Snack Ideas to Keep You Satisfied
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I never knew how much I missed having snacks as I did when I was strictly following the Keto diet. I especially missed having crunchy, crispy, salty snacks like crackers and popcorn. Now that I am following a relaxed version of a low-carb diet, I do indulge in homemade snacks while still sticking to the basic tenets of my diet.
I created these quick and easy snack recipes that are full of nutrients while satisfying that craving for a little something sweet or salty. Snacks can enhance our diets by providing a boost of energy during the mid-morning or mid-afternoon slump, as long as we don’t include anti-nutrient ingredients when making them.
Snacks can be both healthy and delicious and you don’t need to derail your diet for you to enjoy them! Dive into this post to find your new favorite snack – sweet, savory, or salty – that you can enjoy guilt-free!
Einkorn Cheese Crackers
I craved and missed crispy foods like crackers during my keto stint. I tried eating fried pork skins to get the crispy texture that I missed in my beloved Cheez-Its but I didn’t enjoy the musty taste. The saltiness and crunchiness were good, but I had shunned pork for many years and I just couldn’t get past the smell and taste.
Now that I am following a low-carb diet that contains whole and natural foods, I used my favorite flour to create these crispy, salty, and spicy cheese crackers.
Einkorn Cheese Crackers
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 ounces einkorn flour
- 8 ounces manchego cheese or cheese of choice
- 3 tablespoons Earth Balance buttery spread or butter
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Grate cheese and set aside. Mix together crushed red pepper flakes, paprika, salt, and black pepper.
- Add grated cheese, softened earth balance or butter, egg, and spice mix to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until ingredients form into a smooth paste.
- Add einkorn flour to the bowl with the cheese mixture. Pulse until the flour and cheese mix are incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Pull dough from the bowl of the food processor, place on parchment paper, and roll into a 12″ log. Wrap the dough log in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough log from the fridge and cut out thin slices to make the crackers. Place crackers on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in the oven for 18 minutes. Remove crackers and turn over. Place back in the oven and bake for 3 more minutes from the oven.
- Let crackers cool before enjoying them with a bit of fruit and/or cheese. They’re also pretty good on their own.
These crackers are full of the great nutrients found in einkorn flour plus it has the pleasant tangy taste of manchego sheep cheese and a little spiciness provided by red pepper flakes. These are so good they’re a thousand times better than Cheez-Its!
Spicy Lamb/Beef Jerky
One of the snacks that was acceptable for all the diets I followed, was the humble meat treat known as jerky. Jerky is the perfect snack food for the Paleo, Keto, Atkins, or any other diet. It’s a great source of belly-filling lean protein and it tastes great! One of the best things about jerky is you can season it however you like. If you like spicy jerky, go crazy with the chili and red pepper flakes. If you like it a bit sweeter just add some molasses or honey. Make it your way.
This recipe is so simple anyone can do it. Make your spice rub (wet or dry), season your meat strips, and dehydrate. Voila! Tasty homemade jerky. Just make sure to discard the leftover marinade/rub used to season your meat. Also, keep in mind that you can use any type of lean meat to make jerky, not just beef or lamb. If you have access to other types of exotic meats like ostrich, bison, or elk, you can make those into jerky to have a nice selection at your fingertips.
Spicy Lamb or Beef Jerky
Equipment
- Dehydrator or oven
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sliced top round beef strips or boneless lamb sliced into strips
- 3/4 cups worchestire sauce
- 3/4 cup tamari sauce
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon chipotle powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon molasses or honey
Instructions
- Whisk worchestire sauce, tamari sauce, paprika, molasses, black pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and onion powder together in a bowl. Add sliced meat to a bowl and turn to coat completely. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for up to 3 hours or overnight.
- Lay seasoned meat on the trays of a dehydrator and dehydrate according to the instructions on your dehydrator (about 4 hours at 160-degrees) You can use the oven if you don’t have a dehydrator. Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire rack over the foil. Place meat on paper towels to dry off excess marinade. Discard the remaining marinade. Arrange meat slices in a single layer on the prepared wire rack on the baking sheet.
- Bake meat in the preheated oven until dry and leathery about 3 to 4 hours. Let cool before enjoying.
