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This post will walk you through how to make an easy healthy homemade trail mix. This homemade trail mix with cereal is super simple, delicious and a great portable snack option!  

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I made the best homemade trail mix this week. This simple and delicious DIY Trail Mix is too good not to share and it makes for a great option for food to pack for a road trip. 

Plant based ingredients make this vegan trail mix a nutritious superstar, with filling protein, fiber and heart healthy fats. 

I actually put it in a bowl, mix some cinnamon peanut butter in, and eat it on a spoon. It’s the best of the homemade trail mix recipes I’ve made and it’s also the simplest. 

Because of this, it’s super easy as a late night breastfeeding snack to keep on your nightstand!

Why You’ll Love Homemade Trail Mix

What I also love about trail mix is how custom and personalized it can be. It’s perfect for so many people and circumstances. 

• Allergy friendly – If you have certain allergies or intolerances, you can personalize as needed. Remove the nuts for a tasty nut-free trail mix and replace with soy nuts or seeds.
• Can cater to sodium preferences – Use unsalted nuts and seeds if you need to. You don’t always have that option with store-bought options!
• Easy to make in bulk – Homemade trail mixes are the best meal prep snacks because there is no cooking involved, it takes minutes, and you can even put into a large stasher bag or single serving bags for on the go.
• Trying to moderate added sugars? Buy no-sugar added dried fruit options to reduce the added sugars (some ideas listed below). This is also why I love a homemade healthy trail mix for kids!
• Great for pre-post workout snacks– Furthermore, this healthy homemade trail mix is great for athletes, busy working professionals, older adults and so much more. Since you can add carbs, protein, sodium and more, it’s the perfect snack for athletes.

Trail mix can be a great snack for older children, too. You definitely want to wait until they are out of the choking hazard stage, though.

If you’re really feeling fancy, turn this into vegan trail mix bars!

Big, hard pieces of food still terrify me around my two-year-old so I’m very careful about what I serve her.

She loves pretzels and kix, and she is starting to enjoy raisins and dried fruit. I actually feel good serving her dried fruit, especially since it is a good source of iron for little ones.

How to Make Your Own Vegan Trail Mix

What goes into a healthy trail mix? Firstly, always keep these healthy pantry staples on hand! I love Thrive Market for more niche options and flavors – great for sugar-free, low-sugar, grain-free, etc!

• Pick a nut – We order in bulk from Thrive Market. Peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, cashews, soy nuts, etc. 
• Pick a seed – Sprouted pumpkin seeds are my personal fave. Sunflower seeds are another good one!
• Add dried fruit(s) – Raisins are popular, but don’t forget about dried cranberries, mango, apricots, cherries, and even sour raisins!
• Pick a grain – I like to use cereals or chex mix, but you could also use pretzels, puffed quinoa  or even pea crips. More ideas below!
• Add fun items – M&M’s, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, sprinkles, peanut chips, etc. So many options!

Personally, I think these categories are perfect in a balanced combination for a recipe for homemade trail mix. 

For example, 1/3 nuts/seeds, 1/3 dried fruit, and 1/3 cereal.

However, sometimes I want it to be more savory and crunchy, so I’ll do 2 parts nuts and seeds to 1 part fruit and 1 part cereal for a sweet and salty trail mix recipe. 

You can, of course, modify ingredients as needed based on preferences, allergies, and whatnot. But once I combined these four, I was hooked. 

Now you can always add multiple nuts and seeds, or substitute one for the other.

I think the dried fruit is an important addition because it sweetens up the typically salty and savory blend for the perfect sweet and salty trail mix.

Raisins are wonderful because they are small, like nuts and seeds, and chewy and sweet. They pair really well with the crunchy, hardness of nuts and seeds. 

Is Vegan Trail Mix Healthy?

If you’re a regular BLT reader, you know my thoughts about the word, “healthy.” Any food can be healthy, depending on how you view it. 

But, if we’re talking about nutrition facts and whether this homemade trail mix is nutritious, then, yet it is. 

This sweet and salty trail mix recipe is full of:

• Heart-healthy unsaturated fats
• Protein, which makes for a satisfying and filling snack
• Fiber, which can help with fullness and balancing blood sugar
• Micronutrients like B-Vitamins, sodium, potassium, and magnesium
• Iron and antioxidants

I have loved snacking on this homemade trail mix for kids recipe in the afternoon because it prevents that blood sugar rollercoaster and instead helps keep me focused.

This healthy homemade trail mix recipe can also be a great simple meal prep snack and healthy pregnancy snack that you can make one at the beginning of the week to snack on as needed. 

Make This Easy Homemade Trail Mix Recipe

I combined the ingredients for this vegan trail mix in a large bowl and mixed well. I figured it would last all week and I would snack from it when I was hungry, so I stored it in a large ziplock bag.

However, it barely lasted that long once Ed and I realized how dang good it was. And addicting.

Here are some of my favorite healthy trail mix ideas that you could throw in your homemade trail mix recipe.

You could even do a DIY trail mix bar and set out small bowls of all different things and just pick from them. 

Nuts

• almonds (these are my favorite)
• peanuts
• cashews
• soy nuts
• brazil nuts
• chocolate covered nuts
• pecans
• pistachios

Seeds

• Sprouted pumpkin seeds
• sunflower seeds
• hemp seeds
• chia seeds (these are often too small, though, but work if melted with peanut butter or honey!)

Dried Fruit

• raisins
• figs
• dates (chopped or shredded)
• apricots
• shredded coconut
• banana flakes
• freeze dried strawberries
• dried mango
• a mixed bag of dried fruit

Other

• puff cereals or chex mix seem to work well
• toasted oats (a play on granola + trail mix). Here’s an easy how-to on toasting oats. 
• pretzels
• chocolate (vegan chocolate chips, peanut butter chocolate chips, dark chocolate, chocolate-covered raisins). I personally love these chocolate covered cherries. 
• popcorn
• flavored yogurt raisins
• puffed quinoa

A Note About Sodium Content

Trail mix can be salty (you could reduce the salt by buying salt-free nuts and seeds), but for me, it’s perfect after a run. Replenishing sodium through natural food options (rather than supplements) is my preference anyway.

The great thing is, there are so many options and combinations that you can personalize this healthy trail mix recipe to avoid certain allergens and likes/dislikes, too.

Trail Mix Without Raisins

Not a fan of raisins? Replace them with anything from the “dried fruit” list! I think chopped dates would be a great alternative but anything can work so you can enjoy a trail mix without raisins. 

Nut Free Trail Mix

If you desire a nut free trail mix due to allergies or general preferences, I would load up on other crunchy items, such as pretzels, bagel chips, cereal, and/or hearty seeds like pumpkin/pepita seeds.

This will still ensure a healthy balance of fat and protein for satiety and satisfaction purposes. 

How To Store Trail Mix

Just store in a tight ziplock bag, reusable stasher or Tupperware container.

You can store them room temperature, but if you don’t plan on enjoying your diy healthy trail mix within 2 weeks, you can freeze it. 

I like to make this in bulk and just grab out of our big stock for school lunches, on the go snacks and more.

For other healthy snacks ideas, you may also like:

• Sweet Potato Cookie Dough Dip
• Vegan Hemp Protein Bars
• Frozen Sweet Potato Cookie Dough bites
• Quinoa Pizza Bites
• Almond Flour Banana Muffins.

Have you ever made your own trail mix? What are your must have’s?