This post is by blog team member, Kiran. To learn more about Kiran, check out our team page or her blog, Easy Real Food!
When it comes to school snacks and lunches, we all have the best intentions. But the reality is, packaged products do happen on occasion. They just do! Busy weeknights and half-empty refrigerators are a reality; it happens to the best of us.
So today we’re sharing some of the best store-bought snacks for kids—that aren’t highly processed—from our favorite sponsors. This is what you should have on hand for after school snacks or even to help fill up an empty lunch box.
Healthier Store-Bought Snacks for Kids
Made in Nature
One thing that drives me batty about packaged snacks is the laundry list of unwanted additives and other questionable ingredients. That’s not the case with Made in Nature! Their ingredients are simple, just as the name suggests. They offer a variety of snacks in both retail and bulk packs.
They just introduced single-serve snack packs, perfect for snacking on-the-go or for putting in school lunches. My favorite snacks of theirs are definitely the Figgy Pops and Dried Mango!
ALL of their products are certified USDA organic and non-GMO and have real ingredients you would cook with at home. They are perfect for us parents pushing through the grocery store who don’t want to be a detective in label-reading. Check out some of my favorite products that they make:
- Apple Cinnamon Figgy Pops – A perfect replacement for those other snack bars that are loaded with added sugar.
- Dried Mango – A great treat for kids with a sweet tooth and NOTHING ELSE ADDED, just the mango. How about that?!
- Dried Banana – Similar to mango, just banana here with some lemon juice to help hold the color. These are super delish dipped in nut butter.
Mighty Organic Beef Bars and Mighty Organic Sticks
Mighty Organic recently sent a couple of boxes to Lisa to try, and since then her kids will not stop eating them! My kids are also huge fans, and I love the fact that they’re a “different” type of snack.
Meat sticks and bars have been growing in popularity in recent times, and Mighty Organic is one of my favorites because they come from 100% grass-fed, organic cattle. Mighty Bars are USDA certified organic, which means NO antibiotics, GMOs, synthetic hormones, or unwanted pesticides. Simple ingredients lead to a simple, great-tasting product.
This is a great one for those with teenage boys (and yes, of course girls, too!) who are looking for nourishment during their long after-school activities. Our favorite flavor is the Original, but my husband is also a fan of the Spicy Jalapeño Beef Stick.
RXBAR Kids
It’s no secret that bars are an ideal on-the-go snack. But too many of them are glorified candy bars, offering very little nutritional value with a sugar boost, to boot. Not so with RXBARs, and with their perfectly sized RXBAR Kids.
With these you can feel good about giving your kids a whole food snack bar that has no added sugar, but instead is made with egg whites, nuts and dates. RXBAR Kids are great for an on-the-go breakfast, a lunchbox addition, an after school snack, or really any time your kids want something tasty and filling.
Oh, and did I mention that they’re gluten-free, soy-free and dairy-free?! Keep ’em on hand for when hunger calls.
Jackson’s Honest
While we consider potato chips an occasional treat, we do feel better about indulging in Jackson’s Honest because, even though they’re deep fried, they do use coconut oil for the frying instead of the more typical (highly processed) canola oil. They also cook all of their chips at a low temperature and much slower than traditional potato chips to ensure that the nutritional integrity of the oil is not destroyed by heat.
The three ingredients in their products are non-GMO domestically grown potatoes, organic coconut oil, and real sea salt … and Lisa wanted me to tell you the Rippled Red Heirloom flavor is her favorite!
I honestly (pardon the pun) love their chips almost as much as I love their story. The brand was founded by a mother of four in Colorado. After a long journey of trying to treat her firstborn son’s illness, Megan Reamer’s success with the dietary changes she made inspired her to create foods that focused on traditional fats and nutritional density.
I love when people can take a challenge and turn it into something so great! Jackson’s Honest is on a mission to incorporate ancestral fats back into the food chain, so when you are looking for this type of treat this is the selection to make.
