A snack is a small portion of
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ...
generally
eaten between
meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home.
Traditionally, snacks are prepared from ingredients commonly available at home without a great deal of preparation. Often
cold cuts,
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...
s,
leftovers,
nuts
Nut often refers to:
* Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds
* Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt
Nut or Nuts may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Com ...
,
sandwiches, and
sweets are used as snacks. With the spread of
convenience stores, packaged snack foods became a significant business.
Snack foods are typically designed to be portable, quick, and satisfying.
Processed snack foods, as one form of
convenience food, are designed to be less perishable, more durable, and more portable than prepared foods. They often contain substantial amounts of
sweeteners,
preservative
A preservative is a substance or a chemical that is added to products such as food products, beverages, pharmaceutical drugs, paints, biological samples, cosmetics, wood, and many other products to prevent decomposition by microbial growth or ...
s, and appealing ingredients such as
chocolate
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civil ...
,
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...
s, and specially-designed flavors (such as flavored
potato chips).
A snack eaten shortly before going to bed or during the night may be called a "bedtime snack", "late night snack", or "midnight snack".
In the United States
In the United States, a popular snack food is the
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...
. Peanuts first arrived from
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...
via
slave ships and became incorporated into African-inspired cooking on southern
plantations. After the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...
, the taste for peanuts spread north, where they were incorporated into the culture of baseball games and
vaudeville theaters.
Along with
popcorn
Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names also refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion.
A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the se ...
(also of South American origin), snacks bore the stigma of being sold by unhygienic
street vendors. The middle-class etiquette of the Victorian era (1837–1901) categorized any food that did not require proper usage of utensils as lower-class.
Pretzels were introduced to North America by the
Dutch, via
New Amsterdam in the 17th century. In the 1860s, the snack was still associated with immigrants, unhygienic street vendors, and saloons. Due to loss of business during the
Prohibition era (1920-1933), pretzels underwent rebranding to make them more appealing to the public. As
packaging revolutionized snack foods, allowing sellers to reduce contamination risk, while making it easy to advertise brands with a
logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordm ...
, pretzels boomed in popularity, bringing many other types of snack foods with it. By the 1950s, snacking had become an all-American pastime, becoming an internationally recognized emblem of middle American life.
In Asia
Indonesia
Kue
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
has a rich collection of snacks called ''
kue'' (cakes and pastry), both savoury and sweet. Traditional kue is usually made from
rice flour, coconut milk, and
coconut sugar, and is mostly steamed or fried rather than baked. Traditional kue are popularly known as ''kue basah'' ("wet kue") that has a moist, soft texture because of rich coconut milk. ''Kue kering'' (dried kue) is the local name for cookies. Indonesia has several variations of kue, both native and foreign-influenced.
Traditional crackers
Traditional crackers are called ''
krupuk'', made from bits of shrimp, fish, vegetables or nuts, which are usually consumed as a crunchy snack or an accompaniment to meals. These crispy snacks are sometimes added to main dishes for their crunchy texture; several Indonesian dishes such as
gado-gado, karedok, ketoprak, lontong sayur, nasi uduk, asinan and bubur ayam are known to require specific types of krupuk as toppings. There are wide variations of ''krupuk'' available across Indonesia. The most popular ones would be ''krupuk udang'' (
prawn crackers) and ''krupuk kampung'' or ''krupuk putih'' (cassava crackers).
Other popular types include ''krupuk kulit'' (dried buffalo-skin crackers), ''
emping melinjo'' (
gnetum gnemon crackers), and ''
kripik'' (chips/crisps), such as ''kripik pisang'' (
banana chips) and ''keripik singkong'' (
Cassava
''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated a ...
chips). ''
Rempeyek'' is a flour-based cracker with brittle of peanuts, anchovies or shrimp bound by a crispy flour cracker. ''
Rengginang'' or ''intip'' (
Javanese) is a rice cracker made from sun-dried and deep fried leftover rice.
Japan
Japan has a very wide range of snack foods, some of which that are internationally popular, ranging from
onigiri to
Melon pan.
Malaysia
*
Cincin - a deep fried dough pastry-based snack popular with East Malaysia's Muslim communities.
*
Roti john - a spiced meat omelette sandwich, popularly eaten for breakfast or as a snack.
*
Bakkwa (Chinese : 肉干) - literally "dried meat", bakkwa is better understood as barbecued meat jerky. While this delicacy is especially popular during the
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly referred to as the Spring Festival () a ...
celebration period, it is available everywhere and eaten year round as a popular snack.
*
Idli - made from a mashed mixture of skinned black lentils and rice formed into patties using a mould and steamed, idlis are eaten at breakfast or as a snack. Idlis are usually served in pairs with
vadai
Vada is a category of savoury fried snacks native to South India. Vadas can be described variously as fritters, cutlets, or dumplings. Alternative names for this food include vadai, vade, and bada. Vadas are sometimes stuffed with vegetables and ...
