Searching for AIP snacks when on the autoimmune protocol diet can be daunting. In particular, packaged snacks usually have at least one pesky ingredient (if not many) that is not compliant. Boo! Consequently, it can be tricky at first to find what works but there are options! Luckily, tons of easy AIP snack recipes and healthy AIP store-bought snacks exist to help get you through.
If you have an autoimmune condition and you’re following an AIP diet, snacks can be vital for helping you to get through the day. Certainly, the focus of AIP is eating primarily nutrient-dense meals but when hunger and cravings strike between meals, it’s important to have something ready to eat.
Keeping AIP store-bought snacks and homemade snacks around the house is important. However, it's even more important to have them with you when you’re out in the world and don’t have access to AIP friendly fare. Whether you’re at school, work, traveling, camping, driving kids around, or just generally on the go, these AIP snack ideas should help to keep you satisfied and on track.
If you’re looking for handy AIP packaged snacks or some quick AIP snack recipes you can make, you will find both here. In addition, I'll offer a few snacking tips as well as the best places to find AIP recipes and snack foods. All of the ideas listed in this post are elimination phase compliant.
**Just a quick heads up- this post contains affiliate links which means if you click on them and buy something, I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) to help continue maintaining this site.
Best Places to find AIP Packaged Snacks
ShopAIP
ShopAIP is an amazing resource for finding some of the best AIP products out there. Since they only sell AIP compliant foods, it takes a lot of the stress and headache out of AIP food shopping.
Best of all, they have the site broken up by stages of AIP reintroductions, so you know that you’re staying compliant whether doing the elimination phase or working through reintroductions.
In other words, they’re a cool place to find a lot of unique AIP snack foods that you may not have previously heard about. It’s fun to just browse the site looking for ideas.
Don’t live in the US? Luckily, they ship products not only all over the US but also to Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
Wild Zora
Wild Zora’s soups and freeze-dried fruits make for awesome AIP snacks because they are super lightweight and easy to take anywhere. Plus, they also have delicious meat and veggie bars. This company also ships worldwide. Woohoo!
Amazon
You gotta love Amazon Prime and super fast free shipping. If you don’t have Prime yet, you can try it free for 30 days here. I certainly seek Amazon out pretty regularly especially when it comes to special AIP baking flours that I can’t find at my grocery store.
Thrive Market
Thrive Market is another great resource for accessing AIP-friendly snacks online. If you can’t find certain items at your local store OR if you can find them locally but they’re expensive, Thrive Market is a great place to check out.
Costco and Sam’s Club
I’ve been able to find quite a few AIP snack foods in bulk at both of these stores. Costco is my favorite but I’m currently closest to a Sam’s. If you have a membership to either one, keep your eyes open for deals!
Your Grocery Store
Keep an eye out for AIP snacks at your regular grocery store. Aside from the obvious fresh produce, many grocery stores have specialty snack items that are compliant. Sometimes I surprise myself with the unique AIP-friendly items I find at my Kroger. Often I'll just stumble upon them and they're not in the place you'd expect! What I'm trying to say is don't underestimate your local store and don't forget to explore!
Farmer’s Market
I love scouting out the farmers’ market whenever possible to find unique produce to incorporate for snacks and meals. This is a great way to keep things fresh and exciting, allowing you to focus on all the wonderful things you can eat vs. can’t.
Paleo on the Go
Paleo on the Go primarily sells ready-made AIP meals but they also carry a few handy on-the-go snacky things like Bone Broth, Apple Cinnamon Paleo Tarts, Empanadas, and Carrot Cake Muffins.
Sweet Apricity
This company sells awesome AIP treats like caramels, marshmallows, and caramel sauce which is great for an occasional fun sweet treat.
Sweet Potato Awesome
These chips are perfect for satisfying salty crunchy snacks. They have a bunch of different flavors of sweet potato chips. Their AIP Super Sampler Pack is a fun way to try them out.
My Favorite Places to Find Simple Snack Recipes:
Aside from the obvious Pinterest, here a few other cool places to find AIP friendly snack recipes:
Autoimmune Protocol Recipes Facebook Group
Firstly, this a very active and fun group of more than 80k members. Secondly, there are tons of great ideas, recipes, and questions to keep you busy for hours. If you're looking for something specific, you can just use the search function to find it. For example, if you searched "snacks," you'd find several lengthy discussions with everyone offering their favorite go-to AIP snack recipes and tips.
