Best Allergy Friendly Snacks & Top 8 Free Recipes to Enjoy!
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If you have food allergies, finding snacks that fit your diet can be tough. To help, we created a list of great allergy friendly snacks that you can buy at the store, plus a list of top 8 free grab-and-go snack recipes!
If you have food allergies, you’re not alone! According to FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education), 32 million Americans have food allergies.
That’s 1 in 10 adults and 1 in 13 children, so chances are high that you know someone with food allergies or have food allergies yourself.
Finding quick and ready-made snacks on the run can be difficult when you have food allergies (especially if you have multiple food allergies), so we put together a list for you of allergy friendly snacks you can get at the store or online!
There are plenty of not-so-healthy food items out there that just happen to be allergy friendly, so we’ll focus our list on the store bought snacks that are mostly healthy.
Because food allergies vary so much from person to person, we created 2 different lists of allergy friendly snacks: a gluten free and dairy free snacks list and a top 8 free snacks list.
You may also like our post about elimination diets.
Since there are also a lot of companies moving into the allergy friendly space, this list isn’t comprehensive and things will probably change in a few years! You’ll likely be able to find even more top 8 free snacks and companies out there even in just the next year or 2.
If you’re looking for healthy breakfast bars, check out our list of recipes and store bought breakfast bar options.
What to Look for in Allergy Friendly Snacks
When you go to purchase allergy friendly snacks at the store or online, here are a few things to look for:
Mostly healthy ingredients
Look for snacks that have healthier ingredients and aren’t loaded with artificial ingredients (like artificial sugars, colors, preservatives, or flavors). Try to stick to snacks that are made of mostly less processed ingredients.
Lower in sugar
You can eat healthy and still have allergy compliant snacks, just make sure that you’re buying ones that aren’t loaded with sugars. There are some great lower sugar options on the market now!
Cross contamination warnings
Always read labels! If you have multiple food allergies, be sure to check the labels on everything you buy, even if it’s something you buy regularly. Sometimes companies change recipes or packaging plants, so it helps to take a look at the labels frequently.
Stores and packs easily
If you’re taking these allergy friendly snacks on the go, make sure that you’re opting for snacks that travel well where you’re going.
For example, if you’re heading to a hot beach, snacks with chocolate chips would probably not be a good choice since they could melt easily (unless you have a cooler to pack them in). If you’re backpacking, you’ll want to choose snacks that are easy to pack in your bags or pockets and won’t get crushed easily.
Need help storing your snacks? Grab our Best Meal Prep Containers, Bags and Lunch Boxes
Store Bought Gluten Free and Dairy Free Snacks
If you can’t have dairy or gluten, but you can have nuts and soy, here are a few store bought snacks that can work for you.
Some of these brands have varying flavors that might contain different allergens, so check the labels on each variety to be sure they fit your allergies.
For example: KIND Healthy Grains Granola Bars don’t have dairy, but some of their other snack bars do contain dairy, so not all of their products are allergy friendly.
Make sure to check the labels on everything you buy if you have food allergies!
Here are a few of our favorite snacks — all available on Amazon!
- KIND Healthy Grains Granola Bars
- KIND Granola
- GoMacro (GF DF)
- Larabar (GF DF)
- Health Warrior Bars
- Caveman Foods Paleo Snack Bars
- SuperFat Nut Butters
- Purely Elizabeth Granola
- Aloha plant based protein bars
- Vega protein snack bars
- RX Bars
- Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers
- Bulletproof Collagen Protein Bars
- Bobo’s Oat Bars
- Zing Bars (check labels, only the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar contains whey, all others are dairy free)
- Evo Hemp Bars
- Square Bars
- No Nuts! Protein Bars (these contain soy)
- Thrive Market Paleo Snack Mix
- Love Grown Granola
- Keto Bars – The Original Keto Snack Bar
- Bearded Brothers Bars
- Taos Bakes Bars
- Munk Pack Protein Cookies
- Munk Pack Snack Bars
- Nakd Bars and Nibbles
- Rise Pea Protein Bars
- No Cow Protein Bars
- Dang Keto Bars
- Lupii Bars
- Bonk Breaker
- Shanti Bar
- IQ Bar
- Good! Snacks
- NuGo Free Bars
- This Bar Saves Lives Chewy Granola Bars
- Vital Proteins Collagen Bars
If you can have eggs, we have a great Paleo Blueberry Muffin Recipe that’s perfect for easy breakfasts!
Here’s a printable list of these allergy friendly snacks!
Top 8 Free Snacks
You might have heard of the term “top 8 free” before and it refers to foods that are free of the top 8 food allergens in the US: wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, eggs, fish, shellfish, dairy.
For people with multiple food allergies, finding top 8 free (or top 14 allergen free if you’re in Europe) means that those foods are mostly allergen free and are generally safe options for people with common food allergies.
Top 8 allergen free is a very useful labeling option for food brands, but no food is completely allergen free since there are so many allergies out there.