Yumbox
What to do with all of these packaged snacks (and, of course, the homemade ones, too)? Why not pack them in a Yumbox, of course!
Yumbox lunchboxes are one of our favorite lunch containers with good reason. They come in a variety of sizes—the original (perfect for younger ones), the larger Panino, and the new Tapas, which is great for larger appetites and offers ample space.
All of them have leak-proof compartments with cute food-group pictures, which offer suggestions for kids and adults in planning a balanced meal. It’s great for portion control, too. We have a bunch of great suggestions for lunches served up in a Yumbox, so be sure to check them out for ideas.
Real Lunches, Real Easy!
Before we get into the snacks, I want to make sure you know about our meal plans that’ll make your lunch packing a breeze! Real Lunches, Real Easy! is an eBook series that provides 6 weeks of healthy lunch ideas.
Included are weekly menus, recipes, shopping lists, and visuals of the lunches. The process to making real food lunches a reality is easy! We have four versions to choose from, which means that you can get 6, 12, 18, or 24 weeks of lunch ideas—how much simpler can it get?!
If you don’t want the stress of thinking up creative ideas for healthy lunches, these products are for you and we invite you to check them out.
Now it’s your turn: what are some of your favorite packaged real food products? Please share with us in the comments below!
We can’t live w/o our KIND bars.
Please reconsider recommending RX:Bars. My daughter who has no food allergies ate one recently and went in anaphlaxis shortly after consuming it. She is not reacting to any of the individual ingredients, just the RX:Bar. A snack that is marketed as a clean healthy option resulted in an RX: for an epi-pen for us. Robyn O’Brien recently shared a bit about our story on her blog. Caution is needed here, something doesn’t add up. Thank you!
We love RX Bars but have recently read where Food Babe says they aren’t “clean eating”. What are your thoughts? Do you know how we can make these at home ourselves to guarantee no harmful GMO ingredients? I know the RX bars actually have a different list of ingredients on the side (not all are listed on the front). Trying to keep our snacks as organic as possible but absolutely love RX bars! Help!
Hi. Lisa makes her own version of Larabars: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/recipe-homemade-larabars-4-ways-including-nut-free/.
Hi! Thank you! I need to try the homemade larabars Does she make her own RX Bars though? We eat those more often than larabars but know the ingredients aren’t necessarily completely clean. Thank you!
No, sorry, Lisa does not have a recipe for RX bars.
Kale chips from Trader Joe’s
Check out the Kind Pressed Fruit Bars. Three ingredients!! I was so impressed! And four out of my five kids love them. Costco is currently carrying a box of two flavours.
YUM!
Both of my girls (17 & 4) like organic cheese sticks and organic applesauce squeeze pouches.
Lara bars are one of my faves! I’d love to try some of these new ones if the budget allows it. :)
We like a lot of snacks from Trader Joe’s, Larabars, Kind bars, and Justin’s!
Larabars are the best! Also love almonds and beef jerky (thx for the recommendation in this blog post!). I am into making green smoothies to have in the mornings. I try to make double batches to have that as a snack or meal later in the day. Of course, smoothies are the most convenient when on the go with kids. I have those normally at work where I have access to a ridge to store them.
These are all wonderful suggestions and I appreciate your devotion to real foods. But one thing that really bothers me about these single-serve items and food in general (yes, even your blog) is the overwhelming and excessive use of plastic. I would love to see a post about the dangers of wrapping and sealing all our food with plastic, maybe one about foods that are NOT wrapped in plastic (big bravo, I know it’s hard), or how to minimize the use of plastic wrap/containers/storage at home. Plastic, I think, is the biggest underreported danger of our time, not just to the environment but to our health as well.
I LOVE Larabars! My favorites are Peanut Butter and Jelly and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. My kids really like the ones with chocolate as well as the apple pie!
