7 Easy Healthy Snack (2016) Ideas With Recipes

Healthy Snack Idea 5 - Oats and Milk(updated in 2016) Coming out with healthy snack ideas is imperative as consuming nutritious snacks can help you to live a healthy lifestyle and stop yourself from gaining those few extra pounds.

Many people tend to scoff their mouths with sugary and oily snacks which are filled to the brim with calories when they are craving for something between meals; this can lead to having an unbalanced diet and intake of fatty foods with hardly any nutritional value.

However, this does not mean that you should not snack at all, because some snacks hold a lot of nutrients, while being delectable and effectively limiting your hunger until your next meal.

While going through our healthy snack recipes, do note that we have grouped the list by the main ingredients.
Let’s take a look at our favourite list of healthy snacks!




Healthy Snack Idea 1 – Nuts

Healthy Snack Idea 1 – Nuts

Why this is healthy?

A mixture of delicious nuts such as almonds cashews can be made to be a crisp treat to add to your day. Mixed nuts offer a wide array of nutrients in large amounts, including protein, fibre, minerals and also fats that are essential for your bodily systems running appropriately.

Hence eating mixed nuts is a quick healthy snack that you should consider.

Recommended snack – mixture of almonds, cashew nuts and pistachios

Healthy Snack Idea 2 – AlmondsAlmonds are very rich in calcium, which is needed for your bones to grow, and also for your nervous system, muscles and the heart to work properly. Also, almonds contain Vitamin E, which will make your skin both feel and look good.

Healthy Snack Idea 2 – CashewAs well as this, cashew nuts are very high in protein, and are useful if you are or looking to be a vegetarian. Cashews offer an exceptional supply of zinc and iron; wholesome amounts of iron are needed to produce healthy red blood cells.

Healthy Snack Idea 2 – PistachiosIn-shell pistachios are known to combat cholesterol and hold adequate amounts of fibre. In fact, a recent research suggests that the additional exertion of actually shelling the pistachios led to the people guzzling through a staggering amount of 41 percent less calories; in-shell pistachios are undoubtedly one of the best healthy snacks on the go if you are trying to lose weight or if you are looking to avoid gaining extra weight.

By taking a healthy snack like nuts that is packed with vitamins and minerals between lunch and dinner (or any other two meals), you will provide yourself with energy and strength needed to endure your day.

Additional Information

Cashews, almonds and pistachios aren’t the only snacks that are good for your health. Other quick healthy snacks that are good for you include:
• Brazil nuts: they are suitable for consumers with low thyroid performance;
• Chestnuts: not only are they lowest in calories, chestnuts have an abundancy of carbs and fibre;
• Hazelnuts: they are known to reduce the risk of heart disease;
• Pecans: they can reduce cholesterol levels and can stop arteries from hardening due to the fact that they are rich in antioxidants.

Healthy Snack Idea 2 – Easy to Make Salad using Fruits and Vegetables

Healthy Snack Idea 2 – Fruits and Vegetables

Why this is healthy?

Snacking is a great way to avoid being famished between the two meals, and then overeating the next time you get the chance to eat.

Nutrient dense foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts or low-fat dairy products are only some of the foods you should combine when making your snack. Moreover, if you are a person that is used to everyday snacking, then these wholesome snacks will decrease the possibility of getting type 2 diabetes, heart disease, or high blood pressure.

Fruits and vegetables are an excellent source of nutrients; there is a wide array of different fruits you can choose from that will tingle your taste buds. These juicy snacks will help fulfil the five a day rule. If you are someone who is concerned about calories like the amount of calories in grapes or other fruits, you will be glad to know the nutritional information of fruits and vegetables are easily available online.

Healthy Snack Idea 2 – CeleryCelery – Did you know? Celery is about 95% water, so it is an highly amazing low-carb snack that you can tuck into at any time. In fact, you can even slice or dice the celery and add it to your salad. Celery is also a great source of Vitamin K, which is needed to progress your potency.