, small donut-shaped fritters made from mashed lentils and spices,
chutney
A chutney is a spread in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion or mint dipping sau ...
, and a thick stew of lentils and
vegetables called
sambar.
*
Murukku - a savoury snack of spiced crunchy twists made from rice and urad dal flour, traditionally eaten for
Deepavali in South India.
*
Vadai
Vada is a category of savoury fried snacks native to South India. Vadas can be described variously as fritters, cutlets, or dumplings. Alternative names for this food include vadai, vade, and bada. Vadas are sometimes stuffed with vegetables and ...
, vada or vades - is a common term for many different types of savoury fritter-type snacks originated from South India with a set of common ingredients. The most common ingredients are lentils, chillis, onions and curry leaves.
* Tebaloi - is a
sago biscuit snack which is traditionally associated with the Melanau people of Sarawak.
*
Pisang goreng - a common snack sold by street vendors, battered fried bananas are also served in a more elaborate manner at some cafes and restaurants as a dessert. Cempedak and various tuber vegetables are also battered and fried in the same manner as variations.
Taiwan
* ''
Taro ball'' - a traditional Taiwanese cuisine dessert made of
taro.
* ''
Suncake (Taiwan)
A suncake, or ''taiyang bing'', is a popular Taiwanese dessert originally from the city of Taichung, in central Taiwan. The typical fillings consist of maltose (condensed malt sugar), and they are usually sold in special gift boxes as souvenirs ...
'' - is a popular Taiwanese dessert originally from the city of
Taichung
Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Ta ...
, Taiwan.
* ''
Aiyu jelly'' - is a jelly made from the gel from the seeds of the awkeotsang creeping fig found in Taiwan.
* ''
Pineapple cake
Pineapple cake (; Taiwanese Hokkien: 王梨酥 ông-lâi-so͘) is a Taiwanese sweet traditional pastry and dessert containing butter, flour, egg, sugar, and pineapple jam or slices.
History
Both pineapple cake and pineapple tart likely came ...
'' - is a sweet traditional Taiwanese pastry containing butter, flour, egg, milk powder, sugar, and pineapple paste or slices.
Thailand
* ''
Miang kham'' – dried shrimp and other ingredients wrapped in ''
cha plu'' leaves; often eaten as a snack or a starter.
* ''
Sai ua'' – a grilled sausage of ground pork mixed with spices and herbs; it is often served with chopped fresh ginger and chilies at a meal. It is sold at markets in Chiang Mai as a snack.
In the Middle East
In the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
, one of the most important snacks that contains a huge amount of proteins is
Lupin or lupini beans.
Lupin contains around 33-40% protein.
Another common snack in the Middle East is
hummus made of
chickpeas.
Nutrition
Government bodies, such as
Health Canada, recommend that people make a conscious effort to eat more healthy, natural snacks, such as
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...
,
vegetables,
nuts
Nut often refers to:
* Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds
* Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt
Nut or Nuts may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Com ...
, and
cereal grains
A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food ...
while avoiding high-calorie, low-nutrient
junk food
"Junk food" is a term used to describe food that is high in calories from sugar and/or fat, and possibly also sodium, but with little dietary fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, or other important forms of nutritional value. It is also known ...
.
A 2010 study showed that children in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
snacked on average six times per day, approximately twice as often as American children in the 1970s. This represents consumption of roughly 570 calories more per day than U.S. children consumed in the 1970s.
Types
*
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ances ...
slices
*
Bagel with
cream cheese
*
Bitterballen
*
Candy bar
*
Carrot Chips
*
Chaat
*
Cheese
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During product ...
, a larger cold prepared snack
*
Cheese puffs/cheese curls
*
Chocolate-coated marshmallow treats
*
Corn chips and
Tortilla chips
*
Cocktail sausage
A saveloy is a type of highly seasoned sausage, usually bright red, normally boiled and available in most fish and chip shops around England. It is occasionally also available fried in batter.
Etymology
The word is believed to be derived from ...
*
Cookie
A cookie is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, ...
s
*
Crackers
*
Deviled eggs
*
Doughnuts
*
Dried fruits
*
Drinkable yogurt
*
Edamame, fresh or dried
*
Granola bars
*
Falafel
*
Flour tortilla with a filling
* Frozen berries
*
Fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...
, whole, sliced,
Fruit salad,
Fruit cocktail
*
Ice cream
Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...
*
Jell-O
*
Jerky
*
Kaassoufflé
*
Lunchables
*
Milkshake
*
Muffins
*
Nuts
Nut often refers to:
* Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds
* Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt
Nut or Nuts may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Com ...
