8 Healthy Evening Snacks That Won’t Derail Your Diet

Do you feel the urge to stand before the refrigerator, think about picking up a snack, and just mindlessly gobble? These are the times when you need all your conviction to choose a healthy snack and stick to your diet. If you need some nutritious and lip-smacking snacking options, scroll through these eight options.

Starting a diet, planning the meals, skipping lunch or dinner, feels doable until the evening cravings kick in. When the clock hits four, and you make yourself a hot cup of tea or coffee, your eyes surely look around for a crispy snack to pair with your beverage. If you feel that evenings are the time when most diets go to die, this is the right article for you.

Whether you want to lose the extra weight or simply move towards a healthier lifestyle, choosing healthy snacks is important. But who said healthy is synonymous with boring salad bowls? All you need to stay on your diet is to pick the right ingredients, control your portions, and not starve yourself. So, listen to your body’s cravings, try these guilt-free snacks, and don’t derail from your diet.

Hummus And Pita

As for a global favourite, you can recreate the Mediterranean staple, hummus, with pita bread. Since hummus is made by blending chickpeas, tahini, garlic, some oil, and lemon juice, it’s one of the best snacks you can make to satiate evening cravings. Once you get a creamy dip after blending, the Middle Eastern hummus can be paired with pita bread. You can either bake it from scratch or even buy it from a bakery in crunch time. But since the combination includes all nutritious ingredients, it is an impeccable snacking option for people who are following a strict diet.

Bhutta

Bhutta, aka grilled corn, is one of the easiest snacks you can make while sticking to your diet. Especially for the monsoon season, the highlight of a grocery store run is getting a bhutta from the roadside. And the best part is, you’d just need to bring fresh corn, and within five minutes, your snack will be ready. All you need to do is roast the cobs of corn on an open flame, put some lemon and chaat masala on it, and there you have it. Within minutes, you get a warm snack filled with carbohydrates, protein, and fibre.

Dhokla

Being a steamed snack, the Gujarati staple dhokla is also a healthy option. For people looking for a guilt-free, delicious snack, dhokla is just the way to go. Since it is light and fluffy, it will curb your cravings while saving space for a complete dinner. To make dhokla at home, you can make a batter with besan, water, baking soda, and a blend of spices. Once you get a consistent batter ready to be cooked, add in Eno or fruit salt to make it bubbly. Then, transfer it to a microwave-safe steamer and steam for about ten minutes. Let it come down to room temperature and then pour a tempering made with green chillies, mustard seeds, curry leaves, etc, slice the dhokla, and serve with a spicy green chutney.

Chana Chaat

If you are someone who loves to snack in the evening, there’s nothing better than adding chickpeas to your bowl. Not only will it help you meet your protein requirements, but it will also keep you full for a longer period of time. For an evening snack option, you can whip up chana chaat. Just start by boiling chickpeas till they are tender. In the meantime, you can chop some veggies like onion, tomato, capsicum, and coriander leaves. Once the chickpeas are soft, mix them with the chopped veggies and add in spices like garam masala, chaat masala, red chilli powder, and salt to taste. Add a squeeze of lemon, pomegranate seeds, and some sev, and enjoy your healthy snack.

Roasted Makhana

Munching something between meals, attending meetings, or even studying, is a common habit. While the urge to open a bag of chips and empty it without realising is real, it is the most common practice that can derail your diet. Roasted makhana is the perfect option if you need something crunchy, spicy, and savoury to munch on. You can roast the store-bought makhana at home and take a handful with tea, take it to work, or even place it on your coffee table to satisfy your craving for something crunchy. To make the snack even better, you can add some roasted peanuts and mix them with spices like red chilli powder, chaat masala, salt, and black pepper. Just remember to store the roasted makhana in an airtight container to avoid them from turning soggy.

Mushroom Bites

Mushrooms are a great source of vitamins and minerals like vitamin B, D, copper, potassium, selenium, and more. As for people following a diet and trying to have balanced meals, mushroom-based snacks and dishes can help them reach their goal. Since mushrooms are customisable, you can grill, bake, roast, barbecue, shallow fry, and much more as per your preference. To make mushroom bites, rinse the mushrooms in running water, slice them up, sauté them with your favourite veggies, add some sauces, and serve them with a dip or chilli sauce.

Masala Idli

South Indian dishes are known to be nutritious since they are made with healthy ingredients like urad dal, rice, millet, curd, etc. If your go-to South Indian option is idli, you can turn it into a lip-smacking snack. The best part about making masala idli is that you can use a leftover batch of idlis and enjoy a new variation as breakfast or a healthy snack. Just slice some premade idlis into bite-sized pieces, and cook them with chopped vegetables like onion, carrot, capsicum, tomato, etc. Mix in a blend of spices, curry leaves, mustard seeds, and dried red chillies, and your South Indian snack will be ready to serve.

Moong Dal Chilla

Chilla is a staple breakfast and a snack option in most Indian homes. Since chilla can be made with a range of ingredients like besan, sooji, oats, lentils, and even millet, it’s the perfect snack for people with allergies or dietary restrictions. As for a protein-rich snack, you can make moong dal chilla. You can start by soaking moong dal, grinding it to make a smooth paste, and making a batter by adding spices like turmeric powder, red chilli powder, dhania powder, etc. You can also add finely chopped onion and green chillies to the batter. Once consistent, pour a ladleful of batter into a pan, spread it in a circle, and cook it on both sides. Transfer the crispy chilla to a plate and serve it hot with a chutney and a bowl of curd.