Looking for the best healthy toddler road trip snacks? Then look no further! These snack ideas are both parent and toddler-approved for your next road trip adventure!
You can already hear it now. Just 10 minutes into your multi-hour car ride, your kids are already asking you for a snack. You don’t want to pump them full of sugar on the journey, so it’s important to pack healthy road trip snacks for your kids, and you too!
Tips for Packing Healthy Road Trip Snacks
The key to getting healthy road trip snacks into your car for the journey is to actually prepare. Put a little bit of thought and effort into what snacks you’ll have available for the kids and you’ll thrive. And so will they! Here are my top tips for preparing healthy road trip snacks.
Prepare several different options: Let’s be real. Kids need choices and the more healthy choices we have available to them, the more likely they are to enjoy them.
Keep it simple: Don’t overthink it. Prepare their favorite healthy snacks that they would eat at school or at home. You don’t have to make anything extravagant unless you want to.
Prepackage snacks ahead of time: Instead of bringing large packages or whole fruits and veggies, prepackaged them into smaller portions. If you give your kids the whole thing, they’re likely to overeat because they’re bored. Slice up fruit and pack it into containers that are road trip safe. As for large bags of items like cereal, apple chips, or nuts, portion them into reusable snack bags or other containers you have.
Keep a cooler within reach of the passenger seat: Make sure someone can reach the cooler and snack bag! There’s nothing worse than having to pull over to get to something that is in your car on a road trip.
Give them snacks one at a time: Don’t give them all of their snacks at once. Portion them out and give them snacks throughout the journey. Again this is to avoid boredom eating or eating simply because it’s available. On the flip side, if they’re hungry, feed them!
Pack lunches in bento boxes: This is one of our favorites as well as this stainless steel one! Pre-packing lunches will help you avoid the fast food stops that fill you up with sodium and leave you feeling gross, especially after sitting in a car all day! Have everyone’s lunches packed into their own boxes so that everyone can eat when their hungry. Plus you won’t have to play the what do you want game because it’s already made just like when they’re at school!
50+ Healthy Road Trip Snack Ideas
Now let’s get to our favorite healthy road trip snack ideas for kids (and adults too)! Some of these items your kids may not like, and that’s okay. Look through the list and find different options that you know your kids like or love and stick to those!
Fresh Fruits and Veggies
- Apple slices
- Strawberries
- Grapes (cut in half)
- Blueberries (cut in half)
- Cuties or clementines (anything that’s small and easy to peel)
- Baby carrots or carrot sticks
- Celery sticks
- Sliced cucumbers
- Sliced bell peppers (multiple colors)
Other fresh fruits and veggies are also great choices, just be aware of the mess factor when choosing! I tend to skip bananas and oranges because they’re kind of messy. Also, don’t forget to cut up grapes and blueberries for younger children especially since you’re in the car.
Dried/Packaged Fruit & Nuts
- Baby food pouches
- Apple sauce or fruit/veggie sauces (We love these fiber & protein organic fruit & veggie pouches!)
- Dried apricots
- Banana chips
- Apple chips
- Raisins
- Pistachios
- Cashews
- Walnuts
- Pecans
- Sunflower seeds
- Pumpkin seeds
Dairy/Cooler Snacks
- String cheese or cheese cubes
- Yogurt pouches
- Frozen Gogurts
- Drinkable yogurt
- Smoothies (make at home and put into a reusable water bottle for later!)
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Hummus (pack into smaller containers for kids, goes great with veggies)
- Cubed chicken or turkey (try to avoid deli meats that are full of nitrates)
Homemade Snacks
- 5 Ingredient Protein Power Balls (Fan favorite at our house!)
- Oatmeal Banana Protein Cookies
- Healthy Toddler-Friendly Mini Muffins (Contains fruit, veggies, and whole grains)
- Sandwiches on whole-grain bread (I love making sandwiches and cutting and sealing them for less mess plus is fun for the kids!)
- Sandwich wraps (slide them up into smaller bite-sized pieces for fun!)
For the snack bag
- Fruit sticks or fruit leather
- Rice cakes (mini are probably better!)
- Mini bagels with peanut butter
- Peanut butter crackers
- Sprout Organic waffles
- Animal crackers
- Puffs
- Pretzels
- Pretzel chips
- Low sugar dry cereal
- Toddler trail mix (Cheerios, raisins, Gold Fish, etc.)
- Veggie Straws
- Veggie chips
- Cliff Kids ZBars (we really love these!)
- Kind Kids Bars
- RX Kids Bars
- Plum Organics Mighty Snack Bars
- Popcorn (Boom Chica Pop is a great brand)
When buying prepackaged snacks be sure to look for added sugars and whole grains. We want to avoid added sugars, especially in items like applesauce or dried fruit that are sweet naturally. We also want to stick to whole grain foods to keep our kids feeling fuller longer.
What Makes a Snack Healthy?
Healthy road trip snacks require 3 main components: healthy fats, protein, and fiber. When all three are present, it keeps you feeling fuller for longer. (That’s why those whole grains mentioned above are so important!) These healthy ingredients are also easier on the gut and help start out your trip on the right foot!
What Should I Store our Road Trip Snacks in?
Find your favorite reusable tote bag for the pre-packaged and non-refrigerated snacks. For the snacks, you need to keep cool, grab a medium-sized cooler that you know will keep your food cool for long periods of time. We love our RTIC!
As far as storing the individual snacks goes, I recommend these reusable snack bags. You can also use your favorite Tupperware, or get some meal prep Tupperware containers for storage!
For lunches, I recommend getting a Bento Box. There are various options out there, but this is our favorite. It’s stainless steel with a skidproof silicone cover!
Final Thoughts
It’s much easier to eat healthy on a road trip than you think. All it takes is a little extra preparation on the front end, then you’ll be set for your entire journey. No more high sodium processed snacks from gas stations and lunches from fast-food restaurants.
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Check out these other road trip travel tips from some fellow blogger babes!
Road Trip Tips and Tricks from Style Simpler
Ultimate Guide to Disneyland with a Toddler from Mama Foreva
Road Trip Essentials for Kids from Smile On
Parenting Hacks: Road Trip Edition from Mama Llama Llama
What are your go-to healthy road trip snacks?
Anything I missed and should add to the list? Let me know in the comments!
Snacks are the most important part of a road trip..such a variety of options
Yes, we wouldn’t survive road trips without snacks!
Great! Love all these healthy road trip snack ideas.
Definitely added some ideas to my snack list! Thank you!
These are all great recommendations!
We love those bentgo boxes! They are great at keeping things contained and so convenient with my kids wherever we go! So many great snack ideas that’ll come in handy this summer when we road trip!
Agreed! My kids love them too. I love how they keep all the different snack separate and portioned perfectly for littles!