VRG > Vegan Journal > 2023 Issue 3 > No Peanuts, No Problem

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No Peanuts, No Problem

Ideas for School Snacks to Comply with School Policies

A reader contacted us asking for ideas for snacks that their vegan child can take to school for snack time. Snacks cannot be chips/popcorn, cannot have peanuts/tree nuts, and must be low-sugar.

We're happy to help with some ideas. All snacks listed appear to be nut-free, peanut-free, and vegan, and have five or less grams of added sugar per serving. Be sure to check product labels, since ingredients can change over time.

My preference is for snacks with minimal packaging or packaging that can be reused. I've included packaged snacks that some may want to use for convenience or to support the child who wants snacks that look like what other kids are bringing.

When brand names are listed below, they have been included to provide some examples of products. This is not an all-inclusive list of products.

  • Fruit can be a refreshing snack. Make sure it's easy to eat—cut seedless grapes into small bunches, slice oranges, or make a fruit cup with melon chunks or berries. Choose seasonal fruits—in fall, apple slices sprinkled with lemon juice to keep them from browning, clementine sections in winter, strawberries in late spring. Even canned or jarred unsweetened fruit can work—try juice-packed pineapple chunks or unsweetened applesauce with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
  • One of my kids' favorite snacks were home-grown grape tomatoes, which are even smaller than cherry tomatoes. Grape or cherry tomatoes can be sent with a dip like hummus for a savory snack. Other vegetables—carrot and celery sticks, jicama sticks, cucumber slices, red pepper strips—also make good hummus dippers. Since hummus comes in many flavors, this snack can be different each week.
  • Mini bagels thinly spread with vegan cream cheese. Check the vegan cream cheese ingredient list since many are nut-based. Tofutti and Violife both make nut-free products that have no added sugar.
  • Roast chickpeas or other cooked or canned dried beans by mixing rinsed and well-drained beans with a little olive oil, nutritional yeast, and a dash of salt; spread them on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until crisp. You can add different spices. These can be eaten by the handful. If you'd prefer a commercial product, Seapoint Farms makes dry roasted edamame.
  • Dry-roasted pumpkin seeds are another snack that can be eaten by the handful as long as your child is old enough that these aren't a choking hazard. Eden Foods has various size bags of pumpkin seeds, including a 1-ounce single-serve bag.
  • Make a cereal mix, choosing low-sugar cold breakfast cereals and adding raisins or other unsweetened dried fruits. Have your kids help—maybe they'll even want to name their recipe.
  • Homemade muffins, such as banana, blueberry, corn, carrot, oatmeal, for example. Avoid nuts, nut butters, or nut milks or very sugary recipes. Mini-muffin pans are nice for snack-sized muffins. Make a batch and freeze them so they're always handy when you need to pack a snack.
  • Seedy crackers or rice cakes thinly spread with tahini or sunflower butter and made into a sandwich. Rice cakes can also be eaten plain. I've found Lundberg Family Farms Tamari with Seaweed Rice Cakes and Real Foods Multigrain Corn Thins to be especially tasty. Lundberg Farms has mini-rice cakes and thin stackers—watch for added sugar in the sweet varieties.
  • Vegan jerky There are many varieties of vegan jerky. (check label for nut ingredients or excess sugar). Savory Wild Jerky is made with mushrooms.
  • Commercial low-sugar fruit leather, fruit bars, or fruit wraps—here are a couple of products that meet our criteria (vegan, nut/peanut-free, <5 grams of added sugar/serving):
    Bear Fruit Rolls
    Stretch Island Fruit Leather
    That's It Fruit Bar
    Trader Joe's Fruit Bar or Fruit Wraps
  • Baked tofu strips, either homemade or commercial.
  • Store-bought or homemade bread-sticks with refried bean dip. Amy's Kitchen makes lower-sodium refried beans.
  • Commercial snack bars Here are a few brands we found that have vegan, nut-free, low-sugar versions (check the label since not all of these companies' products are nut-free and low-sugar):
    Blake's Seed-based Raspberry Snack Bar or Strawberry
    Go Raw Sprouted Bar
    The Healthy Energy Bar—Lemon Poppyseed
    Rice Crispy Treat Bar

If you're looking for more ideas for homemade snacks, check out The VRG's website. Here are some articles with suggestions for easy-to-prepare snacks:

Although not every suggestion in these articles is nutfree or low-sugar, many are. Replacing nut butters with sunflower seed butter or soy butter can result in nutfree versions of some recipes.

VRG's Parents and Kids Facebook Group is a way to get ideas for school snacks from others. Visit facebook.com/groups/VRGparentsandkids