From kindergarten through senior year of high school, the best part about a school day ending was not the mellifluous tone of the bell, nor the freedom to go outside and run in circles like a madman, nor smashing rocks in a drainage ditch and hiding in bushes (that you called “forts”) with your best buds (I have such a relatable childhood). No, the best part of a school day ending was the promise of an after school snack.
Whether it was relatively boring (a Quaker Oat chewy granola bar, IYKYK) or the good stuff (Club crackers and apple slices), when consumed at 3:05 in the afternoon, anything tastes great. But which things taste the best? Well, that’s why we’re here—to tell you which snacks are best suited for that iconic post-school ~dining occasion~. Below are our top eight after school snacks, listed from snacky to satisfying.
- Sprouts Market Corner Low-Moisture Part-Skim String Cheese
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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: People are sleeping on string cheese. We all write it off as a kids’ snack (which it can be, this is an article about after school snacks, after all), but if you haven’t revisited peelable sticks of cheese as an adult, I implore you to get out there to Sprouts market and live a little. Whether you just got home from school or work or staring at a wall all day, string cheese is a perfect lil burst of protein, and this Sprouts Market Corner String Cheese is the perfect lil burst of string cheese to fill the string cheese-sized hole in your heart. Sporked staff writer Jordan Myrick praised its fantastic texture and said, “Even though it’s part-skim, the flavor is full fat.”
Related: Best String Cheese: The 5 Best String Cheeses Will Transport You Back to Elementary School
- Chex Mix Traditional
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Growing up, it seemed like eating Chex Mix made any situation into a party. I could sit by that glorious blue bag for eons, hunting for the most powder-caked, flavor bomb-lookin’, dark brown Chex pieces in the bunch. Chex Mix has all the food groups (bagel chips, rye chips, pretzels, Chex, and lil bread thingies ™), and not only that, it tastes fantastic. Chex Mix has a leg up on other snack mixes due to the aforementioned absolutely coated Chex pieces. As Sporked managing editor Gwynedd Stuart suggested, “If it’s been a while since you’ve had Chex Mix, you should really revisit it.” And there’s a pretty good chance your kid will love it, too. I mean, what’s not to love? It’s Chex Mix. It chex all the boxes.
Related: Best Snack Mix: Best Snack Mix for Party Time (or Anytime)
- Good & Gather Cinnamon Applesauce
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But Jessica! Whatever shall I do?! I tend to crave sweet snacks when 3:37 p.m. rolls around! (Side note, why do schools always end at like, 3:37 or 3:23 and 3/4 and not on the half-hour? This has bothered me for years!) If you want a sweet snack but are either a ten year old who needs nutrients or a health-conscious adult looking for some dietary fiber, look no further than Good & Gather Cinnamon Applesauce. And for those of you turning up your noses at applesauce as a concept, I would ask you, what do you think a smoothie is? Also, this particular applesauce is, “sweet and fragrant that it feels like dessert,” according to Sporked‘s taste testers. So…yes I will be buying this for after work.
Related: Best Applesauce: The 7 Best Applesauces to Savor With a Spoon
- Oikos Lemon Meringue Greek Yogurt
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As we move from snacky into more satisfying territory, I must confess this is another item I often had in my lunch from 8th through 12th grade and, let me tell you, it is a treat! If you save it until after school, you essentially get to reward yourself with a lemon meringue pie at the end of a long day of learning the limit does not exist and that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. Gwynedd accurately pointed out that “the tartness of the lemon and the natural tartness of the rich, decadent yogurt are a match made in heaven.” I agree with that wholeheartedly. This yogurt is a winner for sure.
Related: Best Greek Yogurt: Grab a Spoon for the 6 Best Greek Yogurt Flavors
- Lunchables Pizza Treatza
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We’ve now headed out of snack and into “almost full meals,” but hey, If you’re home around 3:30 p.m. and your parents won’t be home until 7 p.m.—or if your family just desires to dine fashionably late—sometimes you need something to tide yourself over until real dinnertime. Enter: Lunchables Pizza and Treatza. That’s two different kinds of ‘za if you’re keeping score. And, according to Jordan, both ‘zas apparently taste pretty good! Obviously not gourmet, but definitely interactive in the best way possible. Plus the Treatza comes with frosting 🙂
- La Terra Fina Artichoke & Jalapeño Dip
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Want to have a warm-out-of-the-microwave after school snack option? Look no further than this absolutely divine artichoke and jalapeño dip from Costco-topia (as my dad likes to call it). This stuff is cheesy, filling, and so good our taste testers noted that it is a dip you could eat with a spoon. Jordan thought this dip was truly special, saying, “It’s rich. It’s tangy. It’s briny thanks to the artichokes. It’s zesty and bright thanks to the jalapeños.” Whether or not your kid is an adventurous eater, give this dip and some tortilla chips a go and see if they’re suddenly artichoke dip’s number one fan. Plus, this one is very easy to snack on while doing homework, and if you wanted a healthier option than tortilla chips as a go-with, you could dip some raw veggies in it and it would 10,000% still slap.
Related: 9 Best Things to Buy at Costco, According to Our Taste Tests
- Impossible Nuggets
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I’m going to be honest, I never had chicken nuggets as an after school snack. But would I have loved to have had chicken nuggets as an after school snack? YOU BET YOUR BUTT I WOULD’VE. These Impossible nuggets probably would’ve made my whole year. They’ve truly done the impossible with these things. Jordan noted that it’s “wild how good and chickeny the Impossible Nuggets are.” During Sporked team’s plant-based nugget taste test, this was the only nugget that actually tasted like dark-meat chicken. In other words, try them! Feed them to your kid after school! Make their whole year! Make your own year!
Related: Best Vegan Chicken Nuggets: 6 Vegan Nuggets That Give the Drive-Thru a Run for Its Money
- Lean Cuisine French Bread Pepperoni Pizza
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Lastly, a literal meal. For when you are a hungry growing person and you need fuel so you can grow up to be the next Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson and you cannot possibly wait until dinner to acquire said fuel. This may be a Lean Cuisine meal, but don’t write it off just yet—the bread may not be bakery quality, but the pepperoni? Gwynedd described it as “salty, oily, and spicy,” and by my calculations, that’s everything you want in a pepperoni. Also, this may be a hot take, but even the saddest of pizzas can be completely saved by the presence of tasty pepperoni. So, will this pizza satisfy your post-school, pre-dinner pizza itch? Signs point to yes.
Related: Best Lean Cuisine Meals: The 8 Leanest and Meanest in the Freezer
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!