Some of these brands listed have no cross contamination problems with nuts, but make sure to read labels on what you’re buying even if it’s listed here. Some of these brands below have cross contamination with nuts or gluten and some do not.
Companies may change their ingredient lists or manufacturing places, so it’s a good idea to check the labels regularly even if they are a brand you buy often.
Here’s a few of our favorite Top 8 Free Snacks on Amazon!
- Enjoy Life Foods trail mixes, snack bars, chocolate, etc.
- ThatsIt fruit bars
- Bobo’s Rice Rollers
- Made Good
- Amrita bars
- Mamma Chia squeezes
- Safe + Fair Granola
- Epic meat snacks
- Simply Snackin meat snacks
- Hippeas Puffs and Tortilla Chips
- CHOMPS meat snacks
- Wilde Chicken Chips (awesome flavors!)
- Simple Mills Sprouted Seed Crackers
- Vega Protein Crisps
- Blakes Seed Based Snack Bars
- Plant Snacks Cassava Root Chips
- Nature’s Bakery Gluten Free Fig Bars
- No Whey! Foods Chocolate Covered Pretzels
- Kinnikinnik Graham Style Crackers
- Hippie Snacks Avocado Crisps
- Kips Granola Bark
- Love Grown Power O’s Cereal
- Hungry Buddha Plant Based Keto Bars
- LivBars
- FreeYumm Bars
- OWYN Nutrition Shakes
- Evoke Happy Snaps
- Metaball Energy Bites
- The Good Bean
- Safely Delicious Snacks
- BEAR Real Fruit Yoyos
- Stretch Island Fruit Leather
- SkinnyPop Popcorn
- Snyders Gluten Free Pretzels
- Wild Made Fruit Rolls
Top 8 Free Snack Recipes
We also put together a great list of top 8 free grab-and-go snack recipes from fellow food bloggers! These recipes are also mostly healthy and kid friendly as well.
Our nut free consideration does not include coconut (not a true tree nut) so some of these top 8 free recipes contain coconut.
Here are 12 great top 8 free grab-and-go snack recipes for you to make at home! These snacks are great to have on hand for on-the-go snacks to keep you fueled during your day.
Gluten Free Breakfast Cookies
These delicious protein packed Gluten Free Breakfast Cookies are grain-free, egg-free and nut free. Yet one would never suspect it!
Fudgy Brownie Protein Bites
Add more protein to your snack with these yummy Fudgy Brownie Protein Bites! They are gluten free, dairy free, peanut free, and paleo
Maple Glazed Nut-Free Trail mix
Make your own nut-free trail mix with maple-glazed seeds, dried fruit, and chocolate chips! Perfect
for kids and adults alike.
Homemade Fruit Leather
Easy homemade fruit leather recipe made with strawberries and honey. No cane sugar added fruit roll ups for the perfect afternoon snack.
Everything But the Bagel Chickpeas
These crispy, baked chickpeas make for the ultimate Everything but the Bagel recipe, giving pops of flavor to any dish. Toss these seasoned chickpeas onto a salad, avocado toast, or any snack you want to add a boost of nutrition and a flavorful crunch.
Best Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
Craving granola bars that are simple, chewy, and better for you than store-bought? Make some of these Gluten Free Granola Bars at home!
Dried Apple Slices
These healthy dried apple slices are really easy to make, and make a delicious, low calorie treat.
Homemade Crispy Kale Chips
Kale chips are the perfect healthy snack and easily satisfy any salty or savory craving. They're light, crispy, nutrient-dense and very easy to make. Watch the video above to see how easy they are to make!
Sunflower Fig Balls
Sunflower Fig Balls - Just 4 ingredients and about 5 minutes is all you need for these sweet little sugar free bites! A healthy snack that won't ruin your diet!
Nut Free Protein Bars
These Vegan Snack Bars are a wholesome, on-the-go option that provide a filling combination of protein and fiber. Nut Free protein bars are a great allergy-free option for those allergic to nuts, gluten or dairy.
Healthy Banana Chips/Plantain Chips
Crispy homemade Healthy Plantain chips / Healthy Banana chips made out of raw bananas are awesome in taste and way better than store bought. It's an inexpensive and gluten-free snack!
Ground Beef Jerky
This ground beef jerky recipe is so easy and affordable, yet flavorful! It never lasts long because everyone loves it and gobbles it up!
Top 8 Free Protein Balls
Chocolate black bean protein balls are free from peanuts, tree nuts, and seeds. Made with black beans, cocoa, coconut oil, coconut flakes and chocolate pieces.
Oven Baked Zucchini Chips
Zucchini isn’t just for low carb noodles anymore. This amazing vegetable can be easily transformed in your oven to make crunchy chips for keto snacks.
Sarah Jane Parker is a food and healthy living blogger at The Fit Cookie, an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer, ACE Certified Health Coach, Revolution Running certified running coach, YogaFit Level 1 certified yoga instructor, and an ACE Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist.
