At Zipongo, we’re huge fans of granola. But, of course, the kinds of granola we favor are wide-ranging, leaving us wondering which is the best granola brand in terms of taste and nutrition. In general, granola’s a healthy food. It’s full of whole grains and complex carbs, making it perfect for breakfast or a light snack. In order to settle our granola differences, we set up a blind taste test to find the best granola brand.
Granola Brand Competitors
From left to right:
- Nature’s Valley Protein Oats ’n Honey
- KIND Oats & Honey Clusters
- Open Nature Honey Nut Dream
- Nature’s Path Honey Almond Granola
- Bob’s Red Mill Honey Oat Granola
Best Granola Brand Blind Taste Test
Best Granola Brand Taste-Test Results
The top two winners for taste were Open Nature Honey Nut Dreams and Nature’s Path Honey Almond.
Bob’s Red Mill and Nature’s Valley granola placed third and fourth. Testers remarked that Nature’s Valley had a powdery texture, which is likely due to the added protein powder.
KIND granola bars are a favorite in the Zipongo office. The cranberry almond flavor scored highly in our granola bar Wiser Wednesday taste test. So, imagine our surprise when KIND Oats & Honey Clusters took last place in the granola taste test. Folks found the granola “dry” with “a funny aftertaste.”
Following are three things to consider when choosing a healthy granola.
Three Steps to Finding a Healthy Granola
What should you look for when shopping for granola?
- Stick to the fruit and nut flavors. Avoiding flavors like chocolate or yogurt will automatically cut down on the amounts of unhealthy saturated fats in your granola.
- Take a look at the amount of fiber. Choose one with as close to the 20% daily value for fiber as possible.
- Check to see how much sugar’s been added. Compare brands side by side and choose the one with the lowest amount. In our testing, we found that granolas with less than 12 g of sugar per 1/2 cup serving are generally a good choice.
Watching Out for (too much) Sugar
One of the main things that can make a store-bought granola not so healthy is if there’s a lot of sugar in it. The American Heart Association recommends consuming fewer than 6 teaspoons of added sugars per day for women and fewer than 9 teaspoons per day for men.
Interpreting the grams of sugar on a nutrition label is easier than you’d think. Take the number of grams and divide it by four. This gives you the amount of sugar in teaspoons.
Granola with Flax or Chia – Which Is Better?
The answer is both. Flax and chia seeds are commonly added to popular granola brands. We love flax and chia because they’re the most common plant sources of omega-3 fatty acids. These healthy fats are mainly found in fatty fish.
In order to get the most omega-3 bang for your buck, choose chia seeds or ground flax seeds. Whole flax seeds aren’t digested and absorbed very easily, so you might miss out on the omega-3 benefits.
Zipongo Recommends
Open Nature Honey Nut Dream was the best granola brand of the bunch when it comes to taste, and it just so happens to be one of the healthiest.
This granola has:
- 4 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein per 1/2 cup serving. What that means is Open Nature Honey Nut Dream makes for a hearty breakfast or snack.
- It contains fewer than 12 grams of sugar per serving, which comes out to about 3 teaspoons.
Until the next blind taste test, snack wiser.
Bobby is the community and social media manager at Zipongo. He has a degree in nutrition and dietetics and previously worked as a health educator.
