Does Magic Spoon Cereal Live Up to the Hype? Here’s Our Review

While each product featured is independently selected by our editors, we may include paid promotion. If you buy something through our links, we may earn commission. Read more about our Product Review Guidelines here.

Cereal is one of those foods that makes everything better. Bad mood? Grab a bowl of cereal. Want a late-night snack? Grab a bowl of cereal. Hungover? Grab a bowl of cereal. As you can tell, we’re cereal fanatics — especially because preparing a bowl requires zero cooking skills.

Our current cereal obsession? Magic Spoon ($38 for four boxes, originally $44). You may be wondering why we’re hype about a fairly commonplace breakfast option, but Magic Spoon isn’t your regular cereal. It’s high in protein, has zero grams of sugar, and is grain- and gluten-free, but looks just like the bowl of Os you’ve been eating for years. It even comes in a variety of flavors, including Fruity, Cocoa, Peanut Butter, Cinnamon Roll, Blueberry Muffin, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Frosted, Birthday Cake, and Honey Nut.

Magic Spoon cofounders Gabi Lewis and Greg Sewitz say they “grew up loving cereal, like most kids do.” Then, as they started to pay more attention to nutrition and what they eat, they realized that cereal can be “mostly just a box of sugar,” they tell PS. “So we thought, ‘What if you could actually re-create the taste and texture of all those sugary cereals and make it. . . high-protein, low-carb, zero-sugar, gluten-free, grain-free, like, ticking every nutritional box?'” Lewis adds. “The biggest thing we try to accomplish is to make you feel like a kid again,” she says. “So our goal as a company is to create delicious nostalgic breakfast foods that don’t involve any compromise.”

After some experimenting in the kitchen followed by taste tests from friends and family members, Lewis and Sewitz came up with the current ingredient blend. The cereal became such a hit, Magic Spoon even launched cereal bars in February 2022.

Of course, carbs and sugar aren’t evil. But if you’re watching your intake, are gluten-free, or just want more filling protein in your breakfast or snack, then this could be a great cereal to try. Curious? Here’s the scoop.

What I Like About Magic Spoon Cereal

When it comes to better-for-you cereal, we’re mostly concerned with the nutritional information and the taste. As for the former, a one-cup serving of Magic Spoon delivers 13 to 14 grams of protein, one to two grams of fiber, and three grams of net carbs (which refer to the number of carbs in a food, minus any carbs from fiber and sugar alcohols, neither of whicht affect blood sugar.) In the cereal world, that’s a ton of protein; even other “healthy” cereals have much less. For example, one cup of generic bran flakes has only four grams of protein, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Magic Spoon cereals are also free from: gluten, grains, cane sugar, corn syrup, and sugar alcohols.

Despite being nutritionally very different from your typical cereal, the taste will still satisfy your craving for something light, crunchy, and sweet. In my experience, it’s tough to nail the texture and taste of better-for-you cereals. But Magic Spoon does it, replicating the crunch of a Cheerio or Fruit Loop while delivering all the flavor you want in a bowl of cereal. Magic Spoon flavors aren’t necessarily exact dupes of your favorite childhood cereal; instead, they deliver a slightly elevated update Some flavors might give you a little nostalgia, and others are just delicious in their own right.

I also love the packaging, which further the brand’s kids’-cereal vibe. On the back of each colorful box is a puzzle that you can play to reignite your inner child while enjoying Magic Spoon. “We wanted to nod to kids’ cereal, and so we’ve created this line of characters that are slightly grown up, even slightly psychedelic versions of classic cereal box characters,” Lewis says. “We wanted to put it in a box to sort of evoke that feeling of childhood nostalgia.”

What to Consider Before Trying Magic Spoon Cereal

For all the things that Magic Spoon is — low-sugar, high-protein, gluten-free, artificial color-free, and artificial sweetener-free, — there’s one thing it isn’t: vegan. That’s because Magic Spoon’s base is a milk protein blend containing whey protein concentrate and casein.

Its sweetener blend contains monk fruit and allulose, a sugar found in certain fruits, including figs, jackfruit, and raisins. The cereal also contains chicory root inulin; both it and allulose are prebiotics, and while they’re gut-friendly (they feed the healthy bacteria that live in your GI tract), they can cause bloating or stomach upset in some people, so if you’re new to Magic Spoon, it’s worth trying a small bowl first and making sure it won’t trigger any unwanted symptoms. That said, in general there isn’t a ton of fiber in Magic Spoon — about 1 gram per serving.

Finally, Magic Spoon is pricey, clocking in at about $9.50 per box, whereas “traditional” cereals might run you $4 or $5. That’s due to the quality ingredients. You can find savings by buying bundles, but that also requires investing in a larger number of boxes up front.

Who Magic Spoon Cereal Is Best For

Anyone who likes cereal would enjoy Magic Spoon, but it’s an especially good fit for people trying to increase their protein intake or who have a dietary restriction that requires them to avoid sugar, gluten, grain, artificial dyes, or artificial sweeteners.

Additional Details About Magic Spoon Cereal

Where Is Magic Spoon Cereal Available?

You can order Magic Spoon Cereal and treats from MagicSpoon.com or Amazon.com, online or in person at Target and Walmart, and in some grocery stores such as Costco.

Rating:

★★★★☆

— Additional reporting by Mirel Zaman

Angelica Wilson is a former associate fitness editor for PS. She’s a tall, plus-size yoga instructor who’s a been a K-pop fan since ’09. She enjoys sharing what brings her joy so that others can potentially find joy in her interests as well.

Mirel Zaman (she/her) is the health and fitness director at PS. She has over 15 years of experience working in the health and wellness space, covering fitness, general health, mental health, relationships and sex, food and nutrition, spirituality, family and parenting, culture, and news.

align=”right”>