35 Most Popular Snacks in the US Ranked in 2025

Every country has a selection of popular snacks that almost everyone loves, but here in the United States, we take our store-bought snacks…seriously. Maybe more so than any other country in the world.

Fifteen competing brands of the same snack food, all with ardent devotees? Check. Heated regional rivalries, huge amounts of state-by-state variation, and an endless variety of niche snacks to discover? Check. Ingredient lists containing every unpronounceable synthetic flavor and color that our finest scientific minds can produce? Double-check on that one. 

This is all to say that the American snack market is an innovative place. Forget the Great Plains — it’s the labs at Frito-Lay, Hershey, Mars and other snack-making giants that are the true breadbasket of America. (Hey, we didn’t get to be internationally renowned for our poor health, as this eye-opening University of Alabama study elucidates, by eating carrot sticks at snacktime.)

And when you have such a proud snack culture, we’re bound to start asking which snacks are the best of the best. Wait no longer, my peckish friend. This absolutely objective (we’re as biased as you are) and somewhat definitive (these debates will never be settled) list walks through 35 of America’s favorite snacks, rating them from “kinda meh” to “if Heaven has vending machines, this snack is always stocked there.” 

Though none of these famous snacks are outright unappetizing, some are decidedly better than others, so buckle up. 

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• The 35 Best Snack Foods Ranked
• What Is the Most Popular Snack in the US?

The 35 Best Snack Foods Ranked

35. Twinkies 

After spending a couple of decades as the much-maligned poster child of mass-produced American food, Twinkies are almost nobody’s favorite snack anymore. And yes, there’s good enough reason for the decline in their fortunes. But they’re not that bad.

Twinkies are odd, definitely, and we don’t even want to know what half the things on that ingredient list are. But between the spongy cake shell and the marshmallowy filling, they have an odd sort of charm.

If they didn’t, wouldn’t they have faded into obscurity already? The quiet persistence of this once-popular snack speaks volumes. 

34. Slim Jims  

These somewhat tough, yet kind of tasty dried meat wands get major props for being one of the few popular snacks on this list with a pretty balanced nutritional profile. Slim Jims are high in protein, which isn’t exactly a hallmark of most snacks you’ll find in the checkout aisle at the supermarket.

As far as we’ve ever heard, Slim Jims aren’t anyone’s favorite snack in the world. But if you’re craving meat and a hamburger isn’t at hand or you just need to get some protein into your road trip diet of candy and chips from the gas station, this popular snack will do the trick. 

33. Corn Nuts  

These crunchy, seasoned corn kernels have their legions of devoted fans. This popular snack walks an odd line between true junk food and somewhat-healthy snacks, making it difficult to determine which snacking niche corn nuts fall into. Nevertheless, in an extremely specific mood, you may find these enjoyably salty and crunchy.  

32. Takis  

Please don’t send us hate mail over this. We know from personal experience that not everyone is a spicy-snack person, but it seems like just about everybody loves a good hot chip these days.

And we’ll grant Takis’ fans one thing: there’s reason enough for their ardent love of this popular snack. If you do enjoy spice, the crunch of the rolled tortilla chip and the balance of lime and chile (if going for the classic Fuego version) are just right.

However, many find the flavor a little too much. The same could be said for the coating of off-puttingly bright red dust that these leave on our fingers. Yet, despite the love-them-or-hate-them nature of this tortilla chip brand, we also couldn’t leave this popular snack brand off the list entirely.

31. Rice Krispies Treats  

Before you get riled up about how low we ranked this popular snack, allow us to offer a caveat: a good Rice Krispies Treat is one of the most underrated indulgences we know of.

It’s also by far the easiest dessert to make at home, requiring neither an oven nor even a smidgen of skill in the kitchen. But here, we’re talking about the blue-foil-wrapper kind you buy in huge packs at bulk stores. And that’s a different story. 

Officially-branded Rice Krispies Treats are no doubt tasty, not to mention super nostalgic for many of us. But because it’s so easy to make or buy Rice Krispies treats with better-quality ingredients, the official ones are stuck in the lower rankings of this list despite being one of the most popular American snacks. 

30. Fritos 

It’s hard to fathom what role this popular snack is supposed to play in the chip world. They’re corn chips, but not in a tortilla-chip way, and their thick cut is like no other chip.

So what’s the point? We don’t know, and frankly, we wouldn’t grab a bag of Fritos first if given the run of the chips aisle. 

