The Best Healthy Snacks, According to Bon Appétit Editors (2024)

As people who cook, eat, and write about food for a living, we know a thing or two about the best healthy snacks—as nebulous as the term “healthy” may be. Because of all of that aforementioned work-related eating, we’re constantly on the lookout for little treats between meals that also feel satiating and nutrient-rich. Still, we want something more exciting than an apple or a hard-boiled egg and something that feels a little less unhinged than spooning peanut butter or hummus straight out of the container (though we’ve been known to engage in these snacking habits too).

The single most important factor—for us—in a healthy snack is that it simply has to taste good. Beyond that, it’s hard to apply a one-size-fits-all rubric, because sometimes what you want is a meat stick, and other times you want some really good dried fruit. In general, we try to look for things that don’t have a ton of added sugar or artificial sweeteners, and that don't contain a plethora of stabilizers and protein powders.

We also look for snacks that contain protein from sources like nuts, beans, and meat, as well as healthy fats and good-for-you carbs. Because the point here isn’t weight loss, it’s mixing some nutritious stuff into our diets between making triple-chocolate brownies and BA’s best lasagna.

Could you make your own healthy snacks, like these oven-roasted chickpeas? Yes. But sometimes you just want a quick bite that requires absolutely no effort. All of the snacks on this list are store-bought, and since the market for healthy snacks is constantly growing, we’ll be trying all the newest ones and updating this list on a monthly basis. Read on to see our all-time favorites, as well as the best healthy snacks we tried in February, or scroll down to see our all-time favorites

February Favorites

Doughy

Doughy’s cookie dough happens to be vegan, grain-free, and free from refined sugars, but that’s not why I like it—I like it because it allows me to have a single, gooey, perfectly underbaked cookie whenever I want one. You can eat this cookie dough straight from the fridge with a spoon (very good) or bake it the way you would normal cookies (also great, but go-to hack is to bake it in a mini ramekin or cast iron skillet so it comes out more like a cookie cake, then top it with ice cream.) Kate and I spent the entire month of February, and a good part of March, texting each other about how much we loved this one. It comes in chocolate chip, peanut butter, brownie batter, and birthday cake flavors. The chocolate chip is my personal favorite, but it’s worth trying them all. —Carina Finn, Commerce Editor

MASA Chips

I’ve eaten my fair share of tortilla chips over the years. I tend to choose favorites based on their ability to hold guacamole and level of saltiness, but I never really considered what kind of oil they’re fried in. MASA’s chips, which I recently started to see popping up on every trendy new snack display, changed that. These tortilla chips are fried in grass-fed beef tallow, which is an incredible source of vitamins and minerals and gives the chips a hearty, savory taste. MASA makes their chips with just three ingredients—tallow, naturally nixtamalized corn, and sea salt. They come in original, lime, and cobanero flavors, and are think, crunchy, and savory. Plus, the packaging looks like a striped beach towel from a high-end hotel, and the resealable zip function makes the bags easy to close for future snacking.—Kate Kassin, Editorial Operations Manager

Date Better

If you’ve been wanting to try the viral TikTok date candy but don’t feel like actually making it, Date Better packages them up in a snack-sized box for when a salty-sweet craving hits. You’ll first bite into a cloak of organic, fair trade 85% dark chocolate before reaching the chewy Medjool date stuffed with a nut butter filling (there’s cashew, peanut, almond, and hazelnut) that has something crunchy like a cacao nib or espresso bean. All four varieties are finished off with a sprinkle of sea salt for a decadent finish. Our go-to flavors are the peanut butter crunch and the cashew lime crisp, but we highly advise opting for the 4 flavor variety pack so you can find your favorite.—Kate Kassin, Editorial Operations Manager

Siete Foods Gluten-Free Cookies

I have never really been a crunchy cookie person, but I do have some serious nostalgia for the mini Chips Ahoy! I used to eat on long car rides as a kid. Siete’s grain free chocolate chip cookies are the ideal grown-up alternative to eating a bag of crispy, crunchy high-fructose corn syrup. Siete’s cookies are perfectly bite-sized, and made with better-for-you ingredients like almond flour, coconut oil, and coconut sugar. I currently have a bag of the chocolate chip with a hint of Mexican vanilla variety sitting next to my keyboard as I write this, but I also love the Mexican wedding cookie flavor. My only complaint is that it’s too easy to eat way too many of these.—Carina Finn, Commerce Editor

