Healthy Pregnancy Snacks

The ultimate list of 70+ healthy pregnancy snacks that require NO (or minimal) cooking, plus a printable shopping list! Enjoy food again with these ideas.

Cooking while pregnant and nauseous can be a challenge. Try these healthy snacks instead of suffering in the kitchen.

Guess what y’all? I’m 11 weeks pregnant. YAY! I’m also a walking zombie. Yay! I run a food blog, and my desire to cook is absolutely non-existent. The thought of actually putting in the effort to cook is gut-wrenching enough. Doing so? Even tougher.

The smells, the commingling of textures, colors, and flavors… it’s entirely too much.

So not only am I exhausted every second of every day- I am also nauseas AF, yet trying to eat healthy, while not barfing everything up. And I know that many of you ladies can relate! I still have yet to figure out why they call it morning-sickness, as opposed to all-day-and-all-night-sickness.

But surely there are a few ways to navigate this together…

That is why I’ve taken the time to write this article about healthy pregnancy snacks. I know how difficult it is to find the motivation to cook and the guilt that comes along with that. You want to provide the most nutrients possible for your baby, but you also want to crawl into a hole and sleep for 500 years.

Enter these minimal-effort, yet still-healthy pregnancy snacks!

You can easily make some of these choices healthier just by including the better version of ingredient. A plain white bagel + cream cheese should become a Whole-Wheat Everything bagel (which contains nutritious nuts and seeds) + organic cream cheese with vegetables. Absolutely ZERO extra effort is required on your part.

You are going to buy the ingredients anyway. All you need to do is choose BETTER ingredients (whenever possible), and you will have TONS of healthy pregnancy snacks / options at your disposal. Feel free to print this list and hang it on the fridge. It may come in handy when you are lacking motivation, lacking appetite, or simply lacking ingredients and need to run to the grocery store!

I’ve grouped this article into 4 sections:

1. Ready-to-eat, healthy pregnancy snacks (no cooking required)
2. Minimal cooking-required, healthy pregnancy snacks (think eggs, toast, and easy things of that nature)
3. Less-healthy pregnancy snacks (but quick and easy!)
4. Healthy pregnancy drinks!

Healthy Pregnancy Snacks (No Cooking Required)

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1. Organic cheese + apple slices.
2. Organic cheese + healthy crackers. Think flax crackers, chia crackers, nut crackers, whole-wheat crackers, GG crackers, etc. Hint: I’ve taken to buying a block of cheese (it’s a lot cheaper this way), and taking an extra half a millisecond to slice the cheese myself. Easy peasy cheesy.
3. Organic string cheese.
4. Organic Yogurt + Granola and fresh fruit. (Psstt.. this photo below is our Roasted Cherry Parfait, but you can make this recipe without roasting the cherries, and it will still be delicious!)
   
5. Organic cottage cheese. Plain, or with organic fruit (such as pineapple).
6. Organic Milk + healthy cereal.
7. Organic Veggies + Dip/Guacamole: Carrots, cherry tomatoes, sliced bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, jicama, celery, etc.
8. Organic Veggies & Hummus + Whole Wheat Pita.
9. Whole-Wheat Everything Bagel + Organic Cream Cheese w/ vegetables.
10. Organic fruit smoothie, with some spinach blended in for an extra boost of nutrition.
11. Smoothie bowl (just dump your smoothie in a bowl), topped with more fresh fruit, chopped nuts, chia seeds, shredded coconut, dark chocolate nibs, etc. Eat with a spoon and enjoy! It’s like eating ice cream, except it’s good for you- and your baby.
    

    Photo by Alexandra Golovac

12. Organic fruit, sprinkled with lime juice + Tajin.
13. Fruit leathers.
14. Fruit salad.
15. Prunes and/or dates.
16. Dried fruit (apple chips, banana chips, dried cherries, plantains, apricots, etc).
17. Fruit sorbet, or frozen yogurt.
18. Trail mix.
19. Fruit squeeze packs/pouches. (Costco has some great options!)
20. Kimchi. This fermented powerhouse is full of probiotics, is nice and cold, and requires zero cooking.
21. Sauerkraut. Same benefits as above!
22. Warm bone broth; simply warm in microwave or on stove.
23. Canned soup (Amy’s Organics is a great brand with some great flavors to choose from); simply warm in microwave or on stove.
24. Canned corn (warmed up), + sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
25. Edamame (warmed up), with a sprinkle of sea salt.
26. Oatmeal, sprinkled with organic fruit and nuts.
27. Ginger snaps. These are a tried-and-true pregnancy snack for a reason! The ginger calms your tummy.
28. Popcorn (air-popped is best, but microwave popcorn will certainly do- just find a good brand without tons of additives. Whole Foods has a great organic microwave popcorn with light butter.) You can also buy bags of ready-made popcorn, such as this one from 365 Everyday Value, which can also be found at Whole Foods.
    

