The 13 Best Snacks for Road Trips | SmarterTravel (2024)

The best road trip snacks are the ones you can eat single-handedly. They aren’t sticky, crumbly, or messy, but they must be tasty enough to stave off both hunger and boredom. Luckily, such snacks exist and we’ve rounded them up for your next road trip.

Bananas Organic Plantain Chips

Bananas Organic Plantain Chips are a more sophisticated version of a potato chip. They’re rich in flavor, kettle cooked in coconut oil, and perhaps best of all, made from rescued plantains that would otherwise go to waste. They’re a tasty way to stave off hunger on a road trip.

Absolutely Gluten-Free Raw Coconut Chews

Absolutely Gluten-Free Raw Coconut Chews are vegan, paleo-friendly, and richly draped in drizzles of dark chocolate and cocoa nibs. Each one is individually wrapped so you can toss a few in the console of your car for an easy, healthy snack when you’re on the road.

Life’s Grape

If you’re used to regular boring raisins, these vine-dried grapes will surprise you. They’re plump and soft with just enough sweetness to satisfy your sweet tooth on a road trip. Life’s Grape come plain or coated in chocolate or peanut butter. They’re so good you’ll forget they’re healthy.

Bob’s Red Mill Bob’s Bar

Bob’s Red Mill is the employee-owned company out of Portland, OR best known for its artisan flours and baking mixes. Most granola bars are dry and crumbly, but Bob’s Bars have a soft, chewy texture so they don’t make a mess in the car. What’s more, the flavors are natural, delicious, and packed with protein.

Pig Out Porkless Pig Rinds

Crafted from ingredients like pea grits by the creator of the Beyond Burger, Pig Out Pigless Pork Rinds are similar in crunch and texture to traditional pork rinds without being greasy. The flavors are absolutely scrumptious. Each bag has 7 grams of protein and the 3.5 oz packages are perfect for road trips.

Whisps Cheese Crisps

Whisps Cheese Crisps are so good. They’re made from 100 percent cheese and they are thin, crunchy, portable, and addictive. As you can imagine, they’re also a great source of calcium but that’s not why you’ll want to eat them. You’ll want to eat them because they’re delicious.

Karma Nuts

Karma Nuts cashews are air roasted with skins, rather than cooked in oil which gives them amazing, robust flavor without unnecessarily losing nutrients. They come in gourmet flavors like sea salt, golden turmeric, and cinnamon. The snack packages are perfect for road trips.

Kind Bark

Kind Bark is amazing. It’s not sticky or crumbly so it’s easy to eat in the car. It’s the rare decadent treat that isn’t too sweet, probably because the first ingredient is nuts. You can also feel good about eating Kind Bark because it’s made with Fair Trade Certified cocoa.

Think Beef Jerky

Some brands of beef jerky can be bland and dry while others hit you with great flavor but have you doing a double take at the nutrition label. Neither option is ideal for a long drive. Think Beef Jerky strikes the perfect balance for a road trip snack, prioritizing health—with their antibiotic- and preservative-free recipe—without sacrificing taste. It’s made from 100 percent free-range, grass-fed beef with chef-crafted flavors that enhance the flavor of beef without overpowering it.

Hi Key Keto Cookies

Most cookies aren’t a good fit for road trips since the crumbs make a mess in the car but Hi Key Keto Cookies are an exception. Each low-sugar cookie is bite-sized so you can pop them right in your mouth and the flavors are tasty and satisfying. They’re the perfect low carb treat.

Yum Earth Organic Fruit Snacks

These Yum Earth Organic Fruit Snacks are perfect for road trips, especially if you’ve got kids on board. Parents like the fact that they’re made from organic, non-GMO ingredients with no artificial coloring, and the kids won’t even notice that they’re healthy.

Omnon Chocolate

If you’re headed to a special destination, why not indulge yourself with a luxurious bean-to-bar chocolate while your journey is underway? This Omnon Chocolate Sea Salted Almonds Plus Milk Bar is concocted from rarefied ingredients like single-origin Malagasy cocoa beans, sea salt from Saltverk in the Westfjords of Iceland, and Icelandic milk. It’s a sumptuous way to make the most of your trip.

Simply Protein Bars

If you’re hitting the road early and don’t have time for breakfast, Simply Protein bars are the perfect fix. They are healthy and satisfying with 15 grams of protein and just 1 gram of sugar in each bar. They have a crunchy texture and the flavors aren’t overly sweet. They’re the ideal grab-and-go snack for road trips.

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