101 (more!) paleo snack ideas
After the popularity of my previous post on paleo snack ideas, I've put together a new, extended list of snack ideas.
After my last list, I got a lot of people telling me “DAIRY IS NOT PALEO” (yep, I think they were shouting), so just to clear it up, some of the snack ideas listed below do have dairy options. I'm not in the paleo police, so if you tolerate dairy and take more of a lacto-paleo approach (and can find a good quality source) – go for it. If you fair better dairy free, avoid it!
The list below has a good range of snacks suitable for work (where there often aren't good facilities for keeping things cool or warming them up), travel, children as well as snack ideas that are quick enough for you to grab and go.
I'd love to hear your feedback – – what's your go to paleo snack? Or do you find you don't need to snack so often any more?
- A can of (high quality) tuna
- Make your own beef jerky
- A bag of nuts and seeds
- A couple of squares of super dark high quality chocolate
- Make your own cherry ripe bars
- Coconut flesh in a bag (dehydrate it to make it last longer!)
- Keep a small jar of coconut oil or coconut manna to hand – and a spoon!
- Cheese cubes served with cut apple
- Use a melon baller to prepare spheres of fruit – and serve in cream (dairy or coconut)
- Roll up avocado, radish, cress & asparagus in ham wraps
- Coat chicken with an egg and almond flour mix to create Paleo chicken nuggets
- Melon & ham slices
- Simple – avocado slices
- Pre-boiled, peeled hard boiled eggs
- A jar of olives
- A tin of coconut milk served over fresh berries
- Your favourite fruit
- A coconut
- Make your own pork scratching (AKA pork rinds or crackling)
- Have you tried coconut yoghurt yet?!
- A bag of your favourite nuts (activate them, then season them)
- How about spicy almonds?
- Seaweed is a good option that stores well
- Coconut flakes
- A berry and coconut mix
- Dry some berries and fruit
- Last night’s meatballs
- Pigs in blankets
- Almonds, pecans and berries served in coconut milk
- No-Oatmeal
- Full fat plain Greek yoghurt (if you do dairy)
- Salmon
- Smoked meat and salami
- A selection of cheeses
- Almond Butter
- A sealed packet of nuts and seeds
- A jar of pickles (make sure it isn't full of sugar)
- Home made egg muffins
- Make your own Paté
- A tin of sardines
- Oysters
- Simple – cut up some leftover meat and veg
- Devilled eggs
- Precooked bacon pieces
- Dehydrated banana slices
- Kale chips
- Diced Steamed chicken and avocado
- Leftover meat and mayo
- Paleo sushi with nori, veg, avo and fish
- Mini omelettes
- Veg sticks and nut butter
- Salmon and tuna on sliced cucumber
- Carrot sticks with a home made spicy salsa
- Capsicum (Bell Pepper) strips with a guacamole dip
- Make sandwiches with bacon “bread” and an avo filling
- Ham, tomatoes and fresh basil
- Left over roast veggies with a ranch sauce
- Home made sauerkraut
- Ever tried chocolate covered bacon bites?Coat almonds and coconut flakes in chocolate
- Dip fresh berries in chocolate
- For a special treat paleo cookies
- Frozen grapes
- Frozen banana slices mixed with fresh cream
- Baked pears with coconut cream and a dash of cinnamon
- A flask/ thermos of bone broth
- Soup
- A bottle of a freshly made green smoothie
- Zucchini Chips
- Spicy pumpkin seeds
- Homemade fruit leather
- Sweet potato, coconut oil fries
- Stuffed mini bell peppers (capsicum)
- sliced peaches & cottage cheese
- Baba Ghanoush with vegetable sticks
- Ginger sesame Chicken wings
- Monkfish & sweet potato skewers
- Sweet potato & chocolate chip muffins
- Refilled sweet potatoes
- Spicy nuts
- Maple & cayenne roasted almonds
- Celery sticks and pesto
- Spicy coconut king prawns
- Crunchy cashew fish sticks
- Indian Eggs
- Kimchi
- Mini Paleo Pizza’s
- Sliced deli meat
- Chicken drumsticks
- Coconut Milk Kefir
- Plantain chips
- Roasted Chestnuts
- Cauliflower Popcorn – who needs that other stuff when you can make this?!
- Collard wraps – put your favourite veggies and leftover meat in a collard leaf and wrap!
- Coleslaw
- Prosciutto wrapped asparagus
- Pickled Gherkins
- A glass of (unsweetened)Almond Milk
- Prawns with Paleo Cocktail Sauce
- Carrot sticks with Paleo Hummus
- Strawberry & coconut ice cream
- Raw Chocolate Maple and Pecan Fudge
How to Choose the Right Paleo Snack for Your Lifestyle
With so many Paleo snack ideas to choose from, the key is finding options that work for your routine. If you’re on the go all day, opt for shelf-stable choices like jerky, activated nuts, coconut flakes, or tinned fish. These require no prep and are easy to store in your bag or car.