    Photo by Charles Deluvio

29. Fresh-Pressed/Homemade Juice. NOTE: Drink it that same day; you never want to drink old, or unpasteurized juice, while pregnant.
30. Larabars. These filling snacks are full of healthy, clean ingredients.
31. Healthy chips & Salsa + Guacamole. Beanitos are healthy and full of fiber. Siete also makes some delicious, healthy, gluten-free options for tortilla chips!
32. Plantain chips or Sweet Potato chips + dip/guacamole/salsa.
33. Rice cakes + peanut/almond/nut butter.
34. PB & J Sandwich.
35. Beef, salmon, or turkey jerky (just watch the sodium intake).
36. Organic Applesauce.
37. Flavored gelatin (aka Jello). They even sell gelatin that has chia seeds for extra nutrition and fiber!
38. Olives- black olives, kalamata olives, castelvetrano olives, etc.
39. Pickles, or pickled veggies in general- carrots, green beans, cherry tomatoes, etc.
40. Healthy muffins.
41. Frozen grapes.
42. Nuts (almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans). You can eat these plain, or find fun flavored varieties. I am loving the dill pickle almonds and buffalo almonds from Whole Foods right now!
43. Whole wheat pretzels + dip (honey mustard, cream cheese, ranch, etc.)
44. Popsicles.
45. A fresh green salad w/ toppings like hard boiled egg, sunflower seeds, bacon bits, croutons, avocado, etc (if tolerable).
    

    Photo by Anna Pelzer

Healthy Pregnancy Snacks (Minimal Cooking Required):

1. Avocado toast. Mash an avocado with some crushed red pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Toast a piece of multi-grain or whole wheat bread, add the mashed avocado, and enjoy! A fried egg on top is even better, if you can stomach it.
   

   Photo by Ben Kolde

2. Plain toast with butter.
3. Toast topped with nut butter + fruit. I love chocolate almond butter and sliced bananas. SO heavenly, and so healthy!
4. Toast topped with fruit preserves + sliced fresh fruit for extra credit.
5. Grilled cheese w/ organic cheese + multi-grain or whole-wheat bread.
6. Annie’s Organic Mac n Cheese. Oh my lord does this stuff make pregnancy food aversions seem SO MUCH LESS SEVERE. I crave this stuff daily, even when I feel like crap. So tasty, and so easy on the tummy… and super easy, duh.
7. Rice of any kind. These Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice packages are amazing! 90 seconds in the microwave and you have a yummy bowl of rice. Mix in a few pieces of protein if you have any leftover meat in the fridge (chicken chunks, diced bacon, etc), and some veggies if you can (broccoli florets, diced cherry tomatoes, etc.)
8. Rice and beans. I LOVE these Vigo Cuban Rice and Beans– tons of flavor, and you can make them in the microwave! Every single time I have made them for guests, (prior to pregnancy) they have swooned over “my” rice and beans dish… never knowing that they came from a bag and were made in the microwave. Secret’s out!
9. Frozen chicken wings, heated up in the microwave. An easy way to get a hefty serving of protein!
   

   Photo by Atharva Tulsi

10. Frozen turkey meatballs, heated up in the microwave. These heat up beautifully and quickly. Again, a great and easy way to up your protein when NOTHING sounds good. You can add some marinara sauce to up the flavor, if your tummy is up for it.
11. A plain cheese quesadilla. Quesadillas are a GODSEND for me. The cheesy goodness is comfort food at its finest; comfort food that doesn’t make my stomach queasy. Minimal effort and time in kitchen required. A true WIN.
12. A more advanced quesadilla, with leftover fridge ingredients. I recently made one with leftover corned beef and manchego cheese. It was heaven. And a side of probiotic sour cream!
13. Hard boiled eggs.
14. Scrambled eggs (not for me personally; the texture makes me queasy, but many pregnant women swear by scrambled eggs. Great way to get a nice serving of protein!)
15. Very lightly seasoned chunks of chicken breast (homemade, or hell… they sell it in cans too. Just buy organic when possible). Dip chicken into salsa, homemade ranch, etc.
16. Steamed veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, squash, etc). You can add a pat of butter if you need some sort of flavor!
17. Mashed potatoes (guess what? Instant potatoes are a godsend. I’m not saying to subsist off these things when pregnant- but they are a great way to fill up and quell some nausea. Eat w/ a side of steamed veggies for added nutrition.) You can also buy refrigerated, packaged mashed potatoes. Or they are SUPER easy to make in the Instant Pot!
18. A Baked potato or a baked sweet potato, topped with yogurt (or sour cream), chives, organic cheese, and a few bacon bits!
19. Frozen sweet potato fries, heated up.
    

