Three Wishes Cereal Tastes Like Your Childhood Faves, But It’s Shockingly Nutritious

You’ve become a pro at reining in your childlike cravings for mini marshmallows and chocolate filling when strolling the cereal aisle, faithfully sticking to your favorite healthy cereals. But what if we told you that you could have all the nutrition of your current breakfast and a taste of nostalgia in one bite? Meet Three Wishes, a family-owned, better-for-you cereal brand that makes eating a healthy breakfast feel a lot less tedious and a lot more fun.

RELATED: The 30 Healthiest Cereals You Can Buy at the Grocery Store

  • Value: 16/20

  • Functionality: 20/20

  • Quality: 19/20

  • Aesthetics: 20/20

  • Taste*: 18/20

TOTAL: 93/100

There’s a lot to love about Three Wishes’s offerings, but let’s start with the ingredients. Instead of leaning on commodity grains like wheat, rice, corn and oats, Three Wishes is made with nutrient-dense ingredients like chickpeas, tapioca and pea protein instead. These boost the cereal’s protein and fiber content while also keeping gluten and grains out of the mix. The entire line is non-GMO and vegan (yup, even the Honey flavor), as well as soy-, peanut- and dairy-free.

As for the numbers, each ¾-cup serving contains only 110 to 130 calories and a modest 2 grams of fat, plus about 10 percent each of your daily calcium and iron. Each serving also boasts 8 grams of protein and 3 to 4 grams of fiber. Thanks to monk fruit and just a tad of organic cane sugar, the cereals have a light sweetness, yet only contain 3 grams of sugar per serving (except for the Unsweetened flavor, which is sugar-free)—far less than some big-brand options you see at the supermarket.

But let’s get down to the most important part: Despite their lean numbers, Three Wishes’s cereals are inspired by the nostalgic flavors of your childhood. They’re currently available in Honey, Cinnamon, Cocoa and Fruity, so you can savor the fun flavors you used to love without all the sugar and empty calories. And trust, your kids will be none the wiser. Those are major wins in our book.

Three Wishes is available nationally in stores like Whole Foods Market and Wegmans, but you can also order it online. You can score six 8.6-ounce boxes for $40 (or about $6.70 a box) or buy single boxes for $10 each. It’s certainly more expensive than most cereals you’d see on the shelf, but it’s a price you might be willing to pay for a protein-rich breakfast that’s easier to throw together than cracking an egg.

If you can’t decide which flavor to try first, trust us: We have no doubt that you’ll likely enjoy all five. But if you’d rather start with one, read on for our top three flavors.

Buy it ($40/six-pack or $10/one-pack)

3. Cinnamon

There’s nothing not to like about this warm-spiced pick. Its cinnamon flavor shines through without a grainy coating of sugar and flavor dust, and the pieces are large, crunchy and toothsome. This one is basically a guaranteed homerun with picky kids. Serve it with milk and sliced bananas or top your daily yogurt with a handful (or two).

Taste: 18/20

Buy it ($40/six-pack or $10/one-pack)

2. Cocoa

Like that iconic chocolatey cereal you noshed on as a kid, but more refined. You’ll love to see your old fave all grown-up: Think quality dark chocolate versus an overly sweet milk chocolate bar. The cocoa taste is prominent and offers coffee-like roasty notes, so much so that it reminds us of the caffeine-toting Dash cereal from OffLimits. Might we suggest using this one in better-for-you marshmallow treat bars?

Taste: 18/20

Buy it ($40/six-pack or $10/one-pack)

1. Fruity

What a blast from the past. This flavor tastes almost identical to its sugary predecessor, so color us impressed. (Speaking of color, don’t sweat Fruity’s pink hue—it’s made with vegetable juice instead of artificial dyes.) Its flavor is almost tough to pinpoint (much like the O.G.), but we taste hints of citrus and berries, like a sweet orange-strawberry hybrid. We’d have it plain with milk to put its flavor centerstage, but we won’t tell if you sprinkle some over a scoop of light vanilla ice cream.

Taste: 19/20

Buy it ($40/six-pack or $10/one-pack)

*Our final taste score was based on the average of the cereal taste test scores.

The PureWow100 is a scale our editors use to vet new products and services, so you know what’s worth the spend—and what’s total hype. Learn more about our process here.

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