Our 20 favorite road trip snacks

Although protein-packed beef jerky is available at nearly every convenience store, don’t settle for Slim Jims or anything with chemical preservatives. Stock up on high-quality jerky at the supermarket, make your own or take advantage of locally made varieties while you’re out on the road.

Not only are Blow Pops a tasty burst of sugar to keep you energized on extended drives, but because they—and the bubblegum inside—are an active snack, they can help keep you awake. Lollipops are also great for occupying (and silencing) kids for long stretches of driving.

Let’s put the rest of the candy in a catch-all category. Whether you snack on candy bars, cotton candy, chocolate, gummy bears, or have a red licorice dispenser built into your car like Garth in “Wayne’s World,” we get it. Candy is an easy, tasty, and satisfying snack for road trips, and, like lollipops, is good at quelling the cries of cranky children.

A good cracker that you can continuously snack on is a road-trip staple, and our top pick is Cheez-Its. They’re made with real cheese (if the label and commercials with the joke-making wheel of cheese are true) and they’re relatively light on calories, with only about 150 in 27 crackers.

There are other snack mixes available, and you can concoct your own combination at home, but we’re still suckers for Chex Mix. Chex cereal, pretzels, mini breadsticks, and bagel chips are the OG ingredients in the “traditional” variety, but we won’t blame you if you prefer sour cream, cheddar, or even the dessert-like “turtle” flavor.

What is it about Combos that make them such a popular road trip snack? Is it pure nostalgia? Is it the fact that these cylindrical bites are basically pretzels with a bonus filling? Is it the imaginative varieties, from cheddar cheese and pepperoni pizza to buffalo blue cheese and seven-layer dip? Or maybe it’s just the gas station ubiquity. Whatever the reason, we know plenty of people who crave Combos in the car, and we respect that commitment!

Take some homemade goodies on the road with you! Store-bought cookies are great, too, but nothing beats the fresh variety. Try making this three-ingredient power-packed recipe from Clean & Delicious, which combines carb-packed oats, nutrient-filled bananas, and sweet and satisfying chocolate chips.

If you’re looking for a healthy road trip snack, keep looking. Our on-the-road guilty pleasure is fast food French fries, even if it’s kind of tricky dunking them in ketchup in a moving vehicle. Whether it’s Arby’s curls, White Castle’s crinkles, Chick-fil-A’s waffles, or McDonald’s classic shoestrings, there’s a fry for everyone.

Kids and adults alike love fruit snacks, and unlike a lot of other snacks, they pack tightly in any bag, backpack, seatback, or pocket. Fruit snacks can be bought in bulk, but if you want to avoid mindlessly snacking, buy the portioned-out packets.

One of our favorite road trip snacks is also the healthiest: fresh fruits and vegetables. Cut and/or peel some apples, oranges, pears, peaches, or other fruit ahead of time, or dig into the fruit whole. Celery, carrot sticks, and other veggies work well on the go, too. Bonus points if you buy your produce from a farm stand along the way!

No candy bars here; we’re talking about granola bars, energy bars, protein bars, and other healthy options. (Although be sure to check the label—some “healthy bars” can contain just as much sugar as their candy counterparts.) They can provide you a beneficial boost of energy thanks to their carbs and protein, and are easy to unwrap and enjoy in transit.

Ice cream is tricky to bring on a road trip, but finding an ice cream shop along the way can be extremely easy. We’re big on trying local spots (mostly because we’re big on ice cream in general) and are especially interested if the milk comes from local cows.

When you’re looking for some energy, a bit of protein, or a snack to curb your hunger, you can’t get much better than nuts. Almonds, peanuts, cashews, walnuts, macadamia nuts...they’re all good—or you can opt for a mix! 

We’re not talking about processed cheese-like shrink-wrapped American slices, but healthy options like Babybel wheels and individually wrapped string cheese. These are an excellent way for drivers and passengers to get some protein power, and they’re fun for kids to eat, too!

Your favorite potato chip variety might be different, but allow us to make a plea for Pringles as the go-to road trip chip. First, they are less greasy than many chips, and thus less likely to stain your car’s interior. They also tend to fracture in larger pieces and produce fewer crumbs. Furthermore, Pringles come in a resealable package and, miraculously, they fit in many car cup holders. We rest our case!

Once upon a time, the only kind of rice cakes available were the large and unwieldy varieties that made tons of crumbs and only came in one flavor: plain, which tastes a lot like styrofoam. Now brands like Quaker Oats, SkinnyPop, and Lundberg have injected some much-need flavor into the rice cake game, and they’ve also shrunk these diet-friendly delights down to a snackable size perfect for road trips.

Crunchy, salty, and super snackable, roasted chickpeas are a driving delight. Numerous companies—like Biena and The Good Bean—make packaged varieties, or you can make your own at home with this recipe from Love & Lemons.

This one’s a throwback from our childhood. After long stints in the car, it’s hard not to be entranced and enticed by the multicolored, swirling slush machines at nearly every rest stop, convenience store, or gas station. We’re purists, so if we happen to be passing through any of the 32 states that have 7-Elevens, we’re getting a Slurpee.

You don’t need to be hiking to enjoy trail mix—you could also be blazing a trail across the country on the open road. (You could also be sitting at home; there are no laws regarding this snack.) Something fruity, something nutty, something salty, and something sweet are the usual ingredients for a good trail mix, but buy—or make—any variety that suits you. 

Need a more substantial snack? Pass on sandwiches, lest you end up with the ingredients all over your car’s interior. Instead, opt for wraps, which are better contained and less likely to leave crumbs.