Larabars! But definitely going to try some of these
Brilliant. Larabars– my kids favorite
Larabars
Larabars
I like the Kind pressed bars, unsweetened applesauce and epic meat bars also for my kiddos!!
The Kind pressed bars are a favorite with my two kiddos – even the 12 year old who’s suspicious of all “healthy” snacks. He asks for them! They’re pressed fruit and that’s it – reminds us of fruit leathers but no added junk!
My child goes to a peanut and tree nut free school. We are having a hard time with snacks….any recommendations?
Hummus with whole grain crackers or pita bread, and veggies (baby carrots, cucumbers…)
Cheese sticks
Yogurt
Fruit
Take a look here:
https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/nut-free-school-lunch-ideas/
My daughter loves organic fruit leathers and larabars. Her favorite larabar is blueberry muffin!
larabars!
Love, love,all you do!❤️
You are not concerned with RX bars and their “natural flavors” ingredient?
Not the lowest in ingredients, but I like Kind bars.
Kashi bars.
1 ingredient dried cherries.
My high school freshman likes healthy snacks and can share them with her classmates in the culinary program she is taking at the high school!
LaraBars are my go to
My kids like organic cheese sticks, yogurt pouches, and individual milk cartons. They also like the organic applesauce squeezers and fruit leather.
We love RX bars. Nick’s Sticks are another great option for meat sticks.
We’ve been eating KIND bars for years, never tire of them.
Wait, I didn’t know Rxbars for kids existed! Got to try these.
This would be a great win as my twins are starting kindergarten!
I was also surprised to not yet see a post about Perfect Bars. I discovered them this week in a Target near Austin. They’re delcious!
My toddler loves freeze dried fruit, applesauce pouches and all fruit snack bars
We get some of our snacks at Trader Joe’s. My girls love their Organic Fruit Wraps, their shaved Parmesan cheese, and freeze dried fruits. They also love a variety of (non-TJ’s) fruit/veggie pouches and the Justin’s nut butter single-serve pouches.
I love dried fruits, granola and kind bar.
My daughter is only 2 but my husband and i are trying to eat better so it will be routine for her. I love all the suggestions im seeing here! I had no idea i could buy pre packaged snacks that werent full of crap. This has changed my snacking life
My favorite are larabar I eat one a day to curb my sweets cravings
Kale chips and rosemary, cashew truffles from made in nature, figgy pops apricot and cashews from made in nature. Apple larabar.
We love RX bars, Kind bars, Justin’s snack packs and good ole veggie sticks with hummus!
kur bars and that;s it fruit bars …we can’t live without them!
Well I’ll be honest I’m just getting started. I have older kids who are into sports and hungry all the time so I’m really hoping I can add these items in my wheel house. I’m very determined to do this and the real good lunches this year!!
Sorry it’s off subject
I really like Emmy’s Organics Vanilla Bean Coconut Cookies and Raspberry Coconut Cookies.
Applesauce pouches, larabars, Rx Bars, fruit strips
I am surprised I have not seen a recommendation for the Perfect Bar. Perhaps I missed the blog or maybe they aren’t available in southern grocery stores yet. They are the best tasting real-food bars I have had, having only pure ingredients. They are sold in the refrigerator section of stores such as Whole Foods but can stay fresh for at least a week unrefrigerated making them a perfect mini meal/snack for after-school activities. There are many delicious flavors.
Lara bars, naked bars
Straight up almonds. Or I know it doesn’t technically count, but taking along frozen peas and breaking them open as a snack, thankfully my kiddos love peas!
Organic apple sauce squeezers, fruit cups with 100% juice instead of syrup, and string cheese are my packaged food splurges for lunches!
Hummus/Guac and veggies
I have a hard time because lots of things have nuts which I can’t eat. I do like some bars when I can get them without nuts! Fruit Leather if it’s the real deal. .
Late july
These suggestions look great! We also love Late July Sea Salt by the Seashore chips!
Larabars, RX bars, and organic Gigi squeeze applesauce
california rolls