But it’s that lukewarm reputation that makes Fritos dangerous: you’ll let your guard down and devour half a bag of this somewhat popular snack before you’ve even realized you’re doing it. 

29. Cheetos  

These cheese-powder-coated corn puffs are such a beloved part of any snack aisle that we could never think of leaving them off a list of popular snacks, even if they are on the lower end of the rankings.

And we’ll admit there are things about Cheetos that really work: no one was doing that puffed-corn thing before Cheetos, and one could never accuse them of not being cheesy enough. 

For us, this popular snack is a little too far removed from anything that grows in nature to be ranked much higher. But we’re very magnanimous around here, and we can concede that your experience is not ours.

So live your Cheeto truth. Who cares if you’ve got orange dust on your hands? 

28. Planters Peanuts 

Sometimes you just want to grab something you can really chew on. When your options are limited, consider Planters Peanuts: they’re a little more noshable than your average bag of chips, and far more nutritious, too.

This popular snack is therefore an anomaly in aisles full of empty calories, making it worth investigating — even if it’s not the most exciting pick. 

27. Fruit By the Foot 

There are a lot of popular snacks in this “unfolding fruit leather” genre, and many of them would have been worthy of this spot. We went with Fruit By the Foot because it’s got a special kind of charm.

Neither truly candy nor exactly a natural fruit leather, this rolled-up rope of thin gummy snack is hard to classify as anything but oddly tasty. Because it’s not substantially hunger-sating or as obviously snackable as candy, Fruit By the Foot is not the most popular snack among anyone old enough not to carry a backpack. 

But we’ll vouch for it anyway: stick one in the fridge for an hour or two before you try it to see what we’re talking about. Is it the healthiest fruit snack around? Of course not, but it’s a fun treat to pick up when you want something different from gummy candies. 

26. Snyder’s of Hanover Pretzels  

Unlike so many other categories of popular snacks, there’s really not much of a debate about the best pretzel brand. Sure, things might be different if you get into peanut butter pretzels, or chocolate-dipped pretzels or some other variant. But if you just want a straight bag of pretzels, the votes have been in for a while: Snyder’s of Hanover is the way to go.

There’s absolutely nothing unique about these pretzels, which is what makes them such a popular snack. They’re exactly what a pretzel is meant to be, and nothing more. You’ll find no fancy trappings here, only plain, well-made pretzels, in a couple of shapes (think standard twists and sticks) with plenty of rock salt. 

Keeping it simple works very well for Snyder’s of Hanover when it comes to hard pretzels. Oh, and one of the best options if you’re looking for relatively healthy gas station snacks during your next road trip. 

25. Pringles  

There are substantially better potato chips on this list of popular snacks — multiple of them, actually — but none with exactly the same vibe as a can of Pringles. The texture of a Pringle, the experience of fishing one after another out of the can, the mind-boggling variety of Pringles flavors, and the starchy taste that no other chip replicates: there’s nothing like a Pringle.

You may or may not happen to enjoy these popular snacks, but you can’t deny that they’re doing something one-of-a-kind.

24. Bugles 

A popular snack that is nonetheless almost always forgotten until you stop for snacks at an airport newsstand or a gas station on a long drive. Those are the only contexts in which we’ve ever seen anyone buy Bugles.

But for a snack that everyone forgets about until they’re on the road, they sure do seem to be chosen in those moments with amusing regularity. And if we weren’t primarily eating them on an airplane or in a car, we’d bet this popular snack would be great for dipping, too. 

23. Tostitos  

We’re fully aware that Tostitos aren’t the best-quality or most authentic tortilla chips on the market. There are dozens of other brands offering better ingredients, more traditional preparation methods and an all-around better experience.

But this popular snack isn't claiming to be any of those things: Tostitos are just crunchy, salty tortilla chips meant for at-home dipping. Authentic or not, they taste great, and are as popular a snack for eating straight out of the bag as they are for pairing with the dips they were made to scoop up.  

22. Milk Duds 

A seriously underrated movie theater candy. Weren’t we all thrilled to find a box of these in our trick-or-treating bag on Halloween as kids?

Although the extreme chewiness of the caramel can be off-putting to some (you could seriously lose a tooth in one of these), that’s exactly what makes them such a popular snack for others. Caramel is always in style, and these pint-sized, chocolate-enrobed bites are an excellent use of it. 

