12 Popular Granolas That Are Total Sugar Bombs—Ranked

Granola has been a popular breakfast choice for decades. These days, however, we're not just sprinkling the oaty clusters over yogurt or drowning them in milk in the morning. Granola is also a portable snack for school, work, hiking, and car trips. Maybe you stash a trusty sandwich bag of granola in your bag at all times—we wouldn't blame you; it's a satisfying snack on the go.

As granola has become increasingly popular and more options hit grocery store shelves with flavors like chocolate-peanut butter and white chocolate-raspberry, the breakfast food has also taken on a health halo that can be misleading. Many of us think of granola as a healthy option. And at its core, it should be. Traditionally, granola is made with whole food ingredients like rolled oats, grains, and cereals, plus nuts and seeds that pack heart-healthy fats. You need some sweetener to flavor and help the granola stick together in those snackable clusters. However, some brands have gotten carried away in the sugar department, sometimes loading their oat-based breakfast products with up to 19 grams of added sugar.

That's why it's important not to let health claims and jargon on the front of a bag of granola cloud other ingredients that may make your granola more well-suited for dessert than breakfast. Many granolas on grocery store shelves make impressive-sounding health claims (High protein! Whole grains! Organic ingredients!). Still, the ingredient panels reveal a minefield of sugar in various forms, from honey and molasses to cane sugar and tapioca syrup.

To help cut through the confusion, we've done the research to find the 12 highest-sugar granolas in grocery stores that you can skip in favor of these The Healthiest Granolas on Grocery Shelves, Say Dietitians.

Kirkland Signature & Nature's Path Organic Ancient Grain Granola

Don't be fooled by buzzwords on this packaging like "organic" and "ancient grains." Despite being billed as a family-friendly breakfast food made with whole-food ingredients, a quick scan of the back panel reveals cane sugar and molasses hidden amongst rolled oats, spet, quinoa, and amaranth.

 10 Unhealthiest Granolas To Avoid, According to Dietitians

Kashi Go Peanut Butter Crunch

Though technically billed as a cereal, this breakfast-in-a-box has the oaty clusters most associate with granola. It's heavily sweetened with molasses, cane sugar, and brown rice syrup, so much so that the impressive 8 grams of fiber and 10 grams of protein per serving are overshadowed by 9 grams of added sugar.

Wild Harvest Oats and Honey Granola

This cluster-filled granola is fortified with soy protein to offer 11 grams of protein per serving, but that satiating nutrient is combined with an equal amount of sugar per serving that will send you for a sugar crash.

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Sweet Home Farms Honey Nut Granola with Almonds

In addition to the 10 grams of added sugar, this granola from cereal giant Post contains 10 grams of fat, of which 3 grams are saturated fat, more than any other high-sugar granola we found. It's sweetened with cane sugar, honey, and molasses.

Bear Naked Maple Pecan Crumble

Though Bear Naked also makes some great lower-sugar granolas, the maple pecan flavor is not one of them. This breakfast cereal contains 12 grams of sugar from six ingredients: maple syrup, cane sugar, tapioca syrup, honey, brown rice syrup, and molasses.

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Cascadian Farm French Vanilla Almond Granola

The eye-catching statement on the front of a pouch of this vanilla-almond granola from Cascadian Farm that each serving contains 30 grams of whole grains doesn't paint the complete picture. You'll also consume 13 grams of added sugar in the form of cane sugar and molasses along with those whole grains (which, by the way, only contribute 3 grams of fiber per serving).6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Back to Nature Cranberry Pecan Granola

This gluten-free granola may be made with whole grain rolled oats, which contribute 6 grams of fiber, but the second ingredient, brown sugar, means that each serving includes a whopping 11 grams of added sugar. The dried cranberries mixed in are further sweetened, and brown rice syrup is a binder.

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Honey Bunches of Oats French Vanilla Almond Granola

This granola from the beloved cereal brand Honey Bunches of Oats has a shorter (and, unfortunately, sweeter) ingredient list than most. The second ingredient is sugar, and the cereal is further fortified with rice syrup and honey.

Jessica's Natural Foods Butterscotch Chip Granola

It may not come as a surprise that granola with a name that sounds like an ice cream flavor would be loaded with sugar. A bowl of this cereal includes 15 grams of added sugar thanks to butterscotch chips, honey, brown sugar, and maple syrup.

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Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola

It's probably better for the classic combo of peanut butter and chocolate to stay in dessert territory rather than make its way to the breakfast table. This granola from cult favorite grocery store Trader Joe's packs 15 grams of added sugar from cane sugar, chocolate chunks, and brown rice syrup. It also contains 11 grams of fat per serving, on the higher end of high-sugar granolas.

Wegmans Organic Vanilla & Almonds Granola

Of the 17 grams of sugar in each serving of this grocery store brand granola, 16 come from added sugars in the form of cane sugar, honey, barley malt syrup, and even a sugar-laden spice blend. That's just one gram less than the sugar in a serving of M&M's—and you probably wouldn't pour those over your morning yogurt.

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Nature Valley Cranberry Almond Protein Granola

A single serving of this granola contains a whopping 19 grams of sugar, just 3 grams shy of a bag of Skittles. Though marketing claims on the front of the bag promote the 13 grams of protein per serving, you'd be much better off getting your protein from a breakfast food not laden with sugar, tapioca syrup, and molasses.