As a mom who always has an assortment of snacks on hand, this request spoke to me because everyone in our house loves snacks! I know there are varying thoughts on snacks for kids but, like their mama, our boys seem to thrive when they have a snack every few hours to tide themselves over between meals. Today’s post includes a roundup of the snacks you can almost always find on hand in our pantry. They’re the snacks our boys love that I also feel good feeding to our family. (Note: These are only pre-packaged, store-bought snacks. This list does not include snacks we make and take along with us nor does it include any produce we love for on-the-go snacks, too!)
I try to provide my kids snacks with fiber and protein in them, as this greatly improves the likelihood they will feel satisfied and not return to me asking for a snack again 30 minutes later. For the snacks you see listed that do not have much protein or fiber, I’ll often pair them with something that does from the other snacks listed below.
Favorite Healthy Pantry Snacks for Kids
Dried Fruit/Nuts
- 365 Whole Foods Organic Mango: Ryder and Rhett flip for dried mango and it’s a favorite snack of mine as well. We love this particular brand of dried mango from Whole Foods as well as NOW Foods dried mango because the pieces are sliced small, it’s perfectly chewy and unsweetened.
- Mini Boxes of Organic Raisins: I call these “nature’s fruit snacks” because that’s the way our kids treat them! Raisins are a classic kid snack for a reason. Also, if your kids like raisins out of the mini boxes like mine, here’s a little hack: I’ll often refill a mini box of the boys’ raisins that’s not fully eaten with handfuls of raisins I buy in a bigger bag from Thrive Market. (These are also the raisins I use in their lunches!)
- Roasted and Salted Cashews: These are a go-to for our family because I love pairing them with fresh fruit (apples, clementines and bananas are some of my favs for on-the-go snacking) or dried fruit.
- Roasted and Salted Pistachios: But they have to be IN the shell. Ha! Kids have their preferences and our big kids love pistachios but if I try to give them pre-shelled pistachios they aren’t having it.
Bars
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Larabars: I have three of the 16-count boxes of these bars autodelivered to our house once a month because we fly through them! I love the simple ingredient list and the fact that each bar has a decent amount of plant-based protein and fiber.
- Bobo’s Chocolate Chip Bites: My sister had these in her pantry and when Chase inhaled one during a visit to her house a while back, they instantly became a household staple. Rhett, Chase and I love them and I adore the chewy texture and the fact that it’s another snack that offers fiber, fats and a little protein for more staying power. We prefer the bites to the bars in this brand as they aren’t quite as big and seem to be better for smaller mouths/appetites.
- Nature’s Bakery Banana Chocolate Chip Baked-Ins Bars: The boys tried these at a friends house and begged me to buy them! They’re a softer bar with a decent amount of fiber and whole grains.
- Made Good Bars: These bars are lower on the protein and fiber content than I’d like for a bar but the boys really enjoy them so I buy these soft, sweet granola bars when we’re looking to change things up from Larabars and Bobo’s Bites.
Crackers/Chips/Popcorn
- Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers: Every single member of our family flips for these crackers so we always have at least one or two boxes on hand. I love that the crackers have healthy fats as well as a little protein and fiber so they have more staying power than traditional white flour crackers.
- Simply Nature Black Bean Chips: These chips were an ALDI find I’ve purchased on repeat since initially discovering them. They’re made crispy and salty and have five grams of plant-based protein per serving.
- Annie’s Organic Cheddar Bunnies: Though our big kids insist Goldfish are better, they still eat and enjoy Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies since that’s what we have in our house. The recent reformulation of the Cheddar Bunnies was a good one as I really do think they are cheesier! Rhett in particular is a big fan of these right now.
- Lesser Evil Himalayan Pink Salt Popcorn: We got in the habit of popping our popcorn on the stovetop during quarantine but when we want something easy and pre-packaged, Lesser Evil Popcorn is our family’s favorite!
Extras
- The New Primal Snack Mates Kids Turkey Jerky Sticks: We’ve been buying these from Thrive Market for years. I love pairing one with dried or fresh fruit for the boys for an on-the-go snack that offers 5 grams of protein.
- Gimme Organic Roasted Seaweed: No one was more shocked than me when Chase asked for a taste of one of my “green chips.” Now all three boys love these salty snacks and though they’re not exactly filling they’re a good filler snack when they want something salty and crispy.
- Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter: A favorite in our family for years and years! It’s a great sweet snack the boys love that has a little more staying power thanks to the healthy fats from almonds!
Question of the Day
What are some of your favorite pantry/store-bought snacks for kids?
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We also purchase many of these! Lara bars are amazing as some flavours also have a lot of iron in them and our son rarely will eat meat or legumes so I try to get his iron in with Lara bars or cheerios, which have been fortified with iron.
Try the Good and Gather (Target brand) of the Larabar chocolate chip bars. They taste even better just like a dessert!
We will have to try those! I’ve tried other bars similar to Larabars (same ingredients) but the texture is always off — thanks for letting me know these are a good find!
Yes! I like them more than Larabars!
Where do you find the Made Good bars?
Usually Whole Foods and Target!
Great post, Julie! I love the RX vanilla almond cereal! There’s a chocolate one too but I haven’t tried it yet!
Just an FYI from my experience. I too am a huge dried fruit lover. At some point, I was eating dried fruit regularly and started getting cavities in my teeth. My dentist said the dried fruit gets stuck in between the teeth because it is so sticky. I scaled back my consuption and haven’t had cavities since. Hopefully this isn’t an issue for your family (I realize everyone’s teeth are different), but passing it along in case it becomes an issue.
Oh no! We definitely seem susceptible to cavities in our house so thank you for bringing this up!
Have you tried the coconut Bobo’s? Soooo good!
Yes!!! I love them! The boys like the choc chip better but I think the coconut Bobo’s are so so good!