Homemade Trail Mix Recipe Ideas

Learn the basics to creating your own trail mix at home.

The perfect homemade trail mix calls for the correct proportion of sweet, salty, nutty, and crunchy. Your trail mix should fill you up while you are out on a hike or craving an afternoon snack at work.

Understanding the anatomy of trail mix will allow you to create a tasty, yet healthy snack mix that’s super easy to make. Keep these five foods in mind the next time you make trail mix: nuts, dried fruits, grains, seeds, and sweets.

Also, try out Blain’s Farm & Fleet’s Peanut Butter Banana Trail Mix, Sunshine Trail Mix, Healthy Harvest Trail Mix, and Tropical Trail Mix recipes listed at the end of this blog. These healthy trail mixes make the perfect snack for any occasion!

The Anatomy of Trail Mix

Nuts

Regardless of what type of trail mix you’re looking to make, nuts are the most important ingredient. They provide the crunch and flavor that helps bring everything together.

Additionally, these pint-sized nutritional dynamos offer a high caloric value. Nuts are loaded with healthy fats, protein, fiber, antioxidants, vitamin E, and other essential vitamins and minerals. They will provide the energy and nutrients you need to make it through the day.

Some of our favorite options include almonds, peanuts, cashews, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, and mixed nuts.

Dried Fruit

Dried fruit helps provide a sweet kick to your trail mix and gives it some aesthetic beauty. From the deep red of dried cranberries to the bright yellow of dried pineapple, dried fruit is sure to bring your trail mix to life!

Plus, it’s nutrient dense, high in fiber and phenols, and provides your body with much-needed sugars.

There’s a large variety of dried fruit to help add some flavor and fun to your trail mix. Choose from a selection of dried apricots, raisins, cranberries, dates, banana chips, cherries, kiwi fruit, pineapples, prunes, and fruit mixes.

Grains & Seeds

Adding grains to your trail mix will help ensure it’s the only snack you need between lunch and dinner. This is because grains contain complex carbohydrates. They help boost overall energy levels in your body and help you feel full longer.

If you have nut allergies or are just looking to mix things up, seeds are a great item to include in your trail mix. They provide many of the same nutritional benefits as nuts. Seeds contain protein, iron, calcium, potassium, vitamin E, and magnesium.

Help fuel your body for the day ahead by adding some pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, or sunflower seeds to your trail mix. You can also consider adding pretzels, cereals, and popcorn to your homemade mix!

Sweets

Unlike the other ingredients, sweets do not provide a great deal of nutritional value to your trail mix. This is why you must be extra cautious on how many different types of sweets you include.

We recommend things like peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, yogurt-covered raisins, shredded coconut, and semi-sweet mini gems to add the extra bit of sugar you’re looking for.

Just remember that everything is good in moderation, and this rule definitely applies to sweets.

Trail Mix Recipes

The great thing about making your own trail mix is there are endless possibilities and flavor combinations to choose from! Experiment by making up your own concoctions, or try out one of our five delicious recipes below.

For all of these recipes, all you have to do is combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Store your trail mix in an airtight container. We recommend using a mason jar. The trail mix should keep for up to one month.

Peanut Butter Banana Trail Mix

• 2 cups raw almonds
• 1 cup peanuts
• 1 cup dried banana chips
• 2/3 cup creamy peanut chips
• 2/3 cup chocolate chips

Sunshine Trail Mix

• 3/4 cup dried pineapple
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup Brazil nuts

Healthy Harvest Trail Mix

• 3/4 cup raw pecans (option to toast in oven for 10 minutes at 350° F for extra crunch)
• 3/4 cup raw cashews (option to toast in oven for 10 minutes at 350° F for extra crunch)
• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup cherries
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped chocolate chips
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg

Tropical Trail Mix

• 3/4 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup banana chips
• 1/2 cup dried pineapple, diced
• 1/2 cup dried mango, diced
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

For more easy snack ideas, check out our other Cooking & Recipes articles.