Healthy snacks for weight loss: 37 filling ideas

What makes a healthy snack for weight loss?

A healthy snack for weight loss satisfies real hunger with a modest amount of energy, so you reach the next meal comfortably without overeating. Three things help most: protein, fibre and plenty of volume from water-rich foods.

None of these is magic. Together, though, they make a snack feel more like food and less like a nibble that leaves you wanting more.

Protein helps you feel satisfied

Protein has a modest effect on fullness. A review in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people reported feeling fuller after higher-protein meals, although on average they did not eat less at the next meal.

A small study in 20 healthy women compared three afternoon snacks with the same calories. After a high-protein yogurt, the women felt less hungry than after chocolate, asked for dinner about 30 minutes later, and ate around 100 fewer calories at dinner.

One study cannot prove what will happen in your own kitchen. Still, it fits what many people notice: yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, fish or beans carry you further than a biscuit with the same calories.

Fibre and volume fill your stomach

Foods with a lot of water and fibre, such as vegetables, fruit, salads and soups, have a low energy density: few calories per bite. Research by Barbara Rolls and colleagues shows that people tend to eat a fairly steady weight of food.

So when that food holds fewer calories per gram, people eat fewer calories without feeling they have eaten less. That is why 150 grams of cherry tomatoes (about 25 calories) or a large bowl of air-popped popcorn (about 75 calories) can take the edge off hunger so well.

Fibre also slows eating down, because you need to chew. A pear, a handful of sugar snap peas or a crunchy apple takes longer to finish than a glass of juice.

What you snack on matters more than how often

There is no single scientific definition of a snack, as a review in Advances in Nutrition pointed out. A snack can be a piece of fruit or a full plate of leftovers, so the word itself tells you little.

What seems to matter more is the food. Harvard Health reported on a study that followed more than 200 people for two and a half years: those who snacked on fruit and vegetables had a lower BMI, on average, than those who snacked on desserts and sweets.

In that study, how often people snacked and at what time did not seem to affect BMI. It was an observational study, so it shows a link rather than proof, but it points in a sensible direction.

Do you need to snack at all when losing weight?

No, snacks are optional. Some people do best with three meals and nothing in between, while others feel calmer and eat more sensibly at meals when a small snack bridges a long gap.

Ask yourself a few honest questions. Is there more than four or five hours between two of your meals? Do you often arrive at dinner so hungry that you eat quickly and too much? Then a planned snack can help.

If you mostly eat between meals out of habit, boredom or because food is in sight, the answer may be different. Then it helps more to change your surroundings than to look for the perfect snack, as we explain further down.

Diabetes UK puts it simply: snacks can be part of a healthy, balanced diet, and fruit, vegetables and plain yogurt help you reach your daily targets. The traps are eating more snacks than you meant to, eating them more often than needed, and choosing ones high in saturated fat, sugar and salt.

Snacks fit inside your day, not on top of it. If you follow our free 7-day eating plan, the one or two snacks per day are already part of the total.

37 healthy snack ideas with calories and protein

The table below lists 37 snacks in five groups. The numbers are approximate and were calculated by Obesity Foundation from the USDA FoodData Central database (SR Legacy, the US government’s reference food composition data) for the portion shown.

Brands, recipes and portion sizes differ, so check the label of the product you buy. One tablespoon (tbsp) of peanut butter is 16 grams; one large egg is about 50 grams.

A few notes on the table. Hummus, crispbreads, cheese and jerky contain salt, so if you have high blood pressure, lean more on the unsalted options. Choose nuts without added salt or sugar coatings.

The grouping is only a guide. Many snacks fit in more than one group: a banana is cheap, needs no preparation and travels well.

High protein snacks: the most protein per calorie

The high protein snacks that give the most protein for their calories are dairy foods such as Greek yogurt and cottage cheese, fish such as tuna and salmon, lean meat, eggs and edamame beans. In the table, these give roughly 8 to 13 grams of protein per 100 calories.