Yummly
Food Gawker
Pheonix Helix
Healing Autoimmune
Unbound Wellness
Thriving on Paleo
Autoimmune Wellness
AIP Recipe Collection
Real Plans
This is a meal planning app/service that provides easy AIP snack recipes and meal recipes in a very organized fashion. Additionally, you can add recipes from around the web and it'll incorporate them into your meal plan and shopping list. Certainly, it's much easier and faster than doing it all manually. It does cost a little bit of money but it's handy and they do offer a 10-day money-back guarantee. I did an extensive review about it here if you'd like to learn more about it.
Snack Recipes and Ideas
Fruit and Veggie Snacks
- Baked Apples, Nyssa's Kitchen
- Bear Real Fruit Snack Rolls
- Frozen Grapes
- Strawberry Salsa, A Girl Worth Saving
- Dried Fruits: Figs- Be sure to choose unsulfered with no added sugar.), Dried Dates, Dried Apricots
- Freeze-Dried Fruit
- Fresh Fruit
- Whole Avocado
- Applesauce Cups- Be sure to choose a product without added sugar or “natural flavors” which tend to be dicey ingredients when it comes to AIP. Since Ascorbic acid is just vitamin C, it gets a pass.
- Olives (Green or Black)- Be sure to choose a “natural” olive product like Linsday Naturals, which only contains olive, water, and sea salt. Watch out for additives.
- Cucumber Salad, What Great Grandma Ate
- Prosciutto Wrapped Melon- Many brands in grocery stores are AIP compliant. Just make sure they only contain pork and salt.
- Sea Snacks (Seaweed Sheets)
- AIP Crispy Avocado or Zucchini Fries, Simply AIP
- Smoothie bowl, A Squirrel in the Kitchen
- AIP Trail Mix, Food Courage
Soup
- Freeze-Dried Soups- Wild Zora’s soups are so light and easy to take with you. As such, they're perfect for quick work snacks, travel, camping, etc. As long as you have access to hot water, you’re good to go.
Drinks
- Vanilla Banana Protein Powder- I don’t know what it is about protein shakes but I always find myself drawn to them. I think it’s mainly because they tend to contain a good bit of protein and nutrients. Plus, it's easy to incorporate them into AIP homemade snacks like smoothies or n'oatmeal. It’s rare to find an AIP friendly protein shake, so this product is pretty exciting.
- AIP Chicory Latte, Cook2Nourish
- AIP Herbal Coffee Alternative, Health Nut Mama
- Apple Beet Berry Smoothie, Food Courage
Sweet Snacks and Treats (Recipes and Packaged)
- Sweet Apricity Sea Salted Caramels
- Grass-Fed Gelatin Vanilla Marshmallows
- Organic Dried Dates and Tigernut Butter- This is such a simple yet awesome AIP snack recipe. Although dates are quite sugary, they're also packed with vitamins and minerals. Plus, they satisfy a sweet tooth. Add some tigernut to them and you've got a winning combo. Since the tigernut butter is rich and creamy, it balances out the sweetness of the dates perfectly.
- Parfait with AIP Coconut Yogurt (The Roasted Root), Fruit, and AIP compliant cereal like Lovebird or NUCO
- Carob Covered Fruit- You can get carob powder here or here.
- “Nice Cream”: Vanilla (A Squirrel in the Kitchen), Strawberry (Grazed and Enthused), “Chocolate”/Carob (Hurried Health Nut)
- Chewy Banana Bites
- Gummies- Check out this roundup post with 37 awesome gummy recipes made with the gut-healing power of gelatin.
- 5-Ingredient Banana Bread Mug Cake- As I mentioned above, with the Paleo/AIP diet, it’s best to focus on nutrient-dense foods and not overdo it on the sweet stuff. That being said, this treat is relatively nutrient-dense, being made mainly with bananas and tiger nut flour.
- Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins- As far as homemade AIP snacks go, these muffins are pretty easy to make and store so you can snack on them throughout the week.
