12 Grocery Store Snacks Made With Actually High Quality Ingredients

Health nuts and snack aficionados will know that finding a bite to eat between meals that actually contains high-quality ingredients isn't always easy. Shoppers often fall into the trap of purchasing something that claims to be healthy, only to find out after it's gone that it's just as bad for you as a candy bar. This is known as the "halo effect," and can make ultra-processed foods appear healthy, even though they're not. In recent studies, ultra-processed food has been shown to increase the risk of certain cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and more.

While the FDA constantly adapts labeling rules to prevent products from misleading customers, some words still appear on packaging. Look out for labels with "low fat" in big letters. This bold claim may sound great, but not all fats are bad. Additionally, "light" or "lite" products may still contain up to 0.5g of saturated and trans fats, which can cause high cholesterol.

Another word commonly found on packaging is "natural," which, according to the FDA, means "nothing artificial or synthetic (including all color additives regardless of source) has been included in, or has been added to, a food that would not normally be expected to be in that food." This doesn't prohibit the incorporation of pesticides or the use of thermal technologies, pasteurization, or irradiation. When you snag a product with a "natural" label you may still be buying something that contains ingredients grown with pesticides or that are high in sugar, salt, and fat.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit that researches public health. One arm of the organization is the EWG's Food Scores system, which has been used to rate 150,000+ products on an inverse 1-10 scale (lower numbers have higher health value and are the lowest concern) to help you "cut through confusing labels with one score." This score factors in three main categories: Nutritional content (calories, sugar, fiber, fat), ingredients that could be harmful to you or the environment, and level of processing.

We're using the EWG's Food Scores system (where applicable), expert accounts, and ingredient analysis to identify the best private-label grocery snacks made using high-quality ingredients.

Walmart is not a health food store. That said, the largest retail corporation in the world is certainly a jack of all trades, which means you can find snacks made with high-quality ingredients on the shelves (if you know where to look). Walmart shoppers looking for something packed full of good unsaturated fats should check out the Great Value Omega-3 Trail Mix. With 5 grams of protein per serving and omega-3-containing ingredients, like walnuts, pepitas, and pecans, this mix is a nice post-workout bite, as long as you can stick to a single serving.

"This is another great nut mix option. I love these flavors combined together, and each serving gives you five grams of protein. And this actually reminds me of the really delicious trail mix that is at Jason's Deli," according to a registered dietician on Facebook. The main issue with this nut mix is that it contains cranberries with added sugar, which means they've been processed. Additionally, a small amount of vegetable oil helps the flavors bind to the nuts. Despite this, Great Value Omega-3 Trail Mix scores an EWG Food Score of 4.0, and has minimal ingredient and nutrition concern. Other than raw vegetables, it is one of Walmart's healthiest snack options.

Trader Joe's has done a great job of appearing like a health food store without actually being one. While the shelves are certainly not lined with snacks with actually high-quality ingredients, you can find them hidden among the tropical-themed decor, unique private-label foods, and surprisingly affordable specialty items.

Trader Joe's Freeze-Dried Strawberries packs 12 ounces of fruit (roughly 18 medium berries) into a 1.2 ounce bag. This apparent shrinking occurs through the magic of freeze-drying, also known as lyophilization. This process turns the water in the fruit into ice and removes it under low pressure using sublimation (turning a solid into a gas without becoming a liquid first). What you're left with is tasty, crunchy strawberry slices that are still flavorful and maintain more than 90% of the vitamins and minerals found in whole fruit. Snackers can add them to oatmeal or cereal, eat them as a standalone, and take a bag on the trails for a quick energy boost.

There's no EWG score for this item, but it would probably perform well due to the freeze-drying process, lack of additives, and the fact that the only ingredient is strawberries. The whole pack contains 15g of sugar, which is relatively high, but expected for a fruit snack. Reddit users also love the freeze-dried cherries and freeze-dried mangos.

Peanut butter is a serious asset for snackers everywhere. This versatile ingredient can be the base of a sandwich or dip, or a standalone snack eaten straight from the jar with a spoon (don't pretend you haven't). However, not all peanut butters are created equal; some top brands contain salt, sweeteners, and unnecessary fillers, like vegetable oils and emulsifiers.

Publix Greenwise Peanut Butter is an organic option that contains only two ingredients: Organic, dry roasted peanuts and sea salt. Like other "natural" peanut butters, the oil and paste separate in the jar, so you have to stir it before you use it. The benefit of this is that you get to lick the spoon when you're done.

