20 Time-Saving Ideas For Healthy Kid’s Snacks

The snacks that actually get made on a school morning are the ones that take no thought. These twenty are grouped by how much time they take, from zero prep to a batch you make once and portion out all week.

No prep at all

• A piece of whole fruit — banana, apple, or a clementine that’s easy to peel
• A small box of raisins or a handful of dried dates
• A cheese stick or a wedge of cheese
• A few plain crackers
• A boiled egg made the night before

Five minutes or less

• Apple slices with peanut butter for dipping
• Yoghurt with a spoon of oats stirred in
• Dates split open and stuffed with a bit of peanut butter or cream cheese
• Carrot and cucumber sticks with hummus
• Half a sandwich cut into fun shapes with a cookie cutter

Make a batch once, snack all week

• Date and oat energy balls — blend, roll, keep in the fridge for a week
• A jar of trail mix with nuts, seeds, and chopped dates
• Muffins with grated carrot or mashed banana, frozen and pulled out as needed
• Roasted chickpeas, cooled and stored in an airtight jar
• Popcorn popped plain, portioned into small bags

Pack-and-go for school or the car

• A small container of mixed dried fruit from a wholesale dates box, pre-portioned into bags on Sunday
• String cheese and a few whole-grain crackers together
• A squeeze pouch of applesauce, unsweetened
• A small bag of pretzels with a handful of nuts mixed in
• A frozen yoghurt tube — thaws by snack time and stays cold until then

None of these need a recipe card. Buying the dried fruit and dates in bulk from a dates shop once a month, rather than small packs every week, is what actually makes the “no prep” snacks possible — there’s always something in the cupboard to grab.