5 Healthy Snacks You Can Make in 5 Minutes

Snacking gets a seriously bad wrap in the nutrition world when it really doesn’t deserve it. It’s renowned for being the diet breaking, bad habit making, progress ruining evil that we all crave on a daily basis, and in reality, it really doesn’t have to be. Snacking has the potential to be a seriously healthy choice that doesn’t have to be inconvenient either; you just need to know what kind of healthy snacks you can make in the least amount of time.

Whether you need to grab a speedy bite in the office or you’re working from home, or you’re just making a pit stop between errands, healthy snacks can go a long way. They have the potential to actually make your diet a lot easier if you use them tactically and can help you get more healthy calories to build muscle too. It’s all in the power of the tactical snack if you can prepare them quickly enough (snacking needs to be convenient after all).

We’ve put together a list of our absolute favourites to help you do just that. With a few years of experience and the right nutritional knowledge, these have proven to be tried and tested methods of snacking better and faster than ever, all in ways that help your health even in the long term. Let’s take a look:

Want to move fast? Jump to the right section below.

• Mixed Salad
• Porridge/Cereal
• Goats Cheese/Mozzarella & Tomato (Caprese Salad)
• Hummus & Carrot Sticks
• Tuna & Baked Potato

Mixed Salad (No Dressing)

The first healthy snack is a mixed salad. You can take this one in a lot of different ways, so don’t shrug it off just because it’s a salad. You can make yourself a fruit salad, a heavy meat salad, a simple veg salad… whatever you like. Salads are a great way to get a boatload of macro and micronutrients at the same time, all while minimising preservative and unhealthy fats. What more could you ask for?

It does need to be noted though that salad can actually be a downside to your dieting and easy snack plan too. Although they’re naturally low fat and highly nutritious, it’s also easy to fall into the trap of adding dressing to them too. That’s where you’re doing the exact opposite. Dressings are full of fat and sugar, so make sure you’re reading your labels and planning ahead.

Porridge/Cereal

This healthy snack can be taken one of two ways. It’s both A) a great choice of a healthy breakfast (minus the typical cereal sugar content), but B) a great quick tactical snack to put a stop to your hunger and cravings for longer lengths of time. That all comes down to their carbohydrate-rich base.

Adding more healthy carbs is a sure-fire way to keep you fuller for longer, and that can be the perfect thing if you’re craving something to eat mid-afternoon but won’t be eating again for a while, or if you need something to carry you through to a late lunch. It’s excellent for that energy boost.

Goats Cheese/Mozzarella & Tomato (Caprese Salad)

On the other side of the scale, sometimes, it’s better to stay with things being nice and light, and that’s where something like a mozzarella and tomato salad can really come into a league of its own. With just a few tomatoes and some mozzarella, all you need to do is slice, add a little bit of oil and some basil, and you have an amazing, healthy, Italian snack ready to go!

This is perfect for increasing your consumption of healthy fats, essential for rest days, and still providing you with a quickly prepared snack that you can have any time of the day. It’s the perfect combination.

Hummus & Carrot Sticks

Since veg and healthy fats are such a great call, we’re going to the same place again, but this time, things are getting dipped. Mixing flavours is always one of the best ways to get the most from your healthy snacking options, and this is just another example of where it comes into a league of its own.

Unlike the quick, easy snack we have above though, this one is much more viable. Here, we’re able to really mix things up. Hummus comes in all kinds of flavours, with everything ranging from the mellow caramelised onion hummus ranging right the way through to the more firey chilli flavoured hummuses. All of them do the job but watch out for hidden sugars and saturated fats!

Tuna & Baked Potato

Lastly, we’re going to spice things up a bit by throwing in a curveball. Now, this healthy snack can be either a full-blown meal on its own or, shared with a friend, even just divided up. It’s the perfect snack too. By using a smaller potato or portioning correctly, this is easily another of the best, the easiest, and the quickest snack you could ask for.

Whether you add cheese, tuna, salad, or whatever you like, anything that’s not full of fat and ruining your healthy plans is a good addition to a baked potato. Just prick some holes in it, throw it in the microwave and let the magic happen and your snack rotates to perfection.

All of these are great healthy snacks you can draw inspiration from, and the best thing to do is find one you really enjoy eating and go to town on it. Healthy snacks can easily be a part of a healthy diet if you let them; you just need to get them right. Happy snacking!

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