Oh, and a note to anyone trying to save a little on their movie date: these are one of the best snacks at Walmart, too. You know…where they cost half the price? Stash ‘em in your bag now, thank us later. 

21. Nestlé Dibs

Ice cream isn’t usually classified as a snack; it’s its own thing, and it would feel weird to claim that a Klondike Bar or a Drumstick is a snack food in the same vein as a bag of Doritos. But in the case of Dibs, it’s undeniably the right call.

These bite-sized ice cream squares are as small and impossible to stop eating as any other snack, and they’re one of the few that’ll help you beat the summer heat. Another often-forgotten movie theater favorite that should be a much more popular snack than it is. 

20. SkinnyPop  

This somewhat newer entry on the popular snack scene is a favorite at parties these days. Set out a big bowl of Kettle Corn from this health-conscious popcorn brand on your snack table, and you’ll keep your guests snacking for hours. Provided you stop by for the occasional refill, of course.

Outside of entertaining, this popular snack is loved as a late-night treat and is perfect for storing in your office desk drawer. SkinnyPop is also quite versatile, offering a handful of classic and inventive popcorn flavors with the promise of a low-calorie but still fun grazing snack. 

19. Swedish Fish  

No candy is more inexplicably maligned than this one, despite it still ranking as one of the most popular snacks in the country. Seriously, what do people have against the humble fish-shaped fruit gummy?

Is it the odd matte finish in a sea of glossier gummy candies? Is it the unrecognizable fruit flavors? We don’t know, but Swedish Fish are so much better than they’re made out to be if you listen to the haters. 

No other gummy has the firm, tender texture of a Swedish Fish, and the candy scene would be less without them. 

18. Jelly Belly Jelly Beans  

Many of us have some light childhood trauma surrounding this candy after accidentally eating a buttered popcorn or licorice bean as a kid, thinking it was a more palatable flavor. Set that aside and you’ll see what this popular snack really has to offer.

With what seems an endless amount of flavors available, Jelly Belly’s jelly beans are as versatile as your changing tastes. You can buy special packs of certain flavors to dodge the risk of getting a weird one in the mix, or even bulk-order a single favorite. 

And whatever you think of jelly beans as a candy, you can’t deny that this popular snack is genre-defining. That kind of influence has to mean something, doesn’t it? 

17. Ritz Crackers 

It may have been a while since you thought about Ritz Crackers: understandable, seeing as they really don’t seem to come up much once you’re no longer packing school lunches.

But this buttery, flaky cracker deserves to be remembered from time to time. There’s no better vessel for cheese or dip, no matter what the fancy cracker brands might tell you. A popular snack for kids that still has much to offer the adult palate. 

16. Skittles  

Many fruity candies flop because they try too hard to imitate real fruit using lab-synthesized ingredients, which completely miss the mark. That’s pretty much inevitable when you’re trying to recreate a fruit flavor without any real fruit flavor.

But when a popular snack leaves the “food found in nature” concept behind and acquiesces to “just make it taste kind of like fruit,” there’s room for some really great work to be done. That’s how we feel about this popular snack. 

There are certainly better, more convincing imitations of fruit on the market. But Skittles are perfectly sweet and perfectly tart in a way that transcends the fruits each flavor is said to be based on.

A winning formula: ignore what you can’t imitate. Thanks to that bit of pragmatism, Skittles are an elite snacking candy. 

15. Starbursts  

Another popular snack in the fruity candy category that is nearly always a win. Sure, you might come to blows with friends over which flavor is actually best, but that only speaks to the enduring influence of the Starburst in our cultural lexicon.

It’s a good-natured debate that never end, mostly because it makes us feel connected to have some low-stakes opinion to fight about. So go on — pick a hill to die on and debate with your friend who insists that pink is the only decent flavor of this popular snack. It’ll make your friendship stronger in the end. 

14. Twix 

There are so many candy bars we could’ve highlighted on this list of popular snacks, but didn’t. Despite there being so many great options, it wouldn’t make any sense to fill up the ranks of this list with 15 different chocolate bars. Yet, we feel that Twix has to have its place here.

For pure satisfaction, no candy bar formula is better than the crunchy biscuit, creamy caramel and smooth chocolate of a Twix. It’s a popular snack to grab in the checkout line at the store for good reason. 

