The Best and Worst Gas Station Snacks for Road Trips
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One of the best parts of a road trip is the snacks. Memories of popping into a gas station during the drive and picking out the best chips and candies to fill our stomachs overwhelm us with nostalgia. We dissect our favorite gas station snacks as well as the ones we tend to avoid based on years of family road trips and excursions.
The Best
The tastiest snacks available for purchase at the gas station — chips, candy, bottled drinks, and beef jerky aplenty.
1. Takis
Who can go wrong with a spicy corn chip coated in fiery-lime-tinted red spice? Takis’ taste lingers long after finishing the bag, and the addictive chips keep customers craving more.
2. Jerky
No snack appeals more to a long-haul road trip than a salty slab of vacuum-sealed jerky. Jerky is a protein source with a long shelf life, making it the perfect on-the-road snack, especially when traveling through varying temperatures.
3. Pretzels
Satisfying crunch ensues when biting into a crispy wheat flour snack dotted with salt. Unlike other snacks, pretzels do not leave a sticky residue on fingers after consumption.
4. Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn
Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn is a snack that curbs your appetite but leaves fingers sticky with white cheddar dust. The kernels maintain a lighter personality than other popcorn brands with more intense flavor, yet it’s difficult not to indulge in the whole bag.
5. Gatorade
Recharge electrolytes and refuel with a cool, refreshing sip of Gatorade. The energy drink comes in numerous flavors, but our favorite is grape. Yes, we said it. Grape Gatorade is the superior flavor.
6. Peanut M&M’s
Combine two delicious snacks in one gas station purchase with Peanut M&M’s. A chocolatey layer encapsulates a solid peanut for a perfect combination of the greatest candy merge of all time.
7. Flamin’ Hot Cheetos
While hot snack enthusiasts know Takis and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos offer varying kinds of spice, not everyone understands the differences. Takis pack a limey, crunchy punch while Flamin’ Hot Cheetos’ spicy, cheesy flavor dissolves onto the tastebuds, growing in heat after each bite.
8. Donuts
Who can go wrong with a gas station donut? Gas station/convenience store chain Wawa supplies customers with delicious donut flavors like Boston Cream, glazed, Apple Fritters, and holiday specials. A bite into a gooey glazed donut cures any bout of road rage.
9. Jolly Rancher Gummies
Jolly Rancher Gummies are perfect for our non-gelatin-consuming friends looking for a satiating gummy treat without the animal by-product. Jolly Rancher Gummies come in a few flavors (our hearts hold a special spot for the wild berry flavor) and they taste like hard candy.
10. Sunflower Seeds
Live out your baseball player daydreams with a pack of salted (or unsalted, we won’t judge) sunflower seeds. Peel off a sliver of the package, sling a salty sunflower seed snack into your mouth, and enjoy.
11. Almonds
If you’re looking for a snack without added fats, sodium, carbohydrates, or any additive and preservative prevalent in many snacks, opt for plain, unsalted, unflavored almonds. The tasty nut fills cravings and contains vital nutrients like magnesium, vitamin E, and fiber.
12. Granola Bars
Granola bars are another snack that give a surge of energy — but check the label since some brands hide unhealthy ingredients. Nutritional granola bars lean on generous portions of protein, like nut butter, seeds, nuts, and oats.
13. Gummy Bears
On special occasions, we pick out a bag of gummy bears to acknowledge our inner child and revert to memories affected by the adorable, squishy candy. We eat the strawberry, lemon, and orange bears first, saving up our favorite flavors, pineapple and raspberry, for the final bites.
14. Spicy Nacho Doritos
Forget traditional flavors like Nacho Cheese and Cool Ranch — elevate the tastebuds with a bag of Spicy Nacho Doritos. These chips deliver a tasty, spicy, and sweet but not overbearing cheese flavor perfect for a satisfying snack that focuses on several flavors.
15. Cheez-It Crackers
Extra toasty, regular, white cheddar and the endless Cheez-It options (gas stations hold bags with mixed flavors) serve as fabulous snacks during long car rides. Each bag contains a good amount of crackers, each with a delectable flavor and gratifying crunch.
16. Ice Cream Bars
As children, we flocked to the freezer boasting frozen sweet treats in the corner of the gas station. Ice cream cookie sandwiches, fudge bars, and popsicles overflow the freezer and it’s a perfect stop for snackers searching for sweets.
