Our Top 10 Low-Sugar, Grain-free Trail Snacks

Trail snacks are a complicated balance between pack weight and necessary fuel. We recently made the decision to skip the heavily processed, chocolate-laden treats, and opt for these low-sugar, grain-free trail snacks. It is just as easy to prepare these healthy snack packs, and you’ll feel better in the end!

After completing our January Whole30 (paleo) challenge, JZ and I are much more aware of grains and refined sugar in our diets. After ending the challenge, we still eat high protein and veggie-packed breakfasts, and eat more savory instead of sweet snacks. However, we still indulge in the occasional cone of gelato and/or bacon egg roll.

Packing snacks and lunch to-go was the biggest challenge of our paleo month. The limitations of the paleo diet made preparing food for our weekend biking and hiking adventures difficult. There are not always food options nearby when the family gets hungry, which quickly devolves the overall emotional state. It is so easy to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, throw in a few granola bars, add chocolate-chip trail mix, but I realized that it doesn’t take much more effort to prepare healthy, grain-free snacks with minimal amounts of sugar. I don’t make an extra trip to the specialty grocery store for the strict “paleo” snacks, so several of these options had small amounts added sugar and/or other preservatives, but it’s a compromise that we make between convenience, nutrition, and taste!

Low-Sugar, Grain-free Trail Snacks

Roasted sweet potatoes – We are huge sweet potato fans, and CZ now requires her own potato – no more sharing with mummy! For hiking, I put sweet potatoes in individual sandwich ziplock bags; and we peel and eat them like bananas. Truth be told, it can be a messy, finger-licking affair, but still delicious and very filling.

Beef jerky – Beef jerky is traditional hiking food, but I often forget about it. It is a great way to load up with protein and flavor, without needing to bring a cooler, and it takes our toddler longer to chew, which buys us more time between stops. Maybe one cool winter day, I will turn on the oven and make my own, but that is definitely not happening during the summer!

Nuts and Seeds mix – Skip over the prepared mixes and make your own! Our favorite trail mix is a simple combination of raw almonds, pepitas, sunflower seeds, and dried cranberries. I generally pour in about 1 cup of almonds and 1/2 cup of everything else. If you really want to take it to the next level, add in some chopped jerky for a savory kick! The best part about mixing your own is the diversity of flavors, and lack of peanuts. I find that “mixes” are often too heavy on peanuts and sultanas.

Cherry tomatoes – These little guys are perfect for a juicy little snack. I generally wash the whole bunch and put them in a plastic tupperware for the hike.

Hummus and carrots – I whiz up a batch of simple hummus every other weekend for us to snack on during the week. For longer hikes, I put it in the cooler in a small ziplock bag. When we are ready to eat, I bite a small hole in the corner of the bag, and use it like a pastry bag. This creates much less mess, cuts down our daycare germ exposure from double-dipping. CZ doesn’t have enough teeth to really eat much of the carrot, but she loves the hummus. One note, we are back to eating beans, even though they are not paleo, but you can try a cauliflower hummus if you are sensitive to chickpeas.

Pea snacks – These are generally fried peas with a bit of seasoning and salt, although I have seen baked varieties as well. I buy these from the Asian grocery store because they are way cheaper than the “health food” variety (although I trade price for a bit of sugar and oil). We recently found this garlic variety which I love for the flavor and the individual size packs – I need portion control to be a no-brainer.

Other straight-from-the-grocery store options:

• Canned tuna – CZ and I will eat tuna from a can with some salt and pepper – JZ won’t touch the stuff. It is a bit dry by itself, but much improved with some cherry tomatoes.
• Individual protein powder packets – Pour the packet into your water bottle for a quick protein hit!
• Nut butters – Bring along some small packets of nut butter to squeeze on to your fruit.
• Fresh fruit – JZ and CZ love their bananas, and I am partial to apples. We always bring along a few pieces of trail-side fruit, for a sweet and juicy snack. After a few bad experiences, I pack the bananas last, so that they don’t become a sticky mess inside the packs.

Do you have any quick and easy trail snacks that we need to try?