10 Healthy Snacks and Drinks to Try Now
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Salmon pressed into jerky, beans baked into brownies, coconut waters infused with probiotic cultures—these are just a smattering of the innovative and healthy snacks and drinks that debuted in late June at the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City.
Consumer Reports’ nutrition experts scoured the aisles of the trade show in search of not only the tastiest and most inventive treats and drinks but also the healthier ones.
Our requirements: Each serving should have no more than 200 calories, 5 grams of fat, 480 mg of sodium, and 12 grams of added sugars. Ideally, the snack or drink would have a “clean” ingredients list, with the majority of the ingredients being real foods, such as fruit, nuts, yogurt, whole grains, and vegetables.
These 10 foods and drinks met all or most of our criteria. Check them out for yourself. (Each company’s website has information on where to buy the products.)
1. Epic Jerky. Beef jerky has long been a go-to snack for gym rats and road trippers, but it’s also notorious for being loaded with sodium and sugars. Brands such as Epic are focused on upping not only the nutrition but also the quality and variety of the meats (think grass-fed beef, bison, and venison, as well as fish and turkey). We thought the Smoked Salmon Maple Fillet Strip was pretty tasty, and at 100 calories, 5 grams of fat, 260 mg of sodium, 4 grams of sugars, and 7 grams of protein per strip, it’s a healthy treat to stow in any gym or weekend bag.
2. Fawen Drinkable Soup. Souping is the new juicing, or at least that’s what drinkable soup purveyors are saying. These soups don’t have magical healing properties, but they are loaded with vitamins and fiber because they are mostly made of blended veggies. We tried the Beet and Cabbage, which tasted fresh, with a mild beet and cabbage flavor and a hint of cumin. At 60 calories per cup, with no added sugars or artificial preservatives, and a thick, textured taste, these soups can be a healthy, filling snack for most people on the go. But keep serving size and sodium in mind: One carton contains two servings, with 340 mg of sodium per serving.
3. GrandyOats Coconola Coconut Granola. Made with just coconut, nuts and seeds, honey, maple syrup, and vanilla, this organic, grain-free granola is produced in small batches by hand in a solar-powered bakery, so it’s tasty and its creators claim it’s good for the environment. A quarter-cup serving has 150 calories, 12 grams of fat, no sodium, and 4 grams of sugars. That’s a lot of fat, but only 4 of those grams come from saturated fat, so it’s mostly the good kind.
4. Harmless Coconut Probiotics. This dairy-free coconut water is infused with gut- and immune-healthy live probiotic cultures, setting itself apart from other coconut waters. We tried the Mangos and Acerolas flavor, which was tasty. One 11-ounce bottle has 150 calories, 6 grams of fat from the coconut (all saturated), 35 mg of sodium, and 21 grams of sugars (11 grams are added).
5. Hippeas Organic Chickpea Puffs. If anything was evident from this summer’s Fancy Food Show, it’s that chickpeas are in. We tried the Vegan White Cheddar and the Far Out Fajita puffs, which are both crispy and crunchy. The white cheddar has a mild cheeselike flavored coating, and the fajita has a mild Mexican spice blend taste. Made with chickpea flour, rice flour, and pea fiber, they have more fiber (3 grams), fewer calories (130), and less sodium (135 to 150 mg) than a 1-ounce serving of Cheez Doodles.
6. Lebby Chickpea Snack. These roasted chickpea snacks come in Sesame Honey, Hot Chili, Cinnamon Crunch, and Dark Chocolate flavors. The dark chocolate was satisfying and sweet, with just a hint of nuttiness. Though they won’t push you over your daily calorie limit, you should watch the fat. A quarter-cup serving has 150 calories, 8 grams of fat (6 grams are saturated), 10 mg of sodium, and 6 grams of sugars.
7. Rule Breaker. Made with more than 40 percent garbanzo beans (chickpeas), these gluten-free and vegan chocolate brownies don’t exactly taste like the real thing, but they’re dense, moist, and satisfying, with a decent chocolate flavor. Each brownie has 170 calories and 9 grams of fat (2 grams are saturated), but the protein (3 grams) and fiber (3 grams) make it a healthier treat than a typical brownie.
8. Love Beets Beet Juice. In plain and ginger flavors, these organic beet juices are packed with antioxidants and have no added sugars, artificial colors, or preservatives. They’re sweet and refreshing, with a hint of earthiness. One 6-ounce serving of the regular flavor has 70 calories, zero fat, 100 mg of sodium, and 13 grams of sugars.
9. Mud. These dairy-free frozen coconut mousses are made with just a handful of ingredients (coconut, cashews, dates, raw cacao, vanilla bean, and coffee) and are sweetened with raw dates. We tried all three flavors and liked coffee the best. We thought the vanilla flavor was just okay, and it had a strong “date-y” flavor. A 4-ounce serving of the coffee flavor has 240 calories, 17 grams of fat (11 grams of which are saturated), 15 mg of sodium, and 11 grams of sugar (zero sugars are added).
10. P-nuff Crunch Baked Peanut Puffs. These crispy puffs are made with navy beans, white rice, brown rice protein, and peanuts, and they have a sweet yet salty nutty coating. A 1-ounce serving has 5 grams of protein along with 130 calories, 6 grams of fat, 160 mg of sodium, and 2 grams of sugars.
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