If you're at home and have a few more minutes, why not make a small batch of egg muffins, Paleo sushi rolls, or even sweet potato fries cooked in coconut oil? These snacks can double as mini-meals and help you stay full for longer.
For anyone following a low carb or keto-leaning Paleo diet, focus on snacks with a higher fat content like avocado, olives, boiled eggs, pâté, and nut butters. These will help stabilise energy levels and reduce hunger between meals.
And if you're looking for family-friendly or kid-approved Paleo snacks, there are plenty of fun ideas in the list — from frozen banana slices to mini Paleo pizzas and zucchini chips.
Snacking isn’t essential on Paleo if your meals are nutrient-dense, but let’s be real — life gets busy, and it helps to have a plan. Keeping a few go-to Paleo snacks on hand can prevent unhealthy choices when you're tired or in a rush.
Do you have a favourite Paleo snack not on the list? Drop it in the comments — I’d love to keep adding to this ultimate Paleo snack resource.
What’s so special about grass fed beef?
Grass fed beef gets plenty of recognition on the Paleo diet, and rightly so. We know our ancestors would have undoubtedly eaten copious amounts of wild fed ruminants; not the sort that were shuttled in their droves into giant feed-lots, devoid of natural light and space to roam, and fed with industrialised slop made from genetically modified corn, barley and soya. But, ideology aside, what is it that actually makes grass fed beef superior to ‘modern’ grain fed beef? Is it worth paying extra for – sometimes double the price? In a short answer, yes. And here’s why…
As the demand for beef (and meat in general) rose significantly throughout the 20th century, ‘farmers’ began to reassess their production methods with one goal in mind. Profit. These beef barons were prepared to stop at nothing to decrease the production costs of each cow, with no concern for the animals’ welfare or for the welfare of the people eating the meat; and thus, factory farming was born. There were, of course, many who still wanted to do things the right way, and a divide became apparent. As factory farming has developed throughout the years, and cheaper, nutrient void food has become more available, this divide has become significantly greater.
One reason we eschew grains on the Paleo diet (apart from lectins, gluten and phytic acid), is the distinct lack of nutrient density that they offer in comparison with whole foods. If you genetically modify these grains, the nutrient density becomes even lower; practically non-existent. When cattle are fed a diet that is so devoid of nutrients, the meat they offer is therefore much less nutritious than that of an animal fed on a natural diet. This shows in the nutritional profiles of grass fed vs grain fed meat; grass fed is significantly higher in vitamins (in particular B vitamins, vitamin E, vitamin K and vitamin B12), minerals (including magnesium, selenium, zinc and calcium), CLA and Omega 3. We’ll come on to that last one again shortly. The lifespan of the cows also plays a part in the nutrients they offer; as factory farmed cattle have a much shorter lifespan (as they are overfed and under-exercised so that they reach the slaughter house in double quick time), they do not have time to build up the nutritional profile that they should do naturally. Quite simply, unhealthy diet + overeating + lack of exercise = nutritionally depleted beef. The same formula would also mean a nutritionally depleted human as well, which isn't really much of a shock.
We've spoke about omega 3 and omega 6 before, and how it is important to maintain as close to an even ratio as possible to reduce inflammation in the body. Thanks to their diet, grass fed beef is significantly higher in omega 3 than its grain fed counterpart. On average, grass fed beef has a ratio of around 2.5/1 (omega 6:omega 3). Depending on the grasses they graze on, it can be as low as 1:1. The ratio of grain fed beef, on the other hand, can exceed 20:1.
To decrease the production time, factory farmed cows are fed artificial hormones to fatten them up more quickly. The presence of these hormones have been linked to hormone irregularities in the humans who eat a lot of grain fed beef – which is another reason to source your meat carefully.
To summarise, grass fed beef is better for you, better for the environment, better for the economy, and better for the animals themselves. It’s the way that beef should be eaten, but sadly, it is expensive. If you are limited in how much grass fed beef you can buy for financial reasons, opt for leaner cuts of meat when you buy grain fed. There will be less of an omega 3:6 imbalance as the all-round fat content is lower. Toxins are also stored in the fatty deposits of the animals, so by choosing leaner cuts you’ll minimise the toxins that you consume. If you’re completely against buying grain fed, look for cheaper cuts of meat like shin and chuck roast, and cook them slowly. Offal is a great bet too.
Do you eat grass fed (or pastured) meat? Is it important to you?