The Best Road Trip Snacks (Plus 4 Things to Avoid)
Are you planning a road trip? If so, you’ll want to bring a few snacks to keep your energy levels up, resist stopping for fast food or keep the kids happy in the back seat.
However, when it comes to road trip snacks, it’s essential to choose carefully. Certain food items are messy or unsafe to take on this kind of trip. So here are the best snacks for road trips and a few foods to avoid!What Road Trip Snacks Are Good To Go?
So, what are some of the best snacks for your next road trip? Well, it’s best to focus on healthy, nutritional, and easy-to-eat without making a mess, as well as foods that store well and won’t go bad before you can eat them. Here are some examples of wise choices for road trip snacks.
Certain Fruits and Vegetables
When it comes to road trip snacks, fruit, and veggies are often at the top of the list. Fresh fruits like bananas, apples, and pears are great for giving you energy on the go, while veggies like cucumbers and small salads are ideal for providing the key vitamins and minerals your body needs.
Granola Bars
The outdoor adventurer’s best friend, granola bars, have lots of advantages as road trip snacks. Firstly, they’re packed full of nutrients; only one little bar usually has lots of fiber, protein, and other beneficial minerals and vitamins. These bars are also easy to pack, tasty, and won’t go bad in hot or cold spaces.
Cookies that Travel Well
Looking for a sweet treat to bring on your road trip? You can grab some ingredients and cookie cutters before you go and whip up a freshly-baked batch of cookies. Cookies are easy to pack and can give you a big boost of energy, but try to choose travel-friendly ingredients that won’t go bad – avoid chocolate, as it might melt and cause a mess.
Almonds & Cashews
Nuts are also amazing snacks for road trips for several reasons. Firstly, almonds and cashews are full of energy, and only a tiny handful can give you the big boost you need to stay concentrated on the road. Nuts like these are also easy to pack in small bags or plastic containers in your car.
Sandwiches
Sandwiches are a classic picnic and road trip food, and they’re great to bring along on road trips when you know you’ll be driving for quite a while and plan to stop off for some lunch in the car along the way. Just be careful which fillings you choose – try to opt for fillings that will stay fresh, or use a cooler if you plan on filling your sandwiches with cheeses and meats.
Greek Yogurt
Greek yogurt is one of the healthiest foods for your next road trip. Rich in protein and fiber, this yogurt is excellent for your digestive health, and it’s also really filling, so it should keep you feeling full until you arrive at your destination.
Foods To Avoid During A Road Trip
Are there any foods you should not bring on a road trip? Absolutely! In general, it’s best to avoid foods that are messy to eat and could cause problems in your car, as well as foods that have strong odors or could go bad and make someone ill if stored in a hot car for too long. It’s also best to avoid certain unhealthy snacks, too.
Cooked Meat
When it comes to road trip foods, cooked meat isn’t the best item to bring along for several reasons. Firstly, if left too long or allowed to warm up, it can go bad and could even cause food poisoning. Not only that, but cooked meat gives off a lot of odor and could leave your whole car with a pungent smell for the rest of your trip.
Fast Food
It might be tempting to stop at your favorite fast food joint to pick up a few burgers on your road trip, but we don’t recommend it! Fast food may be satisfying at first, but it’s packed full of unhealthy elements like trans fats and salt that can tire you out, not to mention that fast food is also great at making your car stink.
Salty Snacks
In general, salty snacks should be avoided on road trips. This includes the likes of potato chips and salted nuts. Why? Well, salt dehydrates the body, making you feel really thirsty and causing you to make many more stops along your way to get a drink and use the restroom.
Tomatoes
Some fruits and veggies are ideal for road trips, but tomatoes aren’t among them. Why? Well, tomatoes and tomato-based products may irritate your bladder, which could cause you to have to pull over and search for restrooms more frequently, delaying your trip and keeping you away from your destination.
Take Care How You Pack Snacks Too
We’ve seen some of the best foods to bring along for your next road trip, as well as a few foods you’re better off leaving at home. But, as well as choosing the right foods, you also need to pack them correctly.
Try to store most foods, especially fresh fruit and veggies, in airtight containers to keep them fresh and consider bringing a cooler if you’ve got anything that needs keeping cool, like yogurt and salads.
