The 100 Best Road Trip Snacks For Kids and Adults

You can plan the most amazing road trip to an epic destination, but hey, if you don’t have the best food for road trips in the car you may end up with whiny kids, grouchy adults, and moody teens. We’ve got you covered with the 100 best road trip snacks for kids and adults. Most of these snacks are great travel snacks for toddlers and babies too.

The best road trip food list includes healthy snacks – this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t occasionally stop and get a treat, or seek out an amazing ice cream shop! What it does mean is that you should prioritize healthy snacks if you want to keep everyone feeling good and happy. We included mostly healthy and some treat road trip snacks for kids and adults.

Also check out:

• Our complete guide to planning road trips with kids, teens, and tweens
• 12 Steps to Create the Perfect Plan for Road Trip Success (A Complete Guide)

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Best Road Trip Snacks for Kids and Adults

Healthy Fruit Snacks

Fruit makes excellent family road trip snacks and should be your first go-to on the road. Fruit can be easy to find and keep and will keep everyone feeling good and ready for your next stop. A few items on this list should be packed carefully as they can bruise of make a mess, and ideas like watermelon are best saved for a stop on your road trip instead of in the car.

• Apple
• Apple slices with with peanut butter
• Banana
• Peach
• Pear
• Grapes
• Cherries
• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Melon cubes
• Applesauce Cups
• Sliced watermelon (with a napkin!)
• Raisins
• Pomegranate seeds

Salty Snacks

When we set out on our one-month road trip during the summer of 2021, we were careful to keep our snacks packed for a few days in the future and we always kept a stash of salty snacks that stored well. Many of these are classic car snacks for kids and will keep your trip rolling along smoothly.

• Pretzels (can dip in peanut butter, nutella, or hummus)
• Rizt Bits
• Sunflower Seeds
• Pistacios
• Peanuts
• Seaweed snacks
• Nut Mix
• Salt trail mix
• Pringles
• Peanut butter filled pretzels
• Veggie Chips
• Pirate Booty
• Dry Cereal
• Rice cakes
• Popcorn
• Chips
• Veggie sticks
• Goldfish
• Crackers
• Corn Nuts
• Peanut butter stuffed pretzels
• Premade peanut butter and crackers

Sweet Snacks

Nothing says road trip like some of these sweeter road trip snacks. The key here is not to overdo it. Too much sugar on a road trip is bad for everyone and you’ll end the drive feeling gross with either hyper or tired kids.

• Trail mix
• Animal crackers
• Dried fruit (mango, pineapple, etc)
• Banana chips
• Dry cereal
• Nilla wafers
• Brownies
• Cocunut Chips
• Eggo waffles
• Rice crispy treats
• Cookies
• Chocolate
• Nutella on …(bread, crackers, fruit, etc)
• Fig Newtons
• Candy
• Mini muffins
• Granola Bars
• Mini Donuts
• Fruit Gummies
• Sweet popcorn
• Jerky
• Cupcakes
• Granola Bar

Vegetable Snacks (dip your veggies in hummus or veggie dip)

Are you wondering what food to take on a road trip to make you feel great? Make sure you stock up on plenty of vegetables as these will have you feeling great for the longest. The best news is you can eat lots of these without ever really getting too full.

• Baby Carrots
• Cut up cucumbers
• Cut up peppers
• Baby tomatoes
• Snap peas
• Celery
• Broccoli
• Guacamole (with chips, pretzels, veggies)
• Avocado

Snacks for the Cooler

If you have a cooler on your road trip, then you have the flexibility to bring a few extra snacks such as meats, cheese and yogurt. These snacks are great since they tend to stick with you a little longer and many of them make excellent road trip snacks for toddlers since they are easy to each and not as messy as certain fruit.

• Smoothy
• Yogurt (can add granola)
• Greek Yogurt
• Hard boiled eggs
• String cheese
• Cut up cheese chunks
• Ham slices

Extra Filling Snacks

Depending on your travel style and the length of your trip, you may stop for meals or need more filling snacks to get you through a longer drive. The list below includes many options for more in-depth snacks that will last longer. Some of these car snacks can be assembled in advance, but you can also pack the parts in the cooler and assemble them during a break. We also love these snacks as they pack well if we’re stopping for a hike or other activity. The best road trip snacks for kids also make the best bedtime snacks and the best hiking snacks.

• Cracker stacks – crackers, cheese and meat
• Thing-a-ma-bobs (what my mom called meat and cheese wrapped up together)
• Pancake stacks – peanut butter, Nutella and fruit (more like sandwiches)
• Ants on a log – peanut butter on celery with raisins
• Leftovers from yesterday
• Hummus, veggies and cheese sandwich
• Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
• Meat and cheese sandwich
• Tomato, mozz and pesto sandwich
• Any of the sandwiches above on a wrap or tortilla
• Protien Bars
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Pecans
• Muffins
• Bagel and cream cheese
• Bagel and peanut butter
• Burrito
• Egg Sandwich (make in the AM and bring along)
• Pita Pocket Sanwiches
• Other baked goods

Drinks on the Road

Water is your best option! But just like I think moderation is best with snacks, it sometimes makes sense to get a special drink when you stop. We usually try to get our kids to fill up their reusable water bottles when we stop or we keep jugs of water in the car to refill so they are ready to go whenever we stop. If you do stop for drinks, consider getting a large drink and sharing or getting real fruit juice or other healthy choices.

You can click on the image below with all the snacks in one place and save the image to your phone or even print it so you have a list of the best car snacks right at your fingertips or to take with you into the grocery store.

Packing Your Car for Easy Snacking

How you pack your car is almost as important as what snacks you get. If the snacks aren’t accessible when you need them then no one will eat them. We try to keep a general snack bag accessible for everyone, AND each person in the car packs a car bag with a few snacks for the day. This ensures that no matter what, there is a snack available for everyone when you most need it.

If you are taking a cooler, try to keep it accessible from the inside car seats so you can get snacks and drinks easily while you’re underway. Also remember that a cooler with ice will need to be drained periodically.

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