The best Goldfish flavor probably isn’t the one you’re most familiar with. We’ve all mindlessly eaten our way through a bag of Cheddar Goldfish, with their pleasant whisper of cheese flavor and masochistic little grins. They’re great in tomato soup or by the fistful when you need a salty snack that isn’t super oily or heavy. But cheddar isn’t the best Goldfish flavor by a long shot, especially if you like bigger, bolder flavors. What can I say? We like flavor around here.
We rounded up a dozen different Goldfish cracker flavors and varieties—from sweet ones to gigantic ones to flavor-blasted ones—to find the best Goldfish flavor of them all. Then we ranked them all from worst to best. If you’ve been on autopilot in the snack aisle and keep picking up plain ol’ cheddar, I hope this list inspires you to broaden your cracker horizons.
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- Mega Bites Sharp Cheddar
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I really dislike Goldfish Mega Bites. They are 50 percent larger than regular Goldfish, which on its face seems like a fun thing, but the problem with these is that they’re flat. Goldfish puff up a little bit when they’re baked. These don’t, so the eating experience just isn’t the same. Worse, the cheddar-flavored powder on these super-sized Goldfish is aggressively tangy instead of sharp. Bigger isn’t better when it comes to the best Goldfish flavors.
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- Colors Cheddar
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Even though I’m an adult, I’m not immune to the joys of foods that come in weird colors for the fun of it, but I don’t really understand these. They taste almost exactly like regular Cheddar Goldfish, but they come in a rainbow of muted colors. You know when mom’s on a health kick and she decides everyone will be using natural, plant-based dyes derived from things like beet juice and red onion skins for Easter eggs rather than the screamingly bright (and actually fun looking) PAAS tablets we know and love? Goldfish Colors Cheddar are like the snack cracker version of that. I don’t see any reason to buy them!
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- Mega Bites Cheddar Jalapeño
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Jalapeño Mega Bites have all the structural issues of the Sharp Cheddar Mega Bites, but taste less bad, so that’s good! These have little bits of peppers and seeds baked into the cracker and remind me of the way Hot & Spicy Cheez-Its used to be, back when they had a bottle of Tabasco sauce on the box. If you insist on eating a Goldfish cracker that is slightly larger than other Goldfish crackers, go with this flavor.
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- Cheddar
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I know Goldfish purists probably would have liked to see Cheddar Goldfish rank higher on this list, but there’s just so much else out there! These do, of course, have their virtues—a subtle, baked-in cheese flavor, a lovely crunch, a clean-finger eating experience—they just aren’t one of the best Goldfish flavors by a longshot.
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- Baby Cheddar
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Okay, so slightly larger Goldfish taste worse, but slightly smaller ones? I swear these taste just a little bit better than regular Cheddar Goldfish. I’d imagine they’re made out of the exact same dough, just in different molds (I suppose I’m revealing that I don’t really know how Goldfish are made). Anyway, their size makes them fun to eat. I’m going Baby Cheddar over regular any day of the week.
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- Pizza
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There’s something so, so nostalgic about Pizza Goldfish. They’re not very cheesy tasting, but they do taste like tomato sauce with a healthy dose of oregano. These are really fun; a little sweet but definitely savory. They aren’t coated in flavor dust (read on for Flavor Blasted Xtra Cheesy Pizza), so they feel less indulgent. This is still a good, healthy baggie snack for kids. I’m glad these exist. They remind me of school pizza, and I fantasize about school pizza all the time.
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- Goldfish Grahams Vanilla Cupcake
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I didn’t expect to like sweet Goldfish as much as I do. These little grahams are sweet, crispy, and as addictive to eat as their savory counterparts. They lost some points for being infused with just a littttttle too much of that cloying, fake-vanilla-cake-batter flavor. Still, they’re crunchy and light and I’ve decided that no matter how many you eat, they will never be as bad for you as a bunch of regular-sized cookies.
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- Pretzel
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Putting these so high on the list is a controversial decision, but I’m a boundary-pushing, rule-breaking kind of guy. They’re a little dry. They don’t have a lot of flavor. But they’re pretzels! Pretzels are a little dry and the only flavor they need is that good, toasty wheat flour flavor that really comes through in these little dudes. The distribution of salt crystals is great. I want to pour these into a bowl of beer cheese soup and absolutely go to town. They’re the best Goldfish if you want something completely different than the Goldfish you’re used to.
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- Goldfish Grahams S’mores
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I called these “absolutely amazing” in my notes, and I think that seems like pretty high praise for bitty snack crackers. What you’ll find in this bag are graham-flavored Goldfish, chocolate-flavored Goldfish, and crunchy little mini marshmallows. The grahams are crispy and a little honey-tinged, kind of like Teddy Grahams; the chocolate Goldfish have a nice, subdued cocoa flavor I loved; and the little marshmallows are shaped like fish! Neither the grahams nor the chocolate cookie pieces are super sweet, so the little marshmallows offer a pleasant little burst of sweetness and crunch. This is the best Goldfish flavor if you want Goldfish you can eat for dessert.
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- Parmesan
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Before we enter flavor-blasting territory, I hope I can convince people who like their Goldfish unblasted to give Parmesan a shot over Cheddar. In terms of that baked-in cheese flavor Goldfish are famous for, these are just so much more flavorful than Cheddar. They’re salty, nutty, and super savory. I don’t find myself eating canned pasta all that often, but these would really turn a bowl of SpaghettiOs into an Italian feast. These are definitely less popular than Cheddar Goldfish, and if they’re ever discontinued as a result, I blame all of you!
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- Flavor Blasted Xtra Cheesy Pizza
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I had a lot of nice things to say about Pizza Goldfish. The nostalgia! At the same time, I don’t know why you’d buy regular Pizza Goldfish when Flavor Blasted Xtra Cheesy Pizza Goldfish exist. They’re packed with pizza flavor from the inside out. I know some people don’t like flavor powder on their snacks, but if you can handle it, give these a shot.
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- Flavor Blasted Xtra Cheddar
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Yes, the best Goldfish flavor is a flavor-blasted Goldfish flavor. These are tamer than the Xtra Cheesy Pizza Goldfish, but they still taste big and bold. The cheddar powder that enrobes these little crackers so wonderfully complements the baked-in cheddar flavor that you know and love. I did not expect to love these as much as I do (the bag is a little obnoxious looking), but they wound up being not only our favorite flavor blasted Goldfish, but our favorite of all the Goldfish flavors.
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