Crackers
- Garlic Rosemary Plantain Crackers (AIP), Autoimmune Wellness
- Cassava Cheese Crackers, Bon AIPPetit
- Serve crackers with AIP Cheese OR AIP Cheese with Fresh Parsley (A Squirrel in the Kitchen)
Chips
- Kale Chips, Healing Autoimmune
- Cassava Strips with Sea Salt
- Oven Roasted Root Vegetable Chips, Gutsy by Nature
- Savory Roasted Coconut Chips with Oregano, A Squirrel in the Kitchen
- Plantain Chips
- Dill Cucumber Chips, Bon AIPPetit
- Kale Chips, Bon AIPPetit
- DANG! Coconut Chips
- Purple Sweet Potato Chips
- Apple Chips
Protein Bars, Snack Bars, Bites, and Balls
- Grain-Free Coconut Granola Bars, Unbound Wellness
- Apricot Protein Bites, Food Courage
- Paleo Angel Power Balls
- No-Bake Carrot Cake Protein Balls
Snacks for gut health are never a bad idea, especially on AIP. Thus, these little protein balls, with their added collagen powder boost, are perfect for that. In addition, it doesn't hurt that they're easy to make and come together in only 10 minutes.
- Key Lime Pie Energy Balls, Food Courage
This recipe is super easy to make and so tasty. As such, these are a definite go-to of mine when it comes to homemade AIP snacks.
Jerky and Meat Sticks
- Coconut Jerky
- AIP Jerky Recipe: Beef Jerky, My Big Fat Grain Free Life
- Wild Zora has some awesome meat and veggie bars as well: Mediterranean Lamb and Apple Pork
- Meat Sticks like Chomps (Italian Style) or Sea Salt
- Meat Bars Like Epic Beef Apple Bacon and Bison Bacon Cranberry Bars are AIP friendly foods.
Crunchy Snacks
- Sweet Potato Awesome Super Sampler (Use the code "foodcourage" for a 10% discount)
Quick and Easy AIP Snack Recipes
Making your own AIP homemade snacks is a great option for keeping costs down and staying compliant. Check out some of these easy ideas:
- Tuna Salad Bites, Thriving on Paleo
- Sweet and Savory Fried Plantains, Fed and Fulfilled
- Bacon-Wrapped Pears, A Squirrel in the Kitchen
- Cinnamon Crispy Date Bites, Lichen Paleo Loving AIP
- Chicken Salad (Unrefined Junkie) with Plantain chips or cassava crackers
- Cinnamon Apple Snack (Thriving on Paleo)
Paleo AIP Cinnamon Apple Snack, Thriving on Paleo
Dips, Spreads, and Salsas
Need something to dip your chips, crackers, or fruit in? Check out these AIP dips:
- Roasted Green Onion Salsa Verde, Meatified
- Nightshade-Free Fodmap-Friendly Salsa, SoleFire Wellness
- Microwave Salsa, The Unskilled Cavewoman
- Easy AIP Guacamole, A Girl in Healing
- Slow Cooker Pumpkin Butter, AIPPetit
- Lemon Garlic Hummus, A Squirrel in the Kitchen
- Olive Tapenade, POTG Test Kitchen
- No-Nut Tigernut Spread, Lichen Paleo Loving AIP
- AIP Tzatziki Sauce, Eat Heal Thrive
- Pesto, Holistic Rendezvous. Serve with AIP Flatbread (Thriving on Paleo)
- Avocado Cauliflower Hummus, Unbound Wellness
- 4 Ingredient Caramel Sauce, Food Courage
Other
- Canned Salmon, Albacore Tuna, Mackerel or Sardines
- Meat and Veggie Roll-Ups made with lettuce/kale/chard or coconut cassava wraps
- AIP Nachos, Grass Fed Salsa
- Smoked Salmon Avocado Boats, A Squirrel in the Kitchen
Smoked Salmon Avocado Boats, A Squirrel in the Kitchen
Snacking Tips
1. Keep It Simple
While it’s fun to try new fancy AIP snack recipes, focusing on simple whole foods is the most sustainable, healthy, and cost-effective way to go about AIP snacking (or really any healthy snacking).
