Eating on the Mediterranean diet, snacks are welcome. Sometimes, they verge on mini-meals and other times, they tend to be a sweeter treat, made with refined sugar-free options. This is where dried figs come in. Naturally sweet, the sugar in dried figs mean you can use less alternate sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, or coconut sugar. A healthy snack based on the Mediterranean Diet is all about feel good foods that are particularly great in between larger meals. This includes fresh fruit and and grain toast, but also can go savory with a salsa of bell pepper, cherry tomato, fresh herbs, and chopped olives to scoop up with a grain cracker.
Nutrition is important in Mediterranean Diet, snacks included. Sun-Maid and Orchard Choice California Dried Figs add fiber, potassium, and calcium, to name a few of their health benefits. You can learn more about the other nutrients in dried figs and it might surprise you that even adding four figs a day to your diet can have measurable results.
No-Recipe Needed Mediterranean Food Snacks
Hallmarks of the Mediterranean Diet include whole foods like the ones below. Here are three ideas that don’t require recipes.
- Whole grain toast + Nut butter + Dried fig slices
- Dried Figs cut open + Nut butter + Cinnamon
- Trail Mix: Dried Figs + Fruit + Nuts + Seeds
- Peanut butter + figs + Greek yogurt
- Veggie sticks + feta cheese pureed with olive oil and herbs for a zesty dip
- Whole grain pita chips + fig olive tapenade
- Whole grain bread toast + hummus + cherry tomato + fresh herbs
- Avocado toast + bell pepper + feta + chopped olives
- Fresh berries, warmed and mashed + whole grain toast + dark chocolate
- Roasted chickpeas, made with extra virgin olive oil, chopped fresh herbs and spices
- Fresh fruit + yogurt + nuts + dried fruit + chia seeds
Mediterranean Diet Snack Recipes
Find recipes of Mediterranean snack options perfect to meal prep. We have put them below by category: Energy Balls + Bars, Dips, and Sweet Treats.
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Snack Option: Energy Balls + Bars
Energy balls and bars are the best make-ahead snacks for trips—on the bicycle or on the plane. They are perfect as pre-workout or a light nosh afterwards. You can even tuck them into lunchboxes too. This snack option is highly transportable. You can fold in chia seeds, dark chocolate that is chopped fine, and bound together with a nut butter, like almond butter. Our dried fruit of choice, of course, is figs, but you could always add in some dried cranberries and raisins for a more varied flavor profile.
Snack Idea: Dips
A healthy snack can be centered around pita chips with dip, or mash ripe avocado and sprinkle on herbs. Savory dips like hummus and cottage cheese dip are great paired with carrot sticks and baby carrots, cucumber sticks, and slices of red pepper. Try a whole grain cracker or whole wheat pita chip with salsa. You can also make a savory and sweet dip with feta cheese and dried fruit.
Snack Idea: Sweet Treats
Craving something sweet in the afternoon? You might be surprised at the Mediterranean food snacks that can be conceived of when combining fruits and nuts with seeds and low-fat dairy. Fresh fruit adds a juicy flavor while dried figs bring a chewier texture to the mix. Nuts and seeds add crunch as well as nutrition. Frozen Greek yogurt Bark is an example of Mediterranean Diet recipes specifically geared toward desires for something sweet. Chia seeds turned into pudding with fresh berries, dark chocolate, and figs are another great snack idea.
