30+ Plastic-Free Snack Ideas For Zero-Waste Snacking

Are you looking to reduce the plastic from your snack habit? I have put together over 30 plastic-free snack ideas to keep your taste buds and your bin happy! 

Whether you’re craving a mid-morning pick-me-up or want to stock up on treats for an evening settled down in front of your favourite TV show, we all love a good snack. Yet most snacks available in the shops come wrapped in layers of plastic. If you’re trying to live in a more zero-waste way, just what should you do when the urge to snack hits?

The good news is that there’s no need to give up on treats .If you’re looking for sustainable zero-waste snack alternatives, I’ve got over 30 tasty ideas for you to try. From those in nature’s own packaging to options you can bulk buy or make at home, there are heaps of delicious ways to zero-waste your snacking routine.

My Favourite Plastic-Free Snack Ideas

If you’re looking for sustainable snack choices that taste good, but don’t create any waste, then tuck into my list of favourite treats. It’s proof that you don’t need plastic for a snack to be convenient, tasty, and satisfying:

• Fruit
• Vegetables
• Zero-Waste Smoothies
• Bulk Plastic-Free Snacks
• Plastic-Free Sweet Treats
• Zero-Waste Snacks to Make or Bake

Fruit

The original plastic-free snack. You would think that fruit should be a simple and cheap zero-waste snack. However, buying loose fruit is, depending on where you shop, a little tricky. What’s more, buying loose can often be pricier compared to pre-packaged fruit. Sometimes the plastic packaging is there to prolong the lifespan of the fruit, preventing food waste. It’s certainly a minefield, and you can only do what you can.

If you have the choice then opt for the most seasonal and local fruit you can find – here’s a handy month-by-month guide if you’re stuck for ideas. Seasonal fruit is often the cheapest and the tastiest option. Whereas out-of-season fruit has normally been grown energy-intensively in heated hothouses and is low on flavour.

If there are slim pickings at your local shop, then bananas, despite travelling a long distance to reach us, have a surprisingly small carbon footprint. They are grown in natural sunlight, which means that no energy-intensive hot housing is required. And unlike softer fruits, like grapes, berries, and kiwi fruit, they keep well. So although they are often grown thousands of miles from where they are sold, they are transported by boats, which is less energy-intensive than air freighting produce.

Make it special: slather your fruit in nut butter or chocolate spread. This could be homemade or shop-bought (in a glass jar) – whatever works for you.

Vegetables

Again, another of the original sustainable snack ideas! Depending on the season, carrots, cucumbers, celery, peppers, radishes, and pea pods make for great low-effort raw snacks. Again check out the month-by-month guide to what’s in season before you head to the shops.

To help ensure your vegetables don’t go to waste, prepare ahead by peeling and chopping your vegetables into batons. Then store your vegetables in a reusable tub for healthy snacking on the go, or to keep to hand in the fridge for when hunger strikes. It’s often easier to reach for a healthy snack if you’ve done all the hard work in advance!

See my guide on how to store carrots to find out how you can keep cut carrots fresh for a whole week in the fridge.

Make it special: Dip your vegetables in homemade hummus or dip to liven things up a bit.

Zero-Waste Smoothies

Shop bought smoothies may come in plastic, but homemade smoothies are a great way to reduce waste. They are a great way to use up fruit and vegetables that are going off, and can even be frozen in jars or in your old Tupperware containers. Just take your smoothie out of the freezer the night before, defrost it in the fridge, and it’ll be ready for the morning.

You can create a smoothie out of almost whatever you have to hand. For inspiration check out the BBC’s Good Food recipe guide.

Bulk Plastic-Free Snacks

If you have a bulk shop near you then here are some suggestions of plastic-free snack ideas that you can pick up next time you are shopping:

• Nuts
• Seeds
• Dried Fruit
• Chocolate
• Chocolate-covered treats such as raisins and nuts
• Rice crackers
• Granola
• Popcorn

If you don’t have a zero-waste shop in your vicinity then bulk shop what you can at your local supermarket. Lidl is good for loose nuts, and some Holland & Barrett, Co-Op, and Marks & Spencer stores do have a small bulk section.

Apart from those options, plastic-free snacks are definitely trickier. Things you can do instead are to shop smarter. Instead of buying individual boxes of raisins, for example, buy a big bag of raisins that you can divide up into small reusable tubs. One big bag of popcorn kernels lasts longer than a bag of pre-popped popcorn. And a big sharing bag of crisps can be divided up into smaller reusable tubs – plus it uses less plastic than buying individual bags of crisps.

Plastic-Free Sweets

Sweet shops may sadly be few and far between these days, but some high streets do have an elusive sweet shop. Here you can fill up a paper bag full of your favourite sweet treats – some may even let you use your own container. The hardest part is deciding which sweets to pick!

If gummy sweets are your thing, then Elizabeth & Ernest sells plastic-free and vegan-friendly boxes of sweets and they ship without plastic too.

If chocolate snacks are more your thing then many chocolate bars are plastic-free. The good news is you don’t have to go far – some can easily be bought from your local supermarket or corner shop if you’re in desperate need of a quick sugar rush!

There is also a growing variety of chocolatiers, selling online and in specialist shops, that cater to vegan, organic, palm oil-free, and gluten-free diets, depending on your preferences. 

Seed and Bean is a particular favourite. Accredited as the most ethical chocolate producer in Britain by the Good Shopper Guide, not only is their chocolate fairtrade and organic, but the paper outer wrapper is recyclable and the inner wrapper can be composted at home.

Other sustainable brands to look out for include Divine, Tony’s Chocolonely, Hip, Cocoa Loco and Ombar. Meanwhile, in the supermarket look for Lindt or Co-Op Irresistible Chocolate, which are both packaged without plasitc.

Savoury Treats

If you’re after something more savoury, there are quite a few options available. For example, bakeries often sell fresh bread, rolls or savoury scones without any packaging. Meanwhile delis and some supermarket counters often sell fresh cheeses and olives by weight without any packaging. Just remember to bring a tub or jar with you.

Zero-Waste Snack Ideas to Bake or Make

Finally, let’s not forget the snacks that can be baked or made at home. Some favourite plastic-free snack ideas to make include:

• Granola
• Hummus
• Popcorn
• Crisps – this is a great recipe for zero-waste crisps (pictured above)
• Roasted Seeds
• Muffins
• Biscuits
• Scones
• Kale Crisps
• Tortilla Crisps
• Roasted Chickpeas
• Bread
• Flapjacks
• Boiled eggs

I’ve suggested some simple zero-waste snack ideas here that you can bake or make with relatively little effort, but really, the sky’s the limit here. The internet is your friend – search for recipes or even try searching for a recipe based on what leftovers you have on the excellent Love Food Hate Waste recipe finder to help you reduce your food waste. 

Despite our best efforts, sometimes food does go bad. With most food that has gone bad, sadly it has to go straight into your composter or food waste bin. However, if you’ve got some black bananas then don’t throw them out. Black bananas are super sweet and completely edible.

This vegan banana bread recipe works best with the blackest bananas you can stomach – the blacker the banana the sweeter it is. So if you forgot about those bananas languishing at the bottom of the fruit bowl don’t fret, consider yourself in luck! 

Your Top Tips

I’ve suggested over 30 plastic-free snack ideas here, but there are loads more out there too. Do share your favourite snacks in the comments below – I’d love to hear about them!