2. Buy Packaged Snacks in Bulk and Pre-Portion
If you're able to find healthy AIP packaged snacks in bulk, it’s probably worth stocking up. Just portion them into zip lock bags or containers, so they are ready to take with you in a hurry. Additionally, pre-portioning will also help to limit overeating.
3. Buy Pre-Cut Fruits and Vegetables
Pre-cut fruits and veggies do cost more but if you’re lacking time to properly prep healthy foods, these can be a life-saver.
4. Combine Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fats
Balancing the macros in your meals will help you to stay satisfied longer and keep blood sugar and energy levels stable. This is to say, just make sure you get a little bit of protein, fat, and carbs in each meal. Don't worry about getting too specific with the actual macro numbers.
5. Don't Over-Do it on AIP Packaged Snacks and Treats
AIP packaged snacks are super handy, help to squash cravings, and soothe the soul. That being said, try not to lean on them too heavily, as fresh whole foods still need to remain the focus of your diet.
6. Eat Mindfully
Try to listen to your body and figure out the reason you’re snacking. For example, if you notice your hunger/cravings are stress or boredom-related, try to address those things in another way.
7. Be Aware of Calorie Intake
I don't think it's always necessary or even healthy to track calories all the time. However, it's good to have an idea of what you're taking in. This can be helpful if you are trying to lose (or even gain weight) so you know how to modify your current intake. Fitness Volt has a handy calorie intake calculator that can tell you about how many calories you should be getting in a day to meet your goals.
Conclusion:
I hope you found this post useful. If you have any great go-to AIP snack recipes or products to add to this list, please leave a comment below!
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @foodcourage for the latest AIP/Paleo recipes, autoimmune nutrition info, and Food Courage happenings!
This post is shared on the Paleo AIP Recipe Roundtable.
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like:
24 Easy Fast Paleo Snack Ideas
The 7-Day AIP Meal Plan For Busy People
57+ AIP Paleo Pantry Items: What They Are and What to Do With Them!
Andrea says
Whoa! This list is the most comprehensive AIP snack list I have ever seen! Thank you so much for sharing! So many great ideas!
Arika | FoodCourage says
Thanks Andrea!
MamaNawa says
I agree to the earlier comment! This is a WONDERFUL list! Thank you so much for gathering this list and sorting it so! I have been dreading the AIP for soo long as I have been finding it awfully overwhelming and stressful to figure out where I should go and what I should do to try AIP. I will certainly check out your Instagram page as well. THANKS AGAIN!
Arika | FoodCourage says
Thanks so much for the wonderful comment- I appreciate it. I'm so glad you like it!
Robin Smarr says
Thank you for this amazing list!!
Can you have raisins on the AIP diet?
Arika | FoodCourage says
Hi Robin- You're very welcome! Yes, raisins are fine on AIP. Just make sure the only ingredient is raisins (no added oils or other weird ingredients).
Robin Smarr says
Thank you so much!!!!
Arika | FoodCourage says
Hi Robin- Absolutely!!
Robin Smarr says
Hi Arika!
I have another question.
I drink 4 cups of coffee every morning just so I can kind of, sort of, function. If I quit coffee cold turkey, like I’ve tried to do before, I get excruciating migraines. If I comply with everything else on the AIP diet, would not giving up coffee be that big of an issue?
Arika | FoodCourage says
Hey! I think everyone tolerates coffee differently- some people do fine with it and some people don't tolerate it well. If you want to try to gradually wean off of it, that's definitely easier than cold turkey. For example, drink 3 cups/day for a week, then 2 cups, then 1, etc. Or you could start making your coffee with half chicory root coffee (or another coffee sub) to help wean off the caffeine. If you've eliminated it before and didn't feel better off of it, and you're done trying to eliminate it, I'd say it's probably ok to keep it around in moderation. If you're still doing all the other AIP things, I'd say that's absolutely better than not doing AIP at all and you'll see benefits from it.
Robin Smarr says
Thank you so much for your help, Arika!
You and your site are so helpful! I appreciate all that you’re doing to educate people and make the AIP diet easier to understand.
Arika | FoodCourage says
Absolutely! Thanks so much for your kind words and support.