17. Sour Gummy Worms
Sour gummy worms intrigue the part of the population that enjoys the sting of sour sugar dancing atop candy, causing facial winces and visceral reactions. For those who appreciate sour candy’s acidic bite, sour gummy worms prove their worth.
18. Pickle-In-A-Pouch
“Get your pickle in a pouch! Get your pickle in a pouch!” Nothing says gas station snacks quite like a giant dill pickle stuffed in a plastic pouch. Van Holten’s Pickle-In-A-Pouch’s flavors range between hot pickles, sour pickles, run-of-the-mill dill pickles, and even pickle-flavored popsicles.
19. Funyuns
When fast food onion rings don’t hit the spot, stop by a gas station for a bag of onion-ring-shaped cornmeal chips. Funyuns’ flavor introduces a salty, zesty smack with each bite.
20. Combos
People who don’t like Combos enjoy lying to themselves. The pretzel-rimmed, cheese/pizza/spicy-filled snack attracts such a polarizing crowd that even those who love the crunchy snack feel the urge to admit its faults. Combos do not contain the healthiest ingredients and they may leave consumers with upset stomachs after ingesting a whole bag — but what snack doesn’t?
21. Rice Krispies Treats
Rice Krispies Treats is another snack that launches us back to childhood. The packaged marshmallow cereal delights materialize in a picturesque square parcel, perfect for children and adults.
22. Trail Mix
Trail mix may be a less healthy snack than you think, depending on the ingredients and additives pumped into the bag. Healthy trail mixes contain nuts, seeds, sweet scoops of chocolate or peanut butter chips, and coconut, while less healthy versions include excess amounts of sugar and heavy sodium levels.
23. Skittles
Taste the rainbow, Skittles’ famous slogan states. Red, orange, yellow, green, and purple morsels make up the traditional flavor, while blue hues and pink come with the tantalizing wild berry set.
24. Boiled Peanuts
Boiled peanuts decorate the menu inside southern gas stations. Raw or green peanuts go into boiling water for hours to gain that signature salty seasoning. Bite into the boiled shelled-product, eat the peanut, and slurp the residual salt water sitting in the shell.
25. Cheddar Bugles
These salty corn snacks bear a pointy, three-dimensional triangular form. The snack comes in cheddar, plain, pizza, and churro flavors. Kids (and adults, let’s not discriminate) adore putting their fingers in Bugles and running around with witch fingers.
26. Zapp’s Chips
The Louisiana specialty prides itself on its kettle style and rich flavored chips. The Voodoo style (our favorite) mends a few popular tastes together. The first crunch introduces a pungent salt and vinegar taste, then it swims to a sweeter barbeque flavor and cements the taste with a jalapeno kick.
27. Pork Rinds
Standard pig skin may not strike a snacker’s fancy, but boiled, chilled, fragmented, slow-cooked, and fried skin of the pig might! Pork rinds (snackified pig skins) endure a tedious process to produce the salty chip alternative perfect for meat lovers.
28. S’mores Pop-Tarts
Pop-Tarts sell multiple flavors, but what better way to celebrate a car trip than with a snack dedicated to the campfire tradition of s’mores? S’mores Pop-Tarts roll the best tastes from s’mores — dreamy chocolate with roasted marshmallows and hints of graham crackers — into one delectable any-time food.
29. Honey Buns
Honey Buns ward off hunger for a few hours and include the right amount of sugar and sweetness to gratify passengers with a strong sweet tooth. Many gas stations sell Little Debbie Honey Buns, a fried yeast pastry containing honey and cinnamon and topped with icing.
30. Sour S’ghetti
Sour S’ghetti candy suggests the candy comes across as a sour, lip-puckering sweet treat, but the stringy rainbow confection tastes more sweet than sour. Just like spaghetti, the more eaten, the more craved.
The Worst
We venture to the abysmal side of gas station snacks. Sushi, produce, perishable, and fresh items… gather around.
31. Sushi
Chefs don’t prepare the sushi in front of gas station customers, and while that doesn’t turn away some people, it should when raw fish is in the picture. No one knows the actual life of the raw fish menu item nor the bacteria brewing beneath the plastic wrap.
32. Egg Salad Sandwich
A Three Forks Voice columnist wrote about the jarring experience of a friend eating a gas station egg salad sandwich. She missed the school lesson warning kids to stay away from gas station sandwiches. Shortly after devouring it, she bolted to the bathroom for a horrendous experience.
