Back in my early years of going strictly dairy free, I had trouble finding just about any kind of food without dairy. In my town, bread, pasta sauce, and even cereal were made with milk in some form. I learned to bake bread and started making our own pasta sauce, but was lucky enough to find Nature’s Path Cereals. At last check, all of their core line cereals were made without milk of any kind, and many are even made in facilities without dairy.
My earliest memories of Nature’s Path Cereals include their Optimum Power. The name and the sale price sucked us in and we were hooked for quite some time. In fact, Tony was a devotee to Optimum Power for a solid year. We later fell for the Red Berry Crunch, which has the sweet, familiar scent of Captain Crunch Berry cereal, but tastes far more wholesome.
Like most people, we switch up our breakfast routine periodically. But I do enjoy trying the different dairy-free Nature’s Path Cereals when they are on sale. I originally posted about the varieties we had tried, but now there are just so many! So instead, I’ve made this a quick list of dairy-free Nature’s Path Cereals with information on which ones are gluten-free, vegan, and/or produced in a facility that handles milk (most aren’t!).
Nature’s Path Cereals are Now in 30 Crunchy Dairy-Free Varieties
And this doesn’t even include their Love Crunch, Q’ia, and Envirokidz cereals! Below are the Nature’s Path Cereals, all made without dairy, in two categories: Wheat or Oat and Gluten-Free. They do use honey in various cereals, which is why they aren’t all strictly dairy free. However, they are all plant-based.
Gluten-Free Varieties of Nature’s Path Cereals
The following dairy-free Nature’s Path Cereals appear to be Certified Gluten-Free.
- Crispy Rice Cereal (also Vegan)
- Fruit Juice Corn Flakes (also Vegan)
- Golden Turmeric Cereal
- Honey’d Corn Flakes
- Mesa Sunrise Flakes (also Vegan)
- Mesa Sunrise Flakes with Raisins (also Vegan)
- Purple Açai Cereal
- Sunrise Crunchy Cinnamon Cereal (also Vegan)
- Sunrise Crunchy Honey Cereal
- Sunrise Crunchy Maple Cereal (also Vegan)
- Sunrise Crunchy Vanilla Cereal (also Vegan)
- Whole O’s Cereal (also Vegan)
Wheat or Oat Varieties of Nature’s Path Cereals
The following dairy-free Nature’s Path Cereals are made with wheat and/or with oats that aren’t certified gluten-free.
- Flax Plus Cinnamon Flakes (also Vegan)
- Flax Plus Maple Pecan Crunch (also Vegan)
- Flax Plus Multibran Flakes (also Vegan)
- Flax Plus Pumpkin Raisin Crunch (also Vegan)
- Flax Plus Raisin Bran Flakes (also Vegan)
- Flax Plus Red Berry Crunch (also Vegan)
- Heritage Crunch*
- Heritage Flakes
- Heritage O’s
- Kamut Puffs (also Vegan)
- Millet Rice Flakes (also Vegan)
- Multigrain Oat Bran Flakes (also Vegan)
- Nut Butter Almond Crunch*
- Nut Butter Coconut & Cashew Crunch*
- Nut Butter Honey & Peanut Crunch*
- Optimum Power Blueberry Cinnamon Flax Cereal (also Vegan)
- Rice Puffs (also Vegan)
- SmartBran Cereal (also Vegan)
*Produced in a facility that uses milk, other tree nuts, wheat and soy (Nut Butter varieties) OR produced in a facility that uses milk, tree nuts, and peanuts (Heritage Crunch).
The Facts on Nature’s Path Cereals (Wheat-Based Varieties)
Price: $4.49 per 10-ounce box
Availability: Although you won’t find every variety in a single store, you can find Nature’s Path Cereals at most major grocery stores in the U.S. and Canada. You can also order them online from Amazon or Vitacost.
Certifications: Nature’s Path Cereals are Certified Organic, Non-GMO Verified, and Certified Kosher Pareve. The gluten-free varieties are Certified Gluten Free.
Dietary Notes: By ingredients, these Nature’s Path Cereals are dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, plant-based, and vegetarian. Most varieties are soy-free, and many are made without peanuts or tree nuts. I’ve note the vegan varieties (no honey) in the post above.*
For More Product Information: Visit the Nature’s Path website at naturespath.com.
*Always read the ingredient and nutrition statement prior to consumption. Ingredients, processes, and labeling are subject to change at any time for any company or product. Contact the company to discuss their manufacturing processes if potential allergen cross-contamination is an issue for you. No food product can be guaranteed “safe” for every individual’s needs. You should never rely on ingredient and allergen statements alone if dealing with a severe food allergy.
Sunrise Crunchy Vanilla & Maple
I really liked the texture of these cereals with the crunchy flakes, crisps and puffs. They’re sweet, flavorful and tasty. But I’d prefer less sugar in the morning. My sugar-bomb cereal teen voted “good, but different.”
Good gluten-free option
I love the simplicity of the Mesa Sunrise raisin studded cereal! It’s made from a mix of gluten-free grains and is only lightly sweetened with evaporated cane juice. The flakes are nice and crisp and are able to hold their own in almond milk without getting too soggy. They’re pretty heavy handed with the raisins, which makes me very happy. It also holds up nicely in crunchy cereal treats!
Sweet and wholesome
This is my favorite brand of “treat” cereals. They bridge the sweet-wholesome gap nicely. The ones we’ve liked most in our house are the Red Berry Crunch and Optimum Power, but the mighty names are a little deceiving. They don’t provide as much lasting energy as a lot of other breakfasts. I’ll be on the lookout for the Nut Butter cereals and the Multibran Flakes. Those sound like ones I would like.