The Best Diabetes Snacks for Weight Loss

Updated October 09, 2020
Next time you need something to tide you over until you next meal, try one of our diabetes-friendly snacks for weight loss. These recipes all have 2 or fewer carbohydrate servings, or no more than 30 grams of carbohydrates per snack. They're also lower in calories and higher in fiber to help keep you full. Delicious recipes like Peanut Butter Energy Balls and Autumn Fruit Salad will have you savoring snack time while still meeting your nutrition goals.
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Roasted Buffalo Chickpeas

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Soaking chickpeas in vinegary hot sauce gives them a mouthwatering tang before they crisp up in the oven. The result? An addictively crunchy snack that's actually good for you.

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Lemon Tuna & Yogurt Cracker

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A crisp whole-grain cracker gets the freshest topping of light tuna, lemony Greek yogurt, and a bright dill garnish. It's the quick snack that's almost a meal when you're having too much fun in the sun to stop and cook.

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Green Goddess Dip with Crudites

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Green Goddess dip is perfect for raw veggies like cukes, celery, carrots, and more. This one is packed with fresh herbs like tarragon and parsley.

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Hummus-Covered Pretzel Rod

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Hummus adds a flavorful protein punch to a pretzel rod for a fun, healthy after-school snack that the kids can even help with.

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Pressure-Cooker Hummus

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Cooking chickpeas from scratch is the best way to make your own hummus, but it can take hours to soak and cook them yourself. Enter the pressure cooker. Even without an overnight soak, your beans can be done in less than an hour, making this the ultimate last-minute appetizer option.

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Fire Ants on a Log

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Update classic ants on a log, a favorite childhood snack, when you swap dried cherries for raisins.

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Frozen Chocolate-Banana Bites

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Dark chocolate is drizzled on chunks of banana then frozen to make this sweet snack or dessert.

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Cranberry-Almond Granola Bars

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There are plenty of granola bar options at the grocery store, but they're also easy (and often healthier) to make at home. Feel free to vary the add-ins to your taste, swapping 2 cups of any combination of small (or chopped) dried fruit, nuts, seeds and/or chocolate chips for the dried cranberries and nuts in this version. We tested several sticky sweeteners, including maple syrup and honey, but found brown rice syrup held the bars together the best.

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Garlic-Parmesan Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

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Garlic bread meets pumpkin seeds in this baked pumpkin seed recipe--and they really hit it off!

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Strawberry-Chocolate Greek Yogurt Bark

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Lightly sweetened Greek yogurt gets studded with fresh strawberries and chocolate chips then frozen so you can break it into chunks just like chocolate bark (but healthier!). This colorful snack or healthy dessert is perfect for kids and adults alike. Use full-fat yogurt to ensure the creamiest bark possible.

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Beet Chips

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Make perfectly crunchy veggie chips at home with this healthy recipe. Use a mandoline to slice the beets extra-thin for the optimum crunch!

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Hard-Boiled Egg with Hot Sauce

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Add a little spice to your day by topping a protein-rich egg with hot sauce. It's a simple snack to help power you through your day.

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Greek Yogurt with Strawberries

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Protein-rich Greek yogurt and sweet strawberries make for a super-simple and satisfying snack.

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Cucumber Hummus Sandwiches

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Cucumber tea sandwiches get a low-carb makeover when you skip the bread and add high-protein hummus.

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Apricots & Walnuts

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This simple snack provides the energy you need when you start to drag.

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Peanut Butter-Covered Pretzel Rod

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This sweet-and-salty pretzel rod is a satisfying snack that's perfect on-the-go or at home after school--and kids can even help make it themselves.

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Cherry Tomato & Egg Cracker

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Top a crunchy sourdough crispbread with diced egg and cherry tomatoes for a wholesome snack that's pretty enough to serve at a party. It's the healthy, quick way to snack.

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Creamy Peanut Dip

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The classic apples-and-peanut-butter snack gets amped up with a creamy dip. Pears make it extra special, but apples are yummy too.

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Italian Popcorn

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This healthy air-popped whole-grain snack gets jazzed up with a dash of herbs and cheese.

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Kohlrabi Slices with Ranch Dip

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Mix up your typical crudités snack by trying kohlrabi. One serving of this crunchy veggie packs a day's worth of vitamin C.

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Crunchy Chocolate-Raspberry Yogurt

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This fun snack features high-protein Greek yogurt. If kids won't eat plain yogurt, substitute vanilla fat-free Greek yogurt. (If you want to wean kids off sweet yogurt, mix together half of each kind.)

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Everything Bagel Microwave Popcorn

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Full of umami-rich flavors inspired by the classic bagel, this easy popcorn snack is sure to make your mouth water.

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Pumpkin Coconut Energy Balls

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These easy pumpkin-spiced coconut oat balls make a great, packable afternoon snack or a delicious party appetizer.

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Savory Date & Pistachio Bites

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A touch of sweetness from the dates and raisins paired with crunch and nuttiness from the pistachios make these bites perfect for an on-the-go snack or as an accompaniment on a cheese board.

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Homemade Multi-Seed Crackers

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Turn leftover brown rice and quinoa from dinner or meal-prepping into these delicious crispy crackers that are loaded with three good-for-you seeds--and create an everything-bagel flavor, without the bagel. The whole grains that make up this copycat cracker recipe add lots of fiber for a healthy snack that pairs perfectly with hummus or cheese.

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Parmesan Carrot Crisps

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Dress up a cheese board or snack spread with these homemade carrot crackers.

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Easy Black Bean Dip

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This creamy bean dip is great for a party or picnic. Smoked paprika and ground chipotles add a robust, earthy flavor, but you can also use regular paprika and cayenne if you don't have the other spices on hand.

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Peanut Butter Energy Balls

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These healthy peanut butter and chocolate energy balls deliver a mixture of simple and complex carbohydrates to help fuel you up whenever you need a little boost. They're no-bake and easy to make with ingredients you probably have on hand, like oats and nut butter. Feel free to experiment with different mix-ins--for example, dried fruit or chopped nuts--in place of the chocolate chips and coconut.

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Autumn Fruit Salad

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Take advantage of pears when they're at their best in the fall and winter. This fruit salad combines ripe pears with low-fat Greek yogurt, toasted pecans, and a touch of honey. It's perfect for breakfast, a snack, or dessert.

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Sweet & Spicy Slow-Cooker Snack Mix

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With both sweet and spicy flavors to entice your taste buds, this slow-cooker-prepared snack mix is easy to make and great to have on hand for game days, parties, and after-school snacking. Remember to stir it every so often, as directed, to keep things from sticking together.

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Air-Fryer Crispy Chickpeas

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Air-fried chickpea snacks are intensely flavored and incredibly crunchy. Drying the chickpeas is essential to a good crunch, so don't skip this step. If you have time, leave them out on the counter to dry for an hour or two before frying.

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