A Healthy Trail Mix for the Trail

Trail mix is a high calorie, high carb, high fat, high protein, high fibre snack. Perfect for when you’re hitting the trail or doing some other intense activity. But something to eat cautiously while couch surfing at home.

strawberry chocolate with edamame — Almonds, pecans, walnuts, cashews, hazelnuts (some raw and unsalted, some roasted and salted), strawberries, apricots, cranberries, roasted edamame, toasted pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate.

Also Read: How to Dehydrate Strawberries, How to Store Dehydrated Food, Top Tips for Dehydrating Food

A healthy trail mix offers an ideal combo of simple and complex carbs, protein and healthy fats to fuel your body for the short and long haul. It also includes vitamins and minerals to help replenish your electrolytes. I’m not just talking about sodium, I’m talking about a good balance of all electrolytes – minerals like magnesium, calcium, potassium, phosphate, bicarbonate, etc.

If you want a nutrient packed, healthy trail mix, here’s what to include.

pineapple coconut cherry — Gold fish pretzels were my treat in this trail mix with walnuts, cashews, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, pineapple, cherries, coconut chunks and all bran crunch cereal.

What to Include in a Healthy Trail Mix

Keeping the emphasis on nuts and dried fruit will create a great combo of energy and nutrients. Here’s a good ratio to aim for:

1 1/2- 2 cups nuts and seeds
1 cup dried fruit
1 cup whole grains & pulses (optional)
1/3 cup treats

trail mix ingredients and ratios — A great trail mix focuses primarily on nuts and fruits.

NUTS & SEEDS – 1 1/2 – 2 cups

Nuts and seeds provide long lasting energy. They are high in carbs, protein, healthy fats (unsaturated fats and Omega3 fatty acids), fiber and various vitamins and minerals. Each type of nut and seed offers a unique blend of vitamins and minerals, so it’s great to add several different kinds to your blend.

I usually use half salted and half unsalted nuts in my trail mix to avoid too much sodium. I prefer raw or dry roasted nuts and seeds to avoid the added oils typically used in the roasting process. As for seeds, I use pumpkin and sunflower seeds, others like hemp, sesame or flax seeds are too small unless baked on with a sweet glue (honey or maple syrup).

list of nuts and seeds — Choose your favourite combination of nuts and seeds.

DRIED FRUIT – 1 cup

Fruits are simple carbohydrates that provide a quick source of energy. They also provide fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory benefits and minerals like potassium, magnesium, calcium and sodium.

When possible, choose a variety of dried fruit made without added sweeteners and preservatives (like sulphite). Use fruit that’s deep fried (banana chips) or coated in chocolate or yogurt in small quantities. The trace amount of benefits from either dark chocolate or yogurt is grossly overshadowed by the unhealthy fats and high amounts of sugar in them.

Choose a couple of different fruits to maximize nutritional benefits.

Drying your own fruit is pretty easy and gives you the ultimate control of added sugar and preservatives. You can even use your oven if you don’t have a dehydrator.

list of dried fruit — Choose your favourite combo of dried fruit.

WHOLE GRAINS & PULSES – 1 cup

Whole grains and pulses make great filler material if you want to ease up on the nuts. They offer long burning carbs, fibre, some protein and a mix of vitamins and minerals.

We’re talking about whole grains, not refined white flour treats. Think of cereal like whole wheat Shreddies, All Bran Crunch, Fibre One, puffed quinoa, puffed brown rice, Oatmeal Squares, etc. Oh yeah, popcorn is also a whole grain.

Pulses like roasted chickpeas, lentils, edamame beans, peas and fava beans offer filling, protein-rich additions. Take advantage of some of the new roasted pulses hitting the market, or make them yourself. Check out this recipe for Roasted Chickpeas.

list of whole grains and pulses — Whole grain cereals and roasted pulses make a great addition to trail mix.

TREATS – 1/3 cup

Fun treats add flavour and interest to trail mix but they also drag down the overall nutrition with high salt, sugar, unhealthy fats and empty calories. If you’re concerned about getting a well balanced, nutrient rich trail mix, add treats with caution and restraint. If you don’t care – have at it!