Root Vegetable Chips
I was never much of a potato chip eater because I find them to be boring. The chip game has been revolutionized, however, and today we have a variety of vegetable chips at our disposal. I especially liked the Terra brand chips with its blend of uncommon root vegetables. I grew up eating many of these same root vegetables (cassava, eddoes, taro, plantains, etc.) so I was delighted to find a snack chip with these ingredients.
Since I like to replicate store-bought foods into a healthier home version, I created my vegetable chip recipe using some of these same root vegetables including beets, sweet potatoes, turnips, carrots, and taro. This colorful blend is full of fiber, antioxidants and vitamins. Who knew that snack food could be so healthy!?
Root Vegetable Chips
Ingredients
- 2 medium beets
- 1 large turnip
- 1 large carrot
- 1 small sweet potato
- 1 medium plantain
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 quart avocado oil
Instructions
- Cut, peel, and slice all vegetables using a sharp knife or a mandolin to make thin chips.
- Season sliced vegetable chips with salt and pepper. Fry chips in a deep fryer until golden brown and crispy. Or coat chips with cooking spray and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes until brown and crispy. Or coat chips with cooking spray and air-fry at 400 degrees until crisp.
- Keep an eye and remove the chips that brown first before they burn. Cool before eating.
As with most of my recipes, you can modify the ingredients as well as the form of cooking. This vegetable chips recipe may be fried in hot oil for a super crunch or you can make it a bit healthier by spraying the raw veggie chips with cooking oil spray and baking in a 400-degree oven. Crunchy, sweet, salty, and savory – these vegetable chips hit the spot for when you’re craving chips.
Low-Sugar Chocolate Bon-Bons with Nut Butter
I couldn’t make a post about snacks without including my favorite food chocolate, so I’m including my recipe for low-sugar chocolate bon bonbons. This recipe, with the help of a candy mold, produces cute little nut-butter-filled bonbons. They’re so good you won’t believe there’s hardly any sugar in them.
I find semi-sweet chocolate to be sweet enough, so I don’t add any other sweetener to these bonbons. If you prefer sweeter chocolate, use my favorite powdered sweetener monksweet+ with stevia to add more sweetness without adding more sugar to this homemade chocolate candy. These bon bonbons are quick and easy to make and come in quite handy when I want something sweet without having to do too much work.
If you don’t have a candy mold, you can use a mini-muffin tin lined with a bit of parchment paper so they won’t stick. Using a mini muffin tin also makes them into little homemade Reese’s pieces but with your twist on the filling. I sometimes use almond or peanut butter for the center, but you can use whatever you like, it’ll still come out delicious.
Low-Sugar Chocolate Bon-Bons
Ingredients
- 1 bar semi-sweet chocolate
- 1 ounce cocoa butter
- 1 tablespoon cashew butter or any nut butter of choice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Melt semi-sweet chocolate bar and cocoa butter in a double boiler or place in a bowl over a pot of simmering water until melted.
- Stir vanilla extract into melted chocolate and pour the chocolate mix into a candy mold. Place dollops of nut butter into the center of each bon-bon and place in the refrigerator to firm up.
- Once set, de-mold the chocolate bon-bons and enjoy!
Yes, You Too Can Make Tasty & Healthy Snacks
I hope I’ve proven that you can make quick, easy, and healthy snacks from the comfort of your own home. There is no need to buy snacks that are loaded with sodium and other chemical or artificial ingredients. Instead, use these recipes to create your own sweet or savory snacks. You can even alter some of the ingredients to suit your taste.
When it comes to taking care of our health there is nothing better for us than clean, organic, and natural foods. Buying organic and other clean, natural foods can indeed be expensive, but I wholeheartedly believe that it is worth paying the extra cost for good food. Feed your body well and it will reward you for years to come!
Let me know if you try out any of these recipes. Until then, Happy Eating!
Wow I honestly never thought it could be so easy to make healthy snacks such as these. I do a weekly meal plan so I cook my own meals but most of my snacks are store-bought and processed if its not raw fruit or nuts. These recipes can help me completely avoid any artificial snacks. I am looking forward towards making myself some root vegetable chips and low-sugar chocolate bon-bons. I too am guilty of loving salty, crunchy or sweet snacks. Raw nuts and fruits are great but I love some flavor and variety in my foods. Thanks for the recipes Dawn!
