best vegan cereal options. 

Kashi

Kashi has quite a few vegan options. Some Kashi cereals contain honey which is not vegan-friendly, but most of their other flavors are safe. These include:

• 7 Whole Grain Flakes Cereal
• 7 Whole Grain Puffs Cereal
• Cinnamon French Toast Cereal
• Organic Blueberry Clusters Cereal
• Organic Indigo Morning Cereal
• Organic Island Vanilla Cereal
• Organic Sprouted Grains Cereal
• Organic Strawberry Fields Cereal
• Organic Sweet Potato Sunshine Cereal

They have some vegan cereals tailored to children as well. Kashi is one of those brands that clearly states whether or not their cereal flavors are vegan on each of their boxes. When purchasing a box of Kashi cereal, look for the word vegan. It is always possible for an old recipe to change or that the brand will add a new one.

General Mills Fiber One Original

Fiber One Original Bran Breakfast Cereal does not contain the pesky vitamin D that many often fail to realize is non-vegan. It is easy to assume this ingredient would be safe, but in most cases, it is not. This cereal contains many other vitamins that are safe. It also has simple ingredients, making this cereal a pretty healthy vegan-friendly option.

Nature’s Path

Nature’s Path offers quite a few vegan options. Unlike many other cereal brands, Nature’s Path is clear about which of their products are vegan and which are not. You can even check the box vegan when looking through their products online, so you only see the vegan-friendly items. Vegan cereal options at Nature’s Path include: 

• Nature’s Path Flax Plus Cinnamon Flakes
• Nature’s Path Flax Plus Pecan Crunch
• Nature’s Path Flax Plus Multibran Flakes
• Nature’s Path Flax Plus Pumpkin Raisin Crunch
• Nature’s Path Flax Plus Pumpkin Raisin Bran Flakes
• Nature’s Path Flax Plus Red Berry Crunch
• Nature’s Path Sunrise Crunchy Maple Cereal
• Nature’s Path Sunrise Crunchy Vanilla Cereal
• Nature’s Path Sunrise Crunchy Cinnamon Cereal
• Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise Flakes
• Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise Flakes with Raisins
• Nature’s Path Optimum Power Blueberry Cinnamon Flax Cereal
• Nature’s Path Fruit Juice Corn Flakes
• Nature’s Path Millet Rice Flakes
• Nature’s Path Multigrain Oat Bran Flakes
• Nature’s Path Rice Puffs
• Nature’s Path SmartBran Cereal
• Nature’s Path Whole O’s Cereal
• Nature’s Path Kamut Puffs

There are tons of vegan-friendly cereal options at Nature’s Path, including kids cereals called EnviroKidz. 

Barbara’s Puffins

Barbara’s Puffins Cereal comes in many vegan-friendly flavors. These include Peanut Butter, Cinnamon, Multigrain, Protein Berry Burst, and Original. Each serving is low in sugar, containing no more than 9g of added sugar. This cereal uses whole grains, but that does not mean it is bland.

Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats Unfrosted Bite Size

To enjoy Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats you have to opt for the unfrosted version. Unfortunately, it appears this cereal may have been discontinued. They are no longer listed on Kellogg’s website and appear out of stock where they were once available. This cereal was once easy to find, and it may be available again someday soon. 

Seven Sundays

The Real Cocoa Grain Free Sunflower Cereal from Seven Sundays is vegan-friendly and delicious. It contains no refined sugar and is even gluten-free.

Cascadian Farm

Cascadian Farm creates organic cereals that use whole-food ingredients. Many of their flavors are suitable for plant-based eaters. Some of these cereals contain honey and other non-vegan ingredients, so you should always read the box when picking up one of their cereal options at the store.

It appears that Cascadian Farm Cinnamon Crunch Cereal, Cascadian Farm Graham Crunch Cereal, Cascadian Farm Multi Grain Squares Cereal, and Cascadian Farm Raisin Bran Cereal are all vegan.

Quaker

Quaker is a classic brand that surprisingly has a handful of vegan-friendly cereals. These include Quaker Original Life, Quaker Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat, Quaker Corn Bran, and Quaker Cinnamon Life. 

