Planning a road trip with the family? Whether you’re just hitting the road for some R&R or your PCS move has you trekking across the country, you’ll need some snacks to keep you going. Check out the lists below for inspiration and great military discounts!
What Makes for a Great Road Trip Snack?
The best road trip snacks:
- Do well at room temperature or can easily keep in a cooler bag
- Aren’t too stinky, sticky, or messy
- Are packaged individually
- Don’t create a lot of leftovers
- Are easy to eat one-handed (if you’re driving)
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Healthy Road Trip Snacks with Military Discounts
Just because you’re on the road doesn’t mean you and your family have to eat whatever you can grab at gas stations and rest stops. Plan ahead, and you can bring along healthy road trip snacks that taste great and are good for you, too.
Plus, as a member of the ID.me Military community, you’ll enjoy discounts created especially to thank you and your family for their service.
OLIPOP Soda
Believe it or not, soda can be good for you! Olipop makes sodas that are not only low in sugar but high in fiber with gut-friendly ingredients that are good for your digestive health. Military members save 12%!
GNC Total Lean Lean Bar
A protein, energy, or meal replacement bar is a must-have on the road; low mess, easy to eat, packs well, and curbs your hunger. We like this meal bar from GNC, which is low in calories and high in protein and fiber. The bars come in several tasty flavors.
Quest Tortilla Style Protein Chips
These baked, gluten-free chips will satisfy your craving for something crunchy while delivering 19 grams of protein in just 4 grams of net carbs. Available in several flavors.
Planters Salted Cashews
Even a small serving of nuts can be very filling, making them a convenient and delicious road trip snack. Each of these 1.5-oz. packets of cashews packs 8 grams of protein, plus iron, magnesium, and other energy-boosting nutrients.
More Snacks to Bring from Home
- Fruit. Fresh fruit like oranges, mandarins, and bananas are especially ideal for travel because their peels mean they don’t need to be washed before eating, but easy-to-eat berries, grapes, and apples make good road trip snacks, too. Dried and freeze-dried fruit, like dried apricots, raisins, and freeze-dried strawberries also make great, nutrient-packed road trip snacks.
- Muffins. Regular-sized or mini, healthy homemade muffins travel well and are easy to eat on the go. If sugar intake is a concern, be sure to read nutrition labels. Although muffins can seem like a healthy snack, many brands are just thinly disguised cake.
- Sandwiches. Unless you plan on eating your sandwiches within a couple of hours after making them, skip fillings that don’t do well at room temperature, like lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise-y egg or chicken salad. Or save on a YETI cooler to keep cold foods cold!
YETI
Military Members Save 20%!
Best Road Trip Snacks for Small Children
There’s no shortage of child-friendly snacks out there, but when you’re on the road you have to consider a few things other than flavor.
First, you want to bring along snacks that have a low probability of making a huge mess you’ll have to clean later. Also, be mindful of packing snacks that don’t pose a choking hazard to your child. If you’re sitting in the front seat, and especially if you’re driving, you won’t be able to monitor your child the entire time. (Check out the CDC’s list of common choking hazards and avoid them if you have little ones.)
With that in mind, here are our top picks for the best healthy road trip snacks for kids.
Pepperidge Farm Goldfish
Child-approved Goldfish are great snacks for the car; easy to eat, and much less messy than Ritz or Saltine crackers that burst into a thousand crumbs at first bite. We like this variety pack of single serving bags with Cheddar, Colors, Pretzel, and Grahams varieties.
GoGo Squeez Fruit Pouches
Fruit pouches make eating fruit fun and easy. Pouches are less likely to make a mess than a cup of applesauce, too, and they don’t have to be refrigerated. This variety pack includes 32 pouches in four great flavors.
Yoplait GoGurt Yogurt
Similar to fruit pouches, these single-serving, on-the-go tubes are an easier, cleaner way to serve little ones yogurt in the car. This box includes 32 tubes in two flavors.
Honest Kids Organic Juice
This juice has no added sugar and is a good source of Vitamin C. Each pack has 40 6-oz. juice boxes in three flavors: apple, berry lemonade, and grape.
More Snacks for Littles
- Milk. Milk in a bottle or sippy cup (depending on your child’s age) is a fast, nutritious, and filling snack on the go.
- Apple sticks. Apples don’t easily smush (like bananas), stain (like berries), or spurt (like mandarins), which is why they’re an excellent road trip snack for kids. Cut an apple into matchsticks to make them easier and safer for little ones to eat. Peeling optional.
- Cheerios. Fill up some snack cups or baggies with handfuls of Cheerios. This low-sugar cereal is a hit with kids, it’s easy for them to eat, and it’s easy to clean up when spilled.
How to Pack Your Snacks to Go
These road trip snack tips will make packing and eating on the road easier:
- Keep snacks accessible and easy to reach
- Bring along a bag to collect trash like wrappers and empty bottles
- Bring a cooler for cold drinks and foods that need to be refrigerated
- Use ice packs to keep your cooler colder for longer
ZipTop
ZipTop offers three reusable container designs (dishes, bags, and cups), making them perfect for sandwiches and snacks, as well as salads, bowls, drinks, and much more. ZipTop containers are dishwasher-, microwave-, and freezer-safe. It’s worth noting that ZipTop’s cups fit in your car’s cupholder!
Yeti Hopper Flip Soft Cooler
This durable, leakproof cooler from Yeti will keep your drinks and refrigerated snacks cold for hours. The compact shape and size help it fit easily in a road-trip-packed car, and it comes with a travel-friendly shoulder strap. Comes in three sizes and four colors.