Apricots – Apricots are filled to the brim with antioxidants, and therefore they enhance the way your brain functions. Not only are they delectable, stone-fruit apricots don’t have much sugar, as there is only eight grams of sugar for every two apricots; not bad! You can even add apricots to yoghurt, making it a distinguished healthy quick snack which you can tuck into.

Pumpkin Seeds – Surprisingly, pumpkin seeds have a lot of nutrients in the form of protein, and NONE of their carbs are sugar. Pumpkin seeds, also known as pepitas, are quite good for adding more protein to salads and yogurt.

Healthy Snack Idea 2 – PlumsDried Plums – These fibre-rich fruits are known to control appetite-hormones and have a positive impact on blood sugar levels. Undoubtedly, these juicy fruits are something you should be chomping on regularly, as they also contain antioxidants which are need to fight disease.

Recipe – Refreshing Easy to Make Salad

Healthy Snack Idea 2 – Salad

Ingredients

1) Mixed Salad Greens – fresh baby kale and red-and-green cabbage
2) Shredded Carrots
3) Light and spicy Caesar Dressing
4) Cherry Tomatoes
5) Sliced Cucumbers

Method

i) Toss the mixed salad greens with the cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and serve
ii) Add a tablespoon of rosemary-infused olive oil or balsamic vinegar.

Healthy Snack Idea 3 – Yogurt

Healthy Snack Idea 3 - Yogurt

Why this is healthy?

Nutritious snacking will most certainly not lead you to weight gain. However, you should also pay attention not to snack right before your meal. You may get used to overeating or simply taking food out of boredom, which most certainly leads you to weight gain and obesity.

Yogurt is probably one of the simplest of healthy snack foods, yet it is very beneficial and delicious. There are many types of different yogurts that you can choose from, including plain Greek yogurt and even Icelandic yogurt.

Both these yogurts are renowned for the way they enable the immune system to function properly, and also for the endless amounts of vitamins and nutrients they contain. It is also believed that these yogurts help reduce body fat. You can add some berries if you want that extra hint of saccharinity.

Recipe – Frozen Yoghurt Cake In Layers

Snacks should not just be healthy but also tasty and the best way to achieve such a combination is to use the ingredients you like. For instance, fruits and yoghurt are both beneficial, so it may be a good idea to combine them into a delicious snack.

You can do so by making a simple healthy snacks to make cake that will blow your mind.

Ingredients

1) Few fruits that you like the most. Consider some strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and perhaps bananas. You will need 250 g of each of them.
2) Yoghurt.

Method

i) Take strawberries and put them in the blending machine with four tablespoons of yoghurt. Let them blend and then place the mass in the freezer.
ii) Repeat the process with every other fruit too
iii) Put one layer of the mass on another.
iv) And when everything is nicely frozen, you can slice the cake and enjoy your snack.
v) Serve the cake frozen and decorate it with even more fruit, if you like.




Healthy Snack Idea 4 – Cheese

Healthy Snack Idea 4 - Cheese

Why this is healthy?

As surprising as it may sound, cheeses such as cottage cheese and string cheese can do your body many wonders in small amounts.

Cottage cheese consists of casein protein, which provisions your budding muscles with imperative amino acids. It would be a good idea to store a few small bags of low-fat string cheese in your fridge, as string cheese has a lot of protein which is needed for your body to develop effectively.

This is a simple snack recipe that you can follow:

Recipe – Cheese on Walnut Bread

Healthy Snack Idea - cheese jam walnut on bread

Ingredients

1) Cottage Cheese, or change to Camembert Cheese
2) Walnut Bread
3) Raspberry jam
4) Whole Walnut

Method

i) Lightly toast a slice of walnut bread
ii) Top the bread with thinly sliced cottage cheese
iii) Trickle with raspberry jam over the cheese
iv) Add whole walnut to get the sweet and savory taste.

Healthy Snack Idea 5 – Oats and Milk

Healthy Snack Idea 5 - Oats and Milk Main

Why this is healthy?

Oats are rich in fibre, whole grains and protein and certainly among the best healthy snacks. Combining it with milk gives you one of the best homemade healthy snacks!