• Top of the list: cottage cheese with tomatoes (17 g protein, 140 kcal), Greek yogurt with blueberries (16 g, 135 kcal), tuna on rye crispbread (14 g, 120 kcal) and turkey roll-ups (10 g, 80 kcal).
• Plant-based picks: edamame (12 g for 120 kcal) and roasted chickpeas (7 g for 170 kcal). Both also bring a good dose of fibre.
• Drinks with protein: a glass of low-fat milk or kefir gives 8 to 10 grams. That makes it a handy option if you do not feel like chewing.
• Eggs: two hard-boiled eggs give 13 grams. You can boil six at once and keep them, peeled or in their shells, in the fridge for a few days.

Nuts and peanut butter contain protein too, but much more fat, so you get only around 2 to 4 grams of protein per 100 calories. They are still a good snack, just not a high protein one.

How much protein you need over a whole day depends on your height, age, activity and health. Our macro calculator gives an estimate of protein, carbohydrates, fat and fibre, which can help you decide whether a protein-rich snack is useful for you.

What about protein bars and shakes? Some are fine, but check the label: some contain as many calories as a chocolate bar, plus added sugar or sweeteners. Ordinary foods such as yogurt, milk and eggs usually give you the same protein for less money.

Low calorie snacks under 100 calories

The best low calorie snacks are vegetables and fruit, because they give a lot of volume for very few calories. In the table, 13 of the 37 snacks come in at 100 calories or less.

• Under 50 calories: 150 g cherry tomatoes (25 kcal) and 100 g sugar snap peas (40 kcal).
• 50 to 80 calories: tinned peaches in juice (55 kcal), an orange (70 kcal), a large bowl of air-popped popcorn (75 kcal), a pot of natural yogurt (75 kcal), turkey and cucumber roll-ups or two mandarins (80 kcal each).
• Up to 100 calories: a cheese stick (85 kcal), smoked salmon on crispbread (90 kcal), an apple (95 kcal), walnut halves or beef jerky (about 100 kcal each).

Diabetes UK uses a similar approach and groups its snack suggestions into options under 50, under 100 and under 150 calories. It also suggests simple swaps, such as plain popcorn instead of crisps, and frozen grapes or frozen blueberries instead of sweets.

A word of caution: the lowest number is not always the best choice. A few cucumber slices at 15 calories will not help if you are really hungry; you will simply look for something else 20 minutes later.

When you are properly hungry, a 150-calorie snack with protein, such as cottage cheese or yogurt, often ends up being the lower-calorie choice over the whole evening.

Simple swaps that save calories

Swapping a habit snack for a lighter one can often save 100 calories or more, without giving up the moment itself. The yogurt swap saves fewer calories, but gives you far more protein.

You do not need to swap everything. If a favourite treat matters to you, keep it, buy it in a small size and enjoy it on purpose, sitting down, instead of eating it on autopilot.

Filling snacks: how to build one

The most filling snacks combine two building blocks: something with protein or healthy fat, and something with fibre and volume. A combination keeps you satisfied for longer than either part alone.

Diabetes UK makes a useful point about cheese: a mature, strong-tasting cheese gives more flavour, so 20 to 30 grams is enough. The same idea works for dark chocolate, which is richer than milk chocolate.

Some other tricks make a snack more filling without adding much:

• Sit down and use a plate or bowl. Food eaten standing at the fridge or from the bag is easy to forget, and easy to repeat.
• Add warmth. A mug of warm milk, a cup of vegetable soup or a small bowl of porridge feels more like a meal.
• Add crunch. Raw vegetables, an apple or popcorn take time to eat.
• Drink a glass of water or a cup of tea first. Diabetes UK suggests asking yourself whether you might simply be thirsty.

Are nuts a good snack for weight loss?

Yes, in sensible amounts. Nuts are high in calories, but a meta-analysis of 55 trials in Advances in Nutrition found that adding nuts or nut products to the diet did not lead to weight gain.

The catch is the portion. A small handful of 20 grams of almonds is about 115 calories, but a 200-gram bag eaten on the sofa is well over 1,000. Weigh a portion once so you know what it looks like, then use a small dish or a little box.

Snack portions and planning: a simple routine

Planning is what turns good intentions into good snacks. When a ready-made healthy option is in the fridge or in your bag, you rarely need to rely on willpower. Talk to your doctor first if you have a health condition or use medicines that affect your appetite or blood sugar.

