Quick Take
Choosing your vegan beach snacks is more than just finding something to satiate your taste buds. It’s about eating the foods that will best benefit your fun in the sun! That means vegan beach food that is shelf-stable (meaning you don’t need to bring a cooler), will hydrate you, will protect you from sun damage, and is loaded with electrolytes. Here are the top 5 healthy vegan snacks that will elevate your beach day.
Before we begin: Need an on-the-go vegan snack?
Don't head to the beach without MamaSezz Gram's Granola. It's the healthy vegan snack you need to fuel for any adventure.
5 Healthy Vegan Snacks for your Plant-Based Beach Day
1. Watermelon
The ultimate vegan beach food: a watermelon! It’s not all about what you eat, but how you eat it. Buy a small to medium watermelon, cut it in half and use a spoon to scoop the fruit from the inside of the rind. Use the rind as a bowl, and make sure to drink the excess juice at the end!
Why is watermelon such a great vegan snack for your beach day? It's an a fantastic source of lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant that protects your skin from UV damage. (That’s right — you can apply sunscreen from the inside out!)
Also, watermelon is 92 percent water, which means it's super hydrating (AKA the perfect vegan beach food).
Pro tip: Bring a reusable spoon from home, and there you have it, an eco-friendly snack with a compostable bowl!
2. Cherry Tomatoes
Easy vegan snacks don't get any easier than cherry tomatoes. No prep necessary, minus a quick rinse before you hit the beach.
Cherry or grape tomatoes are an ideal vegan beach food because once again, they've got tons of lycopene (inside out sunscreen!). And believe it or not, there's actually more water in tomatoes than watermelon — about 95 percent.
3. Grapefruit
How do you identify healthy vegan snacks with high lycopene content you ask? By their color! Red and pink fruits and veggies tend to have higher concentrations of lycopene. So as you can imagine, grapefruits have a ton of this edible sunscreen!
They're also 92 percent water and packed with electrolytes, making them the perfect peel and munch vegan beach food.
4. Red Bell Pepper
Red bell peppers have endless benefits, including 100 percent of our DV of vitamin C, lots of potassium to give you that electrolyte spike, lycopene to protect your skin, and they contain 92 perent water.
If pepper doesn't come to mind when you're thinking about vegan snack ideas, think again! Just munch it like an apple, and throw away the stem and seeds. How easy is that?
5. Strawberries
So you know the drill by now: 92 percent water, loaded with lycopene, easy to eat, and super sweet to give you that extra burst of energy you need to get back in the water and play! A quick vegan snack that's kid-friendly, to boot. Who doesn't love berries?
Pro tip: If you don’t buy organic strawberries, make sure you thoroughly wash them before you get to the beach. Because of their thick skin, they are susceptible to chemical absorption.
5 bonus snacks for beach or everyday
1.Raw Nuts and Seeds: A great source of healthy fats and protein, raw nuts and seeds are a great snack to bring to the beach.
2. Trail Mix: Make your own homemade trail mix with a mix of raw nuts, seeds, and dried fruits or buy a pre-made blend.
3. Roasted Chickpeas: Another great source of protein, roasted chickpeas are a satisfying beach snack.
4. Dried Fruit: Dried fruit is an easy, delicious, and
5. Trail Mix - Trail mix is the quintessential beach snack. It’s packed with energy-rich seeds, nuts, and dried fruits that’ll keep you energized throughout the day.
Key Takeaways
Vegan snack ideas don't have to be complicated. When choosing your vegan beach food, you should look for:
- Red and pink fruits and veggies that contain lycopene for sun protection
- Hydrating vegan beach snacks that are filled with water help to ensure you don’t become dehydrated on beach day.
- Heathy vegan snacks high in electrolytes if you’re out in the hot sun
- Quick vegan snacks you don’t have to refrigerate make it easier to pack!