Food For Life

There are many vegan-certified Ezekiel 4:9 cereal flavors that are not just free from animal ingredients, but also pretty healthy. They are high in fiber and contain nothing but GMO-free ingredients. The following 9 flavors are safe for us:

• Almond,
• Almond Sprouted whole grain,
• Cinnamon raisin whole grain,
• Flax and Chia Sprouted flake,
• Flax sprouted whole grain,
• Original Flake,
• Raisin Flake,
• Sprouted Flake Low Sodium Crunchy,
• Sprouted Whole Grain cereal.

Some cereals contain ingredients that not all vegans approve of, but other vegans choose to eat them.

When it comes to some cereals, whether or not you choose to consume them may depend on if you are a strict vegan or not. There are some ingredients in many types of cereal, such as palm oil, that many consider unethical and non-vegan. If you are new to the vegan lifestyle or do not plan on being strict, the following may be okay. 

Reese’s Puffs

Reeses’ Puffs combines two of the tastiest flavors, peanut butter, and chocolate. Reese’s Puffs contain vitamin D, which some vegans choose not to consume. In some cases vitamin D is fine, and in other cases it is not.

This cereal has 11 grams of whole grain per serving. It does not contain high fructose corn syrup or artificial colors and flavors. You will not miss these ingredients or sacrifice any flavors you love.

Grape Nuts

Grape Nuts are one of the most healthy cereals out there, and it is considered vegan. This cereal contains sugar and vitamin D3, which many vegans avoid, so some vegans prefer not to eat this cereal. 

If you want to enjoy a bowl of Grape Nuts and get plenty of fiber in the process, this might be a good option for you. It depends on your view of sugar and Vitamin D3. If you choose to eat Grape Nuts, you can dress up a bowl with fruit and other toppings to add a little more flavor to your breakfast. 

Cap’n Crunch

Three of the most popular Cap’n Crunch cereals are vegan-friendly. According to PETA, this includes Cap’n Crunch, Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries, and Cap’n Crunch’s Peanut Butter Crunch. Cap’n Crunch has additional flavors that are not safe for vegans, but luckily the tastiest three are just fine. 

Not all vegans approve of Cap’n Crunch. It contains ingredients like artificial colors, palm oil, and sugar. The Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 appear to go without animal by-products, so they should be okay. When it comes to peanut butter cereal, you might opt for Barbara’s Bakery Peanut Butter Puffins instead. 

Life Cereal

We couldn’t say for sure that Life Cereal is vegan, since It contains white sugar. Luckily, each day fewer refineries use bone char for filtering sugar. However, deciding whether Quaker Oats Company’s breakfast cereal is vegan or not is up to you.

There are plenty of other vegan cereals out there not listed above. Over the years, brands have altered their recipes to fit the needs of plant-based eaters. Things could always change more in the future.

What Can Make A cereal Non-Vegan?

Well, a lot of animal-derived things can make it not suitable for a plant-based diet. How to spot them on the ingredient list? Here is the guide for that:

• Dairy: Easy to spot, since it is written in bold letters.
• Egg: Pretty obviously. Not common, but It could happen.
• Honey: A lot of brands use honey as a sweeter since it is considered healthy. However, It isn’t cruelty-free.
• Refined white sugar: If you are a strict Vegan, you have to consider white sugar. Even nowadays, bone char is added to the sugar in countless places to make it appear whiter. If there is no “Vegan” label on the package, then It’s hard to decide.
• Vitamin D: Unfortunately, most of the time the extra vitamins come from animal sources.
• Gelatin: Luckily, Not many kinds of cereal contain gelatin.
• Carmine, aka E122: Red food color that comes from bugs. Yikes!

Well, there could be other ingredients that make a cereal not suitable for the vegan diet. Always be cautious!

That’s clear, so what makes a Cereal Vegan for sure?

It’s a difficult question. If It doesn’t contain animal-delivered ingredients and it hasn’t been tested on animals of course. But how can you be sure about this? The “Vegan” label on the package is proof of 100 percent plant-based cereal. The brands mentioned above are cruelty-free as well for sure.

Okay, I found one that is suitable for my diet! But How to eat Vegan Cereal?

Everybody knows that cereal is served with milk, and milk comes from animals. So what to do? It’s time to switch to plant-based milk if you haven’t done it before! Hundreds of plant milk waiting for you, for example, rice, almond, coconut, cashew, and oat milk.

Finally, only one question left: Which goes first for a vegan, the cereal or the plant milk?

Frequently Ask Questions

Okay, there could be still a quite few questions left. If you can’t find the answer above, feel free to ask us! We will find out the answer!