Recipe – Organic Oats with Milk and Dried Fruits

Healthy Snack Idea 5 - Oats and Milk

Ingredients

1) Instant organic oats
2) Fresh milk
3) Blueberries
4) Dried cranberries

Method

i) Mix the oats with the fresh milk
ii) Add in the blueberries, dried cranberries or other fruits that you like to give the oats a delicious and sweet treat
iii) Add more milk into the oat meal for a softer texture.

Healthy Snack Idea 6 – Sweet Potato Muffins

Healthy Snack Idea 6 - Muffins

Why this is healthy?

Recent research has shown that those who take nutritious snacks between the meals have better focus, concentration and performance either at home or work.

Many people loves muffins and by making the muffins that preserve your health, you will love these healthy sweet snacks even more.

Using sweet potatoes as the main ingredient gives you optimum nutrition as it has abundant vitamin A, vitamin B5, niacin, riboflavin and more.

Recipe – Sweet Potato Muffin

Ingredient

1) Sweet Potatoes
2) Trimmed onions
3) Half dozen of eggs
4) Cottage cheese
5) Sunflower seeds
6) Natural flavour enhancers – parmesan, salt and black pepper

Method

i) Take some sweet potatoes, cut them in half and peel them out.
ii)) Fill the sweet potatoes with a mixture of trimmed onions, half a dozen of eggs, and cottage cheese.
iii) Add some parmesan, salt and black pepper for a better flavour.
iv) Once you have filled the potatoes with the mixture as mentioned above, put some sunflower seeds on top of the muffins too.
v) Place the muffins in the preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25min.

This fantastic healthy homemade snack will boost your health in no time since sweet potatoes are packed up with vitamin C, and seeds, eggs and, of course, the cheese will give you the much-needed protein. They will help you stay alive until lunch for sure.

If you have learnt how to make fresh orange juice, then this muffin will be a great complement to go with the orange juice!

Healthy Snack Idea 7 – Smoky Pepper Salsa

Healthy Snack Idea 7 - Salsa

Why this is healthy?

Snacks should always be easy to prepare but, in addition, stay tasty and healthy, which is what makes salsa a perfect meal and a healthy snack recipe that you should learn.

Therefore, introducing nourishing snacks like salsa to your diet will bring you benefits and not issues. You will not only start eating more quality foods, but you will also avoid overeating, obesity as well as prevent your body from developing severe diseases like diabetes and heart disease. This snack is also suitable for those who are searching for vegan breakfast ideas.

Ingredients

1) 2 red peppers
2) 3 medium sized tomatoes
3) Onions
4) Natural flavour enhancers – garlic, chipotle paste, oil, coriander and lime juice
5) Nachos (optional)

Method

i) Take two red peppers and cut them in half on the long edge, and grill them on a high heat. Remove the skin, once they get cooled, and place them in a bowl.
ii) Take the tomatoes and get rid of their seeds.
iii) Combine the tomatoes with garlic, chipotle paste, oil and lime juice in a food processor and then add peppers.
iv) Cover all of the mixture with onions, a bit of coriander, and you are ready for dining. The salsa goes well with nachos.

You will enable your body a strong impulse of vitamins C and A, which is good for your sights. Red peppers, being an important ingredient in this healthy low calorie snack, also burn calories, so they are an important part of any diet programme.

 




Bottom Line

No matter how hard you try not to eat too much, there are times when snacking is an inevitable part of your day. Even though you give your best to refrain from eating between the meals, the food sometimes looks so tasty that you simply cannot resist it. You probably think that snacking contributes to weight gain, and for that reason, you tend to avoid it.

For a start, follow our healthy snack options listed above and you will realise that there is a way to have snacks without being afraid of becoming overweight? These ideas offer you numerous snacks that are packed with proteins, vitamins, minerals and fibre. You can eat them as much as you want, and they still will not threaten your overall health. Moreover, such wholesome snacks may only make you healthier than you are now.

All of the reasons above gave us the motivation to present you several ideas which include cheap healthy snacks and healthy afternoon snacks that can be applied on a daily basis. We sincerely hope you will enjoy preparing and eating them.

Do also consider having some fresh juice like making apple juice at home to go with these snacks to get a complete and wholesome experience!