13. Doritos 

We may personally prefer other mass-market chips, but there is almost no popular snack more beloved than Doritos. Whether you stick to the original or branch out into new Doritos flavors from time to time, these seasoned corn chips have a chokehold on the American public, and it seems like we like it. 

12. Gushers  

When we’re talking about something as personal as our favorite snacks, generational bias is a huge factor. We all grew up loving the snacks they gave us on field trips or that our parents would bring home from the grocery store as a special treat, no matter how good or bad they actually are. For anybody born between 1991, when this popular snack launched, and around 2005, Gushers are one of those snacks.

Are they weird? Undoubtedly. That viscous, overly sweet center has a distinct soapy texture. It’s not clear why gummies need to burst when you bite into them, if we’re being quite honest. 

But to a whole generation of newly minted adults, these things are culinary gold. There’s something immensely satisfying about their texture, as weird as it is, and a fake fruit snack is always a win. If you happen to fall into said generational group, you’ll get it. 

11. Annie’s Organic Fruit Snacks 

There are dozens of fruit gummies on the market, and a lot of them are better-known than this family-oriented organic brand’s bunny-shaped variation. That’s truly a shame, because Annie’s makes the best version by far.

These popular snacks are perfectly fruity without the artificial aftertaste that plagues many such candies. We credit the use of more natural flavors with that. 

Plus, as a predominantly healthy snack for kids, this is one of the few options on this list of popular snacks that you can give your little ones (almost) guilt-free. 

10. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups 

Whether you enjoy this popular snack or not will depend on your feelings about peanut butter. Hate the stuff? Allergic? Then your stance is apparent without even needing to bite into a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

But if you like it, you’re almost guaranteed to find this snack’s crunchy chocolate shell and melt-in-your-mouth peanut butter filling delicious. 

Despite widespread concerns about nut allergies, this popular snack is widely considered to be one of the best Halloween candies as well. Unlike its nutty counterpart, Almond Joy, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were never the candy you tried to trade away after trick-or-treating! 

9. Goldfish  

Not only are Goldfish one of the most popular snacks in the U.S., but they can also be enjoyed in a vast array of flavors, even if the cheese-flavored OG is what comes to mind when you hear the brand name.

You can get these traditionally cheddar-flavored crackers in flavors ranging from S’mores to Frank’s RedHot. There is truly a Goldfish flavor for just about everyone these days, but what we’re really ranking here is the classic Cheddar. That’s the one worthy of a mention among the most popular snacks.

It’s hard to put a finger on what makes these mild-tasting, fish-shaped crackers taste so good. They have no special seasoning, no novel texture. They’re a grazing snack if anything ever was, and there’s nothing pretentious about them.

So what is it? Our money is on the simplicity of this popular snack. Sometimes, the best snack is the one you can graze on without a thought — no challenges here.

8. Sour Patch Watermelon  

Sour Patch Watermelon becomes a more popular snack by the day. How? Mostly by word of mouth: nearly every true snack connoisseur will pick these monoflavored Sour Patch gummies over the more standard Sour Patch Kids if given the option.

There’s no telling what makes them so much better — at the end of the day, they’re both just sour gummies coated in citric acid — but they really are. Even if you’re not a member of the post-1990 generations to whom this candy is particularly iconic, it’s hard not to admire the masterful execution of these addictive watermelon gummies. 

7. Lays 

Though not the highest-ranking chip on this list of the most popular snacks, Lays are an absolute classic that we couldn’t possibly think of excluding. Generations of Americans have grown up munching on these paper-thin potato chips, now available in dozens of flavors (some much more successful than others), and there’s a good reason for that.

They’re not super substantial as far as chips go, nor are they the highest-quality potato chips you’ll see on this list. But all Lays flavors are so light and pleasantly seasoned that you could easily forget how many you’ve eaten.

It’s a nice feeling when a snack doesn’t weigh on you, and there’s nothing more breezy — if also salty — than snacking on a bag of Lays. 

6. Rolos  

You may be horrified to learn that this is the second-highest-ranked candy on this list of popular snacks, but we stand by it. Chocolate and caramel are a timeless combination that finds its zenith here. They make great baking add-ins, too, which is always a plus (Rolo pretzels, anyone?)

Some might find Rolos bland, uninspired, and unappealing. There’s so much candy out there — why Rolos? And it’s a decent question. But our answer is simple: caramel and chocolate may be a worn-out combination by now, but Rolos is one of the most well-known brands selling the classic pairing. 