One of my favourite treats to add is chocolate, but only for cool weather outings. I’m less enthusiastic when it melts and gets nasty on a hot day. Whenever possible, choose dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa, to get the benefits of antioxidants.

treats to add cautiously — Add with caution. Treats add interest and flavour but also a whack of empty calories loaded in salt and sugar.

TRAIL MIX for NUT ALLERGIES

Notice, none of my trail mixes include peanuts? That’s because we have a peanut allergy in our house. But not to worry, even if you’re allergic to all nuts, you can still make an awesome trail mix.

Use seeds and roasted pulses to replace nuts. You’ll get plenty of protein, healthy fats and energy from those. Your ratios will look like:

1 1/2- 2 cups seeds and roasted pulses (lentils/edamame/peas/beans)
1 cup dried fruit
1 cup whole grains
1/3 cup treats

If you have a favourite granola that includes smaller seeds like hemp, flax or sesame seeds that you like, toss it in as well.

SERVING SIZE OF TRAIL MIX

Like I said, trail mix is a super dense, high calorie food. It’s common for 1 cup of trail mix to provide 600-800 calories. That’s why the recommended serving size for trail mix is 1/4 cup or 40-50g. For me, that equals about a handful.

handful of healthy trail mix — A handful of trail mix is equal to 1/4 cup, the recommended serving size.

How much should you pack?

That depends on how many calories per day you’re burning and what else you’re eating.

If you’re eating trail mix as a snack, pack 1 cup or less per person depending on your trail mix. Remember, it could be as much as 600 calories/cup.

If you’re eating trail mix as a meal replacement, you’ll need to pack more. Calculate the calories your getting from other foods to see just how much fuel you need to support your level of activity. You may need to pack 2 to 4 cups per day to meet your needs.

strawberry peaches and coconut — This colourful mix includes freeze dried strawberries and home dried peaches with popcorn, All bran crunch cereal, coconut flakes and cashews, almonds, brazil nuts, roasted chickpeas, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and hazel nuts.

Sharing Trail Mix

It’s great to share trail mix with others, but do so with care, the danger of cross contamination is real! Picture it, you and your hiking buddies have been out all day, everyone’s taken care of business, you’re tired and exhausted – time for a break. You pull out the trail mix and pass the baggy around. Everyone sticks their grubby trail fingers in the bag to grab their share. See the problem? You don’t want to know where those hands have been!

Here’s two options for sharing trail mix:

Make everyone their own baggy. Give everyone their own to carry and do with as they please.
Pour out the mix from the bag into opened palms to avoid having everyone’s fingers in your bag.

baggies of trail mix — One cup snack baggies for everyone.

What to Limit in Trail Mix

If you’re looking for the a nutrient rich healthy trail mix, avoid excess sugar, oils and preservatives. Watch for…

Sweet Coatings: Chocolate, yogurt or even homemade honey or maple glazes add no nutritional benefits.
Misleading Ingredients: Ingredients like banana chips, peanut butter chipits and yogurt coated raisins are highly processed with loads of sugar, oils and preservatives.
Salty Coatings: Sure we want sodium to replenish our electrolytes – but be careful not to go overboard.
Skewed Ratios: Aim for mostly nuts and fruit. If your mix goes overboard on candy, chocolate or deep-fried crispy snacks, you’re losing out nutritionally.
Tell Tale Name: Let’s just assume that any trail mix with the words “candy”, “s’more”, “monster”, or “unicorn” in the name is not going to be your best choice.

apple cranberry trail mix — Another favourite healthy trail mix includes apple rings, apricots, coconut, cranberries, almonds, pumpkin seeds and oat squares.

Do you make your own trail mix? What are some of your favourite combinations? Let me know in the comments below or tag me on Instagram at #getgettys or Facebook @GettyStewart.HomeEconomist.

Sign up to get articles by Getty delivered to your inbox. You’ll get recipes, practical tips and great food information like this. Getty is a Professional Home Economist, speaker and writer putting good food on tables and agendas. She is the author of Manitoba’s best-selling Prairie Fruit Cookbook, Founder of Fruit Share, a mom and veggie gardener. When she’s not working on growing or cooking food, she’s likely hiking or kayaking in the backcountry.