You know the cliché: It’s halftime and the soccer moms are bringing out orange slices and juice boxes for the youngsters. That’s so 90s. In the summer of 2021, soccer players young and old want something more to fuel their recovery, whether before, after or during a match. Here are the best halftime snacks to have your team playing like the pros.
Best Halftime Snacks
Apple + Peanut Butter
Orange slices are the stereotypical soccer snack. But there’s a major problem with oranges: You can’t put peanut butter on them. (Well, you could, but we’ve got a better option.)
The solution? A simple switcheroo, replacing the orange slices with apple slices. Slather the sweet fruit with savory peanut butter and you’ve got the perfect snack for before, during or after the big game.
Trail Mix
It’s hard to beat trail mix for a quick, easy snack on the go. As players prepare for the second half of a match, a handful of trail mix can be the perfect way to refuel and recharge.
Trail mix comes in many varieties, but it’s hard to beat the peanut-raisin-chocolate chip combo. You can buy trail mix at the grocery store, but if you make your own, you get to pick and choose what goes in, which means you can try this spiced peanut curry trail mix or, if you really love peanuts, this incredible peanut butter lover’s trail mix.
Water/Sports Drinks
While food is great, it’s always important to remember to hydrate. Make sure to use halftime to take in fluids to prevent dehydration. Whether it’s refreshing water or a favorite flavor of sports drink, don’t forget to hydrate before, during and after games.
Squeezable Pouches
When it’s halftime, you often don’t have time for some snacks. You’re not going to sit down and cut up a steak or carefully slurp down a bowl of soup — you need food fast, and what better (and cooler) way than eating through a tube?
Feel like an astronaut with a peanut butter pouch at halftime, getting the kick you need to get back out there for the second half with the ease of the squeeze. You can also consider apple sauce or other types of pouches, but it’s hard to beat the peanut butter variety.
Peanut Butter Granola Bars
When you don’t have much time before the second half kicks off, a bar is the perfect choice, and peanut butter granola bars are great for halftime.
There are countless varieties of peanut butter granola bars, from those you can buy in a store to those you make at home. If you’re looking for something that’s easy to make on your own, this recipe includes dried cranberries and chocolate chips and is super easy to make, even for the most culinarily challenged of us.
Cheese, Fruit & Veggies
Sometimes simple is better. A cheese stick, some fruit (fresh or dried) and/or vegetables (with hummus or peanut butter) are always great choices for halftime snacks.
You can get prepackaged cheese-fruit-nut combos or create your own, tailoring the contents to suit individual tastes.
Ants On A Log
For the younger footballers, make halftime a fun activity with Ants on a Log or any number of neat variations.
Ants on a Log are pretty simple: Take a stick of celery, fill the tube with peanut butter then top it with raisins, like ants marching on a log. Alternatively, you can top the peanut butter with chocolate chips, blueberries, granola, fish crackers or animal crackers — or any combination of those items.
For those who want to go a step further, you can create caterpillars with grapes and a cherry tomato head or snails with apple slices for the shell and a grape head. The possibilities are endless, entertaining and delicious.
PB Pinwheels
If it’s gameday and you forgot to make a snack for the kids’ big game and haven’t made a recent trip to the store, peanut butter pinwheels can be quickly whipped together with ingredients you probably already have in the pantry.
All you need to make these palatable pinwheels is peanut butter, flour tortillas, raisins, granola and honey. The best part is, if you don’t have raisins, granola or honey, your recipe isn’t ruined, you can still salvage the dish with other household foods like chocolate chips, banana slices or any other food that goes great with peanut butter (which is to say, pretty much everything).
Cookie Dough Balls
While a bit more of a postgame treat than a halftime snack, peanut butter cookie dough balls are a fun-to-make and fun-to-eat item — they look like mini soccer balls!
This recipe is perfect for a soccer team: All you do is stir together peanut butter, honey, vanilla, oat flour and peanut flour then fold in chocolate chips and you’re basically done. Roll the dough into miniature soccer balls and they’re ready to eat!
If you want something with less sugar, try this recipe that essentially replaces the chocolate chips with raisins and the flour with corn flakes.
You may have noticed, most of these recipes include some form of peanut, and for good reason. Peanuts contain a number of essential nutrients for athletes and fans alike, including magnesium, manganese, B vitamins, phosphorous, Vitamin E and copper. Peanuts and peanut butter are perfect for satisfying hunger before, after or during physical workouts.
