Road Trip Snacks

When embarking on a road trip, snacks are an essential!! Nothing makes people more crabby than being hungry or tired. Here is my list of the best road trip snacks.

Road Trip Snack Rules

Pack plenty of food!! If you have kids, I recommend packing 2-3 different snack bags. The main one is in the back with them, so they have access to it. Keep an emergency bag in the trunk or very back just in case they devour everything in the main bag. The third bag is for you or the driver. This is where you keep all the really good snacks and iced coffee beverages or sodas, lol.

It’s vacation so I let the whole family indulge in junk food. They help pick out the snacks and I don’t fuss too much. It’s one of the perks of a road trip, unlimited junk food.

With all the junk food consumption, I still make them eat protein. Our bodies just function better with it. I also have fruit and veggies available. We all love fruit, so it’s still not hard to eat healthy as well.

Do not pack anything that melts! This mainly applies to chocolate. You do not want melted chocolate anywhere in your car or on your kids. If you must indulge in chocolate at some point, eat it as soon as you buy it!

I try not to allow snacks that are too messy. No Cheetos or Doritos or anything else that turns fingers orange. I love pistachios, but on road trips no shells! The only exception I make is for fruit, but even then I don’t want fruit leaking all over my car either.

Water is the only drink I allow in the car. I banned juice boxes when my kids were little due to the mess. Now that they’re teens, I limit it to water so they don’t over indulge and I end up having to make multiple bathroom stops.

Snacks

Here are the top snacks I recommend bringing:

Apples- precut is the best
Cuties-make sure you have trash bags handy
Blueberries
Cherries
Grapes- not recommended for smaller kids
Bananas- not a lot because they get bruised easily
Applesauce Pouches
Baby Carrots
Cherry Tomatoes
Celery Sticks
Protein Bars
Cereal Bars
Granola Bars
Popcorn
Dry Cereal
Trail Mix
Chex Mix
Goldfish
Cheez Its
Pretzels
Fruit Snacks
Crackers
String Cheese
Chunks of Cheese
Hard Boiled Eggs
Yogurt
Hummus
Jerky
Nuts
Peanut Butter
Pringles
Animal Crackers
Graham Crackers
Marshmellows
Cookies
Rice Krispy Treats
Twizzlers

I would only bring a cooler if you absolutely need to bring cold items or if you have plenty of space in the car. Otherwise I leave it if I plan on purchasing most of meals from restaurants.

Water bottles are a must! I have everyone bring a refillable one, but also bring a small pack of bottled water just in case.

Single serving packages are a must!! I either buy them that way, or if I’m trying to save money I package them myself in snack sized Ziploc bags. This helps so much with portion control. My kids can eat a huge box of Goldfish in one setting if I let them.

It’s definitely cheaper to purchase your snacks before the trip. I do however budget money on most road trips to allow everyone a purchase at a gas station stop. There’s just something that my kids love about buying overpriced sugar filled junk, lol. My husband too!

What are your go to snacks for road trips???