Flavors Tried: High Protein Chocolate Almond (not Special K Zero cereal)
Price: $8 for box of 7 servings ($1.15 per serving)
Nutrition (1 cup): 240 Calories, 6g Fat, 29g Carbs (4g Fiber & 9g Sugar), 20g Protein
Special K has had protein cereal on shelves for as long as I can remember; in fact, they were likely one of the first to do it.
However, their plain protein cereal leaves a lot to be desired. The Special K multigrain protein cereal is decent for what it is, but it has never been a cereal that has gotten me excited.
Well, now Special K has a new “High Protein” chocolate almond cereal, which looks to elevate its protein cereal line to new levels.
At the time of writing this, the High Protein cereal only comes in chocolate almond flavor.
Special K also released a new keto-friendly cereal called Special K Zero, which is cinnamon flavored, but I’ll leave that separate from this review and add a separate review if I give that one a try.
The chocolate almond high protein Special K cereal is not a keto cereal, which I was actually very excited about. Since there’s a little bit of sugar to it, I was hopeful that it would make for a better-tasting protein cereal than many of the other options out there.
With 240 calories per cup, it’s on the higher calorie side, but that also comes with 20 grams of protein.
A protein snack with 240 calories and 20g of protein looks like a typical protein bar, so the fact that this is cereal with those nutrition facts really gets me excited.
Plus, if you’re plant-based, this cereal will fit your diet as well!
When I opened up this cereal, 2 things stood out to me:
- The flakes are not super chocolatey, and the color is much lighter than chocolate cereal you’re used to seeing.
- The smell is pretty subtle. When you open up the box, you’re not hit with the smell of chocolate that you’d hope for.
Given those two observations, it’s not surprising that this cereal has a pretty subtle flavor overall.
While I can absolutely taste chocolate in this cereal, it’s not as prominent as I’d like. If they punched up the dark chocolate flavor, this cereal would improve significantly.
But even though the flavor is subtle, I find it to be a pleasant chocolate flavor. It’s not overly sweet, which I find to be a good thing, and there’s no strange artificial flavor like with some protein cereal out there.
There is a very slight aftertaste to this cereal, but not enough for me to dislike the cereal. Given the fact that this has 20 grams of protein, that tiny bit of an aftertaste is not surprising.
The real test for any cereal is how well it holds up in milk…
In my opinion, this Special K protein cereal improves significantly in milk.
If the cereal is a 6/10 dry, it’s about an 8/10 in milk.
While the chocolate flavor is still subtle, it is complimented really well by the milk, and that slightly bitter aftertaste is pretty much eliminated.
And unlike most keto cereals out there that stay insanely crunchy in milk, these flakes actually soften a bit in milk. My favorite part of any bowl of cereal is when the cereal starts to soften in milk (before it gets too soggy) so I was really happy to see this cereal do exactly that.
Since this cereal isn’t super chocolatey, you also don’t get a ton of chocolate runoff in the milk, but you do get a tiny bit.
If this is the only protein cereal you’ve ever tried, I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t like it.
I know that many people out there are going to buy this cereal and expect it to taste like a regular breakfast cereal, and that is simply never going to be the case with any protein cereal.
If you infuse 20 grams of protein into any food, it’s never going to taste quite as good as the real thing.
But, as far as protein cereal is concerned, this is one of the better options out there. If you want a protein cereal that eats like a regular cereal, this is the one.
In terms of flavor, I still think Magic Spoon is at the very top of the list, and I would choose Magic Spoon over Special K every single time. However, I was really pleasantly surprised by this cereal.
You simply can’t try this cereal expecting it to taste like regular cereal. But if you adjust your expectations, I think you’ll enjoy this one.
Now, is it worth $8 per box? That’s tough to say. If you compare the price to a standard box of cereal, then it certainly is not.
But, if you compare it to a protein bar, and you’re only spending $1 per serving, then it’s a great deal.
So, it all depends on your perspective. I do think it’s worth trying, but that is up to you!
