Kid-Friendly Road Trip Vegan Snack Ideas

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As a mom, it is so important to plan when heading on a road trip with little kids. We all know that the minute you get in the car for an extended period of time the kids start asking for snacks. Or drinks. Or the infamous “are we there yet”.

Over the last few years, we have learned that you are better off over prepared than underprepared. Even if you don’t want to pre-make and bring meals, checking to see if there are stores to grab groceries or restaurants you can eat it prior to leaving can help alleviate stress.

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU SHOULD PACK

There are a few things I encourage you to think about as you plan for travel snacks.

When on your trip will you be eating at peoples homes?
Will you have to make meals in a hotel?
Do you have long periods of times in the car?
Are you walking a lot of places?
Are you trying to stick with a budget while traveling?

All these things are important to consider when planning.

We are heading to Chicago and having been there before, I know that we will not want to eat meals out every meal due to the cost.

Our plan is to stop at IKEA on the way from my husband’s family to downtown and get their veggie dogs. Stopping at IKEA for a meal will save us upwards of $40 if we chose to eat when we got to Downtown Chicago.

Additionally, we have a relatively long car ride and we know that the options to stop on the way are limited (and we don’t want to spend the money) so we are bringing food for the road.

In this post, I want to focus on what we bring for the car + tips for the hotel!

SIMPLE TIPS TO MAKE YOUR TRIP LESS STRESSFUL

Have a few plastic bags for trash
Use a cup that fits in your kids car seat cup holder to help contain things like crackers, fruit, etc.
Bring baby wipes for easy clean up of kiddos
Have a “special treat” for the kids to help bring some happiness as they get antsy, especially if the road trip is long. For us, we like to use these Good2Grow juices (that are ridiculously expensive) because we don’t ever buy them for the kids otherwise so they LOVE them.

Make sure you don’t throw the bottle away because they clean out great and make awesome water cup options for visits to the zoo, beach, park, etc.
Bring a big jug of water that can be distributed between family members. However, I don’t encourage everyone to drink from the same cup, especially during flu season.

We like to bring our Hydroflask (which is huge) to keep water cold and then pour into small bottles for the kids or cups for adults.

Vegan road trip snacks for families. These tips make it easy to spend less money and have happier kids on a long car ride!

VEGAN ROAD TRIP SNACK IDEAS

Bars like ClifBars, Orgain protein bars, or Nature’s Bakery
Vegan cheese and crackers
Hummus and veggies or crackers
Fresh fruit
Vegetables
Fruit pouches
Popcorn (if your kids are old enough)
Pretzels
Trail Mix
Peanut butter and apples or celery
Veggie straws
Cereal

It’s important to remember that road trips are not the time to try new foods or foods you don’t eat often. For us, we try to avoid bringing chips or a lot of processed foods because of how they affect our bellies.

There is nothing worse than feeling bloated or gassy in a car or plane of people. And as a mom, the last thing we want is a kiddo with tummy troubles!

MONEY SAVING TRAVEL TIP FOR VEGANS: Bring enough food from home to make your first meal at your hotel. We always try to bring wraps or bread and use all of our vegetables, cheese, and hummus to make sandwiches. This helps so you don’t have to run off to a restaurant OR spend $13-$15 per person on room service.

4 Money Saving Tips for Road Trips

Bring enough food from home to make your first meal at your hotel.

We always try to bring wraps or bread and use all of our vegetables, cheese, and hummus to make sandwiches.

This helps so you don’t have to run off to a restaurant OR spend $13-$15 per person on room service.

#funfact our hotel in Chicago had the impossible burger on their room service menu!)
Use liquid flavorings for water to avoid buying juice or drinks for your kids once at your destination (or at gas stations)

Our kids LOVE these things and it’s the only way they really get juice. Most of the time they drink water but having these to put in their water bottles (that we bring from home – We use the Good2Grow bottles when traveling) saves us time and money.
Keep surprise snacks or goodies (suckers, etc) hidden away to pull out when you have to stop at the gas station or other leg-stretching destinations.

Don’t fall for stopping at a fast food restaurant and buying things “just because the kids asked” or because someone is a little hungry. Have things in the car and use what you have!

If you stop at a gas station and someone is convinced they need a treat (this goes for us too, moms and dads), reach for the goodies you have stashed away in the car.

Chocolate, suckers, chips – whatever you would be tempted to buy at the gas station, pack it form home! This could potentially save you $10-$20 per stop!
Bring CASH for food

You might think I’m crazy but we traveled with cash only to Chicago and it was our eating out AND fun money. It encouraged us to not spend frivolously.

If you aren’t sure how much to bring, I would figure out how many meals per day you will be eating out and then estimate $10-$15 per person.

We brought $130 on our trip for food AND fun and ended up bringing $40 back home with us!

We saved by bringing out own snacks to the planetarium, eating dinner and breakfast we brought from home instead of buying at the hotel.