Best Hiking Snacks and Easy to Pack Recipes for Your Next Hike

If you’re looking for the best hiking snacks and easy to pack recipes for your next hike, you have landed at the perfect spot! Welcome, I’m so glad you’re here!

You’re going to love this incredible round-up of awesome, packable, easy to make hiking snack recipes for your next hike.

Affiliate Links Disclosure: My posts sometimes contain affiliate links, which mean that if you click on them and make a purchase or sign up for an offering, I may earn a commission, at no added cost to you.  I received no compensation for writing this post, and it reflects my own experiences, research, and opinions. You can read my my privacy policy here.  Thank you so very much for reading my blog!

Easy, Packable Hiking Snacks Recipes

Hiking is one of my favorite things to do outside in the spring and summer. I especially love hiking with my four children.

If you are a blog regular (many, many thanks to you for coming back again and again to read the stuff that comes out of my mouth! 🙂 ), you know I’ve done some pretty epic hikes with my kids, including the legendary Tour du Mont Blanc route and The Camino de Santiago.

I admit, I tend to gravitate toward buying pre-made hiking snacks, ONLY because it feels like a shortcut and one less thing to think about or do. I guess I’m sorta kinda lazy in the hiking snack department.

However, making hiking snacks ahead of time is easy (and usually much cheaper).

Making hiking snacks ahead is also super fun and rewarding. I never regret taking the time to make hiking snacks ahead of time. It’s seriously satisfying to pull a snack out of your backpack–that you made- which is healthy, on the trail.

Hey, even a homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwich beats a Cliff bar any day at the top of a 4000 foot peak in New Hampshire’s beautiful white mountains. Well, at least according to my 10 year old.

If You’re Hiking with Kids, Get Your Kids Involved in the Snack Making

If you’re hiking with children, making hiking snacks ahead of time is also a good way to get the hiking party started at home. You can include the kids in the snack making, or assign snack prep tasks to older kids.

Talk about building excitement and anticipation for an upcoming hiking adventure!

Protip: If you have any reluctant hikers in your bunch (yep, I do…), hanging around the kitchen together and stirring the ‘ol pot can help motivate those who are resistant into wanting to get outside and hike… 🙂

Why Make Hiking Snacks When You Can So Easily Buy Them?

It’s easy enough to buy packable snacks for hiking, so why even bother to take the time to find recipes, shop for ingredients, and then make them?

I’ll tell you why.

You want to pack optimal snacks for hiking, for your body, for your health. And you want snacks that will sustain you throughout your outing. You want the right balance of calories, carbs. And fats and proteins play their role too.

The last thing you want is to crash and burn on the trail. You certainly don’t want to feel exhausted or cranky on the trail because you aren’t eating well. If you’re hiking with kids, what they are snacking on during a hike, is important for these same reasons.

Simple Math

Well fueled kids = happy kids/happy bodies.

Happy kids = happy parents (or hiking companions) / happy bodies.

Well fueled, happy bodies = more enjoyable hiking

More enjoyable hiking = Likely interest in wanting to hike longer or again in the near future

Healthy Snack Options on the Trail

Energy bars, protein bars, peanut butter, GORP (good old fashioned raisins and peanuts), dried fruit, and fresh fruit are some popular snacks that come to mind when people think about hiking snacks.

But don’t let your imagination end there.

There are so many awesome, quick, and easy hiking snack recipes that you can easily make and pack in your backpack for hiking adventures.

You probably already have many of the ingredients for these recipes on hand! Talk about making life even easier!

14 Best Hiking Snack Recipes

1. GORP

The classic hiking snack. You can’t go wrong making GORP, a.k.a. Good Ol’ Fashioned Raisins and Peanuts, for your next hiking adventure. It seriously takes about 5 minutes to make GORP.

You can grab the recipe for GORP here.

2. Healthy, Homemade Trail Mix

There are so many incredible, tasty, easy to make variations of GORP (trail mix) recipes that you really have to check out other recipes!

Like this healthy, homemade trail mix…sans processed M&Ms…created by Ann on her blog Our Happy Mess.

3. Sweet & Spicy Trail Mix

Another spin on classic trail mix and a great, easy to make hiking snack recipe using Chex is Sweet & Spicy Trail Mix. Make this recipe and then divide it up into snack baggies or lightweight, packable containers for the perfect trail snack. This recipe also makes a great-off trail party snack.