    Photo by Louis Hansel

Less healthy pregnancy snacks- but quick and easy!

Here are some much-less healthy pregnancy snacks, but I’m including these because who cares- you really just need to be eating whatever you can at a certain point. Do what you can and get some food down the hatch… that’s what matters the most! Just don’t forget to take your prenatal vitamins no matter what.

1. Goldfish crackers.
2. Saltine crackers.
3. Graham crackers.
4. Poptarts.
5. Frozen tater tots.
6. Frozen Trader Joe’s dinners.
7. Frozen Pizza- add some fresh veggies to the top when it comes out of the oven, like some spinach, arugula, or bell peppers!
   

   Photo by Vita Marija Murenaite

8. Frozen Hot Pockets, pierogis, pizza rolls, pretzels with cheese.
9. Milkshakes.
10. Dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is actually quite good for you in small quantities. So have some nibbles without the guilt.
11. Cookies.
12. Order some pizza or Thai food. You deserve it. Did I mention it’s quick and easy????

Healthy Pregnancy Drinks

On top of doing your best to consume healthy pregnancy snacks, you need to make sure you are staying hydrated while pregnant. This is very important! Here are some healthy pregnancy drinks / ideas to keep things interesting – yet healthy!

1. Water. Sorry, I know this sounds like a complete no-brainer… but YOU NEED TO STAY HYDRATEDDDDD. Aim to drink a gallon of water a day! Set reminders on your phone. Carry around a giant growler of water wherever you go. Whatever it takes… drink your water.
2. Hot lemon water + ginger. This one is amazing for nausea. Put some sliced ginger, the juice of 1 lemon, and hot water in a mug. Sip and enjoy. The ginger smell will deeply soothe you (and your tummy), as will the ritual of the warm drink. (Feel free to add some turmeric and cayenne pepper if you want to kick it up a notch.)
3. Infused fruit water. (Take some fruit, and perhaps a few herbs such as mint, add them to water, and let the flavor infuse for a few hours in the fridge! Don’t drink infused water past the first day, as it is unpasteurized.)
   

   Photo by Rawpixel

4. Coconut water
5. Ginger Ale – for nausea
6. Peppermint Tea- for nausea
7. Ginger + lemon tea- for nausea
8. Frozen gatorade, slightly thawed out.
9. Sparkling water + a spoonful of fruit juice. Grapefruit juice is an EXCELLENT nausea-buster, but any fruit juice will taste great and refreshing with the bubbles!
10. Fresh, pasteurized fruit juice. If homemade, drink it that same day!
11. Pasteurized vegetable juice. (Tomato, carrot, and beet juices are surprisingly tasty! If they taste too potent, you can always mix them with some water. Or sparkling water.)
12. A fresh green smoothie!
    

    Photo by Rawpixel

13. Apple cider vinegar drinks. Bragg’s makes tons of yummy flavors, like these Concord & Acai apple cider vinegar drinks.
14. Milk, or Chocolate milk.
15. Glass of iced tea with lemon (it does contain caffeine, so bear that in mind).
16. Lemonade (low-sugar variety)

Snacks to avoid while Pregnant:

Please bear in mind the things we DID NOT include on our list of healthy pregnancy snacks. These were not included in our healthy pregnancy snacks because they are not healthy for pregnant women, EVER! Stay away from the following:

1. Soft white cheeses (Feta, blue cheese, gorgonzola, etc)
2. Sushi
3. Booze
4. Deli/lunch meats
5. Raw sprouts
6. Raw or undercooked eggs
7. Liver (I’m sure that’s a pretty easy request to stay away from, but still!)

I’m sure there’s plenty more bad pregnancy foods I’m forgetting about or simply haven’t read about yet. I’m brand new to this pregnancy thing and learning as I go!

Best Foods to Eat When Pregnant

Would love to know your thoughts on this list of healthy pregnancy snacks- please leave me a comment! Are there any healthy pregnancy snacks that are missing from this list?!

What are, or have been, some of your favorite pregnancy snacks? Or even your snack options that weren’t healthy, but at least filled your belly and avoided nausea? What have YOU been craving during your pregnancy?

Please let myself, and our readers, know in the comments! I super appreciate any and all advice! 🙂

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