Healthy Snacks for Teens: Nutritious and Delicious Snacks That Keep Teens

Healthy Snacks for Teens: Nutritious and Delicious Snacks That Keep Teens

Introduction

Eating nutritious food not only helps ensure high energy levels among teenagers but may also support proper cognitive and physical development. Teenage is a time when a child can go through massive physical and emotional changes, which is why taking care of diet becomes important. Physical wellness may also enhance a teen’s performance at school and make them feel more involved in extracurricular activities as well.

Other than the three important meals that a teen has in a day, snacking helps provide an instant dose of energy to the kid. These snacks are generally consumed in the evening or between breakfast and lunchtime. A commonly consumed quick fix to instant hunger can be packaged snacks. However, these snacks can contain a significant number of harmful substances. In such a scenario consuming healthier snacks is a better option in terms of boosting nutrition and fixing hunger. Here is a look at such nutritional snacks that parents can serve to their teenagers.

Teenager-Friendly Healthy Snacks

Here is a list of some nutritional snacks for teenagers.

Makhana

Also known as fox nuts, makhana are crunchy, light, and nutritious. These can be simply roasted in a pan with little to no oil. Once they become a bit crunchy, parents may flip the sides of makhana to make them crunchy from both ends. Now parents may transfer these into a separate plate and add some chaat masala on top. To make these snacks even more interesting, parents may add some chopped onions and tomatoes and convert this into a proper makhana chaat. These can be healthier alternatives to packaged chips or popcorn. Additionally, it's satisfying, but not too fulfilling, which makes it perfect for a mid-evening snack.

Sweet Potato

Sweet potato is a nutritious source of carbohydrates and other essential nutrients. It is already a very popular snack in India and can be prepared in a lot of different ways. A simple way of preparing sweet potatoes is by cutting them into small pieces and then putting them in the microwave and baking them for 5 to 10 minutes until they become soft. Now you may sprinkle some salt and black pepper and serve it to your child. Another way can be boiling the sweet potato and then mixing it with some tamarind and coriander chutney and serving it to the kid. In both scenarios, the sweet potato is going to be equally tempting.

Fruit Salad

A huge and hearty bowl of seasonal fruits can be a great dose of vitamins and minerals for your child. For summers, parents may pick fruits like watermelon, mangoes, and muskmelons. Similarly, depending on the season, you may keep playing around with the type of fruits that you are adding. To enhance its nutritional proportion, you may also add some pumpkin and flax seeds along with a little bit of honey mixed with hung curd and water as a dressing. The fruit bowl is going to be a refreshing and hydrating source of nourishment for your child. Also, it is a very quick snack for parents to prepare as one has to simply chop the different fruits and assemble them in a bowl before serving them to the child.

Banana Chips

If you're looking for the perfect alternative to packaged potato chips, then here is a great alternative for you. Banana chips can be made at home with minimum coconut oil in an air fryer. To make these at home, you would need some raw bananas that have to be cut into thin circles. Now each of these bananas has to be soaked into a spice mix of turmeric powder, salt, and a little bit of water. Let them rest like this for at least 10 minutes and then add them out on a separate plate. Now add a little bit of coconut oil along with turmeric powder and cover them with these two ingredients properly before air frying them. These are crunchy, full of flavor, and extremely appetizing.

Chana Chaat

Chana chaat is a quick chaat recipe that is made by mixing boiled chickpeas with finely chopped vegetables like capsicum, onion, carrots along with tomatoes. Into this mixture, one may add salt, black pepper, and some lemon juice for that extra flavor. After mixing everything properly, the chaat can be served to your child. You may also add different types of dressings to make the salad even more delicious. It will take less than 10 minutes to get prepared if your chickpeas are pre-boiled. The snack is rich in fiber, protein, and carbohydrates and can be a quick fix to hunger.

Sooji Pizza

Sooji pizza is a tempting and easy-to-make snack that is made by preparing a thick batter of sooji with water, spices, and vegetables. This batter is smoothly spread over multigrain bread with some finely chopped vegetables. Now, you may spread some butter on a pan and let the bread slice cook. After some time, you may flip the side of the bread and let the sooji mixture cook properly. To make it a bit cheesier, you can add some mozzarella cheese on the top. However, it is an optional step. Once both sides of the bread are cooked properly, you may serve it to your child with some dip on the side.

Conclusion

These are some healthy yet extremely delicious snacks that can be made at home for your teenager. Most of these can be prepared with some common ingredients already available in the kitchen and can be a quick fix to your child's instant hunger.