Healthy Trail Mix
By Carine Claudepierre
Published on 07/10/2021 - Last updated on 10/10/2023
This recipe may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This easy healthy trail mix recipe is ready in 5 minutes and perfect as a healthy snack any time of the day.
Plus, this healthy trail mix is also vegan, gluten-free, keto-friendly, and sugar-free, with only 1.8 grams of net carbs per serving.
Is Trail Mix Healthy?
Well, not all trail mixes are good for you or healthy. Some trail mixes are made of a mix of nuts and dried fruits so they are considered healthy, made with wholesome ingredients.
But, many trail mixes from the grocery store often hide added sugar, unnecessary from your body like:
- High-sugar dried fruits – like dried apples, dried mango, banana chips, or cranberries that contain lots of added white sugar.
- Chocolate chunks – even if dark chocolate is mentioned on the package, most of them contain 20 grams of sugar per 100 grams.
- Added vegetable oils – not the best for your health.
- Candies or pretzels – both high carbs refined treats.
But luckily, making a healthy trail mix at home is easy and takes only s few minutes. This kind of trail mix made of nuts, seeds, sugar-free chocolate, and low-sugar fruits is a healthy option!
What’s A Healthy Homemade Trail Mix?
A healthy trail mix is naturally:
- High in healthy fats, omega 3 and omega 6, both are healthy fatty acids good for your heart and brain.
- High in fiber
- Low in sugar
But, even if a trail mix can be healthy, keep in mind that nuts, the main ingredients of a healthy trail mix, are high in calories!
So even if you are on a diet, watch out! Trail mixes can easily add calories to your day.
How To Make A Healthy Trail Mix Recipe
A homemade healthy trail mix recipe is the easiest low-carb snack recipe ever!
Ingredients
All you have to do is combine some:
- Nuts – you can use any nuts but if you watch the carbs, stick to low-carb nuts like macadamia nuts, brazil nuts, pecan nuts, almonds, unsweetened coconut flakes.
- Seeds like pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.
- Low sugar dried fruits – most trail mixes use dried cranberries or raisins, but both are high in sugar and raise blood sugar levels fast. A healthier option for adding a sweet touch to your trail mix is freeze-dried berries like raspberries or strawberries.
- Chocolate – pick low-sugar chocolate like 85% cocoa chocolate tabs cut into chinks or sugar-free chocolate chips.
Of course, based on the choice of nuts, seeds, and add-ons, the trail mix nutrition facts vary.
Now, if you want to add more flavor to your trail mix, I highly recommend you roast the nuts and seeds for a few minutes.
Roasting The Nuts For More Flavor
This is totally optional and if you crave a trail mix, skip it!
But for more flavor dry roast the nuts and seeds for 6-8minutes in preheat oven at 325F (160C). You can also roast the nuts with a touch of coconut oil and cinnamon.
Lay the nuts and seeds on a large baking sheet covered with parchment paper roast for 6-8 minutes, stirring halfway.
Cool completely on the baking sheet before stirring sweet add-ons like dark chocolate.
Assembling The Trail Mix
Now that the nuts and seeds are at room temperature, bring into a large mixing bowl and combine with any keto-friendly sweet food you love like:
- Dark chocolate – you can use any chocolate with more than 85% cocoa or sugar-free chocolate sweetened with stevia.
- Freeze-dried berries – these taste like dried fruits, but they contain no added sugar and have the same amount of vitamins and minerals. You can add freeze-dried raspberries, strawberries, or blueberries. These three are low-carb keto-friendly fruits for keto trail mix.
Storage Instructions
This low-carb trail mix recipe stores for up to 6 weeks in a sealed jar. It’s a delicious low-carb diet snack to fix a sweet craving and load your body with healthy fat and no added sugar.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’ve listed below the answers to the most common questions about this recipe.
The best keto trail mix serving size to fix your hunger, sweet craving while keeping the calories in control is 1/4 cup.
So keep the serving size in control and enjoy after a walk or cardio workout.
Yes, you can use this recipe to make a crunchy, savory trail mix.
To make a savory low-carb trail mix recipe, remove sweetener and cinnamon. Instead, add the below ingredients:
– 1/2 teaspoon salt
– 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
– 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
– 1 teaspoon paprika
– 1/2 teaspoon cumin
– 1/8 teaspoon chili for a spicy trail mix
– 1 tablespoon grated parmesan or nutrition yeast for a cheesy flavor
First, combine the savory spices above in a mixing bowl with the melted coconut oil. Then, proceed the same way as for a sweet trail mix keto recipe. Toss nuts in oil and spices and roast.
Cool down and stir in some of these dried toppings:
– Beef biltong pieces or beef jerky
– Sundried tomatoes
– Dried olives
You can’t eat a classic trail mix from the grocery store because it always contains dried fruits or chocolate.
Both of these ingredients are loaded with carbs, sugar and raise blood sugar levels.
