Everyone loves snacking – there’s something just so great about eating in between meals, mostly just for the pure joy of it. How can you stick to healthy world cup snacks? Unfortunately, it can be all too easy to go overboard, especially when your mind is elsewhere – like when you’re, oh I don’t know, praying that England won’t be on the first plane out of Russia.
The essential guide to healthy world cup snacks
There’s no reason why you can’t join in with everyone else who is munching away as the match gets going, but you can stay in control. Ahead of England’s first game against Tunisia, we’ve got you covered with these healthy world cup snacks.
Carrot sticks and hummus
This is a cliched healthy snack that’s wheeled out in every single guide to healthy snacking that has ever been written, but hear us out – it’s a delicious combo. And it is not, as one MVFer has put it, a ‘woman’s snack’ – be a man, eat some raw carrot.
You get a satisfying crunch from the carrot and there are so many different types of hummus available now that there’s no reason not to go all out with a caramelised onion hummus or a lemon and coriander hummus.
If carrots aren’t your thing, try a toasted pitta instead but remember that this will bump up the calories.
8 carrot sticks with 1/4 pot Tesco reduced fat hummus: 139 calories
8 carrot sticks with 1/4 pot Tesco sweet chilli hummus: 141 calories
8 carrot sticks with 1/4 pot Tesco caramelised onion hummus: 153 calories
Low-cal crisps
You might feel a little bit weird cracking open a pack of Wotsits, but nothing quite beats making your way through a bowl of crisps while watching the game. Sticking to popped and maize varieties means you can keep the calories down, and who doesn’t love a Wotsit eh?
1 85g bag of BBQ Popchips: 357 calories or if you want to share like it suggests, it’s 179 cals for 1/2 an 85g bag.
A multipack bag of Quavers: 86 calories
A multipack bag of Wotsits: 90 calories
Popcorn
Popcorn is one of our favourite snacks because you can have so much of it for relatively few calories. If you wanted to control exactly what goes on it you could buy kernels from a health shop and get a cheap popcorn maker, but shop-bought stuff is fine too and won’t break the (calorie) bank.
Home-popped popcorn kernels, plain, 50g: 186 calories and then you could add 10g of butter for buttery popcorn, e.g. Lurpak lightest for an extra 37 calories.
Morrisons sweet and salty popcorn, 1/2 a sharing bag: 262 calories
Propercorn peanut butter and almond popcorn, 35g bag: 122 calories
from BBC Good Food
Fruit
If you wanted to be, as the kids say, extra, you could make yourself some fruit platters arranged in the shape of various country flags, but a punnet of grapes or a half-time orange would do. Or you could be fancy and add some cheese to make it a bit more substantial.
Punnet of grapes: 150 calories
Punnet of strawberries: 120 calories
Asda fruit salad with cheese cubes: 207 calories
Nachos
Nachos can get a bad rep when you’re slathering them in cheese and a whole pot of guacamole, but if you’re careful with the toppings nachos aren’t that bad when it comes to calories. Sure, they might require a bit more effort, but they’ve also got the advantage of feeling a little bit more special than just a bag of crisps.
30g Tesco Everyday Value slightly salted tortilla chips: 150 calories
20g grated Cathedral City cheddar cheese: 83 calories
3 tbsp Old El Paso chunky guacamole: 42 calories
5 tbsp Old El Paso chunky salsa: 35 calories
3 tbsp Old El Paso squeezy sour cream: 75 calories
This will bring in your plate of nachos at 385 calories, which isn’t bad considering you’ve got a generous pile with all the toppings. To bring down the numbers, reduce your sour cream and cheese – everyone knows it’s all about the guac anyway.
What will you be snacking on during the world cup? Are you trying to keep things healthy or not? Let us know over on the forum.
