I consider myself a bit of a cereal aficionado. Growing up fairly poor, we ate cereal A LOT. I spent many mornings, and dinners, with Tony the Tiger, Toucan Sam, and the Cookie Crook. I used to think my culinary apex was finding the right mix of cereals to make the perfect bowl. Ever mix Honey Comb with Golden Grahams?
I can’t tell you how excited I got when I saw keto cereal was a thing. Sometimes you just get that craving for a bowl of cereal or need a quick meal that only cereal can provide. Being on the keto diet makes that difficult.
Luckily, someone heard my call. There are 3 different keto cereal brands that I’ve found. So far I’ve got my hands on the Magic Spoon variety pack and gave it a go…
PROS:
Keto Friendly
It is actually a keto-friendly cereal! A bowl of Cocoa Puffs has 23 grams of net carbs. Frosted Flakes has 24 grams. Magic Spoon…ONLY 3 grams of net carbs!
In addition to the low net carb count, the cereal is also high protein and has 4.5-5 grams of healthy fats, depending on which flavor you’re eating.
Filling
One thing you may notice from other cereals is that they can’t seem to keep you satiated for very long. That’s because they are basically a bowl of sugar, so your body digests that fast and craves more food soon after. Since the Magic Spoon cereal has a few grams of healthy fat and a decent amount of protein, you’re more likely to feel full longer instead of seeking out a snack or second breakfast.
Taste
While it doesn’t taste exactly like your childhood favorites, the cereal is actually pretty good. It’s definitely better than any health food brand I’ve picked up at Whole Foods or other health food stores. Just because it isn’t “the same” doesn’t mean it’s not good. It is! You also don’t get a bland cardboard flavor that most healthy cereal options have. The allulose/monk fruit/stevia make it taste almost like a sugary cereal without the sugar; if that’s what you’re looking for.
Expensive, but not that Expensive
When you order Magic Spoon you have an option of buying one-time or a subscription plan. At the time of this writing, you have to order 4 boxes at a minimum and they aren’t available in stores or Amazon, yet at least. One-time purchases are $39 and the subscription is $35.10, saving 10%. That comes out to $9.75 and $8.76 per box. Compared with traditional cereals, that is 2-3x the price of something like Cap’n Crunch or Cheerios.
That being said, Magic Spoon gives you the per bowl price. Under the one-time purchase price, it is about $1.39 per bowl. The subscription price is $1.25 per bowl. I think that is a very reasonable price for a quick breakfast option, especially considering my usual alternative is the $4.45 sous vide bacon egg bites at Starbucks. And compared to those traditional cereals, this isn’t using junk ingredients with almost zero nutritional value.
Money-Back Guarantee
Say you don’t agree with me on the taste and value of Magic Spoon. You can let them know and they will give you a full refund. Honestly, I haven’t tested out how easy this is since I do like it, but the site advertises their “100% Happiness Guarantee” since they are confident enough in their product.
Convenient
In a rush and don’t have time to make eggs? Boom! Keto cereal to the rescue. Now I’ll admit that this isn’t exactly a nutritional powerhouse, but the cereal is a great option when you are low on time or just don’t have the energy to cook and clean up after yourself. Also, spend enough time on the keto diet, and you’ll realize a lot of keto foods aren’t very pantry friendly. Most of your foods need to be fresh, while a keto cereal can sit in your cabinet for a while.
Chocolate Milk!
What’s one of the best parts of eating a cereal like Cocoa Pebbles? That sweet, sweet chocolate milk at the end of the bowl. The box of cocoa cereal is fairly chocolatey and leaves you with a great chocolate milk finisher to your breakfast.
CONS:
Sticky Cereal
It tends to “cake up” on your molars, leaving you with cereal stuck in the valleys of your teeth and in between them. You end up trying to lick it out for a while until you brush your teeth or it goes away on it’s own.
Allulose
The main sweetener in Magic Spoon cereal is allulose. Some people’s digestive systems don’t tolerate allulose as well as others. Common side effects are diarrhea, gas, and bloating. Usually this is at higher doses though.
Milk
Well, the cereal is keto-friendly, but regular cow’s milk is not. A cup of whole milk has around 12 grams of sugar, so combined with the 3 net carbs from this cereal, and it can start your morning off with too many carbs for the keto diet. You can always use a milk alternative like almond milk, but I find that too watery and not the best milk substitute. I like to use hemp milk for the nutritional value of it and the flavor is on par. There are thicker options if you need the milky consistency like walnut, flax, or oat milk.
Prizeless
No toy in the bottom of the box! Half joke, half serious. It would be amazing if they had a promotional toy or item in the bag, but that’s just a suggestion. Anyone from Magic Spoon reading this, please consider a decoder ring in my next order.
Variety Sucks
I ordered my first case of Magic Spoon cereal with a variety pack so I could sample 4 different flavors. I loved 2, liked 1, and did not like another. The variety pack they offer cannot be customized. The only option is to order the variety pack again, which would include the box I didn’t like, or buy 4 pack cases of individual cereal flavors. I’m willing to bet that after a month of eating the same cereal flavor every single day, I’d get sick of it before it would be time to renew. I could always order 2 different flavors, but I honestly cannot justify spending $80 per month on cereal since I’d have to order 2 full cases to get each flavor.
Magic Spoon Flavors
Frosted
Flavor profile – vanilla and marshmallow flavor (no actual Lucky Charms type marshmallows though)
Cocoa
Flavor profile – rich chocolate flavor made from real cocoa. Closer in flavor to Chocolate Cheerios than Cocoa Puffs
Blueberry
Flavor profile – blueberry powder-coated, tastes something like Booberry. I’m not the biggest fan of this one. I wish you had the option of taking it out of the variety pack while still getting the other 3.
Fruity
Flavor profile – a naturally flavored cereal shaped like Fruit Loops but taste identical to Fruity Pebbles
Cinnamon*
Flavor profile – TBD.
*Cinnamon is not available in the variety pack.
They don’t have this one available in the variety pack, so you need to order a 4 pack of just this. I find it kind of frustrating that they make you order the 4 pack for $39 without knowing how it tastes.
Magic Spoon Cereal Nutrition Facts
The macros are almost identical across all cereals in the variety pack. Every one of them has 1 gram of fiber and just 3 net carbs per serving and 11 grams of protein. The only real, yet slight, difference worth noting is the Fruity flavor has an extra 0.5 grams of fat per serving than the others.
For comparison, here are a couple nutrition labels from old school cereals like Cheerios and Froot Loops. Per serving, Cheerios has 2 grams of fat and just 3 grams of protein with a keto diet killing 17 grams of net carbs. Froot Loops is the anti-keto cereal with just 1 gram of fat and protein with an unfortunate 23 grams of net carbs per serving.
[…] If you’re looking for a no-prep breakfast idea, you can also try out keto cereal. Check out my Magic Spoon review here. […]