The Only Bean

There’s nothing I love more than a crunchy, salty snack, but when I house a bowl of popcorn or potato chips, I often wish I had opted for a yogurt or pushed up my dinnertime. That’s why these roasted edamame beans are so satisfying—they’re crunchy and salty, but also filling and protein-packed (one serving packs in around 13 grams). The wasabi flavor scratches the itch of a wasabi pea and the sea salt doesn’t make me miss corn nuts. Plus, the single serving pouches make this the perfect on-the-go plane snack.—Kate Kassin, Editorial Operations Manager

All-Time Favorites

West-Bourne

There’s a lot to love about the sustainability-focused pantry goods from West-Bourne, but snacks are where the brand truly shines. The Omakase Berry Butter takes toast or yogurt to a luxurious place, and West-Bourne’s fully compostable, plant-based snack mixes like the Togarashi Crunch are savory, sweet, and umami-packed. We also can’t wait to try the Casa Bosques Pistachio Dukkah Chocolate Bar, which the brand just launched in collaboration with artisanal chocolatier Casa Bosques.

Hu Kitchen

No nighttime routine is complete without a few squares of dark chocolate, and Hu's fair-trade organic dark chocolate bars are among the best you can get. We love the dark chocolate variety pack, which offers a sampling of flavors like almond butter and puffed quinoa and crunchy mint. The cashew butter-filled chocolate bar is one of our favorites for a quick midday pick-me-up. And don’t miss the hunks, a.k.a. almonds and cashews dipped in dark chocolate, and gems, gumdrop-shaped chocolate chunks that are, well, gems.

Snow Days

Frozen pizza rolls are a peak comfort food. They also live in that wonderful gray area between a lunch-y thing and a snack-y thing. Snow Days has managed to preserve all of the salty, gooey deliciousness of the pizza rolls of your youth in a more nutritious package. The rolls are made with well-sourced ingredients like grass-fed mozzarella cheese and organic tomato sauce, and crust is made from cassava, which makes them ideal for those who might need to follow a grain-free or gluten-free diet.

Ella’s Flats

Ella’s Flats rank high on our crackers hall of fame. The small family-owned brand makes savory crisps just from seeds, from sunflower to pumpkin to flax, and spices like cumin and caraway. Ella’s Flats are sturdy enough to dip into hummus or work as a bread substitute for avocado toast, yet they’re light enough to eat on their own for a protein-and-fiber-packed snack. We also love the Everything or Spicy varieties crumbled into a salad or the Sesame or Hemp ones into a yogurt bowl for an added crunch.

Chomps

If you told us a few years ago that everyone would be walking around eating beef jerky sticks, we’d might not have believed you. But the desire for high-protein, low-sugar, and keto- and paleo-friendly foods has led to an influx of packaged snacks in this category. Chomps offers our current favorite meat sticks in beef, turkey, and venison. These sticks contain no sugar and no fillers, and they also come in a half-size option that can fit in your pocket. This is a satisfyingly savory snack that’s great for when you need to each something filling on the go.

Cheerie Lane

This is not the fake-butter-covered, so-salty-you-feel-it-for-days microwaved popcorn of your youth. Cheerie Lane’s popcorn pods contain minimal packaging and come in an adorable corn shape. The pods pop on the stovetop quickly and evenly and come in flavors like classic butter as well as rosemary garlic and tomato basil. For serious popcorn lovers, Cheerie Lane also offers a popcorn of the month club that features exciting new flavors.

Solely

If you miss the fruit snacks of your elementary school days, you’ll love Solely’s fruit gummies, which are filled with nothing but whole organic fruit and vitamin C. The mango-and-guava or mango-and-orange single-serving packs are perfect to toss in your bag for when that mid-afternoon sweet craving hits. If dried fruit is more your style, we love the brand’s fruit jerky, which packs a whole mango, banana, or pineapple into a single stick, as well as its dried fruit pouches (both of which also come drizzled with 100% cacao if that’s more your style).