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Are you looking for a road trip food list that includes the best road trip snacks and other food to bring on a road trip?
Road trips can range from being budget-friendly to out-of-this-world expensive if you do not plan ahead, especially when it comes to eating food.
The temptation to grab a snack at every gas station, as well as to eat out at restaurants or gorge on fast food, can really start to add up in terms of money and wasted time.
One way to save money and time while road tripping, however, is to bring your own food!
By making a road trip food list and packing fun road trip snacks, you’ll avoid having to stop and spend as much.
Our road trip food list includes easy road trip snacks, as well as portable breakfast, lunch, and dinner options – plus, a FREE Road Trip Food List printable to take with you to the grocery store.
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Table of Contents
Road Trip Food List: Breakfast
One of our absolute best family road trip tips is to leave bright and early in the morning when starting a long road trip.
As the most important meal of the day, luckily, having breakfast on the road is the easiest meal to eat cold and on the go.
If you decide to hit the road early, or if your hotel en route doesn’t offer a free breakfast, plan ahead by bringing along these simple road trip breakfast foods.
Our tried-and-true road trip food list awaits!
Road Trip Breakfast Ideas
- Dry cereal
- Yogurt tubes and granola bars
- Muffins, donuts, and scones
- Bagels and cream cheese
- Fruit
- Squeezable applesauce
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Peanut butter, banana, and granola wrapped up in a tortilla
- Make-Ahead Fruit & Yogurt Breakfast Parfaits
Additional planning tip: For added morning fun, use the category “breakfast foods”, “brands or cereal”, or “types of fruit” while you play a road trip word game.
Road Trip Food List: Lunch
When it comes to planning for lunch and beyond, your road trip packing list should always include a reliable portable cooler.
Whether you chill made-ahead sandwiches, salami & cheese, fruits, or veggies, there are so many awesome road trip food ideas when it comes to having lunch on the go.
What we love about these road tip lunch ideas is that they keep us out of congested cities and fast-food drive-thrus during the busy noon hour.
Road Trip Lunch Ideas
- Premade sandwiches with deli meat and cheese (make them extra fun by using shaped sandwich cutters!)
- Peanut butter sandwiches (skip the jelly to avoid sogginess)
- Pita pocket with mozzarella, tomato, basil, turkey, cheese, hummus, cucumber, and/or tuna salad
- Home-ade Lunchables with summer sausage, cheese, and crackers
- Tortilla with cream cheese, sliced olives, and pepperoni
- Veggies and single-serve packs of ranch dressing, hummus, or guacamole
- Pre-assembled Salad In A Jar
Road Trip Food List: Dinner
If there is one meal that you choose to splurge on, I recommend stopping to have dinner at a roadside restaurant or cafe.
Though this may not be your final destination, experiencing another city in this way will help you check more places off of your family travel bucket list!
If you’re not keen on stopping, however, here are the road trip foods we enjoy that are tasty and hearty enough to serve as dinner.
Road Trip Dinner Ideas
- Cold rotisserie chicken, chunked and served with a garden salad (package in a disposable salad container)
- Pre-made pasta salad, such as Pizza Pasta Salad
- StarKist ready-to-eat tuna salad in an avocado half or on a bun
- Chicken and pickled veggies in pitas
- Hummus veggie wrap
- Cold pizza
Additional planning tip: If you’re road tripping in the winter when driving conditions are much more unpredictable, packing extra road trip food is an essential component of your winter road trip packing list.
Road Trip Food List: Snacks
In my opinion,snacksare the No. 1 way to keep everyone (including you!) happy on a family road trip.
Homemade snack mixes and individual pre-purchased snacks are also a great way to help cut costs associated with buying food on the road.
For this reason, I suggest assembling an entire tub filled with fun and appetizing snacks and surprises that you know your kids will love.
We use these16-quart storage tubs from Sterilitethat are the perfect size, price, and durability!
Road Trip Snacks Ideas
- Chips and pretzels
- Animal crackers (Suprise them with Barnum’s Originals!)
- Trail mix
- Popcorn
- Filled crackers (peanut butter, cheese)
- Beef jerky
- Nuts (cashews, almonds, peanuts)
- String cheese, Babybel, Laughing Cow cheese wedges
- Fresh or dried fruit
- Healthy no-bake cookies
- Candy and gummy candy
Be extra organized for your family road trip by clicking the following image to get your FREE family vacation packing list that is both customizable and printable!
Travel Snacks for Toddlers
Road tripping with toddlers presents its own set of challenges and requires additional thought when it comes to toddler-friendly road trip activities and food.
(It’s much harder to keep a close eye on them when they’re in the backseat, and you’re in the front.)
When considering toddler road trip foods, the most important thing is to avoid giving them anything to eat that could be deemed a choking hazard.
In addition, opt for healthy versus overly sweet options that may give them a tummy ache.
Our favorite healthy toddler car snacks and road trip foods include:
- Graham crackers
- Snap pea crisps
- Applesauce and/or yogurt pouches
- Cheese sticks
- Soft mini muffins
- Whole-grain crackers
- Bananas and/or this apple slices
9 Essential Tips For Traveling With Food
As seasoned travelers, we’ve assembled a list of tips for traveling with road trip foods and make-ahead hotel room meals.
- Use up your most delicate fruit first when on long-haul road trips.
In other words, start by eating bananas and berries, then move on to more sturdy produce such as apples and oranges that don’t spoil as easily.
2. Every family needs an organized packing strategy!
When it comes to road trip food, tortillas, pitas, or other sturdy flatbreads work better to bring along than do loaves of bread. They take up a lot less room and do not risk getting smashed.
3. When packing a cooler with items that need to stay chilled, be sure to lay the ice on the top, versus the bottom of the cooler.
This is because cold air sinks and will, therefore, disperse itself more evenly if laid on top of the food.
4. Aim to open the cooler only 1 or 2 times a day in order to maintain its refrigeration and keep the ice from thawing.
5. Also, make all food, including snacks, easily accessible throughout the duration of your family road trip.
This prevents someone (likely mom or dad!) from having to constantly bend over the back seat or stop to open the trunk every time hunger or boredom hits.
6. Avoid bringing anything made of glass on your road trip, including glass food containers. Glass is heavy, bulky, and very dangerous when broken within the confines of your family vehicle.
7. Assemble and bring along a road trip kit with the following road trip essentials for spills, clean-ups, and car sickness:
- Anti-bacterial wipes
- Hand sanitizer
- Garbage bags
- Ziplock bags
- Napkins/paper towels
- Kleenex
- Saltine crackers and motion sickness medicine
8. Each time you stop while on a road trip, don’t forget to pitch any garbage that has accumulated.
This prevents build-up and smelliness.
9. Head to the grocery store with our FREE printable checklist and purchase all of your road trip food in one shopping trip!
Road-Trip-Food-ListDownload
If you enjoyed reading our best Road Trip Food List, click here to check out ourRelated Posts:
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