A Nutritionist's Guide to Snacking (with over 50 snack ideas)

Snacking is a subject with a lot of controversy around it. Many ‘diets’ tell you that you can’t snack to lose weight or make you feel guilty if you feel the need to snack - however, snacking is completely normal and healthy snacking can support your overall health (and even your weight loss). I’m here to tell you what makes a good snack and give you plenty ideas for easy and healthy snack ideas to keep you going between your main meals.

The criteria of a filling snack:

Snacks that are high in protein, fibre and healthy fats are guaranteed to keep you fuller for longer. They’re more balanced and will help to satisfy your hunger and keep you going between your main meals.

It’s great to know some of the sources of these macronutrients to determine if a snack is high in these things. Below I’ll outline some of the typical main sources of protein, dietary fibre and healthy fats, and tell you

General sources of protein include eggs, dairy, meat, poultry, fish, legumes (beans and lentils), soy products, nuts and seeds. With this in mind. some snack ideas that incorporate these protein foods include:

  • Legumes: hummus, lentil dip, roasted chickpeas or fava beans, etc.

  • Nuts and/or seeds: trail mix, nut or seed butter with fruit, etc.

  • Dairy: Greek yoghurt, cheese and crackers, etc.

  • Fish: tuna on rice cakes, hot smoked salmon on crackers, mackerel on toast, etc.

  • Eggs: hard boiled eggs, devilled eggs, etc.

Healthy fats can be found in seeds, nuts, extra-virgin olive oil, oily fish, seaweed and avocado. Some snacks that contain these sources of healthy fats include:

  • Avocado: guacamole with corn chips, sliced on rice cakes, etc.

  • Nuts and/or seeds: trail mix, nut or seed butter with fruit (as above), etc.

  • Fish: tuna on rice cakes, sardines on toast, mackerel on crackers, etc.

  • Olive oil: dips containing olive oil, e.g. hummus or pesto

Sources of dietary fibre include wholegrains, legumes (beans and lentils), fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds etc. Examples of snacks that incorporate these foods include:

  • Wholegrains: healthy crackers, rice pudding, homemade muesli bar, etc.

  • Legumes: dips, roasted beans, black bean cake, etc.

  • Fruit: date with nut butter, piece of fruit as is, smoothies, etc.

  • Vegetables: veggie sticks, dips, roast veggies, etc.

  • Nuts and seeds: chia pudding, trail mix (as above), etc.

You’ll notice a crossover between snacks that contain protein, fibre and fat, so it’s easy to incorporate these macronutrients into your healthy snacks and stay full and satisfied.

Healthy Snack Suggestions

Here are some of my top snack suggestions, I’ve broken them down into categories to make it easy to find something that fits what you’re looking for. All of these snacks require little to no preparation and most of them use foods that you probably already have in your fridge or pantry.

Savoury Snack Ideas:

  • Greek yoghurt

  • Hard boiled eggs

  • A handful of nuts or seeds

  • Roast chickpeas or fava beans

  • Slice of sourdough toast with avocado

  • Dip with veggie sticks (capsicum, carrot, cucumber, celery, snow peas, green beans)

  • Hummus or chilli hummus with pita bread

  • Rice crackers with cheddar cheese

  • Guacamole with corn chips

  • Pesto dip with rice crackers

  • Trail mix with nuts, seeds, coconut flakes, goji berries, etc.

  • Roasted chestnuts

  • Small bowl of veggie soup

  • Tuna and avocado on rice cakes

  • Homemade vegetable loaf

Salty Snack Ideas:

  • Tamari almonds or pepitas

  • Popcorn with sea salt

  • Homemade sweet potato chips

  • Sundried tomatoes

  • Roast potatoes with salt and rosemary

  • Olives or olive dip

  • Seaweed rice crackers

  • Homemade kale chips

  • Sardines with crackers or toast

  • Miso soup

  • Homemade Vegemite on toast or crackers

  • Seaweed snacks

Sweet Snack Ideas:

  • Yoghurt and berries

  • Medjool date with nut butter

  • Banana with half a tablespoon of tahini

  • Slice of sourdough toast with nut/seed butter and cinnamon

  • Fruit of your choice

  • Liquorice or cinnamon tea

  • Mini chia pudding

  • Small serve of granola or muesli

  • Bliss Balls

  • Cookie Dough Bites

  • Smoothie

  • Homemade frozen yoghurt

  • Nice-Cream (made from frozen fruits)

  • Turmeric Latte

  • Beetroot Latte

  • Dandelion Latte

  • Popcorn with cinnamon

  • Homemade banana bread

  • Lemon Slice

Chocolate Snack Ideas:

  • Dark chocolate (85% or more)

  • Strawberries or fruit dipped in dark chocolate

  • Healthy hot chocolate

  • Dark chocolate covered nuts and seeds

  • Healthy homemade chocolate mousse

  • Chocolate black bean cake

  • Choc zucchini loaf or muffins

So there you have it, a huge list of snacks for you to refer to when you need something between meals.

Remember, snacks aren’t the enemy and it’s just about the types of snacks you’re having. Focus on real food snacks and if you need something to keep you going from meal to meal you are far better off having one of the above snacks than reaching for something processed.

I love to prepare a couple of snacks to have on hand throughout the week, being prepared and having something ready for when I get hungry means I have a healthy option ready to go.

Happy snacking!

Shahna Sarpiwholefoods, nutrition, food, snacks, snackingComment