The Best Snacks For Traveling In The Car

Road trips are fun! But they also require a lot of pre-planning and packing. An afterthought is often “what will we eat and where?” Our registered dietitian Jessie shares her favorite tips and travel snack options for nourishing eats while you’re on the road.    

Portable Nutrition: Best Road Trip Snack Tips

Relying on restaurants, rest stop vending, and gas station foods when you’re on a long road trip is expensive and can often leave you feeling lethargic behind the wheel. Use these tips to save money and add energy-boosting nutrition to your next car trip.

• Keep Cool: In lieu of refrigeration, save some room in your trunk, van, or cargo carrier for a sturdy cooler that can keep foods cold with ice packs. Pack it with veggies that will last a few days: carrots, mini bell peppers, celery sticks, and miniature cucumbers. Also, stash a few salad kits inside, as well as a separate airtight container of a favorite cooked protein, such as shredded rotisserie chicken, cottage cheese cups, hard-cooked eggs, or sliced sausages. Stainless steel food containers can double as storage and containers for tossing together salad ingredients.

• Snacks That Last: Pre-packing snacks into individual containers or pouches makes it easy to grab and distribute them when hunger or meltdowns hit. Finger foods like string cheese, turkey sticks, pretzels, crackers, veggie sticks, mandarin oranges, and apples are low-mess options and also easy to eat while keeping your eyes on the road. Make or pack some travel-friendly sandwiches ahead of time for filling snacks and meal additions.

• Protein-Boosted Breakfasts: Unless you’re intentional about it, it’s hard to get enough high protein foods while traveling. This important macronutrient can help you feel more full and satisfied from road trip meals and prevent muscles from getting fatigued. For breakfasts, stir protein powder or collagen sticks into oatmeal packets (or oatmeal you pick up from a coffee shop), pack microwaveable breakfast sandwiches, or sprinkle hemp seeds or chia over yogurt cups. 

• Think Beyond Restaurants: Avoid being at the whim of whatever restaurant options or fast-food joints appear on your journey. Instead, consider re-stocking your healthy snack and meal options when you pass a local grocery store or large retailer where you can pick up things like fresh fruit, pre-made salads, salad kits, cooked chicken, and other deli options. You’ll save money, feel energized from the short walk, and get back on the road faster. 

50 Healthy Road Trip Snacks And Foods

To compose nutritionally well-rounded meals and snacks for traveling in the car, gather some options from each of the sections in this healthiest road trip foods list. You’ll maximize your nutrient intake and feel more energized.

Quality Proteins

• Beef jerky
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Protein bars
• Turkey or beef sticks
• Cottage cheese cups
• Yogurt cups
• Deli meat slices
• Tuna cups
• Meat and cheese roll-ups

Nutritious Carbs

• Portable peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
• Popcorn
• Apples and applesauce pouches
• Bananas and banana chips
• Mini bell peppers
• Oranges
• Grapes
• Cherry tomatoes
• Blueberries 
• Baby carrots
• Celery sticks
• Hummus cups
• Pre-made sandwiches
• Roasted chickpeas
• Trail mix (store-bought or homemade mix with cashew and dark chocolate chips)
• Dried fruit
• Pretzels
• Roasted edamame
• Granola bars
• Snap peas
• Raisins
• Whole wheat fig bars
• Whole-grain crackers and crisps
• Dry cereal

• Real fruit gummies or fruit leather
• Mini muffins
• Oatmeal cups or packets

Healthy Fats

• String cheese
• Guacamole cups
• Pistachios
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Energy bars and balls
• Olive cups
• Nut butter packets

Drinks

• Still, carbonated, or flavored waters
• Individual milk bottles
• Drinkable yogurt cartons
• 100% fruit juice boxes
• Kombucha
• High-fiber, low-sugar sodas, such as Plezi or Olipop

THE BOTTOM LINE

For healthier eats on the open road, think outside the typical pit-stop gas station or corner fast-food joint. By pre-packing some of these nutritious travel-ready easy snack ideas, you’ll have healthy eats at your fingertips, save money, feel more energized, and get back on the road faster.

Written by Jessie Shafer. 

Jessie is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist living in Colorado where she splits her time among nearby playgrounds, typing away at her trusty laptop, and heating up her home kitchen with delicious experiments. A former magazine editor-in-chief, Jessie has a long career in food publishing and health writing. She is currently the editor at The Real Food Dietitians and a nutrition consultant through her business crdible.