Many people use road trips as an opportunity to let their healthy lifestyle go by the wayside, stocking up on Cheetos, Slim Jims, and all other manner of “fun” gas station food. Although these classic road trip eats can seem like cheat day fun at the time, they can also quickly leave you feeling sluggish and unhappy. Besides, they add a nice, tidy sum to your overall travel budget. Why waste money on those unhealthy, grab-and-go convenience foods when you could save the cash for a real splurge later?
That’s what we thought. So without further ado, here are some of our favorite healthy road trip snacks to stock up on before your next vacation.
This post contains affiliate links. RVshare may receive compensation if you make a purchase after clicking on a product link.
Easy-to-Pack Healthy Snacks
When you’re getting ready for a road trip, you’ve already got a lot of stuff on your plate — pun totally intended. Because of this, if your healthy road trip snacks aren’t super simple to grab and go, you may find yourself heading for the drive-through despite your best intentions.
Fortunately, there are plenty of body- and budget-friendly snack items that take just about zero planning to add to your road trip packing list.
Granola Bars
This staple has been one of the top healthy travel snacks for decades for a good reason. There’s nothing like the crispy, crunchy mix of whole grains and dried fruit in healthy granola bars to keep you feeling fueled and fed for a day’s journey.
Of course, not all granola bars are created equally, and many of them add a heaping helping of — you guessed it — sugar, which might sweeten things in the meantime, but can lead to an unfun afternoon crash a few hours from now.
We recommend looking for products with simple ingredients lists and a relatively low amount of added sugar, like KIND bars. Even the decadent, chocolate-dipped ones often have as few as five grams of sugar total, and their use of fresh, natural ingredients make it a treat you can feel good about!
Fresh Fruit
When it comes to easy, low-calorie snacks whose healthiness factor you can count on, you just can’t do much better than fresh fruit — especially if we’re talking about bananas, which come in their very own wrapping!
Other easy-to-grab fruits that make great road trip snacks include apples, oranges, and even grapes. (Psst: freeze up a bunch and let them thaw just slightly for what basically amounts to a mini grape slushy. Delicious!)
High Protein Snacks
Although all three macronutrients are important — yes, including fat and carbs — eating enough protein is a surefire way to walk (or drive) through your day feeling energized and strong.
Protein Bars
Take a page out of your favorite athlete’s book and consider grabbing some quick and delicious protein in bar form! There are so many to choose from on the market, you’re bound to find one that fits your tastes, dietary preferences, and budget — from the super-low-sugar (but high-flavor) Quest line of products to the all-natural, date-sweetened family of RX bars.
Healthy Beef Jerky
Although it’s important to check the back of the package for sugar content, the right kind of beef jerky is one of the best healthy travel snacks for people looking for high-protein treats with a minimum of carbohydrates. People’s Choice makes a great, sugar-free version that packs 16 grams of protein and only 2.5 grams of fat per serving!
Cheese
Admit it: even as an adult, you’d love one of those string cheese sticks that always had a place in your school lunchbox. There’s just something about it that’s so comforting and nostalgic… not to mention low-carb and high-protein.
You could also upgrade your cheese game and bring along whole wedges from your grocery’s gourmet dairy aisle. Grown up road trip snacks!
If you don’t want to bring along a cooler to keep your cheese chillin’, you can also look into these delicious packaged “chips” and crisps which are actually made of 100% cheese. They come in all sorts of delicious flavors, and all of them are carb-free and keto-friendly.
Nuts
These days, we all know that “fat” is anything but a four-letter word. It’s all about getting enough natural, healthy oils… and nuts are a great source that’ll fill you up fast and keep you satisfied for hours.
Grab a tin of lightly-salted, roasted nuts for a quick, non-perishable snack you can keep in the glove box for emergencies. Pair ’em with the fruit and cheese mentioned above for a totally gourmet road trip snack experience!
Healthy Snacks for Kids
Stocking up on healthy road trip snacks is one thing. Finding ones that your kids won’t turn up their noses at? That’s a whole different animal. Luckily, we’ve got some easy solutions that even the pickiest eaters just can’t say no to.
Squeezable Yogurt
If someone’s got a sweet tooth but you aren’t exactly keen on stopping at every ice cream parlor along the way, consider squeezable tubes of yogurt. These are the perfect healthy, yet sweet, snack that’ll satisfy your kiddo’s cravings… without resulting in that brutal sugar crash.
Don’t want to get the squeezable kind? No problem! You can package up any kind of yogurt you like in mason jars. Serve with granola and fresh fruit slices for added fanciness factor… or if you’re feeling really indulgent, add some chocolate chips and make it into a parfait. Delicious and nutritious!
Apple Slices
We already mentioned fresh fruit above, but we know that some kids are quick to turn up their noses at such a blatantly healthy option.
It’s funny, though: those exact same kids often change their tune when the fruit comes in a slightly-more-convenient, pre-sliced presentation… especially if you add in some peanut butter for dipping. (Plus, you’ll be creating a balanced snack with all three macronutrients if you take that approach!)
As you can see, there are plenty of wonderful healthy road trip snacks to choose from. We hope this list of easy, healthy snacks makes your upcoming road trip that much easier (and that much more delicious). Happy camping, and bon appetit!