33. Hot Dog
Ever noticed a slew of hot dogs rolling on an endless griller? Ever spotted an employee switching them out for new ones? Do the workers clean the grillers every day? The hot dogs stay on the griller without proper protection from exposed bacteria and harmful chemicals.
34. Fruit
Gas station fruit tempts people searching for a healthier snack option, but the shelf life does not. According to an article published on Yahoo Finance, gas station fruit lives on the shelves much longer than grocery store produce.
35. Vegetables
Similar to fruit, vegetables in gas stations stay on the shelves for longer periods than veggies in grocery stores, according to Yahoo Finance. With a longer shelf life, bacteria, flies, and germs reside on top of the veggies.
36. Salads
Lettuce spoils quickly. A pre-packaged salad might stimulate senses and pull customers toward the healthier choice, but always inspect the package. Check for wilting pieces and souring ingredients.
37. Hard-Boiled Eggs
A hard-boiled egg enthusiast defended the use of preservatives in packaged hard-boiled eggs. That works for him, but it rubs us the wrong way. Hard-boiled eggs peppering gas station shelves soak in additives — citric acid and sodium benzoate are just two of the chemicals.
38. Burritos
Typically, burritos contain meat, cheese, sauce, and maybe sour cream or guacamole. Together, those fresh ingredients birth a tasty concoction, but when left sitting out on reheaters, exposed to stale air, bacteria that cause foodborne illness can penetrate the tortillas.
39. Pies
Slices of pie or miniature handheld versions of the pastry delight those with sweet tooths and fulfill sugary cravings. At gas stations, pies, like most gas station treats, might bake underneath a blazing lamp that dries out the moisture and wicks away the flavor.
40. Burgers
An investigative report from HuffPost found that gas stations making burgers and other hot sandwiches stacked the meals, leaving the burgers on top colder than those closer to the hot grill. Selling a burger at an inadequate temperature violates health standards and invites bacteria into the meat.
41. Nachos
A few years ago, gas station patrons opted for a serving of chips and cheese, unaware of the ensuing hospital trip. Nine people rushed to the hospital and one person passed away after consuming nacho cheese from a California gas station. The culprit? A batch of botulism.
42. Egg Rolls
A cylindrical pastry stuffed with meat and veggies plummets into a deep-fryer, creating a caramel-colored snack. Gas station egg rolls live for hours on rotating rollers, watching all passersby breathe and reach over them. After the first few hours, they may grow stale or attract bacteria.
43. Pizza
Gas station pizza reheats under the glaring, fluorescent light of a warmer. LEAFtv states that food warmers max out at four hours. After that time frame, the warmers begin drying out and warping the food.
44. Wraps
Cold food must occupy a refrigerator set to 40 degrees or colder to maintain freshness and avoid harmful bacteria growth. Hot food must harbor a minimum internal temperature of 135 degrees. Sometimes, workers stack wraps on top of one another, keeping them away from the heating or cooling element necessary to remain safe for consumption.
45. Tacos
Fresh tacos ooze flavors, dripping palatable sauces, queso fresco, and guacamole, but a gas station taco, wrapped in cheap paper, remains under the infamous warmer until one unlucky soul picks it up. Workers don’t assemble the tortillas upon order, so at best, customers receive warmed, withered shells of tacos.
46. Soda
The innards of a soda machine can harbor pools of bacteria and harmful viruses due to high moisture levels. The cherry on top? No one knows how often the workers clean the machines. Stick to bottled beverages.
47. Coffee
Gas station employees undertake plenty of tasks during a shift, and changing out coffee may border on the lower end of the priority list. Avoid grabbing an old cup of Joe by purchasing a bottled caffeine beverage or asking the worker to make a fresh batch.
48. Cheese
Always check the expiration date on gas station foods. Milk comes and goes through the door at frequent intervals, so the dairy drink is a safe bet, but other dairy products sit on the shelf for copious amounts of time.
49. Slushies
Customers can’t witness the cleaning schedule of every machine inside a gas station. Sure, the managers post machine maintenance, but who checks the validity of the schedule? Without proper cleanliness, slushie machines grow mold, emitting traces of the bacteria into drinks.
50. Breakfast Sandwiches
Ensuring food safety is the highest priority for restaurants, but gas stations don’t adopt the same priorities. These quick snack aisle stations don’t come equipped with proper heaters or refrigerators to keep the sandwiches at safe temperatures for human consumption.
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