Fall is coming, the best season for road trips (and road trip snacks)! (Believe it or not, I MUCH prefer road tripping in the fall than in summer.) It’s exciting to think about all the traveling that will be going on over the next few months.
One thing that can be stressful to plan for a road trip, though, is what snacks to bring. It can be tempting to blow $10 for chips at every gas station you pass, but trust me, there are so many other options that are cheaper and more delicious.
Below you’ll find over 50 ideas for great road trip snacks – trust me, you’ll never want to stop eating!
Snack essentials
- Paper cups – awesome for scooping up a serving of snacks to eat on the road
- Binder clips for when you need to close that bag of pretzels
- Napkins (obviously)
Easy road trip snacks
These road trip snacks are simple and easy to find, with no prep needed.
- Pirate’s Booty – this is my favorite snack ever. Don’t go for a small bag – get the gigantic one from Costco. Yes, that one.
- Pretzels
- Potato chips – I know this is not the most exciting or healthiest option, but I feel a deep calling from within to include it. 😊
- Granola bars – grab the gigantic box of those green-wrapped Nature Valley granola bars from the Costco shelf. Doubles as breakfast, too. Feeling brave? Try making your own!
- Trail mix – it will get less cliché than this, I promise.
- Peanut butter crackers
- Homemade breakfast bread. I lied, didn’t I? I said these snacks were no-prep. Oh well.
- Veggie sticks
- Roasted chickpeas
- Graham crackers
- Peanut butter pretzels
- Goldfish
- Popcorn – white cheddar popcorn is AMAZING for road trips.
- Chex Mix
- Bugles
- Cheese puffs
- Cheese balls
Healthy(ish) road trip snacks
Okay, I admit I’m a bit of a junk food addict (I literally have a lollipop in my mouth right now), but after listing all those snacks above, I feel, well, a little…oof. That’s a lot of packaged, processed snacks. So here are some snacks that are much more filling and much healthier. And none of these need to be stored in a cooler.
- Grape tomatoes
- Grapes
- Cuties
- Apples
- Energy bars
- Mixed nuts
- Applesauce cups
- Fruit leather
- Banana chips
- Dried fruit (pineapple, mango, etc.)
- Mandarin oranges
- Sardines
- Tuna packs
- Sunflower seeds
- Beef jerky
- Kale chips
- Crackers – try to have a variety. Ritz, club, Triscuit, and Wheat Thins are all great ideas.
Cooler road trip snacks
If you have a cooler with you, that’s great! We use a big ole’ red cooler on our road trips and keep it stuffed with fantastic snacks.
- Cheese – be creative with your cheese choices. Some favorites of ours are white cheddar, Gouda, Havarti, and Pepper Jack.
- Red pepper
- Strawberries
- Yogurt
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Salami
- Hummus
- Carrot sticks
- Cucumber
- Leftovers from last night’s dinner 🙂
Energy-fueling road trip beverages
There are a lot of drink options to choose from, but I would definitely recommend staying away from too much soda. It can make you sick, leave you feeling gross, and is just plain unhealthy. Try to have everything individually packaged to prevent messes.
- Water (definitely)
- Capri Suns
- Juice boxes
- Gatorade
- Powerade
- Sports drinks
- Chocolate milk
Sweet road trip snacks
There’s always the time where I need a little boost of sugar (Ahem, I’m still eating this lollipop). We try not to have too many sweet snacks on our trips, but here are some of my personal favorites.
- Cookies – homemade if possible
- M&Ms
- Reese’s Pieces
- Peppermints
- Gummy bears – I don’t know why I love these so much, but I do
- Gummy worms
- Lemon drops
- Smarties
- Mike and Ikes
- Saltwater Taffy
- Anything with not too much chocolate because sadly, chocolate melts easily. ☹
Round-up of my all-time favorite road trip snacks
- Pirate’s Booty
- Doritos
- Granola bars
- Chocolate Peanut Butter trail mix from Costco
- Grape tomatoes
- Sardines
- Pepper Jack cheese
- Saltwater taffy
- Capri Suns (freeze these and stick them in your cooler for ice packs!)
Wrap-up
Okay, I hope there are actually 50+ snacks, because I said there would be, didn’t I? (I think this lollipop had too much sugar in it) Anyway, hopefully you have some inspiration for your next road trip.
Where will your next road trip be? I have plenty of ideas for you right here.
Also, try to guess where the Pirate’s Booty photo was taken. Let me know in the comments, and if you get it right, you’re awesome!
Happy travels!
