Go-To Trail Mix

If you don’t know what to snack on… try Trail Mix! This healthy homemade recipe is easy to make and endlessly customizable.

Need a quick, portable, and energizing snack? Try homemade trail mix! It’s easy to find at the grocery store, but we always make our own. Why? It’s fun, easy, and endlessly customizable to suit your tastes. Mix up your favorite blend of fruits, nuts, seeds and blends and it’s a quick boost of energy for an afternoon slump or a portable on-the-go snack. Our son is a huge fan of this recipe (of course he loves picking out the chocolate chips…can you imagine!).

Trail Mix Ratio

Trail mix might seem like a modern invention, but it actually dates back to the 1910s! It was developed as a portable snack for hikers and became popular when travel writer Horace Kephart recommended it in a camping guide. Trail mix doesn’t really need a recipe: all you need is the golden ratio of the ingredients! Here is our ideal ratio:

• 1 cup dried fruit: Raisins, dried cherries, cranberries or blueberries, banana chips
• ½ cup salted toasted walnuts: Peanuts, almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts. We prefer hearty roasts because they add a bit more crispiness and flavor.
• ½ cup seeds: Use nuggets or sunflower seeds, or more nuts.
• ¾ cup of muesli: like Cheerios, puffed rice cereal, or other healthy cereals. This filling ingredient has fewer calories than nuts and seeds, contributing to a healthy mix.
• ¼ cup candy: such as chocolate chips, M&Ms or other chocolate chips (optional)

Creative ideas to combine

The fun part of trail mix is ​​all the fun mixes! We’ve given above some standard ideas for what to use for our trail mix on a daily basis. But here are some other fun ideas that might not cross your mind:

• Dried pineapple, apricots, apples, peaches or mangoes
• coconut flakes
• macadamia nuts
• Freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries (although these can tend to collapse during transport)
• Small pretzels
• Crunchy muesli rooms
• Sunflower seeds coated with sugar
• White chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or butterscotch chips

Is trail mix healthy?

Trail mix can be healthy, but it depends on the ingredients. Although it’s high in protein and healthy fats, it’s also a high-calorie food. Here are some tips for making a healthy trail mix:

• Limit your portion sizes to ¼ cup. It’s easy to snack on mindlessly, but it’s high in calories, so think about portion sizes.
• Consider cutting out added sugars. Remove the chocolate or candy component for a healthy mix.
• Avoid store-bought concoctions with added sugar and sodium or poor-quality ingredients. Make a homemade trail mix recipe instead!

Storage of homemade trail mix

How long does homemade trail mix keep? Mix it up and you should be able to store it in an airtight jar for 1 month. Depending on the muesli you use, they can become stale after a few weeks. Avoid using ingredients like popcorn that can go stale quickly.

More healthy snack recipes

Do you like healthy homemade snacks? Here are some more ideas for delicious snack recipes:

This trail mix recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.