5. Chex Mix  

Literally the only snack mix you ever need to be buying. Cheap off-brand imitations and expensive health-focused versions will never top the real thing, a deliciously salty mix of baked crackers and pretzels where the variety in every bag means you never know what you’ll get in your next handful.

Chex Mix is one of the quintessential “semi-healthy” popular snacks. While it has little nutritional substance, it’s not sugary like candy or as fatty as most chips, so at least there’s that. But don’t bother eating it for the health benefits: you buy a bag of Chex Mix because the last one had you licking your fingers! 

4. Kettle-Cooked Potato Chips  

Next to the paper-thin (if still extremely habit-forming) Lays chip, a thick kettle-cut potato chip will always come out on top when ranking the most popular snacks. 

With substance and sophistication that no other mass-market brand can match, Kettle-Cooked Potato Chips are easily the best chips in the grocery store aisle.

They’re also about as natural as chips get, and their general air of sophistication makes them great snacks to leave out for guests who graze at parties. 

3. Oreos  

Milk’s Favorite Cookie, and ours, too. There aren’t many cookies on this list of the most popular American snacks, and that’s because — if you’ll allow us to be blunt — most of them kind of suck.

Few can even come close to the experience of eating a handmade cookie, whether purchased from a bakery or made at home. Oreos thrive because they don’t even try. 

There is nothing like an Oreo; no better homemade alternative to compare it to. From the dawn of the brand, an Oreo has simply been an Oreo — it was the brand that put the chocolate sandwich cookie on the map. (Although Oreo flavors now branch out in countless directions from the classic chocolate-and-vanilla combo.)

This popular snack is perfect on its own, dunked in milk, as a delicious Dairy Queen Blizzard flavor, or blended into a milkshake. You can make a pie crust with it, throw it into your favorite baked good, turn it into Oreo cheesecake bites or honestly, just about anything else. 

There are few snacking scenarios in which Oreos aren’t an ideal choice. Whether you’re looking for the best gas station snacks for your road trip or something to spice up your classic brownie recipe, they’ll never do you wrong. 

2. Cheez-Its 

The almost-neon color, the flaky texture, those big crystals of salt you occasionally find baked into the surface: name a better cracker than a Cheez-It. We’ll wait.

There may be a million better-quality, more-natural cheese crackers out there, but even the most popular snack brands can’t compete with this grandfather of all cheesy snacks. Nor are many snacks more fundamentally American.

A Cheez-It contains more chemicals in an inch-wide square of cracker than most well-stocked chemistry labs. There is no redeeming nutritional value to be had here. Like most popular American snacks, a serving would probably kill a Medieval peasant — and it is literally impossible to close up the box once you’ve opened it.

We have no idea what they put in Cheez-Its that makes them so habit-forming, but so long as they do, they maintain a top-five position on our official ranking of the best snack foods.  

1. M&M’s  

These days, this popular snack has a thousand variants in any candy aisle. You can find them filled with caramel, pretzel, peanut butter and a revolving selection of seasonal and limited-time fillings. And before there were dozens of new M&M’s flavors, the now-humble Peanut M&M’s had their devotees, too.

But the popular snack we want to highlight here is nothing more than the plain old Original. No flavor variation can possibly top the original’s ratio of soft chocolate to crunchy candy shell. And, with many surveys ranking M&M’s as America’s favorite snack, we had to place it in the number one spot.

What Is the Most Popular Snack in the US? 

In a 2025 study, YouGov identified the most popular snacks based on the percentage of people who have a positive opinion of a snack brand. This saw M&M's placed as the number one snack. The chocolate candy was followed by Ritz, Oreo and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, with Pringles in the final top five spot. 

Another data analysis by Snipp Interactive tried to identify the most popular snacks by looking at how often popular brands were mentioned in Instagram hashtags. In that study, Oreos came out on top. 

However, since there’s no official source compiling sales data about the bestselling snacks, there’s no objective way to determine what the most popular snack in the U.S. actually is. Until some data analyst takes up the call, you’ll have to guess.

Hard as we’ve tried to include a diverse range of fan favorites here, this list of popular snacks doesn’t even scratch the surface of the U.S. snack market. If anything, we hope it inspires you to keep exploring what’s out there.

Whether you end up finding a niche regional snack in your area or a new flavor of an old favorite, good things come to those who snack widely and often.

For even more ways to explore your favorite foods, check out other experiences happening on Cozymeal.