If you’re trying to lose some fat or stay fit, for the most part, common consensus is that snacking too much can add a lot of empty calories to your diet.
And if you’re snacking on potato chips, that will happen. But, there are a number of healthy – and delicious – snacks that can help you stay on track if you get hungry between meals (which, unless you’re super human, probably happens from time to time).
After asking our team of contributing fitness and nutrition experts, we’ve compiled a list of 25 healthy snack ideas for you to try if you’re looking for something both good and good for you. We hope something on this list will become your new favorite and you’ll have a new healthy treat to share with others who also want to get and stay lean.
Healthy Snacks List:
- Kale Chips – Satisfyingly salty and low calorie, kale chips are a much healthier alternative to potato chips. If you want to make your own, check out this article on Baked Kale Chips.
- Sweet Potato Fries – Drizzled with oil & baked, these are delicious and much healthier than plain old French fries.
- Paper Bag Popped Popcorn – Filling and low calorie, this is a perfect snack for when you’re looking for something to crunch on but want to keep it healthy
- Cauliflower Fries – Baked just like sweet potato fries, these have an intriguing texture and flavor that’ll give your snacking an interesting twist.
- Apple – 100 calories, convenient, with tons of phytonutrients that help regulate your blood sugar, this is nutritious and filling
- Avocado – Green, with healthy fats, & creamy, avocado is delicious sliced in half with some balsamic vinegar and will fill you up fast
- Frozen Grapes – Refreshing and sweet, these are the perfect treat you can have more than a handful of and not feel guilty
- Frozen Bananas – Blended into a “frozen yogurt” type consistency, and you can add healthy toppings like raw cacao powder or nibs, chopped nuts, and/or fresh berries to make it even more like dessert
- Broccoli & Raw Almond Butter – Great source of fiber, protein, and healthy carbs, it’ll keep you feeling full and energetic!
- Fresh Veggies & Hummus – A great savory, crunchy snack that provides protein, healthy fats, and fiber. (See: Healthy Snack For The Office)
- Baby Carrots & Hummus – with 1 cup of carrots providing 400% daily value of Vitamin A, this is an excellent snack
- Celery & Hummus – While most dips contain high amounts of preservatives, sugar, and artificial flavorings, hummus is the opposite. Chalk full of fiber, its base is made up of chickpeas and olive oil
- Dried Veggies – If you have a dehumidifier, throw some veggies in the racks and use them as snacks through the week
- Greek Yogurt – With between 15 and 20 grams per serving, whether you use it in a protein shake, smoothie, dip, or by itself, Greek yogurt provides a healthy balance of carbs, protein, and probiotics, which can benefit your digestive system
- Hardboiled Eggs – Eggs are nature’s muscle building food. With 6 grams and 70 calories per serving, eggs are an excellent source of protein with all 9 essential amino acids
- Handful of berries – Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries are high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, while low in calories making them nutritional superstars. A cup of strawberries only has 50 calories with 3 grams of fiber and 7 grams of sugar.
- Almond Milk & Cacao Shake – Almond milk, 1 banana, handful spinach, handful kale, tbsp. chia seeds, tbsp. 100% cacao, 2 scoops protein powder, 1/2 cup of frozen fruit, and sometimes a tsp. of peanut/almond butter should cover all nutritional bases (See: Best Protein Shake)
- Leftovers – When you’re out at a restaurant, you’re probably going to be served more food than you need. Consider eating the leftovers as a snack, or meal the next day.
- 88% Dark Chocolate with Almond Butter – Flavonoids in the chocolate act as a strong anti-oxidant in the body while being low in sugar and the almond butter is high in fiber and monounsaturated fats
- Roasted Almonds – rich in Vitamin E, calcium, phosphorous, iron, & magnesium, almonds’ calories also go 20% undigested, so they’re really the perfect handful
- Pure Organic Bar – an all-natural bar that’s dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, and peanut-free, with protein and healthy fat, it’s an easy snack to carry around if you know you’re going to have a busy day or don’t know when you’ll get to have a real meal!
- Kimchi – Full of probiotics, it’s low in calories and has a very distinct flavor that satisfies most sugar cravings
- Rise Almond Honey Protein Bar – with only 3 ingredients, a total of 280 calories, and a great taste, this bar is easy to take with you and super filling!
- Flax Snax & Organic Cashews – Lignans in the flax have good estrogen detoxing properties, while the cashews are a good source of monounsaturated fat
- Homemade Trail Mix – A great snack if chosen carefully, since store-bought trail mixes are loaded with salted and processed nuts, sugar loaded chocolate, and roasted in hydrogenated oil, these are some great choices: walnuts, raw unsalted almonds, unsalted sunflower seeds, dried apricots
Now that we’ve shared a bunch of ours, we want to know, what are your favorite healthy snacks? Please share your favorite choices in a comment or let us know how you like any of the Top 25 you try!
Great list! I would also add cottage cheese. You can mix it with fruit or just eat it plain. It has nice high supply of slow digesting proteins, calcium and is very filling. I eat it after my work out.
Wow!Absolutely amazing!I will definetely try some of these!
awesome finally
what about peanut butter/apples?
That’s one of my faves, certainly can be on the list.
This is making me hungry!
Just one question on hummus.. are they all created equal? Alot of the time on the ingredients it says its made with canola oil. Should this not be avoided?
