22 OF THE BEST HIKING SNACKS

When it comes to the best hiking snacks, I go through phases.

It’s like a TV show, all you do is watch that show for a while, but then you move on to the next show and forget all about the other one. The same goes for snacks!

I’ve tried all these snacks for hiking adventures, but some of them I simply forget about when it’s time to pack for the trip.

So if I have a list here, hopefully, it’ll help me remember all of my hiking snack ideas, and give you some inspiration when you need to packs snacks for a hike. And yes, this post includes lots of vegan hiking snacks.

Let’s get into it.

THE 22 BEST SNACKS FOR HIKING

1. BLISS BALLS A.K.A. ENERGY BALLS

Bliss balls are hands-down my favourite hiking snack. Well unless it has caramel inside, then I’m not a fan. There are lots of bliss ball options available at the New Zealand grocery stores these days, but when I can, I try to make my own ones.

My goto mix of ingredients is (see photo above):

• 32 pieces of Whittakers Dark Ghana Chocolate
• 5 tablespoons of cocoa powder
• 5 tablespoons of coconut flakes
• a handful sunflower seeds
• 5 tablespoons of maple syrup
• 7 weetbix

It’s a simple matter of melting the chocolate, then mixing all the ingredients together before making them into small balls.

You can find some awesome bliss ball recipes with a Google search, and you can get really creative.

2. APPLES

Apples are my go-to hiking fruit. I wish I could say bananas, but they inevitably end up bruised to the state of disgust if they haven’t split and started a squash banana party in the bag.

Apples though, a sturdy fruit that holds up well in any bag and you can almost eat the entire fruit (I’m not cool enough to eat the core), so you don’t need to carry out much rubbish with you. They also have a cleansing feel on the palate which is great if you’re doing lots of multiday hikes where it feels like all you’re eating is dry food.

3. BHUJA

Bhuja is what I’d describe as a trail mix, but with an Indian twist. According to Wikipedia, Bhuja is “It is a spiced mix of crackers, dried noodles, dried peas, peanuts, and other dried nuts with the main ingredient being puffed rice.”

There must be lots of different kinds of bhuja as the ones I normally buy aren’t full of puffed rice. Bhuja isn’t for everyone, but I like the mixture of textures so if you haven’t tried it before, give it a go before using it as a hiking snack.

4. CARROTS

Carrots are similar to apples. They’re able to put up with a decent beating in a bag and a bit of fresh food tastes amazing on a hike. And the crunch is always satisfying. Carrots are just a good healthy hiking snack. And if you bring some spare peanut butter (see below), that pairs well with carrots.

5. MASHED POTATO

Is there anyone who doesn’t like mashed spuds? I’ll throw mashed sweet potato and carrot in there for good measure. The only downside of mashed potato is the weight, but you can always buy the ready-to-go packets which apparently are pretty good. I’m not brave enough to try them yet :p

6. DARK CHOCOLATE

The first time I tried eating chocolate on a hike, my stomach didn’t seem to 100% agree with it. But I’ve given it a go since, and now more often than not now throw some dark chocolate into a ziplock sealed bag to snack on along the way.

If it’s hot, make sure you put the chocolate somewhere it’s less likely to melt and doesn’t go through everything 😮 Otherwise, it’s definitely not on the list of best hiking snacks for hot weather.

7. NUTS

You can’t go wrong with nuts on a trail. Energy and taste are a win. Peanuts and cashews (both salted) are my go-to.

I was going to include trail mix on this list, but have decided against it as most things in a ‘trail mix’ go well as individual items and I never actually buy a premade trail mix.

8. PREMADE WRAPS

This is the most recent addition for me. I’ve had wraps occasionally over the years, but in the last couple of weeks I’ve been taking them on nearly every adventure.

You can go as simple or fancy as you like with wraps. I’ve been sticking with peanut butter and banana most of the time.

The best thing is to make them before your adventure, the banana is still good as gold to eat that way I find. And put lots of peanut butter in them, because it’s the best! Crunchy of course.

Another good idea for premade wraps is (roasted) vegetables and hummus.

9. JERKY

This is something that’s not often in my bag, but they do make some vegan jerky now so it’s made a couple of appearances as a result of impulse buys. Some people love jerky, but it’s never been something I craved but there’s no doubting it’s a good source of energy and lightweight. Any portable hiking snack full of calories is a win.

Another same same but different snack could be beer sticks.

10. OAT AND BANANA COOKIES (HOME MADE)

A friend put me onto these as well. They’re so simple, and as long as you keep them small, they hold up well in a bag.

The easiest way to make them is simply mashing a ripe banana with one cup of oats by hand. Then you can either put them in the fridge the night before or give them a little bake before doing so.

Other ingredients you can add to these easy hiking snacks include peanut butter, chocolate chips, and coconut flakes.

