Find Your Perfect Healthy Snack With Sargento Natural Cheese

The following is a post sponsored by Sargento. For our sponsored post policy, click here.

We love snacks! And for a number of reasons: they keep your blood sugar levels more stable between meals, they keep you from getting too hungry, they’re a good way to get more nutrition in your day—and, let’s face it, they’re also delicious and prevent the dreaded 3 p.m. hangries. (Yes, we just made hangry a noun and we made it plural—like cooties, but not.) Now, snacking at home is pretty simple. When you have your kitchen and all of its amenities at your disposal, it’s easy to enjoy a small salad or a few eggs as a quick snack. But when you’re on the go? Well, snacking gets a bit more tricky. Which is why we love us some Sargento Natural Cheese Snacks.

A natural source of high-quality protein in a convenient, portion-controlled serving, Sargento Natural Cheese Snacks have the fresh flavor of real cheese and come in a bunch of yummy varieties that will make cheese-lovers rejoice: Colby-Jack Sticks, Pepper Jack Sticks, Sharp Cheddar Sticks, Vermont Sharp White Cheddar Sticks, Reduced Fat Colby-Jack Sticks, Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar Sticks and Reduced Sodium Colby-Jack Sticks. And if those weren’t enough, there’s string cheese, too, in both Regular, Light and Reduced Sodium String Cheese. Um, and have you tried their Natural Blends? We’re talking Cheddar-Mozzarella Cheese Snacks, Double Cheddar Snacks, Sharp Cheddar-Jack Snacks and Provolone-Mozzarella Snacks. If you love cheese (and, of course you do; everyone loves cheese!), Sargento pretty much offers heaven.

Besides taste, Sargento Natural Cheese Snack varieties also provide a good source of calcium, at least 4 grams of protein and have 90 calories or less per stick. The reduced sodium and reduced fat options have 25 percent less sodium and 33 percent less fat than the traditional cheeses, without sacrificing taste. Like we said, heaven.

And with so many varieties and so much nutrition, there are about a million ways to enjoy them and pair them for your snacking enjoyment—even when you’re on the go, at work or trying to refuel post-workout. For tons of fun healthy snack ideas, check out the Smart Snacker Destination to help you plan your nutritious and tasty snacks! (It’s a really, really fun interactive tool!) And here are a few of our favorite pairings…

Our 5 Favorite Sargento Natural Cheese Snack Pairings

1. Vegtastic: Sargento Natural String, plus a red bell pepper and five cherry tomatoes. You can mix and match the string cheese with any veggies really, but this low-cal snack (we’re talking 125 calories) is filling and full of protein and all kinds of antioxidants!

2. Cheese and Fruit Platter: Sargento Colby-Jack, plus a large apple and eight strawberries. A play on a cheese-and-fruit platter, we like how filling and fun this combo is. For 251 calories, it can also serve as a nice mini-meal!

3. Cheesy Trail Mix: Sargento Sharp Cheddar, plus almonds and raisins. This is the perfect heartier snack on the go. A fun twist on trail mix, it’s savory, sweet and super filling with good fats, protein and fiber!

4. Protein Power: Sargento Pepper Jack, plus hard-cooked egg and strawberry nonfat Greek yogurt. Just got done lifting weights or completing a tough workout and need to protein it up? Try this combo that has a whopping 24 grams of protein!

5. Sweet Treat: Sargento Natural String, plus dark chocolate and strawberries. If you have a sweet craving, try this snack instead. Cheese, chocolate and strawberries may sound odd to eat together, but we promise they’re oh-so yummy.

What’s your favorite Sargento Natural Cheese Snack Pairing? Tell us in the comments below (remember to use the tool!), and we’ll select three lucky U.S. readers to win an Sargento Snack Cooler (pictured at right) and some free Sargento cheese. Winners will be announced in about a week in the comments and via email. Happy snacking! —Jenn