How big should a snack be?

There is no single right size, because energy needs differ a lot between people. A taller, heavier or more active person needs more energy than a shorter or less active person, and a snack should fit within that.

As a rough guide, most snacks in our table fall between about 50 and 190 calories, and Diabetes UK’s suggestions go up to 150. If you want a personal starting point, the calorie calculator estimates how much energy your body uses in a day.

Please do not use these numbers to cut your food to the bone. Very small snacks and very low calorie days often end in strong hunger and overeating later, and a dietitian can help you find an amount that suits you.

Portion out before you eat

Size has a real effect on how much we eat. A Cochrane review of 72 studies found that larger portions, packages and plates lead both children and adults to eat more, with moderate-quality evidence.

The authors estimated that if people were consistently exposed to smaller sizes across the whole diet, average daily intake could fall by roughly 144 to 228 calories among UK adults and children. You can use that effect in your favour:

• Divide large bags of nuts, popcorn or crackers into small boxes or bags as soon as you get home.
• Serve a snack in a small bowl and put the packet away before you sit down.
• Buy single portions of treats you find hard to stop eating, even if they cost a little more per gram.
• Keep fruit and ready-washed vegetables at eye level in the fridge, and less helpful snacks out of sight or out of the house.

Shops, advertising and huge pack sizes make all of this harder, and that is not your fault. Our page on the food environment explains how much our surroundings shape what and how much we eat.

Read the label in ten seconds

For packaged snacks, the label tells you more than the front of the pack. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) points out that the serving size on a label is not a recommendation of how much to eat; it reflects how much people typically eat.

• Check the servings per pack. A bag that looks like one portion may hold two or three servings, and every number on the label is per serving.
• Look at calories per serving and compare them with the snacks in our table.
• Use the % Daily Value, where your label shows it. According to the FDA, 5% or less of a nutrient per serving is low and 20% or more is high. Aim low for salt, saturated fat and added sugars, and high for fibre.

A weekly snack routine in five steps

1. Look at your week. Spot the moments when you usually get hungry: mid-afternoon at work, after school pick-up, late evening.
2. Choose two or three snacks from the table that you actually like, at least one with protein. Variety is nice, but a short list is easier to shop for.
3. Shop once. Add them to your normal shopping list so you never have to buy snacks on the go when you are hungry.
4. Prepare in one go. Spend ten minutes boiling eggs, cutting vegetables, portioning nuts and filling yogurt pots.
5. Review after a week. Were you hungry at the times you expected? Was the snack big enough? Change one thing for next week.

Healthy snacks on a budget

Healthy snacks do not have to be expensive. Some of the cheapest foods in the shop are also among the most filling.

• Popcorn kernels: one bag makes many bowls when you pop them yourself without oil or with very little.
• Tinned and dried pulses: chickpeas roasted in the oven with paprika or cumin make a crunchy, filling snack.
• Seasonal and frozen fruit: frozen berries keep for months, so nothing goes to waste.
• Large tubs of plain yogurt: portion them yourself instead of buying small flavoured pots, and add fruit for sweetness.
• Eggs, oats, carrots and bananas: cheap almost everywhere and easy to use.
• Supermarket own brands of nuts, crispbreads and cottage cheese are often very similar in nutrition to the big names; compare the labels.

Snacks for evening cravings: handling the evening

Evening cravings are common and usually have clear causes: a long gap since lunch, tiredness, stress, habit and food within easy reach while you relax. Handling them works best with a plan for the whole afternoon and evening, not with a ban.

Why the evening is the hardest time

After a long day, energy and patience are low, and the evening is often the first moment you have for yourself. Food becomes a way to relax, to reward yourself or to fill the quiet, and that is very human.

Biology plays a part too. Poor sleep and stress can raise appetite, as our page on sleep, stress and mental health explains, and many people find cravings stronger on tired days.

Timing may also matter. In a small, carefully controlled study in 16 adults with overweight or obesity, eating the same meals about four hours later in the day increased hunger and lowered the energy the body used while awake. The study was short, but it supports eating more of your food earlier in the day where you can.