Bryce, make your own hummus. Blend chickpeas, tahini, garlic and lemon juice. If needed, add a little water? No need for any additional oils. Made some today. Took all of 2 minutes and tasted great!!
Thanks for sharing, Mark. That is a great option. If any one knows of any specific brands of hummus they like, do let us know.
I like all these snack options, I understand almont butter being a top choice but how about natural peanut butter as another option, the kind that you have to stir and keep in the frig. IT’s tastier and better on the wallet than almond butter. Also how about dried cranberries as an option to apricots?
Great list.
I like frozen mangos, frozen edamame (the Trader Joe’s one is awesome), almonds, cucumbers, and feta cheese. Sprouted bread is great to keep on hand as well.
I have to admit, I do drizzle honey on my greek yogurt every once in a while.
ok thanks again Marc
What about Peanut Butter?
I love the “leftovers” one, because I just happened to try this couple of days ago! (The food still taste good, and it was not wasted!)
Thanks a lot for these great ideas! I’ll definitely try them!
frozen banana– ad nut butter-
raw milk yogurt(or greek) mixed with aronia berries and unsalted raw chunky almond buuter
What no jerky or biltong?
One of my own favs:
Apple (any kind)
Pear
1/2 – 1 Banana
1/2 Milk
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) of Non-fat (Strawberry) Yogurt
Blend in Ninja/Blender until smooth.
Good calcium, Vitamins, natural sugars, etc. and Delicious!
Even better with raw oats sprinkled on it. (more fiber!)
Non fat (strawberry) yogurt with raw oats.
With banana chucks, even better!
love kimchi…but doesn’t that have lots of sodium?
Overnight oatmeal mostly as breakfast, but would make a good snack…take rolled oats (1/4 cup) , add them to a jar with 1/4c greek or other yogurt , 1/4 c skim milk, and then I add 1/2 to 1 Tablespoon each of roughly cut dried cherries, raw almonds etc… then add some fresh fruit ( I’ve had kiwifruit on hand). I want to try adding chia seeds, and you can substitute what you like for any of the ingredients.
stir it and cover and leave it in the fridge overnight or around five hours and its ready to eat..add a little honey if you need more sweetness.
I’m new to this, but its really good and good for you.
Banana protein pancakes!! Easy to make, high in protein and low in fats, carbs and salt. SO delicious!
1 banana
1 egg
2 scoops protein powder – I use vanilla or chocolate
1 cup frozen raspberries
mash banana, mix in egg and protein powder. gently stir in berries. cook in fry pan using butter. makes about 6 small pancakes.
good for brekkie, afternoon snack or even desert. Serve with extra berries or greek yoghurt if you wish.
fav snacks:
– 2 dates slit open, filled with natural, unsweetened, peanut butter, topped with crushed raw pistachios
– steamed turnip cubes (crazy i know!) sprinkled with salt or lemon juice
– apricots and cherries
– a cuppa skim milk scalded with fresh ginger shavings/ bruised cardamom
– 1 slice wholemeal toast topped with low fat cottage cheese, sprinkled with cinnamon
– 1/2 cup of yogurt with wheatgerm
Marc,
Great site and information. Especially liked this article for most folks. However, I have several allergies, and most of the foods here will kill me, and quickly – nuts, hummus, and the like.
So my diet is stuck within certain types of food.
Any suggestions.
Love your site and expecting to get your plan for Christmas from my lovely wife and daughter, who want me to get into shape at 50.
plain Greek yogurt, with a tiny drizzle of honey, five chopped pistachio nuts, 1/2 chopped apple, and a finely chopped piece of dark chocolate
This is a great list! My job keeps me in the car all day and I love to gnosh on freeze-dried green beans! I know that sounds weird but it satisfies that desire for crunchy and keeps me from going to the drive-thru!
Just had a green tea and an egg white and mushroom omelette for a snack, clocking in at 56 killer calories. Sometimes egg whites are just the ticket.
I also boil a bunch and cut them in half. Pop out the yolks. Keep them on hand in the fridge.You can munch on six halves for 48 calories with a cup of almond milk at 30 calories to tie you over.
I want to mention one more, but I’m nervous. Canned yellow or green beans. DON’T SHOOT! It’s just that sometimes they are so easy for a snack. Open. Drain. Rinse and drain a couple times and plop them on a plate. Sprinkle on spices. One and three quarter filling cups for 50 calories without any work or prep.
With all the mention of almond butter, I bought some yesterday and tried it for the first time in my life. Oh. My. Goodness. Wow…s-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o good! I officially declare the 50 years and 3 months of my life before tasting almond butter a complete WASTE! Ha! Ha! But really… so good!
What about Kefir fruit smoothies with unsweetened Cocoa? My kids love it and I can make my own Kefir which is a better probiotic than Greek Yogurt
Hey Marc,
I love this post on healthy snacks! I am definitely saving this in my links of recipes.
I’m curious, have you ever tried using meal replacements as a snack?
Hey Alex, super happy to hear you enjoyed the post! If I understand you correctly, you mean meal replacement supplements like ready to drink shakes. If that’s the case, I’m not a huge fan of meal replacements. My philosophy – in line with the BuiltLean philosophy – is to eat whole foods 90% of the time, or a direct derivative of a whole food, like fruit in a shake. I think there are too many great snack / food options to resort to a meal replacement, which will likely have a bunch of chemicals you can’t pronounce as ingredients.