Valentine’s Day is a bit controversial. Is it designed to benefit companies who use it as a reason to get you to buy something for a contrived and unnecessary holiday? Or is it a dedicated day to celebrate the rarity of true love, and shower your sweetheart with affection? Whatever emotions this February day elicits in you, positive or negative, you might compensate by snacking. And if you do, I’ve got a festive snack mix that might meet your needs. It feels like a sweet treat, but I’ve rounded it out with some healthy ingredients so it’s not a complete dive off the nutrition deep end. Take a peek at my recipe for Healthy Valentine Snack Mix.
It comes together lickety-split, has only 6 ingredients, and there’s no cooking required. With less than 5 minutes of effort, you’ll be rewarded with a crunchy colorful snack for yourself, or to share with your crush, your Galentine, your bestie, your mom, your neighbor, your colleague, your niece, or your main squeeze.
Healthy Valentine Snack Mix
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Creamy, sweet, and tart, all in one crunchy mouthful. This snack mix relies on half healthy ingredients and half dessert-like ingredients to make the perfect combination for your February 14th.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings of 1 cup each 1x
- Category: Snacks
Ingredients
2 cups Rice Chex
2 cups Kashi Warm Cinnamon or Honey Toasted Organic Oat Cereal
2 cups freeze-dried strawberries
2 cups Valentine-themed yogurt-covered pretzels or Flipz White Fudge Covered Pretzels
1 cup Valentine-themed candy corn (sometimes called Cupid Corn)
1 cup raw cashews
Instructions
Gently mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
Enjoy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 300
- Sugar: 31 g
- Sodium: 160 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 51 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
The basic recipe is pretty adaptable, and you could make substitutions based on your preferences or what you can find at the store around Valentine’s Day. I’ve listed out some options below:
Rice Chex
The light color of Rice Chex works best here, but really any Chex will do, including Corn or Wheat. If your goal is a high fiber snack, opt for Wheat Chex as they offer four times as much fiber as Rice or Corn Chex.
Kashi Warm Cinnamon Organic Oat Cereal
This is really my top choice for this snack mix, as the kiss of cinnamon enhances the whole blend of flavors. But my grocery stores were out this week, so I opted for Kashi Organic Honey Toasted Oat Cereal instead and it was pretty much just as lovely.
Part of the appeal of this cereal is that it has heart-shaped pieces. While I was strolling the cereal aisle, I noticed two others with the same festive trait: General Mills Chocolate Cheerios Cereal Pouches and General Mills Limited Edition Apple Cinnamon Cheerios. (Apparently, they do this every year.) These substitutions would certainly change the overall flavor, but who knows, it might be wonderful.
Freeze-dried Strawberries
The tartness of the strawberries is absolutely perfect in this mix, and the red color completes the Valentine’s color palate. I bet freeze-dried raspberries would work dandy as well.
Valentine-themed Yogurt Covered Pretzels
I got Zachary Valentine Pretzels but they’re only available seasonally. I found them at Fred Meyer/Kroger, so keep your eye out, or just replace with the plain white Flipz pretzels which are more widely available.
Valentine-themed Candy Corn
Again, I relied on Zachary, but this time it was their Valentine Corn. The unique color is so essential to the look of the snack mix, I’m not sure what a good replacement would be except maybe red gumdrops, Valentine-themed mellowcreme candy, or maybe red or pink Mike & Ikes.
Raw Cashews
The mild-mannered creaminess of cashews is just what this snack mix needs, but I feel sure raw almonds would be a reasonable stand-in.
Nutritionally speaking, this snack mix has more going for it than most Valentine’s treats. It offers whole grain (oats!), fiber (rice cereal!), antioxidants (strawberries!), and healthy unsaturated fats (cashews!). When mixed with candy and pretzels, the overall flavor is fantastic and sweetly balanced.
However you choose to spend your romance-themed holiday, a little Valentine snack mix might bring some holiday cheer or simply some satisfyingly sweet snacking.
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Kristine Duncan, Registered Dietitian
I’m a Registered Dietitian, the author of Veg Girl RD, and a vegetarian who loves to eat. I’m a nutrition nerd who teaches at the University of Washington and Skagit Valley College. I also write about nutrition professionally for magazines and books. If you want to know more, check out my About page.