Summer’s the time for road trips. Rolled down windows, scenic views (or endless miles of highway), and the company of your friends or family is only improved by the snacks you bring along. And when you’ve been driving for hours on end, sometimes great nosh is the only way to keep morale high.
Here’s a list of recipes to bring all road trip snackage to another level. There’s a balance of sweet and salty and healthy and not-so-healthy, so make a variety of snacks and pack your bag for the best-fed road trip in history.
1. Salt and Vinegar Chickpeas
Photo by Jordan Miller
Skip the salt and vinegar potato chips from the gas station and make these. They have all the flavor of your favorite chips but have 15 grams of protein in each cup, so they’ll keep you full till that lunch stop.
And if you’re not into salt and vinegar, try turmeric roasted or cinnamon sugar.
2. No-Bake Oreo Cookie Butter Balls
Photo by Emily Gordon
After eating chickpeas it’s time to treat yo’ self. These puppies are sure to get the back seat excited and they only take 15 minutes of prep, so whip ’em up and put them in the freezer while you pack.
3. No-Bake Peanut Butter Bites
Photo by Emma Noyes
These are highly snackable, highly portable, and highly addictive. Use gluten free oats if you’ve got GF riders and keep them in a cooler to prevent melting on a hot day.
4. Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Crispy Treats
Photo by Maria Serghiou
Add a little spice to an otherwise cornfield-filled road trip. For all my last minute packers out there, these only take 10 minutes of prep. Whip ’em up and bring the whole pan in the car with you – I don’t think anyone will complain.
5. Ultimate Trail Mix
No trip is complete without trail mix, or as I like to call it, GORP. It’s easy to customize if you don’t like certain ingredients, and if you’re not a fan of recipes just throw some cereal, nuts, dried fruit, and M&Ms into a bag and call it a day.
Or if you swear you don’t like trail mix, go this route.
6. Ritz and Rolo Mini Sandwiches
Photo by Holly Birchfield
You are one bag of Rolos, one box of Ritz crackers, and one full tank of gas away from adventure, my friend. These are crispy, chewy, salty, and whatever other adjectives you can think of. Oh yeah, and they travel well (if they even make it to the car).
7. Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins
Photo by Mulin Xiong
Make these banana muffins in a mini muffin tin for a less-messy alternative to banana bread and go nanners.
8. Puppy Chow
Photo by Katie Walsh
Created in the Midwest, puppy chow is the pinnacle of snack foods. Sweet, salty, and crunchy, it’s like trail mix on steroids. The first bag will be gone before your first rest stop, so make all 3 versions in order to keep everyone happy all ride long. You’ve been warned.
9. Homemade Crunchy Granola
Photo by Lauren Kaplan
Granola is a go-to snack for a reason. It’s portable, delicious, and has a ton of variations. Make a batch and go nuts.
10. Granola Bars
Photo by Audrey Mirabito
While you’re on it with the granola you might as well make granola bars, too. These are a lot healthier than the store bought ones that are loaded sugar.
11. Pepperoni Chips
Photo by Anna Polovick
These crunchy pepperoni chips are the best part of pizza, now on your road trip. They’re also paleo, if you’re into that whole caveman thing.
12. Honey Mustard Pretzels
GIF by Emily Gordon
Wow everyone in the car with these homemade beauties. Plus part of the recipe is shaking the sauce and pretzels together in the bag, which is reason enough to make them.
13. Almond Butter Oat Protein Energy Balls
Photo by Keni Lin
Just because you’re on a road trip doesn’t mean you should slack on your swoleness.
14. 2-Ingredient Dulce de Leche Rice Krispies
Photo by Alex Furuya
Sorry store-bought, you just got passed. Also to the slow driver on the highway, you just got passed.
15. Edamame Hummus
Photo by Maddie Cleeff
Road trips tend to be light on the veggie side (mostly because who actually wants to eat vegetables?) but sometimes you need a little veg after a greasy highway pit stop lunch.
Store this hummus in your cooler and tread lightly when serving a chip of it to your driver — we’re all about hummus in your tummy not on your interior.
16. Asian Chex Mix
Photo by Elise Takahama
This delicious twist on Chex Mix only takes 20 minutes to make and stores well in an air-tight container #roadtripready
17. No Bake 4-Ingredient Dark Chocolate Coconut Bars
Photo by Alyssa Rosello
Damn these pair well with the piña coladas you’ll treat yourself to when you finally get to your destination. The thick layer of chocolate on these bars make them another snack to stash in the cooler.
18. Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Photo by Morgan Goldberg
Speaking of chocolate, few snacks are as refreshing and mouth-watering as chocolate covered strawberries. They’re simple to make at home, just make sure not to get any water in the melted chocolate (dry spoons, people) or it’ll seize and look funky.
Again, cooler. It’s worth it.
19. Homemade Cool Ranch Doritos
Photo by Jenny Georgieva
What’s cooler on a hot summer day than Cool Ranch Doritos? Homemade Cool Ranch Doritos, that’s what. And Jennifer Lawrence would definitely approve.
20. Funfetti Cake Balls
Gif by Elizabeth Philip
Because you can never, never have enough cake balls. We’re talking about survival here, people.
21. Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Photo by Kelda Baljon
Mic drop.
#SpoonTip: Put a piece of bread in the container with your cookies to keep them soft.