15 Must-Grab Dollar Tree Snacks For Your First Summer Cookout

Depending on where you live, the warmer part of the year may be a short one, so you'll want to make the most of summer grilling season when the weather is actually cooperating. Sure, grilling may be one of the easiest types of cooking once the equipment is all set up, but the prep work takes time, plus you have to monitor the fire instead of just setting and forgetting, as you can do with an oven. If you're hosting a cookout all on your own, you may not want to be running back and forth to the kitchen to serve up sides like baked beans and potato salad. Instead, cut yourself a break by sticking with pre-packaged snacks from Dollar Tree to accompany your burgers and hot dogs.

Some of these Dollar Tree gems are the name-brand dupes that the store is known for, but others are actual name brands themselves. A few of these snacks are healthy-ish, some may be okay for vegans to eat, and others will appeal to carb-shunning carnivores. Most items are crunchy and savory, but we did throw in a dip, plus there are also a few sweet things that can serve as dessert. (One of them does require a trip inside the house to take it out of the freezer, but it's an all-time classic, so we couldn't leave it off the list.)

Popcorn is a perpetually popular snack, but it's even better when it's cheese-flavored. Dollar Tree sells several different types, but you'll get the best bang for your buck from a 6-ounce bag of Brim's Cheese Popcorn. That's six servings (okay, tbh it's more like three) for just a buck and a quarter, making this sufficiently budget-friendly to feed the whole neighborhood. (With any luck, everyone will fill up on popcorn and won't want a second burger.)

Tortilla chips are a staple in the snack world, but they're nearly always paired with dip because they don't taste like much on their own. That isn't the case with El Sabroso Baja Limón Spicy Chile & Lime and El Sabroso Guacachip tortilla chips, however. The former have a tangy, fiery flavor, while the latter have the taste of guacamole cooked right in. Both types of chip come in 5-ounce bags that cost $1.25 apiece.

Even if you go with extra-flavorful chips, you might still want some kind of dip, and Dollar Tree can oblige. Its Home Style Select generic brand offers two varieties: Jalapeño Cheddar and Nacho Cheese, both similar in style to Fritos brand dips but priced a lot lower. Each 9-ounce tub of Dollar Tree dip is just $1.25, while a similarly sized name brand could be over $4 at the grocery store.

Jalapeño poppers may be one of the best bar snacks ever, but do you really want to be running a deep fryer at the same time you're watching the grill? Even oven-baked poppers require effort, but opening a bag of Herr's Jalapeño Popper Cheese Curls does not. They're cheesy, they're slightly spicy, and they're priced at only $1.25 for a 2.75-ounce bag.

If you've invited health-conscious guests to your backyard barbecue, they won't be fobbed off with the excuse that potatoes and corn are vegetables so therefore chips are actually nutritious. Don't worry if you're fresh out of fresh produce, though, since you can always meet them in the middle with Harvest Snaps. Dollar Tree carries three flavors of these baked vegetable crisps: Tomato Basil Red Lentil, Lightly Salted Green Pea, and White Cheddar Green Pea. All three varieties are priced at $1.25, and the first two come in 2-ounce bags. They are considered vegan-friendly, although bone char is used as a coloring agent. The last one, which is packaged in 1.75-ounce bags, does contain dairy.

Elote or esquites, which is Mexican street corn served either on or off the cob, is a summertime delight, but it can be messy to make and even messier to eat. Preparing and serving it also pulls you away from the grill, so as a substitute, you can hand each guest a bag of Herr's Fire Roasted Sweet Corn Mexican Street Corn Popcorn. The bags contain just a single serving and cost $1.25 apiece, so this isn't the cheapest snack Dollar Tree offers, but fans feel it's worth it. The product has a 4.7-star rating from reviewers, with one shopper saying, "Just bought this and it is amazing!!! Will definitely buy again."

