Cheeri-Oats are the Cheery G.O.A.T.s!

There ya go, General Mills: I just wrote you a free catchphrase that uses trendy lingo all today’s kids can relate to.

What’s that you say? I’m not a youth any more, let alone a hip nor happenin’ one? Well listen, I came here to review twice-fruited Cheerios, not walk right into a self-inflicted existential crisis like Sideshow Bob into a rake.

The point of my haplessly out-of-touch sloganeering was to simply point out how, as a brand, Cheerios does not miss. Those dense ‘n’ hearty toasted oat rings are the perfect vehicles for any flavor imaginable, to the point where I can’t think of a Cheerios variety I didn’t like. At worst, you’ll get something that’s just plain solid like Chocolate Strawberry Cheerios, but more often than not, Cheerios is cranking, churning, extruding, and glazing out hit after hit—to the point where it starts to make little sense why less impeccably consistent cereal lines like Lucky Charms and the Toast Crunch family seem to get all the public praise.

I get it, though. Cheerios doesn’t have the same bombastic, kid-focused and mascot-fronted brand appeal, but darn it, Cheerios should. As one of the last breakfast aisle bastion’s of purely oat-powered acumen, Cheerios deserves first dibs when it comes to creative new flavor infusions.

And if, somehow, you needed even more convincing proof of Cheerios’ wholesome bowlsome of O-some awesomeness, look no further than these new Strawberry Banana Cheerios.

I spent a long time introducing Strawberry Banana Cheerios because, truth be told, it’s kind of hard to describe their flavor. The strawberry is more dominant, that’s for sure, but the two fruits’ flavors blend together so seamlessly that it’s often hard to discern one from the other.

The strawberry element is clearly the same one returning from Chocolate Strawberry Cheerios and plain ol’ Strawberry Cheerios, and this is a welcome reprise. Even without any powdery-sugared flavor-blasting, these Strawberry Cheerios manage to taste fresh and authentically juicy, with the faintest twist of tongue-wrinkling tartness that keeps you coming back for more.

The banana, meanwhile, complements this twist with a little tropical torsion of its own. This is a far cry from the overripe and browned banana flavor found in Banana Nut Cheerios—instead, this a more bright and sprightly, yella-fella of a banana. It’s sweet and creamy without going overboard into candied Laffy Taffy territory. instead layering subtly on top of the strawberry to make the whole bowl taste like a Smash Bros. echo fighter of normal Strawberry Cheerios. And since you can’t even buy straight-up Strawberry Cheerios any more, any fan of purely fruited cereal alike are going to enjoy this simply satisfying stuff.

Naturally, milk only further emphasizes the all-natural (even though that doesn’t legally mean anything) appeal of Strawberry Banana Cheerios. Whereas the dry experience at least somewhat lets you scrutinize the constituent fruits, milk whips it all up into a creamy smoothie of swirled-together sweetness. Even without adding any slices of fresh fruit, it’ll taste like they’re in there.

All in all, Strawberry Banana Cheerios only further prove the endless versatility of Cheerios as cereal flavor vehicles. For me, it’s not an endlessly re-munchable cereal, only because I’m more of a chocolate, PB, or honey type of cereal nut than a fruity fan, but when it comes to understated charm and sticking to the source material, these Strawb-Nanner rings (and in this case…hearts?) are incredibly well-rounded.

The Bowl: Strawberry Banana Cheerios

The Breakdown: Extremely strawberry forward, but with a welcome island-hopping kiss of banana, these full-bodied Cheerios—like any Cheerios—are really hard to dislike.

The Bottom Line: 8.5 n0-brainer PB&J Cheerios out of 10