How many carbs are in cereal?

Cheerios: 29g per 1.5 cups. Frosted Flakes: 27g. Lucky Charms: 29g. Carbs for 20 popular breakfast cereals.

Written by

Carb Lens Editorial

Nutrition writers & product team

Medically reviewed by

Dr. Alicia Nguyen, RD, CDCES

Registered Dietitian · Certified Diabetes Care & Education Specialist · 12+ years clinical experience

Published June 10, 2026 4 min readEditorial policy

Most breakfast cereals pack 25-45g of carbs per serving before milk. The serving sizes printed on the box are notoriously small — a real bowl is usually 2-3 servings.

Per labeled serving

Cereal	Serving	Carbs	Sugar
Cheerios	1.5 cup	29g	2g
Honey Nut Cheerios	1 cup	29g	12g
Frosted Flakes	3/4 cup	27g	11g
Corn Flakes	1 cup	24g	3g
Rice Krispies	1.5 cup	36g	4g
Lucky Charms	1 cup	29g	12g
Froot Loops	1.5 cup	41g	16g
Cinnamon Toast Crunch	1 cup	32g	12g
Raisin Bran	1 cup	47g	19g
Special K	1 cup	23g	4g
Granola (typical)	½ cup	35g	13g
Cap'n Crunch	3/4 cup	23g	12g
Reese's Puffs	1 cup	33g	11g
Cocoa Pebbles	3/4 cup	25g	11g
Oatmeal (instant, plain)	1 packet	19g	0g
Oatmeal (instant, maple)	1 packet	33g	12g
Grape-Nuts	½ cup	47g	5g
Kashi GO Lean	1 cup	30g	6g
Magic Spoon	1 cup	14g	0g (net 5g)
Catalina Crunch	½ cup	14g	0g (net 5g)

Add the milk

1 cup whole milk: 12g
1 cup 2%: 12g
1 cup almond (unsweetened): 1g
1 cup oat milk: 16g

What a 'real bowl' costs

Most adults pour 2.5x the serving size. A real bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with milk is closer to 84g of carbs — equivalent to two slices of pie.

About the author

Carb Lens Editorial — Nutrition writers & product team. The Carb Lens editorial team writes practical, source-checked guides on carbs, blood sugar, and everyday nutrition. Every article is drafted by our writers and cross-referenced against USDA FoodData Central and peer-reviewed clinical guidelines.

How we source and review this article

Nutrition figures come from the USDA FoodData Central database. Blood-sugar and glycemic-load framing follows guidance from the American Diabetes Association and World Health Organization healthy-diet recommendations. Every article is medically reviewed by Dr. Alicia Nguyen, RD, CDCES before publishing and re-checked on a rolling basis. See our full editorial & medical review policy.

This article is for general information and is not a substitute for medical advice. If you're managing diabetes or another condition, always defer to your care team.