The Moon Pie is such a historic snack that it even inspired a song, the 1951 hit, "Gimme An RC Cola and a Moon Pie" by Bill Lister. Dollar Tree may not carry the cola that shares co-billing, but it does have three flavors of Moon Pies: chocolate, banana, and blueberry. These are the minis, not the full-size kind, and each box of six sells for $1.25. If you figure on two (or even three) per serving, that still makes for a pretty low-cost dessert.

Toasting marshmallows is fine on a charcoal grill since the mess just falls onto the coals, but this activity may be too messy for a gas one. Not to mention, it's a pretty hands-on activity, and you might not be comfortable with everyone crowding around your cooking space. To honor the spirit of this iconic summer dessert, you can instead serve a snack of marshmallow, graham cracker, and chocolate-flavored fishies. Not actual fish, since that would be kind of gross, but S'mores Baked Goldfish Grahams, Dollar Tree has these priced at $1.25 per 2.45-ounce bag.

If any of your barbecue guests habitually ask for their hot dog or hamburger sans bun, it's a pretty good bet that they're limiting their carb intake. This means they won't care to snack on popcorn, chips, or cookies, but they can always fill up on chicharrones. Dollar Tree carries four different flavors of Brim's fried pork rinds: original, barbecue, hot, and salt and pepper. Each comes in a 2.6-ounce bag and costs $1.25.

Zapp's Voodoo Chips are one of the best gas station snacks to be found in the South, but you may not need to road trip any farther than your nearest Dollar Tree to find them. The retailer usually carries both the original New Orleans Kettle Style Voodoo Chips and the spicier Voodoo Heat variety, each with that signature smoky-sweet heat. At Dollar Tree, they come in 2.5-ounce bags that cost $1.25 apiece.

Taco Bell doesn't have an extensive dessert list, but one sweet snack has been on the menu for years: Cinnamon Twists, which were introduced in 1989. An order of these will run you about $1.69 at Taco Bell these days, but a 4-ounce, four-serving bag of near-dupe Brim's Cinnamon Twists is just $1.25 at Dollar Tree. It's a great addition to any barbecue but is especially well-suited to a meal of our all-on-the-grill chicken fajitas.

Just a few years ago, Dollar Tree was one of the few places you could find Tajín seasoning. These days, it seems to be everywhere, but Dollar Tree still offers this trendy seasoning at a discount price. It also sells a Tajín-flavored, protein-packed, plant-based snack, Snak Club Tajin Chili & Lime Peanuts. These tangy, salty nuts come in 2.75-ounce pouches that are priced at $1.25.

Tajín isn't super-spicy, as seasonings go, but if you want a hotter peanut, you can find these at Dollar Tree, too. Takis Fuego Hot Nuts are coated with the snack chip's signature chile-lime flavoring, which not only brings the heat, but adds extra crunch. A 1.75-ounce pouch of these nuts will cost you $1.25, making them a bit more expensive than the Tajín peanuts, but then, only a real hothead would gobble this fiery snack by the fistful.

Since Dollar Tree carries Takis peanuts, you'd naturally expect them to carry Takis chips, as well, and they do. The classic rolled Takis are available in several different flavors and sizes. Both Blue Heat and Fuego Takis come in 9.9-ounce bags — perfect for a cookout and priced at $3.75. Fuego Takis can also be found in smaller, 2-ounce bags selling for $1.25, as can the Dragon Sweet Chili and Cheese and Chili Pepper Takis.

Lastly, if your backyard barbecue occurs in any month with a patriotic holiday, it's practically required that you finish off with Bomb Pops. This Cold War frozen treat is now a 4th of July staple, but it's also de rigueur for Memorial Day, Flag Day, Labor Day, or any random summer evening. Dollar Tree sells 12-count boxes of the Original Bomb Pops for $3, which works out to 25 cents a pop. Cheap popsicles eaten outdoors as the sun goes down ... it's an American Dream we can all afford.