Meal prep snack ideas that keep all week

Snacks are the part of the week most people forget to plan. Ten minutes of portioning replaces a lot of vending machine visits.

Which snacks need no cooking?

• Hummus snack boxes with carrot and cucumber sticks.
• Cottage cheese snack boxes with berries and crackers.
• Cheese cubes with grapes.
• Apple slices with peanut butter. A little lemon juice stops the apple browning.
• Yogurt pots with fruit.
• Nuts and dried fruit, portioned into small bags.

Which can you make ahead?

• No-bake oat energy bites, twenty from one bowl.
• Hard-boiled eggs.
• Berry chia pudding.
• Baked berry oatmeal squares.
• Roasted chickpeas, tossed in oil and spices and baked until crisp.

How do you keep them fresh?

• Use small containers, so each snack is one portion.
• Keep crackers, granola and nuts in separate bags.
• Put a damp paper towel under cut vegetables to keep them crisp.
• Store roasted chickpeas in a jar with the lid loose, or they soften.

How long do they last?

• Cut vegetables and dairy snacks: about four days.
• Energy bites: a week in the fridge, three months in the freezer.
• Hard-boiled eggs: up to a week in their shells.
• Chia pudding: about four days.
• Nuts and dried fruit: weeks in a sealed bag.

Which have the most protein?

Cottage cheese boxes have about 22 g, by the recipe estimate. Two eggs have about 12. See high-protein snacks to prep.

Which are cheapest?

Energy bites are about $0.61 for two, and hard-boiled eggs cost very little. Buying nuts and dried fruit in large bags and portioning them yourself costs far less than snack packs.

Which travel without a fridge?

Energy bites for a day, whole fruit, nuts, crackers and peanut butter. Dairy and eggs need an ice pack. See meal prep for work with no fridge.

How much should you prepare?

One or two snacks a day for four days. Eight portions takes about fifteen minutes. Making more than you will eat is the usual mistake, because cut vegetables do not last past four days.

Which containers work?

One-cup containers or small divided boxes. See what size containers you need.

How do you make sure you eat them?

Keep prepared snacks at the front of the fridge at eye level, and put one in your bag each morning along with lunch.

Where to go next

All make-ahead snacks are in the snacks category. Lunch ideas to go with them are in meal prep lunch ideas for work.