14 Homemade Snack Recipes for When You Need Someeething, But Don't Know What

Whether you're preparing for an intimate movie night or a casual cocktail party, this collection of recipes features fantastic snack options for any occasion.

The Serious Eats Team

Updated September 10, 2024

For many of us, snacks are an absolutely vital part of our daily routine. Yet, most of us don't think about making snacks at home unless we're planning on hosting a party. We devote our cooking bandwidth to preparing dinner, but snacks are essential for sustaining us through the day.

Store-bought options are great, but just as a flavorful dinner is worth a little extra effort, so is a delicious snack! Sure, not everyone has time to lovingly recreate a childhood treat, but many of these snack recipes come together with less than 15 minutes of prep. Your future hangry self will certainly appreciate the investment. But hey, if it all just seems like too much, give yourself a break, stock up on store-bought snacks, and maybe try whipping up one of these homemade snack recipes for friends on a weekend.

Extra-Crunchy Potato Chips
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
These homemade chips are nothing but pure salty potato flavor. Slicing russets one-eighth of an inch thick and parboiling them in acidulated water before frying results in perfectly crunchy, golden chips enriched with just the right amount of grease. If you're feeling fancy, dress them up with za'atar, miso soup seasoning mix and crumbled nori, the flavors of Thai red curry, or a mushroom-garlic-lemon powder.
Extra-Crunchy Potato Chips
Cornflake Marshmallow Treats
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
The naturally sweet and earthy flavor of Corn Flakes shines in this riff on the classic. If you'd rather go the traditional route, Genevieve's upgraded recipe for Rice Krispies treats coaxes extra flavor out of the cereal with a brief toasting step, and browns the butter for a nuttier result.
Cornflake Marshmallow Treats
Honey-Roasted Peanuts
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Here, crunchy, double-roasted peanuts are coated in a honey butter glaze and finished with a light dusting of sugar and salt. For a zippier snack, try tossing peanuts with chile-lime seasoning, or soaking them in apple cider vinegar before frying and salting them.
Honey-Roasted Peanuts
Laugenbrezel (Bavarian-Style Soft Pretzels)
Serious Eats / Andrew Janjigian
Andrew's guide to making these classic confections is accompanied by a thorough discussion of German pretzel-making styles and a helpful primer on working with lye at home (as well as an alternative baking soda method for those who are risk-averse). More importantly, his recipe yields pretzels with a crisp, near-snappy skin and a chewy yet tender interior. We highly recommend a batch of beer cheese for dipping!
Laugenbrezel (Bavarian-Style Soft Pretzels)
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Crispy Deep-Fried Jalapeño Poppers
Serious Eats / Qi Ai
These fried jalapeño poppers—with shatteringly crisp exteriors and a melted cream cheese filling—are the ultimate party snack.
Crispy Deep-Fried Jalapeño Poppers
Fried Plantain Chips
Serious Eats / Tim Chin
Commonly found on street corners and stores in El Salvador, these freshly fried plantain chips are a delicious snack. The chips are typically seasoned with salt or chile powder and lime juice, but there's nothing stopping you from experimenting with additional seasonings.
Fried Plantain Chips
Papri Chaat (Indian Street Snack With Potato, Chickpeas, and Chutneys)
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Papri chaat is a traditional street snack found all over India, with crunchy, soft, and fluffy textures all smothered in fresh mint chutney and tangy-sweet tamarind chutney. Though Sohla provides recipes for making every component of this snack from scratch, using storebought sev, papris, and chaat masala allows you to assemble this flavorful snack without too much effort.
Papri Chaat (Indian Street Snack With Potato, Chickpeas, and Chutneys)
Chaat-Spiced Chex Mix
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
The funky, salty, spicy, and tart flavors of chaat masala transform anything it's sprinkled on, including this classic combination of Chex cereal, pretzel sticks, bagel chips, rice crackers, and peanuts. Adding the masala to the mix after it's been toasted, but is still sticky and warm, keeps the spices from burning. For a more traditional South Asian snack mix, see our recipe for poha chivda.
Chaat-Spiced Chex Mix
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Homemade Cheez-Its
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
This DIY version of the classic has a deep, nutty, grilled cheese sort of vibe.
Homemade Cheez-Its
Microwave Brown Bag Popcorn
Serious Eats / Daniel Gritzer
Skip the store-bought microwaveable stuff that comes pre-coated in flavors and make your own customizable microwave popcorn instead. If you want more than the classic buttered, salted popcorn, Daniel concocted some especially delicious combinations, like bagna cauda seasoning and a chicken dinner-themed seasoning that blends nutritional yeast with garlic and mushroom powders, minced herbs, and lemon zest. Or, for a sweeter treat, try our recipe for brown butter-maple-pecan popcorn.
Microwave Brown Bag Popcorn
Homemade Bagel Bites
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Stella's recipe is for hardcore Bagel Bites fans who've longed for bite-sized pizza poppers that taste as good as we remember—chewy, cheesy, salty, and crisp. If time is of the essence and your nostalgic yearnings don't run as deeply, Kenji's recipe for bar-style tortilla pizza is ready in a brisk 15 minutes.
Homemade Bagel Bites
Homemade Tortilla Chips
Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt
Whether you're in the mood for salsa and guacamole or a batch of classic Texas-style nachos, it's worth an extra 10 minutes to fry up your own chips, which turn out thicker than store-bought ones and are less likely to turn soggy.
Homemade Tortilla Chips
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Smoky Candied Almonds
Serious Eats / Daniel Gritzer
Coated in a savory-sweet glaze that's flavored with smoked paprika, these roasted almonds will be a hit at any gathering. A single egg white helps create a candy coating that's light and crisp, without being overly airy. For other party-ready snack nut options, consider Mexican-spiced chocolate pecans or olive-rosemary spiced cashews.
Smoky Candied Almonds
Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups
Serious Eats / Sarah Jane Sanders
Stella's recipe for this iconic fruit snack uses dried apples (or pears), apple juice, and freeze-dried strawberries. Lemon juice brightens the flavor and a splash of rose water subtly amplifies the berry aroma.
Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups

14 Homemade Snack Recipes for When You Need Someeething, But Don't Know What

Laugenbrezel (Bavarian-Style Soft Pretzels)

Crispy Deep-Fried Jalapeño Poppers

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