One of the questions I get asked regularly is,”What are some healthy snacks?”. I am no creative genius in the kitchen but I’m pretty good at simple so if healthy, simple snacks are what you’re looking for, hopefully this will help give you some good ideas!
I do a prep day once a week where I spend a couple hours prepping snacks and meals for the week. Usually this includes making Dump Ranch, mayo, and maybe one other sauce or dip, slicing veggies (carrots, cucumbers, and celery keep well when sliced and submerged in clean water), roasting a pan of veggies, slicing lettuce, etc. It takes a little time and planning but I don’t really mind it and I love how much easier it is to eat better during the week. There are a few snack ideas that you can either make ahead of time or get your own clean version of at the store. I like to make what I can because I don’t have to read any labels when I know exactly what is in it but if getting it at the store is easier, by all means go for it!
I chose three categories for these snack ideas and here’s how they are broken down:
Food Pairings: These may seem painfully obvious to some but for visual people like me, you will appreciate just looking at a list to look at to save some mental energy.
Make-Ahead/Requires Prep: These require a little bit of plan-ahead time but don’t take much time or call for many ingredients and clean up is minimal (that last one is really important to me!).
On The Go: Healthy snacks you can either keep or pack in your purse or diaper bag while out and about. I always keep at least one packaged snack in my purse and I’ve appreciated having it there so many times.
Food Pairings
- Sliced Bubbies dill pickles on top of raw or grassfed cheddar cheese (like Kerrygold) on gluten free crackers
- Diced apples sprinkled with cinnamon and tossed in a Tupperware container to
coat the apple chunks - Dump Ranch with sliced carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, celery, snap peas
- Half a small avocado sprinkled with sea salt, chili powder, a squeeze of fresh lime juice or 1 drop of Young Living Lime Vitality (hot sauce if you like some kick)
- Almond butter bowls – 1 tbs or so of almond butter with some sliced banana, fresh berries, shredded unsweetened coconut, and a dash of cinnamon
- Plantain chips with guacamole – mashed avocado piled high with finely diced onion, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, cilantro, lime juice, and sea salt
- Sliced apples or banana with almond butter
- Clementine orange and handful of mixed nuts or trail mix
- Homemade trail mix – we cheat and get the mixed nuts from Costco and a bag of organic mixed dried fruit and mix them together, sometimes adding pumpkin seeds, pistachios, or dark chocolate chips
- Mixed nuts and cheese cubes
coat the apple chunks
Make-Ahead/Requires Prep
- Chia seed pudding (basic recipe here). Some of our favorite variations are adding cacao powder and topping with bananas and pecans/almonds or topping with sliced bananas and strawberries and adding a drop of Young Living Lemon Vitality oil. The possibilities are endless!
- Boiled eggs or deviled eggs made with homemade 30 second mayo (we use this recipe and use avocado oil and omit the vinegar, which I didn’t realize we were omitting until I looked at the recipe again).
- Applesauce muffins from Wellness Mama. I know, this is a baked item but they are EASY! Only about 6 ingredients and you just mix everything in one bowl. We often omit the sweetener and add raisins and peeled, diced apples and make a large batch (they freeze well).
- Energy Balls (basic recipe here – we use raw honey, peanut butter or almond butter with just nuts and salt as the ingredients, and dark chocolate or Enjoy Life chocolate chips for a dairy free option)
- Green smoothie – pick your variation! We like a base of coconut water + water, power greens blend from Costco, a small cube of peeled ginger, lemon juice, cucumber, celery, apple, and some berries. If you’re making it for small kiddos, try mostly spinach and berries (strawberries are great) to start and garnish the cup with a fresh strawberry to make it “fancy”. As they get used to it, you can do more greens and less fruit.
- Fruit smoothie – again, endless possibilities! One we like is almond milk, berries, grassfed gelatin (we use this one).
- Nut Butter Chocolate Smoothie – Almond milk, almond butter, banana, a couple dates (pitted), cacao powder.
- Popsicles – these silicone molds are awesome!
chocolate chips for a dairy free option)Pick a base: coconut water, 100% no sugar added fruit juice, coconut milk
Pick a fruit or fruit+veggie
Add ins: real vanilla extract, fresh lemon juice, raw honey or maple syrup
Blend all and freeze
- Fruit salad made with any combo of fresh fruit: kiwi, blackberries, blueberries, clementine orange segments, cantaloupe, pineapple, pomegranate arils
- Mediterranean veggie salad: black or kalamata olives, cucumber, tomato, red onion, grape tomatoes, fresh or dried basil and/or parsley, olive oil, feta cheese (optional).
On The Go
- *Blueberries, grapes
- *Grape tomatoes, carrots, celery, sugar snap peas
- Justin’s almond butter packets
- Trail mix
- Pumpkin seeds
- *Boiled eggs
- Protein shake – Young Living has some great ones! Check out Pure Protein Complete has a blend of 5 proteins with enzymes for optimal digestion and Slique Shakes are vegan and come in individual packets that are easy to take on the go. You can order through the Young Living tab on my blog to get wholesale pricing with a membership.
- Clean beef jerky (look for some without msg, corn syrup or added sugar, artificial colors, or added nitrites)
- Larabars – some have less and cleaner ingredients than others
- PRESSED
*If they will be eaten soon.
Note: Bubbies brand dill pickles are traditionally fermented so they are a powerhouse of probiotics. They are a bit more expensive than what you may be used to but they are the best pickles I’ve ever had and pack such a nutritional punch that I don’t mind. Find them in the refrigerated section of most health food stores. Bubbies bread and butter sliced pickles are not traditionally fermented and don’t have the same benefits as the whole dill pickles.
Costco has Kerrygold cheese, which is aged and mostly grassfed (two good things!) and Trader Joes has raw grassfed cheddar cheese.
Do you have a favorite healthy snack that’s not on this list? Please share! I’m always looking for new ideas and I know others are, too!
This post does not contain any affiliate links. I will receive a percentage when you get a Young Living membership and/or order Young Living Pure Protein Complete or Slique Shake with my member number.