*
Pound cake
*
Papadum
*
Peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...
s
*
Pita bread
*
Popcorn
Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names also refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion.
A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the se ...
*
Pork rinds
*
Potato chips
*
Pakoda
*
Pretzels
*
Raisins
*
Ratatouille
*
Rice cake
* Rice crackers, distinguished from the above
*
Samosa
*
Seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...
s
*
Shortbread
Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three to four parts plain wheat flour. Unlike many other biscuits and baked goods, shortbread does not contain any leaveni ...
*
Smoked salmon
*
Smoothie
*
Teacake
*
Trail mix
Trail mix or scroggin is a type of snack mix, typically a combination of granola, dried fruit, nuts, and sometimes candy, developed as a food to be taken along on hikes. Trail mix is considered a great snack food for hikes, because it is l ...
*
Vegetables (e.g.,
carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes)
*
Yogurt
Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bact ...
Image gallery
File:Irachikkaya.jpg, Irachikkaya
File:SnackfoodRackDF.JPG, A rack of snack foods
File:Popcorn02.jpg, Popcorn
Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names also refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion.
A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the se ...
File:Planters-Trail-Mix.jpg, Trail mix
Trail mix or scroggin is a type of snack mix, typically a combination of granola, dried fruit, nuts, and sometimes candy, developed as a food to be taken along on hikes. Trail mix is considered a great snack food for hikes, because it is l ...
File:Cheez-It-Crackers.jpg, Cheez-It, a popular cheese-flavored cracker
Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to:
Animals
* ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies
* '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker"
Arts and entertainment Films ...
File:Lots_of_Candies.jpg, Candy
Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies ( Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called '' sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, ...
File:Snickers-broken.JPG, Snickers
Snickers is a chocolate bar made by the American company Mars, Incorporated, consisting of nougat topped with caramel and peanuts that is encased in milk chocolate. The annual global sales of Snickers was over $3 billion .
In the United Ki ...
, a popular chocolate bar
A chocolate bar (Commonwealth English) or candy bar (some dialects of American English) is a confection containing chocolate, which may also contain layerings or mixtures that include nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. A flat, easily b ...
File:Pepperidge-Farm-Nantucket-Cookie.jpg, Chocolate chip cookie
File:Fruit Stall in Barcelona Market.jpg, Fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...
File:Polskie pączki.jpg, Pączki
; plural: ; csb, pùrcle; szl, kreple) is a filled doughnut found in Polish cuisine.
Description
''A pączek'' is a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into spheres and filled with confiture or other sweet filling. ''Pączki'' are usually c ...
File:Potato-Chips.jpg, Potato chips
File:Absolute bretzel 01.jpg, Pretzels
File:Salzstangen_Workshop.jpg, Pretzel sticks
File:J.CO_Donuts_aren%27t_photography_materials.jpg, Doughnuts
File:Muffin_NIH.jpg, A blueberry muffin
A muffin is an individually portioned baked product, however the term can refer to one of two distinct items: a part-raised flatbread (like a crumpet) that is baked and then cooked on a griddle (typically unsweetened), or an (often sweetened) ...
File:Antsonalogb.jpg, Ants on a log
File:Bitterballen mosterd mayo.jpg, Dutch bitterballen
File:16-09-17-WikiLovesCocktails-Zutaten-Img0161.jpg, Peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...
s
File:Taro_Balls_at_Jiufen,_New_Taipei_City,_Sept_2011.jpg, Taro ball
File:Aiyu jelly by abon in Taiwan.jpg, Aiyu jelly
File:Pineapple_Pastry.JPG, Pineapple cake
Pineapple cake (; Taiwanese Hokkien: 王梨酥 ông-lâi-so͘) is a Taiwanese sweet traditional pastry and dessert containing butter, flour, egg, sugar, and pineapple jam or slices.
History
Both pineapple cake and pineapple tart likely came ...
See also
*
Canapés
*
Junk food
"Junk food" is a term used to describe food that is high in calories from sugar and/or fat, and possibly also sodium, but with little dietary fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, or other important forms of nutritional value. It is also known ...
*
List of brand name snack foods
*
List of foods
*
List of Indian snack foods
*
List of Indonesian snacks
*
List of Japanese snacks
*
List of snack foods
*
List of snack foods by country
This is a list of snack foods by country, specific to or originating in a particular community or region. Snack food is a portion of food often smaller than a regular meal, generally eaten as snacking between meals. Snacks come in a variety o ...
*
Savoury (dish)
A savoury is the final course of a traditional British formal meal, following the sweet pudding or dessert course. The savoury is designed to "clear the palate" before the port is served. It generally consists of salty and plain elements.
Typic ...
References
{{Authority control
Meals
Convenience foods