This will largely depend on your personal taste, but the general rule is that road trip food should be easy to access and easy to consume. They should keep your body fueled, your blood sugar stable, and your mind alert. Keep reading for some of our favorite suggestions!
Greenbelly Meal Bars
Taking a page from hikers & backpackers, these Greenbelly meal bars contain 650 calories per serving, which is as much as a complete meal. While we don’t recommend skipping meals on the road, if you need to, one of these could be a good option.
Energy Bars
There are a million kinds of energy bars, so our advice is to go for variety. Just stay away from those super crumbly ones like Nature Valley. Here are some of our favorite brands: Bobo, RX Bars, GoMacro, Lara Bar, Dang, Aloha, and 88 Acres Seed Bars.
Energy Cookies
If you prefer your energy bars in a circular form, then perhaps you would be interested in the growing energy cookie sector. (This is just a way to stand out from the 8 billion energy bar brands!) Nevertheless, we are fans of MunckPack Cookies and Lenny & Larry Cookies
Fig Newtons
Fig Newtons are by far our preferred road trip cookies. They’re soft, don’t generate crumbs, and are absolutely delicious.
Nut Butter Packets
Yum Butter nut butter packets make them super easy to eat while on the road. Sometimes we eat it straight from the packet, but it would also be good with sliced apples or bread if you’re taking a break at a rest stop. This resealable squeeze packet means you don’t have to dirty a knife or spoon to scoop it out of a jar.
Roasted Rye Chips
Rye chips are our go-to gas station pick up. They are fairly robust and don’t generate crumbs like other chips. When compared to the other deep-fried options in the chip aisle, this is on the healthy-ish-er* side of the spectrum.
*Healthy, only by comparison to other very unhealthy options.
The Good Crisp Co.
While these potato chips violate our no-crumb rule, these Good Crisp Co. chips are just too good to leave out. These are basically a healthier version of Pringles and feature the same cylinder, which protects the crips from getting crushed.
Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans
These are a great little caffeine and sugar burst all at once. We like to reserve these guys for the end of our trip when we’re likely at our most fatigued.
Yogurt Covered Raisins
These are a real treat and can easily be picked up at a bulk bin in most grocery stores. If you are able to keep these chilled in a cooler, we highly suggest it!
Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels
We love these things. We often pick them up from Trader Joe’s and Quinn’s makes a gluten-free version you can find on on Thrive Market. We find that the bags tend to split down the middle, so we like to repack these into a hard-sided Tupperware or a big ReZip bag. These also make great hiking snacks!
Fresh No-Peel Fruit
Grapes are great for road trips because they don’t need to be peeled and don’t have cores. Apples and pears are also good options. Oranges, clementines, and tangerines will hold well in a tupperware if you peel and segment them ahead of time.
