High-Protein Trail Mix
Nuts, seeds, and enough chocolate that you actually eat it.
- calories
- 320
- weight
- 2 oz
- cal / oz
- 160
- protein
- 10 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 5 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- No cook
- Backpacking
- Thru-hike
- Day hike
- Bikepacking
- Car camping
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Almonds | 1 cup | salted or not, your call |
|---|---|---|
| Cashews | 1 cup | dry roasted |
| Peanuts | 1 cup | the cheap protein in the bowl |
| Dried coconut, chopped | 1/2 cup | unsweetened chips, not the shredded sweetened stuff |
| Shelled sunflower seeds | 1/2 cup | |
| Pepitas | 1/2 cup | |
| Dried cranberries | 1/2 cup | unsweetened if you can find them |
| Dark chocolate chips | 1/2 cup | leave out in summer heat |
Method
- Dump everything into a large bowl and stir until the small stuff stops sitting at the bottom.
- Portion into eight bags, about 2 oz each. Measure once, then eyeball the rest.
- Seal and squeeze the air out. It keeps for weeks in a pack.
- On trail, eat straight from the bag.
Trail mix earns its place by having no failure mode. No stove, no water, no waiting, and it does not care if it rides in a hip belt pocket for four days. This one leans on three nuts plus sunflower seeds and pepitas, which is where the protein comes from — dried fruit and chocolate are close to zero on that front.
The unsweetened coconut is doing more than it looks like. It is mostly fat, so it pushes the calorie density up without adding weight, and the big chips give the mix some texture against the seeds. Chocolate is the bribe: without it most people stop reaching into the bag by day two.
Packing
Single 2 oz bags, not one big sack. A shared bag gets eaten in a day and leaves you with nothing on day four. Chocolate melts above about 90°F, so in real heat pack it in its own bag and add it at camp when things cool off.
Variations
- Swap the cranberries for chopped dried mango or apricot if you want less sugar per bite.
- Drop the peanuts and use walnuts and pecans for a mix that reads richer and less salty.
- Cacao nibs instead of chocolate chips if you are hiking somewhere hot.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/yummy-recipe-high-protein-sweet-salty-trail-mix