I highly recommend ignoring basically any trendy item you see on Instagram or TikTok. I find that high hopes usually give way to an inevitable letdown when you open that package from Temu and realize some $12 piece of questionably food-grade plastic isn’t going to save your relationship with your estranged uncle. Unless that package contains the Snackle Box.
It is with surprisingly little regret that I inform you that the ‘Snackle Box’ is good. Maybe great. All those Instagram moms and TikTok matriarchs might be wrong about raw milk and sinister underground pizza joints, but the idea that an easily cleanable and collapsable portable snack device will change your life is real.
Yes, I am talking about a rectangular snack box with removable snack pockets like this one on sale for $9.95 on Amazon (as of this writing). I know it sounds a little crazy. There are plenty of ways to snack and transport snacks. Why is this so much better? I have a theory.
What Is The Snackle Box?
The Snackle Box is a verbal play on the tackle box, which most of you are probably familiar with from fishing with your dad. The difference is that this one isn’t filled with rusty lures designed to send you to the ER (sorry Dad). Instead, it’s filled with tasty snacks!
There are numerous variations out there, but it’s this specific one pictured above that I’m talking about. For some reason, the world has decided that the ideal configuration is a clear plastic rectangle that’s about 11.5″ x 8.5″ x 3″ with a removable, top clasping lid and vaguely beige coloring. Inside are eight equally-sized cups that can be removed and put in the dishwasher.
@jenniesuk snack boxes on airplanes is the best idea ever ???????????? #snackbox #flighthacks #snackideas #snacklebox
In the TikTok video above (or linked here) a woman got 6 million views for bringing one of these identical boxes on a plane with her. She went with a classic mix of sweet and salty treats with a double-load of goldfish crackers (she edits it out, but you can see she also put a folded-up paper towel under the lid, which is a pro-level move). I’ve only used the Snackle Box for sleepovers and road trips, but I get the appeal of taking it on a plane.
I know how this sounds. It sounds dumb. It sounds obvious. When the Snackle Box first appeared at my place I discounted it as another supposedly life-altering item that would end up shoved in a cabinet along with our Soda Stream and poach pocket. Friends, I was wrong.
I’m not too big of a man to admit that. I’m not hangry about being wrong. In fact, I’m not hangry at all … on account of the access to snacks.
My Theory Of Why The Snackle Box Is So Hip
There are a few reasons why I think the Snackle Box has taken off on social media lately. My first theory is purely about commerce. Amazon and other retailers will pay, via a special link, if people buy a product you recommend. Everyone does this, from the New York Times all the way down to your aunt who has a podcast about herbivores. This post contains such a link and we do, sometimes, tag links (although rarely considering that much of our competition has whole sections devoted to it). This is something cheap so I imagine the real money is made on volume.
However, people recommend crap on the Internet all the time. Why, suddenly, is this popular? I think it’s because it actually works on a similar emotional level to what makes it work for social media algorithms.
The portability of the Snackle Box is high, but there are plenty of other snack containers that are even more easy to wield. The little pockets are supposedly dishwasher safe, though I wouldn’t put the outer plastic shell in there with your plates. I found this out the hard way when we deformed one of the lids.
I think the key to the Snackle Box is visibility. Its transparency is the magic piece here. It’s one thing to know that you’ve got a bag full of snacks, it’s another thing to see them all laid out like this. It makes every little shell of goodness in there look so appealing. In a way, the 4×2 grid mimics the grids on social media.
Is it possible that our brains are so broken that we now see the whole world like Instagram or TikTok?
@brooklynrreidhead roadtrip ready????????✨ these are so fun to make!! #asmr #asmrsounds #snacklebox #snacks #aesthetic #restock #asmrrestock #restockasmr #snackideas #foryou
Probably!
The Snackle Box is also great if you have kids. You, as a normal adult, might be happy to have a bag of pretzels as a snack. Your kid is probably happier with three pretzels, six M&Ms, eight goldfish, one baby carrot, and 26 Nerds. Kids, whether at home or on a road trip, crave attention and variety. I’ve found that the Snackle Box has kept my daughter from asking for a snack every 18 seconds since she can get it for herself.
Also, I’m like an eight-year-old and I might be happy with one bag of Zappos, but I also would rather have a fun mix of salty and sweet.
Another perk of the boxes is that the size allows you to swap certain sections for items that are better left in their packages, like juice boxes and seaweed snacks:
Those are Thin Mints btw. I’ve also experimented with shoving protein bars in there for long road trips so I’ve got something to keep me going.
Have you purchased one of these? What works best for you? If you haven’t, what would you put in these for your ideal road trip snack? Let’s get snackin’ folks.
Baked beans, sausages, scrambled egg, blackpu………………………..Am I not doing this right somehow? Also kedgeree.
So, a DIY bento box?
I had the exact same thought.
Order from Amazon, wrapped in plastic trash.
Remove food from plastic wrappers, discard as trash.
Place food in new plastic trash.
Snack away…
This is a joke right?
All these snacks already come in their own tiny bags and boxes. Now we what, take them out of those convenient containers, throw the containers out and put them in hard plastic bins which we will then have to constantly wash. I hope that Matt is pulling our chains.
Isn’t Zappos a place that sells shoes? Or am I just out of touch? Is it me? It’s me, isn’t it?
I bet Matt argued against the rest for a sans himself topshot, just so there could be no “Hey so now Rappaport looks hungry?! GO KNICKS!”
Nah. I’ll just stick with my Taco Bell Hard Taco Supremes thank you.
Went on a road trip with my cousin when I was ~13, which would have made him about 17. His mom’s 300ZX. We stopped along the way and got a party pack from Taco Hell, 10 tacos with drinks. That car smelled so bad an hour later…
My aunt was not amused.
LOL! Good times!
You know it! That car was never really the same…
I lived with a few friends in the first couple years after college. The local McD was a test market for the Bucket o’Nuggets, a 100 piece KFC style bucket full of Chicken McNuggets. It did a great job curing a hangover, but the I still wonder if the gastrointestinal distress it caused was worth it.
College I went to was on a hill. Town was at the bottom of the hill, school was in the middle, neighborhoods at the top of the hill. We’d go to parties, get good and drunk, then stumble down the hill to Burger King. Burgers were consumed. Then the walk back up the hill (crown at a jaunty angle on my head…). Never really had a hangover when we did that. Was it the burger, or the walk?
You didn’t get drunk enough. If you’ve never woken up early on a Saturday morning to go to a mandatory “study hall” because you got caught sneaking beer into your dorm and you were still so drunk that morning from the night before that you had to excuse yourself to go throw up, you may not have even been drunk enough. Hopefully I’ve given you something to strive for.
Bill Gates is smiling mightily.Hard pass on the gmo’s, bud.
What? You shelved your SodaStream? I use mine every day!
You don’t use your Soda Stream? Can I have it?
Not dishwasher safe is frustrating. Otherwise pretty cool idea.
Now my kids can spill all their snacks at the same time. Very efficient!
each compartment should have it’s own lid to minimize spillage
Perhaps a set of individual resealable packages would help?
Bag of teriyaki beef jerky, peanut M&Ms, large Coke Zero and I’m set. My kids like basically the same thing, so it’s just a fight for resources.
Korean pork jerky for me. Add in some trail mix with cashews, M&Ms, and raisins and I’m good to go.