We Taste-Tested 28 Brands of Granola—Here Are Our Favorites

Like many of my colleagues, I am pretty serious about my granola consumption. On weekends, when I can fully commit to making a batch of homemade granola, I look forward to inhaling its toasted, caramelized, nutty aroma as it bakes, then digging into a fresh, still-warm bowl. When I plow through my granola stash faster than I can make it, though, I reach for the store-bought stuff. The question is: Which granola is worth buying?

To find the very best store-bought granola, our editors sampled 28 different brands that you’re likely to find at your local grocery store or online. We stuck to oat-based granolas flavored with honey, maple, and/or vanilla, and those marketed as original or classic. We allowed simple inclusions, such as nuts and dried fruit. We poured each into bowls, then sampled them in random order without knowing which brand was which. After crunching our way through 28 different granolas, we tabulated the results and crowned an overall winner, as well as three worthy contenders that we’d be happy to eat at breakfast or atop a scoop of ice cream.

The Criteria

Great granola should be crispy and hearty. It should have bite-size pieces that are pleasantly crunchy but not hard or large enough to break your teeth. It should be nicely toasted but not burnt or acrid. Though a touch of sweetness is welcome, it should not be cloying, and there should be just enough salt to round it out. Store-bought granola doesn’t have to taste freshly baked, but it shouldn’t taste dusty or stale.

Overall Winner

Tom’s Perfect 10 Classic

This New York–made granola completely won over our editors. “This is an actual granola I’d eat,” our editorial director, Daniel, wrote after biting into a “nice fruity chunk.” Genevieve, our senior editor, loved the dried cherries and the granola’s balanced flavor. Most of our editors agreed that this granola had the right amount of crunch and chew. Jessie, our visuals editor, enjoyed the granola’s “sticky-ish” texture and would recommend it to fans of dried prunes. I loved this granola so much—both for its chewy fruit clusters and salty-sweetness—that after the taste test, I snuck the bag home before anyone else could claim it.

Runners-Up

• Michele’s Original Granola
• Nature Valley Granola
• Early Bird Farmhand’s Choice Granola
• Jessica’s Vanilla-Maple Granola

Though none of the other granolas were deemed quite as delicious as our winner, our editors enjoyed a few other brands they’d be happy to scatter atop their yogurt as well.

Everyone praised the texture of Michele’s Original Granola. Genevieve enjoyed its “appropriately-sized morsels” and “good crunch.” Jessie thought it was “lightly sweet, with a good amount of nuts.” Though some of our tasters thought the granola’s sweetness was one-dimensional, they appreciated that it wasn’t cloyingly sweet. Daniel put a solution in simple words: “This needs salt.” (You, too, can add a pinch of salt to your granola.)

Kelli, our senior social editor, immediately clocked Nature Valley Granola because it tasted like a carbon copy of the brand’s Oats ‘N Honey Granola Bars. Like Kelli, I was a big fan of those snacks in my middle school lunchbox and thoroughly enjoyed this granola. Daniel appreciated the graham cracker–like flavor of the granola and said he would happily eat a box or two. Still, some of our editors, including Genevieve, thought the chunks were too big and would have preferred a slightly looser texture.

Daniel was head over heels for Early Bird Farmhand’s Choice Granola. “This is textbook good granola,” he wrote. “Nearly perfect, crisp, not soggy, not huge clusters.” Our associate editorial director, Megan, correctly identified this as Early Bird and named it her overall winner, praising its saltiness, nuts, seeds, and crunch. Likewise, Genevieve applauded its “satisfyingly crunchy” texture and liked that “it wouldn’t break your teeth,” and especially loved the beautifully toasted pecans. Some editors, including Jessie and I, thought it was a touch too salty, but agreed it would pair well with yogurt and fruit. Amanda, our associate visuals director, enjoyed this one as well, but wished “it was clumpy instead of individual pieces.”

Jessica’s Vanilla Maple Granola was a top scorer and the highest-scoring vanilla-flavored entry. Megan liked its “big chunks,” while Genevieve thought the clusters could be crunchier. The flavor itself divided our editors. Some enjoyed the cinnamon and honey, while others found the vanilla and maple notes overly artificial.

The Contenders

• 365 by Whole Foods Maple & Almond Butter Granola
• 365 by Whole Foods Oat & Honey Granola
• Aurora Natural Nut & Honey Granola
• Aurora Natural Vanilla Crunch Granola
• Back Roads Organic Original Granola
• Bear Naked Vanilla Almond Crisp Granola
• BOLA Granola Original
• Bob’s Red Mill Honey Oat Granola
• Cascadian Farm Organic Granola, Oats and Honey
• Early Bird Farmhand’s Choice Granola
• Giant Granola Vanilla Almond
• Good & Gather Honey Almond Vanilla Granola
• Grandy Organics Honey Nut Granola
• Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted Granola
• Jessica’s Vanilla Maple Granola
• Kelly’s Four Plus Honey Maple Granola
• KIND Oats & Honey Granola
• Michele’s Original Granola
• Natural Vert Vegan Original Crispy Granola
• Nature Valley Oats & Honey Protein Granola
• Nature’s Path Honey Almond Granola
• Nature’s Path Pumpkin Seed + Flax Granola
• Nature’s Promise Vanilla Maple Granola
• Purely Elizabeth Original Ancient Grain Granola
• Quaker Oats Honey & Almonds Granola
• ShopRite Oats and Honey Granola
• Tom’s Perfect 10 Classic Granola
• True North Maple Vanilla Granola

Key Takeaways and Conclusion

All of the granolas we tasted have oats as the main ingredient and some added sweetener; many also contained oil, nuts and/or seeds, and warm spices. Some granolas contain preservatives such as tocopherol, a form of vitamin E used to maintain freshness.

Most of the granolas we tasted use sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, or honey as sweeteners. In some granolas, this sweetness came across nicely and was balanced with an appropriate amount of salt. Generally, our editors preferred granolas made with brown sugar, which gave the granola caramel notes and a rich depth of flavor. Our winner, Tom’s Perfect 10 Classic, is sweetened with a combination of dark brown sugar, maple syrup, and honey.

Our Testing Methodology

All taste tests are conducted with brands completely hidden and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample one first, while taster B will taste sample six first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving any one sample an advantage. Tasters are asked to fill out tasting sheets, ranking the samples according to various criteria. All data is tabulated, and results are calculated with no editorial input to provide the most impartial representation of actual results possible.