Healthy Road Trip Snacks for Kids | Stephanie Peterson, Actress

This road trip snack hack might just blow your mind.

I’m not sorry to say that. It’s brill.

It can be hard to eat healthy on the road, don’t you agree? All my kids want is a bag of chips, then a bag of crackers, then a bag of cookies, then repeat. Anyone else?

I’m the mama bear, family nutritionist type that encourages them to eat healthfully, and the easiest way to do that is to have lots of options for healthy eating. If the options are unique, fun, small, and tasty, then healthy eating is a slam dunk.

Healthy travel snacks that your family will love? Yes, it’s possible!

Get on with it, Steph! Show the mamas your best road trip snack hack that kids will love!

These are easy dip cups that you can get ready in the car while on a long road trip. Yes, right in the car.

Note: Some links below are affiliate links to amazon. I earn a small commission at no cost to you.

You need:

9 oz plastic cups like these
1.5 oz dip cups of peanut butter or ranch
carrots, sugar snap peas, raisins, pre-cut apples, pre-cut celery
For non-veggie eaters, veggie straws or honey graham pretzel twists

To blow your kiddos snack lovin’ minds:

Grab a plastic cup
Open up one of the dip containers – (point away from you and open slowly)
Drop the dip container in the cup – they fit in the bottom!
Pop your fruit, veggies, pretzels, etc. in the dip
Hand to your kid who thinks you’re so cool

Tips:

Notice the fruits and veggies I listed can all be purchased prepared, or you can prepare your own beforehand. I have done both depending on the time I had available.
For nut allergies, use almond butter or sun butter squeeze packs, and just squeeze the butter into the bottom of the cup (yes, this defeats the coolness of the dip cup, but that’s ok!)
Be sure that the dip cups you choose are 1.5oz, the top is circular, and the dip container angles like the cups do. Otherwise, they may not fit in the bottom. If yours accidentally don’t fit, you can always just use the plastic cups to hold the dipping tools.
Sadly, it looks like Hidden Valley is starting to make their ranch dip cups square at the top, so the ones I use may be hard to find. There may be other brands at your supermarket that would work! Let me know.

Bonus ideas!

Try peanut butter, sprinkle with raisins, and add celery spears for a deconstructed ants on a log.
Squeeze into the cup yogurt packets/tubes, then add dried or fresh fruit for a parfait. Teddy grahams would be a delicious “granola”-type topping.
If you want to get really zealous, you could bring a thermos of hot chicken nuggets or meatballs, and squeeze ketchup packets in the cups first. (Wouldn’t it be nice if BBQ sauce came in packets?)

This snack hack came about quite by accident! We were on our road trip. I had the plastic cups just to use as bowls, I had the dips, and I was holding them at the same time when a *light bulb* burst. Y’all. This kind of thing doesn’t happen to me; I’m not that smart.

So I’m sharing my lucky snack hack with you for your family to enjoy. I really need some more clever variations on this to have in my back pocket. Have any ideas? Tell me!

Hey, road trips with teens, kids, toddlers, dogs, luggage, etc. can be difficult. They take a lot of planning (which is why I have a free course to help you plan your long car ride). Don’t go it alone. I’m here to help you! Sign up for my free family road trip survival course. It is chock full of amazing tips on how to manage screen time, what lap activities kids love, and more snack ideas.