An evening plan that works for many people

Talk to your doctor first before changing your evening routine, especially if you take medicines for diabetes.

1. Eat a proper afternoon snack if lunch was early or small. Arriving home very hungry is the most common start of an evening of grazing.
2. Make dinner filling: plenty of vegetables, a good portion of protein and some wholegrains. The eating plan shows how to build such a plate.
3. Decide in advance whether you will have an evening snack and what it will be. A planned snack feels very different from a raid on the cupboard.
4. Close the kitchen after your snack: brush your teeth, make a cup of tea or herbal tea, or put the lights out in the kitchen.
5. Keep your hands busy during the TV hours with something you enjoy, such as a puzzle, knitting, a phone call or a short evening walk.

The best snacks for the evening

Good evening snacks are light, easy to stop after one portion and not too rich. Diabetes UK suggests fruit or vegetable sticks for occasional night-time hunger, and also mentions unsalted nuts, oatcakes, rice cakes, wholegrain crackers and unsweetened yogurt.

• Warm cocoa made with low-fat milk (about 115 kcal): comforting, with 9 grams of protein.
• Greek yogurt with berries or cottage cheese with pineapple: a creamy, sweet snack with protein.
• Frozen grapes or a bowl of berries: they take a while to eat and satisfy a sweet tooth.
• A large bowl of air-popped popcorn: a big portion for a film, at around 75 calories.
• A small bowl of porridge: a warm option if dinner was early and you are genuinely hungry.

If you get heartburn or reflux, timing matters. The American College of Gastroenterology suggests avoiding meals within 2 to 3 hours of bedtime for people with reflux, so keep evening snacks small and early.

Hungry, or something else?

Before you reach for a snack in the evening, pause for a moment. Physical hunger builds slowly and most foods will do; a craving often arrives suddenly and asks for one particular food.

If it is not hunger, try to find out what you need: rest, company, comfort, a break from the screen. Diabetes UK suggests doing something else for a while, such as calling a friend, reading or going for a walk, and not being hard on yourself about it.

If evening eating often feels out of control, or if you regularly eat large amounts and feel upset afterwards, please talk to your doctor. That can be a sign of an eating disorder, which is treatable, and psychological support helps many people.

When to get personal advice about snacks

For most adults, the snacks on this page are safe choices. Some situations, though, call for advice that fits you personally, so check with your doctor, diabetes team or a registered dietitian first if any of these apply:

• Diabetes treated with insulin or tablets that can cause low blood sugar. Diabetes UK explains that you may sometimes need a snack with starchy carbohydrate to prevent a hypo. If you need to snack regularly to avoid hypos, tell your diabetes team, because your treatment may need adjusting.
• Kidney disease. You may need to watch protein, salt, potassium or phosphorus. Several snacks in the table, such as bananas, oranges, nuts, dairy foods and jerky, may need limiting.
• Food allergies or intolerances, for example to nuts, milk, fish, sesame or gluten.
• After weight-loss surgery. Follow the eating guidance from your surgical team, which often includes specific advice on snacking.
• Pregnancy. Ask your midwife or doctor about food choices; this is not a time to aim for weight loss on your own.
• A current or past eating disorder. Calorie numbers and food lists can be unhelpful; your care team can tell you what is right for you.

Our doctor visit checklist helps you prepare questions for that appointment.

How Obesity Foundation can help

Snacks are one small part of eating well. If you would like help putting the whole picture together, Obesity Foundation offers everything for free.

• A free personal eating plan with snacks that suit your taste, budget and daily rhythm: request your free eating plan.
• 150 free workout videos in three levels, from gentle seated sessions to real fitness: sign up for the free videos, or read more about the workouts.
• A free video meeting (in English) to talk through your situation, including evening eating, with someone who listens without judgement: book a free video meeting.
• The free Obesity Foundation Club, your own free account to track your progress and request free help: join the Club.

Good food works best together with movement you enjoy, enough sleep and support. A short daily walk after dinner is also a pleasant way to put some distance between you and the kitchen.

And if weight has come back after earlier attempts, you are not alone; our page on why weight comes back explains the biology behind it.