Hey Kevin,
Thanks! If you try any of the recipes, I suggest you try the einkorn cheese crackers recipe! It’s really tasty and much healthier than any store-bought cheese cracker.
Cheers!
Dawn
Hi there,
I’m drooling a bit here! One of the things I find is that unless snacks are easy to make, they’ll be passed over in favour of those that are! I especially love the Beef Jerky and the Chocolate Bon Bons (not on the same plate obviously). When I find time in my own blogging schedule, i’ll make some of these with my other half, i’m sure she’ll be just as enthusiastic!
Hi Dkohara,
LOL at drooling. These snacks are indeed drool-worthy. You can make these pretty quickly so don’t fret about taking too much time to make these. The jerky needs to marinade for a bit, but once you put it to dehydrate it’s set and forget. Let me know if you get around to trying any of these recipes.
Cheers,
Dawn
I wasn’t actually looking but am so glad I found your recipe for chocolate bon bons. My son who was chocolate-free for the first year of his life is now an addict (thanks to indulgent grandparents who couldn’t be deterred hah!). I’m bookmarking this page because he will love creating and eating these…and I’ll feel so much better that he’s actually eating something a lot healthier than all the easter eggs he’s been consuming lately. Thanks so much!:-)
Hi Jade,
I’m sure your son will enjoy these bon-bons. I find them to be just sweet enough, but if he prefers a sweeter chocolate just add a bit of powdered monksweet+ with stevia to make it sweeter. Creating and making your own homemade candies are definitely more satisfying and healthy. Thanks again for reading.
Cheers,
Dawn
We started eating healthier 3 or 4 years ago, and it’s been hard to find those snacks that we’ve enjoyed so much. I’ve been looking for some good recipes and it looks like I found a few! The two that sound the best for me are the crackers and the chocolate bon-bons. I try to avoid any wheat, so I was wondering if you had tried these with almond flour, coconut flour or flaxmeal. I wonder if any of these would make a difference in how they turn out. The bon-bons are very enticing. I definitely will have to try those!! Thank you for this post!
Hi Lynn,
Thanks for the compliment! My favorite of these recipes is definitely the einkorn crackers. I too am following a low carb way of eating and I avoid all wheat except for Einkorn flour. This is an ancient, un-hybridized grain that is full of healthy nutrients and a different and lower gluten profile. You can read more about it in my review here.
Do let me know if you try any of these recipes, I’d love to know how they turned out for you.
Cheers,
Dawn
Hi Dawn!
Lots of great info on this post. It should get lots of attention for you.
The one thing that really stands out that might be improved is the length of the sentences. Most of your visitors will be used to much shorter lines of text. This is because of the theme you are using. I would suggest trying a theme with a right sidebar. This does many things. It will make your sentences much more compact and easier on the eyes to read. Also, it will give you the whole right sidebar for ads that you can monetize.
You can go back and forth between themes with the click of a button. You should be able to preview a theme with a right sidebar. This means you are not committed to it. But it will show you how your site will look should you choose to make the change. It’s a big change, and maybe you have your reasons for using your current theme. Just thought I would mention it to you.
If you do decide to do it, PM me a link. I would love to see the difference it makes.
Other than that, excellent content and images.
Hi Ray,
Thanks for your feedback on my site’s theme. I’ll be sure to take your suggestions into consideration to see if it does make a difference.
Thanks again!
Dawn
I gripe about having to give up all my simple pleasures and now I don’t. I am going to try the lamb jerky, chocolate bons bons, and cheese crackers. I live how you added the nutritional facts at the end of each recipe. I love it when recipes come with these because at least I know how many calories are in what I am eating. Great post!!!
Hi Doris,
I always tell my family and friends that you don’t have to give up life’s simple pleasures when trying to eat healthy. Just make better ingredient choices and your body will thank you for it and your taste buds will be happy! Do let me know if you’ve tried any of the recipes and how they turned out for you.
Cheers,
Dawn