For A Cheaper Special K Copycat, Check Out Trader Joe's

Kellogg's brand Special K is popular because of its cereals and snacks that are low in calories and delicious. The cereal comes in a variety of flavors but one of the popular varieties is Special K Red Berries. Fans tend to stock up on it with fervor when it is on sale with some claiming it's the best they've ever had. However, a box of this low-calorie breakfast food sells for over $4 for an 11.7-ounce box, depending on where you buy it, so a habit can get expensive quickly. Thankfully, Trader Joe's has an extremely similar version called Flakes & Strawberries Cereal that is only $3.

But wait, doesn't Special K Red Berries have multiple berries? Actually, no, it only has dried strawberries, just like the Trader Joe's copycat and that's not where the similarities end. These two cereals are nearly identical. They share several similar ingredients including a blend of whole wheat and rice, sugar, dried strawberries, and wheat bran among the first few ingredients.

Along with nearly identical ingredients, the nutritional information is also quite close for these two cereals. Both have 140 calories for a 39-gram serving and the same 0.5 grams of fat and no cholesterol. The protein count is also the same for both at 3 grams. The differences are small when it comes to the nutritional information. The Trader Joe's cereal has 1 gram less of carbohydrates and 10 more milligrams of sodium. Special K Red Berries have an additional gram of fiber.

The big difference between the two is among some of the vitamins and minerals that the cereals provide. Special K Red Berries provides more iron per serving at 10.8 milligrams, versus 5.4 milligrams for the Trader Joe's version. Kellogg's cereal is also higher in niacin, vitamin B6, and folate than Flakes & Strawberries Cereal. If the amount of vitamins and minerals you ingest through your cereal is important, that could be a factor when deciding between the cereals. However, if you love the flavor of Kellogg's version, this super-similar copycat is worth a try.

Trader Joe's is often a favorite stop for people who want products that look and taste similar at a fraction of the price. The chain carries several cereals, cookies, frozen foods, and other products that taste similar to iconic name brands. If you're looking for a cheaper cereal beyond the Special K copycat, we tasted 11 Trader Joe's brand cereals to find the best one. You'll find many different varieties that will remind you of popular name brands like Crunchy Cinnamon Squares, which are similar to Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Honey Nut O's which could be a stand-in for Honey Nut Cheerios.

If you're looking for snack food dupes, Trader Joe's has you covered there too. The grocery store carries Chocolate Vanilla Creme Joe-Joe's which are chocolate and vanilla creme sandwich cookies that are very similar to Oreo cookies. While some dispute that these cookies taste like the original, they were judged tasty in their own right in our off-brand Oreo imposters taste test. If you're looking for a crunchy snack, Trader Joe's Chili Lime Tortilla Chips are a delicious Takis copycat. 

So even though some of the ingredients may vary from the name brands, you can still get some of your favorite flavors often for a fraction of the price at this beloved grocery store.