There are a lot of great foods that travel well and do not need to be kept cold. This is super helpful if you will be boondocking for a long time. I started looking into this when we were planning a long stay at the Grand Canyon.
Whenever you are traveling for a long time you will want to have some food that you can store for a while.
Choose a balance between savory and sweet, but be sure you choose foods that you like! Eat what you pack and pack what you eat.
It is possible to have a great road trip without a cooler full of ice. Many people do not have space for a full sized cooler or they plan to be out and away longer than ice could keep the food cold.
Check out these lists to plan for your next trip.
No Ice Road Trip Snacks
I did a large survey of 400 road trip enthusiasts and they gave me over 700 of their favorite snacks for road trips and a lot of them do not require ice.
Choose your favorites on this list to build an awesome snack stash:
Beef Jerky
Peanut Butter Crackers
Sunflower Seeds
Popcorn
Cashews
Protein Bars
Corn Nuts
Cheez-its
Chips
Dried Mango
Cereal Bars
Cookies
Prunes
Almond Butter
Trail Mix
Apples
Cherry Turkey Jerky
Brownie Brittle
Rice Krispies
Muddy Buddies
Pecans
Yogurt Covered Raisins
Boiled Peanuts
Craisins
Summer Sausage
Smoked Almonds
Sesame Sticks
Fritos and Bean Dip
Pop Tarts
Fruit Leather
I think adding a bit of candy to your non-perishable food store is a great idea. It can get boring to eat nuts and beef jerky, and candy can be a nice treat every so often. Avoid chocolate so that you do not have to worry about fluctuating temperatures in your car.
Here are some great candies that will fit the bill:
Lifesavers (Strawberry and Rum Butter are favorites)
Lemon Drops
Runts
Sour Patch Kids (could potentially melt in very high temperatures)
Tootsie Pops
Skittles
No Ice Road Trip Meals
Preparing a meal on the road is a great way to save money over fast food. There are a lot of great options for no ice meal ideas:
- Tortilla chips with peanut butter and chocolate chips – Great sweet treat and you can roll it up and slice it to arrange it into a nice lunch for kids too.
- Tuna or Chicken Salad Sandwiches – Grab some mayo packets from a sandwich shop, or order some on Amazon to keep on hand.
- Cheese and Crackers with Summer Sausage and olives – Road trip charcuterie can be a fancy lunch, use canned cheese for a shelf stable option.
- Jerky and Trail Mix is a great meal that is full of fiber and protein.
- Apple and Peanut or Almond Butter – This super filling meal is a great mix of salty and sweet. Grab your favorite drink and this can make a great lunch.
- Bean Dip on Tortillas – grab some pre seasoned refried beans in the form of bean dip and spread it on tortillas for a nice lunch. You could add an avocado for some nutrition.
- Tuna in Oil with Olives and Sparkling Water- A great low carb lunch that will hit those macros.
- Peanut Butter and Fluff Sandwiches – This nostalgic sandwich is a great one for when you don’t have the cooler along with you.
These are my favorite no-ice lunches when you are rolling down the road, but if you want to take it up a notch you should grab my favorite road trip accessory: A Hot Logic food warmer (affiliate link).
It is a portable oven that plugs into your car and you can use it to make hot meals in the car.
We have used ours for over 2 years almost daily. It is a game changer. We have used it to heat frozen meals and make quesadillas. You can think of it like a crock pot for the car.
Use the Hot Logic to take normal shelf stable food into a hot meal on the road.
We have used it at home and on the road to make:
- Chicken quesadillas
- Chili (Or Chili dogs)
- Hot Dogs
- Roast Beef Subs
- Korr’s Sides
- Dehydrated Meals
- Canned Soups
- Premade-Rice Packs with Seasoned Canned Beans
You could use the Hot Logic to warm up leftovers if you stop for lunch, or pack some hiker meals that will rehydrate well with a little water in the Hot Logic.
Grab a pyrex or even a paper bowl and put the contents in the Hot Logic and plug it in. There are no controls and it will heat the food to the perfect temperature without burning anything.
You can find a few other Hot Logic recipes in this post, and a few more no-prep meal ideas in this one.
What are some good non-perishable foods?
Think about the grocery store, 80% of the food in there does not require refrigeration. You can pack a lot of these things into the car to keep bellies full for days and days without stopping.
You just need to consider what will work best for your family on your trip.
Space saving options include dehydrated meals and canned food, while exciting foods like chips and cheez-its will take up more space but may keep you from being tempted to hit the fast food window.
Here are my family’s favorite non-perishable foods for a road trip:
- Graham Crackers
- Pretzels
- Cheez-its
- Gummy Snacks
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Gatorade
- Arnold Palmer Tea
- Tortillas
- Oreos
- Juice Boxes
- Dum Dums
- Fruit Leather
Here are some other ideas from a survey of 400 road trippers:
- Beef Sticks
- Boiled Peanuts
- Salami
- Dried Fruit
- Protein Bars
- Granola Bars
- Almonds
- Corn Nuts
- M&Ms
- Pistachios
- Cheetos
- Combos
- Cashews
- Pringles
- Popcorn
- Chips
- Peanuts
- Sunflower Seeds
- Trail Mix
- Twizzlers
- Sesame Sticks
- Dr. Pepper
- Pop Tarts
- Cake
- Starbursts
- Bugles
- Cheeto Puffs
- PB Filled Pretzels
- Dry Cereal
- Takis
- Hot Tamales
- Kind Bars
- Tootsie Pops
- Gummy Bears
- Sardines with Red Pepper Flakes
- Flaming Hot Cheetos
- Purines
- Chocolate Covered Almonds
- Golden Oreos
- Sour Candy
- Muddy Buddies
- Rice Krispies
- Charleston Chew
- Pea Crisps
- Almond Butter
- Pepperoni
- Nilla Wafers
- Fritos
- Sour Cream and Onion Chips
- Summer Sausage
- Kettle Corn
- Teddy Grahams
- Chicharones
- Smoked Almonds
- Goldfish
- Pork Rinds
- Oranges
- Doritos
- Nutter Butter
- Funyuns
- Little Debbie Snack Cakes
- Licorice
- Peanut Butter
- Dried Apples
These are a few of the ideas I found in my large road trip snack guide post where I have a list of over 700 snacks organized into a printable list.
You are sure to find some ideas for your next trip on that list.