As a result, on a keto diet, a trail mix from the store can take you out of ketosis.
However, if the trail mix you bought is made of raw nuts – not roasted in sugar – then you can sort out the trail mix and only eat the nuts!
Discard the dried fruits and chocolate that are the issue in trail mix bags.
More Keto Snack Recipes
Below I listed more low carb keto snack recipes that are easy to make and fix your sweet craving with no sugar
Did You Like This Recipe?
Leave a comment below or head to our Facebook page for tips, our Instagram page for inspiration, our Pinterest for saving recipes, and Flipboard to get all the new ones!
Healthy Trail Mix
Ingredients
- ½ cup Almonds
- ¾ cup Raw Pecans
- ¼ cup Brazil Nuts
- ¼ cup Sunflower Seeds
- ½ cup Coconut Flakes toasted
- ¾ cup Raw Macadamia or Cashews
To roast nuts & Seeds – optional
- 1 teaspoon Coconut Oil Melted
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
To assemble the trail mix
- ½ cup Sugar-Free Dark Chocolate Chips or 85% cocoa chocolate chunks
- ½ cup Freeze-Dried Fruits or low-sugar dried fruits, I used freeze-dried strawberries
Instructions
- If you want to roast the nuts and seeds – it's tastier but optional- preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C).
- In a large mixing bowl, combine melted coconut oil, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla. Add almonds, pecans, brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, macadamia, and coconut flakes into the bowl and toss to cover with spices and flavors.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay the nuts and seeds onto the tray.
- Roast 6-8 minutes, stirring halfway, until fragrant.
- Cool it down completely on a wooden board or plate before stirring with the remaining ingredients.
- When the nuts and seeds are at room temperature, stir in dark chocolate chips and dried fruits of choice.
Storage
- Store in a large, sealed glass mason jar for up to 1 month or freeze in zip lock bags.
Tools
Getting Started What Is Keto? Macro Calculator Sweetener Converter Meal Plans Recipe Ebooks Intermittent Fasting Keto Fruits Keto Vegetables Keto Flours Fighting Keto Flu Healthy SweetenersWant My Kitchen Equipment?
About The Author
Hi, I'm Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, published author of a cookbook and many ebooks, and founder of Sweet As Honey.
I have an Accredited Certificate in Nutrition and Wellness obtained in 2014 from Well College Global (formerly Cadence Health). I'm passionate about sharing all my easy and tasty recipes that are both delicious and healthy. My expertise in the field comes from my background in chemistry and years of following a keto low-carb diet. But I'm also well versed in vegetarian and vegan cooking since my husband is vegan.
I now eat a more balanced diet where I alternate between keto and a Mediterranean Diet
Cooking and Baking is my true passion. In fact, I only share a small portion of my recipes on Sweet As Honey. Most of them are eaten by my husband and my two kids before I have time to take any pictures!
All my recipes are at least triple tested to make sure they work and I take pride in keeping them as accurate as possible.
Browse all my recipes with my Recipe Index.
I hope that you too find the recipes you love on Sweet As Honey!
Disclaimer
The recipes, instructions, and articles on this website should not be taken or used as medical advice. You must consult with your doctor before starting on a keto or low-carb diet. The nutritional data provided on Sweetashoney is to be used as indicative only.
The nutrition data is calculated using WP Recipe Maker. Net Carbs is calculated by removing the fiber and some sweeteners from the total Carbohydrates. As an example, a recipe with 10 grams of Carbs per 100 grams that contains 3 grams of erythritol and 5 grams of fiber will have a net carbs content of 2 grams. Some sweeteners are excluded because they are not metabolized.
You should always calculate the nutritional data yourself instead of relying on Sweetashoney's data. Sweetashoney and its recipes and articles are not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose, or treat any disease. Sweetashoney cannot be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or advice found on the Website.
Share this post!
If you enjoyed this post, share it with your close ones!
Leave a comment
You’ve noted 174 calories for a serving of 1/4 cup at the top of recipe, but in nutrition facts it says 174 calories for 1 1/4 cups. Is it 1/4 cup or 1 1/4 cups?
The calories and nutrition pane l is well for 1/4 cup, the way the panel was displaying the info was confusing, it means 1 serving of 1/4 cup so I change it to make it clear. Thanks for spotting that
Can you use peanuts instead of cashews/macadamia nuts
Sure, peanuts are great keto nuts too
I wish you had left a link for the freeze dried strawberries. The only freeze dried strawberries I know of are with sugar at Trader Joe’s
I order mine online. Enjoy!
Hello Carine. Tks for your work. I really like to read you .
I would like to know Jow do you make the freeze dried fruits?
Do you put them in the oven? Use a specialize gadget ?
Or simply buy them ? Where ?
Thanks and have a good day
I bought them from the store, I don’t have the tools to air fry food unfortunately