Truly Unique and Healthy Vegan Snacks You Should Try
I’ve sampled a lot of weird vegan snacks, and these are the ones I keep returning to
I like to consider myself an advanced-level weird-but-healthy snacker. I leaned that way before I went vegan, but after I made the switch, I found my palette really changed. I became more sensitive to snacks with tons of added salt, sugar, oil, or the “natural flavorings” that I could now tell were not the same thing as actual spices or fruit. Let me just taste the plants, please! Unfortunately, most snacks on the market have tons of all of the above additives — it makes them more addictive and marketable, not to mention cheaper to manufacture.
Challenge accepted.
Below are some of the most unusual healthy vegan snacks I’ve found and loved, all of which lean low/nonexistent in additives, strange added fibers, or bunches of added salt and sugar. Sure, they are still processed, but many of these are composed more like actual whole foods, and tend to go easier on my sometimes-sensitive stomach.
As vegans should know, “weird” is always relative, so as far as I’m concerned, as long as you’re trying to eat ethically, you might as well go wherever your tastebuds lead you, healthy or not. These healthy, weird snacks just happen to be my preference.
Start Your Morning Weird
Lavva yogurt is my favorite widely-sold vegan yogurt (though Kite Hill’s greek yogurt is also a favorite). Lavva is certainly the most unique — it’s made with cassava, pili nuts, coconut, plantains, and only real fruit. No added sweeteners or fillers — just tart, creamy, delicious yogurt that isn’t trying to be like dairy so much as something entirely new. I especially love the mango, vanilla, and raspberry varieties.
While Love Grown’s bean-based cereal is certainly also unique and protein-packed, I prefer the elusive Quinoa Queen cereal, which is unusual in its simplicity: it’s made only of high-protein quinoa, for easier digestion. Purists can get the unsweetened version, or you can get the lightly-sweetened variety or citrus version for a cereal that is still way less sweet than most, without sacrificing all the crunch.
Also key to any unique vegan pantry is an assortment of unusual nut and seed butters. The weirder the better, as far as I’m concerned: I’m partial to Base Culture’s Chocolate Almond Espresso Butter (seriously, so addictive), Don’t Go Nuts Chocolate Soybean Spread (like nutella, but healthier), The Pistachio Factory’s Raw Pistachio Butter (salted is delicious too), and Datsony’s Raw Wild Pine Nut Butter (this brand also makes a bunch of other unique raw butters, like watermelon seed, hemp, macadamia nut, brazil nut, and sprouted pumpkin seed).
“But Where Do You Get Your Protein?” Snacks
I resisted protein snacks for a long time — I even wrote a whole article about why most people are actually getting plenty of protein, and not enough fiber! That said, when I started ingesting more protein-packed snacks, I did notice my muscle mass building faster at the gym. So while I know you can survive perfectly well on plants alone, sometimes, that added protein can help you build muscle mass quicker.
My new and true obsession are Soca Plant Protein Thins, which I found via for-once-actually-useful Instagram advertising and am now addicted to. If I had to recommend just one item on this list, it would definitely be these. The nacho variety has 15 grams of plant protein, only 10% your DV of salt, no weird flavorings, hard-to-digest fibers (what is with healthy vegan snacks adding all this gas-inducing fiber — please stop!), or otherwise not-pronounceable ingredients. They are also naturally high in fiber and relatively low in fat, so it really is like eating a box of healthy Cheese-Its. I also love the paprika flavor, and eat these plain or with peanut butter, or even crumbled on a salad.
Also a new favorite are Vegetarian Traveller’s Protein Toppers, which come in three tasty varieties you can take on-the-go, all packed with protein and not too much oil or salt (you sensing my palate here yet?). These are great on top of smoothie bowls, salads, or on their own, and as the name suggests, excellent for travel.
Ready Nutrition’s Sweet Chipotle Protein Puffs are spicy, low in salt and fat, don’t have any hard-to-pronounce ingredients, and have 10 grams of protein per every 110 calories, making them a pretty high-protein snack as well. Just beware, they do have that added fiber, which can be rough.
In the vegan powerbar realm, I find it’s really hard to find vegan bars that don’t either give me gas or a toothache with a bunch of added sugar or stevia. Nutzo’s Bold Bitez come in a matcha flavor that’s oddly addictive and packs 10 grams of protein, without anything unusual added. ALOHA bars are another less-sweet option, and Raw Rev Glo Cookie Dough Bars are also delicious — they taste like cookie dough, only with protein and less sweet. While the added fiber in both sometimes gives me issues, they fall in the category of Worth It.
Finally, these beam CBD Powered Protein Bars are also a unique and tasty snack, if pricey. With 25 mg of CBD per bar, I felt a calmed buzz (no THC, but still very noticeable), even eating just a third of the bar. And that’s coming from a recovering stoner.
Delicious Bird Food
Though vegans are often wary of embracing the fact that they eat a lot of “bird food,” I happen to be proud of my ability to thrive on nuts, seeds, and berries. I will ace at least one part of the apocalypse! (I’m banking on openness to fluid group sex being my only other marketable skill.)
These Sacha Inchi seeds are particularly satisfying and unique — they’re filled with protein, fiber, and are oddly addictive, with a very hearty crunch.
Natural Tradition’s Roasted Baru Seeds are also one of my best finds of the past year — they taste almost exactly like dry roasted peanuts and have a very similar nutrition profile, yet are totally safe for people with peanut allergies. It’s amazing how similar they taste, only with an even more satisfying crunch. Worth trying for the party trick alone.
For advanced bird foodists, The Australian Carob Co’s Raw Carob Kibble is chewy, naturally sweet, filled with fiber, and good for a late-night chocolate craving if you’re worried about caffeine. Also good on smoothie bowls or in cereal.
Anand Bittergourd Chips are another addictive snack I found at a local Indian market, and they are spicy and delicious without being overly loaded with oil and salt, making them particularly unusual. They are made of bittergourd, so kind of like eating your vegetables?
CJW Korean 100% Dried Sweet Potato, in its unsweetened or sweetened variety, is another fun snack habit I picked up on a trip to Japan, where dried sweet potato is a normal offering. It’s chewy, sweet, and packed with vitamins. Great on its own, as a less-sweet alternative to dried fruit, or on top of salads.
Hu Grain-Free Crackers distinguish themselves as particularly unique for being an oil-free cracker (that’s not usually a thing), so oil-free Forks Over Knives/Dr. Greger followers can enjoy some crackers too. The pizza flavor is unique, without adding any ingredients you can’t recognize; just good old spices and nutritional yeast create the flavor.
Finally, Weller’s CBD-Infused Coconut Bites, which pack 25 grams of CBD per serving, are noticeably chillaxing and like a delicious, crunchy macaroon-granola-edible hybrid. Split into five 5mg doses per pack, you can try to eat just one if you want to test the effect first, but your tastebuds will definitely beg otherwise.