Publix Greenwise Peanut Butter scores a 3.0 with EWG. This product is minimally processed, high in protein, and organic. The only reason why it isn't an even better score is because of the saturated fat and calorie content, which are always high in peanut butters. Elevate your snacking game and introduce peanut butter to places you never thought you would with these 13 peanut butter recipes.

Simplicity is key in healthy snacks, and few things are simpler than stripped-back popcorn, like Kirkland's Sea Salt Popcorn from Costco. This straightforward snack is made using popcorn, coconut oil, and sea salt. The jury is out on whether coconut oil is better than other oils for the body, with some research suggesting it improves antioxidant properties, reduces oxidant stress, and lowers cardiovascular risk, while others claim it increases overall total cholesterol. Additionally, sea salt isn't necessarily better for you, but it isn't processed in the same way that table salt is. The real winner is the popcorn itself, an unprocessed grain that will fill you up at snack time.

​Costco Kirkland Sea Salt Popcorn contains 2g of dietary fiber and 1g of protein per serving, which won't revolutionize your intake for the day, but is a good base for a simple snack. One Reddit user compared the product to one of the top brands for health-focused popcorn, Skinny Pop: "It's the coconut oil, Lesser Evil is 5g (26%) of unsaturated fats. Skinny Pop uses sunflower oil," and a food vlogger on Facebook highlighted it as a "healthy hidden gem at Costco."

​This product doesn't have an EWG Food Score, as it only landed in Costco stores regionally this summer. However, the minimal processing and low ingredient count are enough to give us the green light on this snack.

Aldi's shelves are full of brands you won't find anywhere else. Private-label options at Aldi, like Clancy's, Kirkwood, and Specially Selected, take up about 90% of in-store shelf space. These dupes can be seriously good, and some are even better than the OG products. Aldi shoppers know this is the Aldi way, and you can score seriously good products for a fraction of the cost of big brands at other stores.

Elevation is Aldi's budget-friendly, high-protein alternative to Lara Bars/RXBARS. Aldi Elevation Pure & Simple Apple Pie Fruit & Nut Bars are a grab-and-go, gluten-free snack that is a tasty post-gym pick-me-up made with dates, almonds, dried apples, walnuts, raisins, and cinnamon. One health and nutrition influencer on Instagram recommends these Elevation bars as one of her best healthy snacks at Aldi.

This product scores 4.0 on the EWG Food Score. The breakdown of what's inside the bars shows it is high in protein per gram, has no artificial or industrial ingredients, and contains iron. However, the ingredients are not organic (though they are non-GMO), and the bar uses sunflower oil on the raisins. Overall, it is a great alternative to overly processed protein bars found on the shelves and has relatively high-quality ingredients.

Buying snacks in bulk is a great way to save money and meal prep for the week ahead. It's also a great way to stop yourself from picking up an ultra-processed bar from the gas station when you're running on empty. The Fresh Market, found in 22 states, is known for high-quality, gourmet food items and offers rows of bulk bins full of granola, nuts, seeds, and snack mixes.

Adventurous snackers can make their own trail mix by stocking up on products like pistachios, walnuts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds, and more. The Fresh Market's bulk, lightly salted, roasted pistachios score well on the EWG Food Score and only lose points for not being organic. If you're looking for organic, consider the walnut halves and pieces or pecan halves. Overall, if you're looking for a minimally processed, fresh, and filling snack with a huge variety and less of a stamp on the environment due to lack of packaging, The bulk seeds and nuts at The Fresh Market are a winner.

Kroger's Simple Truth Protein Original Beef Sticks arrived on store shelves early in 2026 as part of an expansion of Kroger's Simple Truth Protein line. These beef sticks are yet to appear on the EWG Food Score database, but they are packed full of protein and made with grass-fed beef. A 2022 study about the potential health benefits of grass fed beef suggests that it gives the meat a "more nutritionally desirable fatty acid profile than intensively and conventionally reared beef, and to a lesser extent, maybe even compared with organically reared beef." 

Meat sticks do require processing, and while the three main ingredients are grass-fed beef, water, and sea salt, they also contain less than 2% of citric acid, spice powders, and casing. That said, they also contain 9 grams of protein zero sugar, and just 90 calories per stick, so they are a great high-protein option for a midday pick-me-up.