11. PEANUT BUTTER

I’ve mentioned peanut butter in a couple of spots in this list, but there’s something to be said about bringing a little pottle of peanut butter on its own. Now a jar of peanut butter is a bit excessive, but bringing some in a little pottle can enhance some of the other snacks you’ll find on the list.

Peanut butter is a high-calorie snack, and goes with so many things…or on its own 😀 It’s definitely one of the best hiking snacks you can eat!

12. OLIVES

This is quite possibly the most left-field snack on this list of hiking snacks. Taking a full jar of olives on a hike is a little extreme, but in lots of supermarkets, you can find foiled packs of olives which make for a great healthy hiking snack.

Another alternative is to bring them to add olives to your other meals for more flavour.

13. DRIED FRUIT

This one is a little tough to do in NZ I find as dried fruit can be expensive…in a perfect world I’d dry the food myself…but I’m lazy. Anyhow, a friend gave me some dried mango a few weeks back and it went down a treat!

That took me back to Thailand where you could get various dried fruits in 7/11…the best.

14. DATES

I guess this is another fruit, but for whatever reason, I never think of them as a fruit. Anyway, dates are yummy and I really like when they’ve been softened up in the pack a little bit and almost melt on the tongue.

It’s a weird thing to describe but the feeling is delightful. They’re a whole food and go down a treat for me as one of the best high-energy snacks for hiking.

And it goes with peanut butter 😉

15. CLIF BARS

Whenever I’m in the USA I eat waaay too many Clif Bars than one should probably. But they’re delicious. They’re packed full of calories and have heaps of flavours to choose from. Best invention ever.

But in New Zealand, I just can’t justify paying over 2 times the price of what they are in the USA. So unless I find them on clearance, there are minimal Clif Bars in my NZ hiking life. But that’s okay. I’m sure you have your own favourite energy bar you can throw in the bag…people seem to like the One Square Meals in NZ too for a nutritious hiking snack.

16. POPCORN

Popcorn is a great snack for eating after long days of hiking. Obviously, you’ll need to bring a pot/stove for this, but the popcorn itself is super easy to transport in kernel form.

And make a little sachet of premade spices to put on top. If you make them at a DOC hut, and share the popcorn around you’ll suddenly be everyone’s best friend.

17. HOMEMADE CRACKERS

This is one of those ‘woah, that’s cool’ things I never knew was possible until a friend gave me a few to try. This is a snack I want to integrate into my hikes more often.

When I’ve given them a few more goes, I’ll update this post with some more thoughts. But I do remember thinking they weren’t as dry as I thought they could be, but I still wanted to have some water right away to soften them up a bit.

Recipes like this work a treat…and are surprisingly simple!

18. HUMMUS

Similar to the peanut butter above, adding a container of hummus is a great hiking snack. It makes a host of these other snacks taste way better with minimal effort.

Just make sure you secure the container properly!

19. SALTED CHIPS

I’m not a massive chips fan in day-to-day life, but if it’s super hot out there you can lose a lot of salt. Throw some of your favourite ready salted chips in your bag as one of your snacks to take hiking and you’ll feel much better about your salt levels…even if that’s a placebo effect. And it doesn’t matter if they get crushed 🙂

You could always make some chip sandwiches too.

20. ROASTED CHICK PEAS

If I’m feeling super lazy at home, I’m happy to eat a can of chickpeas without any decorations. But if I know I’ve got a longer adventure coming up, I’ll roast them up the night before, add some spices and throw them in a ziplock bag.

I find they hold up well as long as you put them towards the top of your bag.

21. GELS

Love them or hate them…gels are good at what they do. They’re easily portable, have 100 calories or so in them (usually) and do other good things.

They are expensive, and some people absolutely despise the taste, but I’ve always got one in my bag for emergency situations.

And you get some with caffeine in them which never goes astray.

22. VITASPORT

I wasn’t sure whether to include this or not as it’s more of a liquid, but I put a few of these sachets in my bag for the electrolytes and calories.

They contain a little sugar and there are plenty of times on a big mission where the easiest way to get calories in is via liquid. My favourite flavour is the green one (in the photo above), followed by the blue.

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And there you go, these are what I think are the best hiking snacks. And they’re all able to be done vegan styles…jerky being the only one that’s not an easy vegan option. And if you take another look through the list, I think you can agree that this list has lots of combos to get you plenty of calories in.

p.s. I didn’t include Coca-Cola in this list, but it’s amazing how many people will take a sip of coke at a summit even if they are usually anti-fizzy drink people. Don’t feel guilty if you put a can in your bag! Bonus calories too.

If you’ve got any questions about packing snacks for hiking, let us know in the comments below or email jub@churnewzealand.com . And don’t forget to let us know what you think are some other good hiking snacks I’ve forgotten to include.