Healthy snacking isn’t easy when you’re traveling—especially when the typical snack fare is limited to greasy potato chips, candy bars, and salted nuts. Although some may give in and buy a bag of Cheetos, this isn’t an option for those who are allergic to gluten.
Whether you’re at the airport, train station, or a rest stop, snack options can be more limited than actual meals if you’re gluten-free. After all, you can only eat so many bags of peanuts before you start boring your taste buds.
Fortunately, there are plenty of healthy alternatives for all of you gluten-free travelers out there. And even though you generally want to seek out items that can be consumed without the need of a microwave, stove, or fridge, there are certain snacks that can be brought or prepared if you have access to a cooler and/or hot water.
Here’s a list of snacks to go crazy over:
Little to No Prep Snacks
While you can pack an assortment of products that are labeled gluten-free, such as pretzels or crackers, change things up with unique items. Instead of the typical rice chips, for example, try chips made out of kale, sweet potato, apples, or plantains. Other gluten-free snack ideas include roasted curried chickpeas, popcorn drizzled with peanut butter and hazelnut chocolate spread, and rice cakes covered with a nut butter and sliced bananas. You can also go with your basic healthy snack fare, such as fresh or dried fruit (e.g. apples, bananas, cranberries, etc.) or homemade trail mix.
Hot Water-Required Snacks
Although these foods require a little hot water, you can easily ask for a cup at convenience stores, airports, airplanes, gas stations, and hotels. Foods you can quickly prepare include gluten-free oatmeal, gluten-free soups, rice, and quinoa.
Cooler-Required Snacks
If you’re traveling by train or car, it’ll be easier for you to bring a small cooler to store perishable foods, such as fresh veggies (e.g. carrots, celery), cottage cheese, and fruit kebabs. You can also use the cooler to pack deli meats so you can make quick sandwiches if you’re really hungry (on gluten-free bread, of course), as well as dips, such as hummus, and salad dressings. Just make sure the dressing you bring is gluten free.
Have a favorite gluten-free snack that’s not listed above? Share it in the comments section below!
Photo from Pop Sugar Food.