Peanut butter and jelly is a universally loved flavor combination, but sometimes there isn't enough time for a full PB&J, even if it is guaranteed to be mess-free. Whole Foods Market 365 Chewy Protein Bites Peanut Butter & Jelly bridges the gap with this snack. One YouTube reviewer noted the distinct peanut butter and jelly flavor, but found the texture firm. A TikTok snack reviewer who tested the protein bites concluded the following: "They are not bad at all ... seems like a great option for a quick grab-and-go."

Whole Foods Market 365 Chewy Protein Bites Peanut Butter & Jelly score 4.5 on the EWG Food Score. The ingredients include pitted dates, peanut butter, powdered egg whites, blanched dry roasted peanuts, white grape juice concentrate, rice starch, tapioca fiber, pea protein isolate, freeze-dried strawberries, freeze-dried blueberries, and Himalayan pink salt. While the EWG score takes into account the high-protein and fiber nature of this snack and that it has low processing concerns, the high sugar content and the fact that the ingredients are not certified organic add more points to the score.

Sam's Club is Walmart's answer to Costco, a membership-only warehouse club full of grocery items available in bulk, and private label and name brands for less. Member's Mark is the Sam's Club exclusive private-label brand. Health-conscious shoppers will be pleased to know that Member's Mark products are free from a long list of chemical additives, like artificial flavors and aspartame.

Sam's Club Member's Mark California Pistachios are one example on the towering shelves of healthy eats that will fill you up without the guilt often felt after a snack session. There's no need to worry about the 48 oz. bag running out in a hurry either.

With an EWG Food Score of 4.0, these pistachios receive a penalty for not being organic. However, the breakdown shows these pistachios to be high in protein and fiber per gram, that they require minimal processing, and that they are vegan, gluten-free, and non-GMO. There's also no hidden extras in each bag — just California-grown pistachios and salt.

Trader Joe's isn't the only place you can find freeze-dried treats. Target's private label, Good & Gather, replaced the old store brands, Archer Farms and Simply Balanced, back in 2019. The focus of this in-house grocery brand is to serve up "good stuff guests love, without artificial flavors, synthetic colors, artificial sweeteners, and high fructose corn syrup." The Good & Gather brand gets a lot of love from Reddit users, especially for its surprising affordability.

Good & Gather Apple, Strawberry, and Peach Freeze Dried Fruit Blend is one of the brand's healthiest snacks. This bag of tasty, freeze-dried fruit knocked it out of the park when ranked against others in a side-by-side comparison of Good & Gather snacks from Target. 

The EWG Food Score for this product is 4.5. While it scores well for low processing concerns and high fiber, the score suffers because it contains 5 teaspoons of sugar per serving. Fortunately, this is natural sugar found in the fruit, and where sugar comes from matters for how the body processes it. Overall, this snack passes the processing test, has minimal additional ingredients, and wins the taste test with flying colors.

Lowes Brown Bag is a private label built around the "7 Nos" Rule: No artificial flavors, preservatives, sweeteners, synthetic colors, high-fructose corn syrup, MSG, or hydrogenated oils. For a snack that looks like breakfast but should be enjoyed at any hour of the day, pair Lowes Brown Bag Morning Harvest Granola with a pot of Brown Bag Greek Nonfat Yogurt.

This crunchy, nutritious granola has no EWG Food Score, but we can still dissect its merits. Each bag contains whole-grain oats, pure cane sugar, sliced almonds, honey, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, dried cranberries, cinnamon, salt, sunflower oil, and canola oil. While we'd rather it didn't include the last two ingredients, this granola uses high-quality components, has no added sugar, and is a good source of protein and fiber, especially when paired with a dollop of high-protein, fat-free Greek yogurt. Lowe's Brown Bag Granola is available in a variety of flavors, including cinnamon blueberry and French vanilla. Be sure to check the ingredients list and nutritional values to see how they differ.

Aldi isn't the only German grocery store giant to deliver the healthy snack goods. Lidl follows a similar model and has a similarly stacked private-label offering (around 80% of Lidl shelves are private label). It's too close to call as to which grocery store has the best bargains, but we can say for sure that Lidl Alesto Organic Unsalted Dry Roasted Cashews shouldn't be missed on your next trip.

Alesto is one of Lidl's many private-label brands, focusing on nuts, dried fruits, and snack mixes. This snack checks all the boxes for a truly healthy bite to eat between meals. Not only is there only one ingredient, cashews, but they're also organically grown. There's no EWG Food Score for Lidl Alesto Organic Unsalted Dry Roasted Cashews, but the lack of processing, high protein content, and organic sourcing make them one of the cleanest (and tastiest) snacks in this roundup.