This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy. Since many of you might be hitting the road this summer, I thought I’d share some road trip snacks packing ideas with you! If you’re traveling long stretches, consider your snacks as meal replacements and choose wisely. We packed these snacks for a drive that was nearly 9 hours. I hope this list gives you great inspiration for your next road trip. I included a balance of healthy, sweet and savory snacks that will please the whole family! We recently took a road trip to Sacramento Caleeefornia; my husbands home state. It was hot in Sacramento; I think it hit 106˚F. Hot dawwwg (did you know it’s cool to say things like “hot dawwg,” “neato” and “sha-zam?” Try it and see how many more friends you acquire!). Anyway, it was so nice to see family and friends and the drive wasn’t too terrible considering we had very, very good snacks. Keep reading to check out how we munched on our trip!
Here are yours 15 Healthy Road Trip Snack Ideas:
If leaving early in the morning:
- Muffins – homemade are best. The store-bought ones are kinda heavy on the gut.
- Yogurt (drinkable or sqeezeable ones for kids work well – no spoons needed!)
- Blend smoothies and take them along! The strawberry, green flaxie, tropical pineapple and blueberry smoothies will make you feel really good in the morning! For this trip, we chose the strawberry smoothies.
Fresh Fruit:
Buy whichever fruit is in season and is easy to peel/eat:
- Mandarin oranges (clementines)
- Apricots
- Cherries (preferably yellow to keep clothes from getting splattered)
Nuts/ Seeds:
- Almonds, or mixed nuts
- Sun flower seeds with paper cups as spitters (they are a little messy but it is the Ukrainian way to travel with a bag of seeds)
Veggies:
- Sugar snap peas (these we picked from Mom’s garden the evening prior)
- Baby carrots (or sliced carrots)
- Ranch to dip (if your kids won’t eat the veggies plain – use a baby food jar and you can toss it when you’re done!)
- Corn on the cob (tastes just as good cold, just don’t add butter)
- Baby tomatoes or sliced cucumbers
For longer trips, you’ll need lunch:
- BLT’s with avocado spread: I bought fresh, soft bread and used avocado spread (click here for the recipe), then topped with lettuce and tomatoes for one incredible sandwich.
Don’t forget drinks!
Choose low sugar options to keep hydrated. A can of regular soda has 10 tsp of sugar, which is like drinking liquid candy and the recommended daily amount is 6 tsp. And, I’d much rather eat real candy ;).
- Unsweetened carbonated drinks like LaCroix satisfy the craving for something bubbly and are thirst quenching at the same time.
- Reduced sugar kids drinks (These organic juice boxes are from Costco).
- Coconut Water (this is my husbands drink of choice)
- Water, of-course.
For savory cravings:
- String cheese
- Baked Potato Chips (the healthier junk food) and you can’t go wrong with Kettle Brand chips!
Other necessary items:
Straws Paper bowls or cups Zip loc bags A large ziploc bag for garbage (it’s better if it seals so your car won’t smell like food) A gazillion napkins Baby wipes (because rest stop bathrooms gross me out no end – and why on earth do they never have paper towels? They expect you to touch the door knob when at least 1/3 of people just don’t wash their hands and grab that same knob? Gross and 1/2).
Tips for traveling with children:
- Bring pillows and a bed time teddy. Tell kids that it’s a really long boring drive and they need to sleep, reassuring them that when they wake up, you’ll be almost there. Repeat until children fall asleep. This works about 10% of the time but it’s worth trying.
- Always pack a barf bag. Always.
- Find a creative way to block sunlight coming into kids windows so they don’t end up with a sun tan on one leg. And they’ll sleep better.
- Bring entertainment. We love listening to Adventures in Odessey (great stories with moral lessons that are entertaining for the whole family). An Ipad is a good idea too for cartoons, but we usually break it out as a last resort.
What is your favorite road trip snack? Do you have any travel tips to share?
