85 healthy snack ideas in Dakar

Reposting following a (be still, my heart) cafeteria committee meeting at my child’s school today. Foodie mom heaven.

One topic that came up was healthy snack ideas. While we don’t lots of good single-serving, grab-and-go options here in Senegal, there are many healthy treats available – although they may take a bit more planning and effort… and $$.

Here are a few ideas from our kitchen. As you’ll see, I rely heavily on Marie’s Kitchen, Veronique’s peanuts and Club Kossam yogurts.

  1. Tortilla + peanut butter
  2. Tortilla + Laughing Cow cheese
  3. Tortilla + hummus
  4. Tortilla + labneh yogurt cheese
  5. Tortilla + shredded Gouda or mozzarella, heated to make a quesadilla
  6. English muffin + peanut butter + honey
  7. English muffin + Faux-tella (peanut butter + honey + cocoa powder)
  8. English muffin + labneh yogurt cheese + cucumber slices
  9. English muffin + tomato sauce + mozzarella
  10. English muffin + Laughing Cow cheese + jam
  11. English muffin + salami or ham + cheese
  12. Peanut butter & jelly on sandwich bread
  13. Cheese sticks (made by cutting mozzarella or other mild cheese)
  14. Wedges of Laughing Cow cheese
  15. Babybel cheese
  16. Cucumber slices + Laughing Cow cheese
  17. Pear slices + Gouda cheese slices
  18. Apple slices + Mimolette cheese slices
  19. Apple slices + peanut butter
  20. Banana + peanut butter
  21. Carrot sticks + hummus
  22. Carrot sticks + Ranch or labneh yogurt cheese
  23. Bell pepper slices + hummus
  24. Bell pepper slices + Ranch or labneh yogurt cheese
  25. Pita triangles + hummus
  26. Pita + labneh yogurt cheese rolled up with fresh herbs
  27. Pita + guacamole
  28. Dried apricots
  29. Dried prunes
  30. Dried prunes + a dollop of peanut butter
  31. Dried mango
  32. Dried banana chips
  33. Dried coconut pieces
  34. Fresh coconut pieces
  35. Raisins (or Craisins from the American Food Store)
  36. Dates (have pits)
  37. Tamarind pods (have seeds)
  38. Pitted olives
  39. Cornichons
  40. Hard-boiled egg
  41. Plain popcorn
  42. Popcorn sprinkled with mbouraké (slightly sweetened ground peanuts)
  43. Lait caillé nature or yaourt nature
  44. Plain yogurt with chopped fruit
  45. Plain yogurt with Marie’s Kitchen granola
  46. Plain yogurt with mbouraké (lightly sweetened ground peanuts)
  47. Plain yogurt with honey + moringa powder (add just before eating, not in advance)
  48. Pretzel sticks
  49. Rice cakes
  50. Plain crackers or aperitif sticks
  51. Digestive biscuits, plain
  52. Pink Lady or Gala apple chunks tossed with with lime juice, cinnamon and honey
  53. Bananas
  54. Grapes (seedless available)
  55. Clementines or mandarins
  56. Pink grapefruit wedges
  57. Plums
  58. Pineapple chunks
  59. Papaya chunks with lime
  60. Melon slices
  61. Mango slices
  62. Strawberries
  63. Cherry tomatoes
  64. Fresh green beans (well washed and ends snapped)
  65. Roasted butternut squash cubes
  66. Baked sweet potato fries, lightly salted
  67. Baked ripe plantain slices, lightly salted or with cinnamon
  68. Chickpeas, canned but rinsed
  69. Frozen peas, thawed (I know. But my kids love them.)
  70. Rolled slice of salami or ham
  71. Rolled slice of salami or ham around a cheese stick
  72. Rolled slice of salami or ham around cheese with mustard and cornichons
  73. Crêpes, plain
  74. Crêpes with fruit jam
  75. Crêpes with ham and cheese
  76. Leftover pizza margarita (order an extra just for this reason!)
  77. All-fruit applesauce cups (Hypermarché or Auchan). Check that they don’t have artificial sweeteners.
  78. Plain Cheerios or plain puff cereals
  79. Trail mix: peanuts, raisins, dried coconut pieces, cereal…
  80. Veronique’s peanut brittle
  81. Veronique’s roasted peanuts
  82. Roasted cashews
  83. Whole wheat pancake strips + Casamance honey
  84. Granola bars (ingredients easily available)
  85. Rolled energy bites (oats, peanut butter, dried coconut, honey, cocoa…) 

Snack tips for Dakar

Ziploc baggies are available at the American Food Store, as are a variety of US snacks such as Goldfish, raisin boxes, etc…

Marie’s Kitchen makes and delivers THE BEST tortillas, Casamance honey, granola and English muffins. She can also make whole wheat banana bread or apple bread. 

Veronique’s peanut butter and brittle are amazing. And she delivers too. (Following recommendations of Senegalese friends and based on a few experiences, we don’t give our kids peanuts or cashews sold on the street. But we love Veronique’s peanut goodies!)

Shady Shack hummus freezes great. Order in bulk and stock up. 

Club Kossam weekly yogurt deliveries are 👍🏼.

Use the plastic ‘bissap baggies’ from your local buutik to freeze single servings of fruit. 


  1. Snacks! The best meal(s) of the day :).
    I’ve been pleased with the availability of many of the snack foods we frequent back home: peanut butter, nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit,rice cakes (lots of rice cakes and peanut butter in our house), tahini for making home smashed hummus, plain yogurt, etc.!

Leave a Reply to Ruby Kiker Cancel reply


WordPress.com Logo


Google photo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s