4. Nut Free Trail Mix

For a nut free version of trail mix, you’ll want to try this Safari Trail Mix. Not only is it quick to make and peanut free, it’s a good snack to make with the kids — they’ll get psyched up for their hiking adventure by getting involved in the kitchen.

5. Kale Crisps

Kale Crisps or Chips are sooooo good. They make a good, healthy, and fun-to-eat hiking snack. There are many variations and creative ways to flavor up kale into the perfect hiking snack, from cinnamon-sugar to salty to sweet & spicy. My teen loves to pack kale chips and crisps in her eco-friendly, lightweight, stainless steel bento box.

Wondering how to make these healthy, green alternatives to traditional chips? Check out Little Sunny Kitchen’s step-by-step recipe tutorial, which will help you make the perfect Kale Crisps for your next hiking adventure.

6. Two-Ingredient Energy Balls

Energy balls are an awesome before, during, and after hiking snack. My kids and I LOVE homemade energy balls.For a super easy two-ingredient energy balls recipe, using dates and granola, check out Emily Leary’s (from the blog, A Mummy Too), Date Granola Energy Balls.

7. Three Ingredient Energy Balls

If you love a little bit of chocolate on the trails, check out Skyrunning Girl’s yummy three-ingredient energy balls recipe. Sooo good! Easy to make, simple to pack. If you love honey (though not considered vegan), you can also easily doctor up this recipe and add a splash of honey for yet another hiking snack variation.

If you are a dark chocolate lover, another version of energy balls, which can make an awesome hiking snack, is Earth Food & Fire’s Dark Chocolate Date Balls.

8. No-Bake Peanut Butter Power Bites

Yum! If peanut butter is your thing, you’ll want to pack your hiking backpack with Mommy Snippet’s No-Bake Peanut Butter Power Bites

9. Vegan BLT Tempeh Sandwich

For a more substantive snack on the hiking trail, Happy Kitchen’s Vegan BLT Tempeh Sandwich Recipe might be the perfect hiking snack companion! When you’re craving real food on a long hike, this BLT Tempeh sandwich recipe could be the perfect make-ahead bite.

10. Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups

Making fruit roll-ups is not only fun (especially with kids) and rewarding, but fruit roll-ups make awesome hiking snacks. Served from Scratch can get you ready for your next hiking adventure with this Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups recipe. While you can make fruit roll-ups in the oven, a dehydrator makes life much, much easier. My kids love it when I pull the dehydrator out of the cupboard…they know it means something really tasty will soon come their way!

11. Gluten Free Rice Krispies Treats

Who can resist Rice Krispies Treats, especially during a hike? Rice Krispies Treats are easy to make and very packable, so they are perfect for your next adventure. Pink Fortitude has a really great recipe and guide to making Gluten Free & Vegan Rice Krispies Treats.

12. Three Ingredient Oat Free, No Bake, Vegan, GF Granola Bars

An adventure on trails doesn’t seem complete without granola bars. And nothing compares to homemade granola bars. Strength and Sunshine’s Three Ingredient, Oat-Free, No Bake Granola Bar recipe is an easy, quick, and healthy alternative to store-bought granola bars.

13. Sugar Free Gummy Bears Recipe

If you’re looking for a healthy Gummy Bears or Swedish Fish Snack alternative on the trail, which just so happens to be *bonus* KETO friendly, check out Low Carb Yum’s Sugar-Free Keto Gummy Bears Recipe (with step-by-step guide to making them). To create these adorable creations, you can use these Gummy Bear Silicone Molds.

14. Healthy Oatmeal Cranberry Pistachio Cookies

There is nothing quite like reaching into a hiking backpack and pulling out a delicious homemade cookie on the trail. For your next hiking adventure, consider making Kathryn’s Kitchen’s Healthy Oatmeal Cranberry Pistachio Cookies before you head to the trailhead.

If you’re rising early to get an early start on the trails, another cookie recipe you may wish to try is The Rising Spoon’s Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies.

Happy Trails!

Wishing you a season filled with incredible hiking snacks and memorable hiking memories–and unbeatable trail views!

Julie

Drop a comment below. Share your thoughts about these best hiking snacks recipes. Or share your own favorite best hiking snacks recipes!