Snack Smarter
Americans are snacking more than ever. But we still want food that tastes good, in addition to being good for us. That’s why our staff tasted hundreds of new snacks, all introduced in the past year. We landed on these 24 favorites with 200 calories or less per serving. Time to get snacking, tastefully.
Horizon Apple Clusters
These adorable little balls are supremely crunchy, with a hint of cinnamon that doesn’t overpower the sweet apple flavor.
Bolthouse Farms Veggie Snackers in Carrot Meets Ranch
Our panel fell in love with this fun snack (you tear open the corner and shake ranch seasoning over the carrots). The flavor is fresh, giving the carrots a zesty quality that quells your urge for junk food in only 25 calories per serving.
Smucker’s Fruit-Fulls in Apple Cobbler with Oats
It was hard to find a pouched snack that satisfied our adult panel, but this one did the trick. It’s a nice twist on traditional applesauce with an added whole-grain and fiber benefit.
Welch’s Apple Orchard Medley Fruit Snacks
The first ingredient is fruit puree blend, so we instantly approved. Then we tasted: True apple flavor without being too sweet or too tart. Provides 100% of your daily vitamin C in just 80 calories.
Sneaky Chef No-Nut Butter Grab & Go
Nut allergies? This creamy golden pea spread mimics nut butter with big-time roasty-nutty flavor but none of the allergens. The individual serving cups make it ideal for lunch boxes.
Evolution Fresh Emerald Greens Cold-Pressed Juice
First you taste refreshing cucumbers; then it’s tangy and lightly sweet on the finish. Delivers a dose of potassium (18% of your daily needs) on par with coconut water.
Noosa Pumpkin Yoghurt
In the deluge of pumpkin-flavored products on the market this time of year, it’s easy to enter the ranks of the pumpkin-averse. Not so with this decadently creamy yogurt that keeps portion size in check.
Tribe Fiery Sriracha Hummus
Sriracha is such a big trend, but this product really delivers on the condiment’s promise— authentic warm heat in a wonderfully creamy hummus base.
Kite Hill Cream Cheese Style Spread
This dairy-free alternative is made with almonds and contains zero grams of sat fat. The almond flavor is subtle, and testers liked the plain and chive versions equally.
Sargento Balanced Breaks
The combo of ingredients hits salty, sweet, and savory notes and lets you build your own protein-packed snack (or toss it over a bed of spinach for a quick salad meal).
Michele’s Apple Quinoa Granola
Crispy clusters of toasty oat- and quinoa-flecked granola—one of the better-textured brands out there, with true apple flavor and good nut distribution. Only 4 grams of sugar per serving.
Fiber One Chocolate Chip Crunchy Cookie
A healthier alternative to your typical store-bought cookie—it’s made with whole-wheat flour and provides 5 grams of fiber per serving. The crunchy texture begs to be dunked in a glass of ice-cold milk.
Halo Top Creamery Mint Chip Ice Cream
240 calories for the entire pint—we still can’t believe it! The texture lands somewhere between frozen custard and old-school ice milk. The natural mint flavor enhances the treat’s milky sweetness.
Kerrygold Soft & Creamy Dubliner Cheese Wedges
Oh-so-very creamy and rich, with a mildly nutty flavor for only 45 calories per wedge. Try it spread on a sandwich, stirred into a pot of whole grains, or as a dip for veggies or fruit.
Annie Chun’s Gochujang Seaweed Crisps
Funky Asian flavor (think of gochujang as a savory miso-like condiment) with lingering heat wrapped in crisp, crunchy texture. If you wanted to eat the entire bag, it’s still only 160 calories.
Planters Sea Salt & Vinegar Peanuts
This versatile nut mimics the flavor of the classic potato chip combo, easily transitioning from snacking hour to happy hour. Or toss over a salad for lunchtime crunch. There’s a nice tang here, with a hint of salt—but not so much that it covers up the flavor of a good roasted peanut underneath.
Post Great Grains The Bar Undone Granola Snack Mix
This perfect mix of nuts, grains, flax, chia, roasted chickpeas, and dried cranberries offers 4 grams of fiber and 9 grams of protein per pouch.Try it as a topper for oatmeal or yogurt.
Nature Valley Nut Crisp Bar in Salted Caramel Peanut
Tastes like fresh sunflower seeds with just the right texture and a nice sweet-salty balance—delivers on the caramel flavor with only 6 grams of sugar per bar.
Unreal Milk Chocolate Crispy Quinoa Peanut Butter Cups
You had us at “peanut butter cup,” but the addition of quinoa lends a delicate crunch, giving this old-fashioned flavor profile a hip twist.
Biena Chickpea Snacks in Habanero
With a large serving size that satisfies a crunch craving, these roasted legumes are crisp without making you worry about a trip to the dentist, and they have just enough sweet to balance out the habanero heat.
Outshine Simply Yogurt Bars in Peach
Big, fresh peach flavor—like peach ice cream on a stick—with no hint of artificiality. The yogurt tang is a great complement to the bar’s supercreamy richness. And 5 grams of protein per bar is a sweet bonus.
Harvest Stone Brown Rice, Sesame, and Flax Crackers in Original
These gluten-free crunchers provide 20 grams of whole grains per serving. They’re supercrispy, deliver a good sesame and brown rice flavor, and are sturdy enough to hold up to toppings or dips.
Cape Cod Blue Corn Multigrain Dipping Shells
The scooplike shape is perfect for dipping or topping. Chia and brown rice lend depth of flavor and elevate the whole-grain content of this chip to 19 grams per serving (that’s almost half your daily recommended amount).
