The Best Foods to Take With You on a Long Flight
I love traveling, but let’s face it: I’m a food writer and every dollar is precious to me. I refuse to spend money on checked luggage and rarely buy extra snacks at the airport or on a plane. Even when I fly internationally, I only travel with personal items and carry-on luggage, and I still manage to pack a ton of great snacks.
Whether you have food allergies or are just trying to save money like me, you deserve to treat yourself on flights and get the most out of your budget. As you pack your bags, consider these tips to ensure you stay well-fed even on the longest flights.
Snacks that are always on my flight list:
How to plan your personal flight menu
Once you’ve carefully read what you can and can’t take on a plane , you can create your snack menu. When I consider what snacks to pack, I focus on size, weight, nutrition, and fun. Fun means taste and how much it makes me happy. This is a big part of the “treat yourself” section. If you don’t have anything to keep you entertained, you’ll likely end up splurging on extremely overpriced and disappointing airport snacks. Enjoyment is probably the biggest variable on this list, because while I don’t enjoy fruity skin, it might be right for you.
In terms of size, we’re working with carry-on luggage and a small personal item, and I’m guessing we’ll be sharing at least some space with clothes, so the food should be relatively compact. As for weight, keep in mind how much time you’ll spend carrying the item—perhaps on public transport, standing in line, pushing it through security, and fiddling with it on the plane (perhaps under a seat or overhead). . Regarding nutrition, I am not a health food writer and this is not a health food post. However, foods that contain more nutrients than candy can keep you feeling full longer. That doesn’t mean I won’t bring candy too (I will), but I’m looking for snacks that fit my needs. Think about what might be “nutritious” for you.
The best snacks for long flights
This is not an exhaustive list—after all, you can take a lot of food with you on a plane, even live lobster—but these are the ones I always take with me. These are the candies that I mentioned earlier. (In case you’re wondering: gummy Life Savers, Twizzlers, and maybe something sour.)
Dried sticks. Of all the foods, high-protein snacks keep you full the longest. Jerky is one of my favorite proteins because of its convenient form and shelf stability. Plus, jerky has come a long way since the days of Slim Jim. Now you can buy dishes made from natural ingredients, and they don’t even have to be beef. I love Chomps , which come in full-size sticks and mini sticks.
Freeze-dried vegetables. Another snack that really impressed me were freeze-dried vegetable chips (not to be confused with regular dried vegetable chips). They absolutely destroy my category: easy, small, nutritious and amazingly fun. I’m a big fan of Confetti snacks because the flavor never fails and they include a ton of veggies—or you can just focus on the crunchiest ones and buy a bag of freeze-dried shiitake mushrooms .
Dried fruit. Oddly enough, I like freeze-dried vegetables, but not fruits. Please do whatever you want, but I take regular dried fruits with me. I usually buy dried fruit from Trader Joe’s because their quality and prices beat my other local options. I don’t find dried apples or pineapples very interesting, but I do like dried mango slices or chewy dried bananas . I’ll include fruit skins here, which you won’t find in my bags, but they are usually individually wrapped and easy to stash in small unused spaces.
Packaged energy bars. The whole point of protein or energy bars is to deliver a ton of nutrients in a small package. I usually put a couple in random pockets and pouches of my bag, only to be surprised when I come across one. (What’s better than a surprise meal?) Some of my favorites are Lara bars , RX Bars , and Amrita bars (a great vegan protein option).
The Mighty Sandwich. Although I consider them a snack, there is something about sandwiches that screams “food.” This is probably because you can easily fit any kind of protein or vegetable between two slices of bread. However, they can be made small, light, varied in nutrition, and certainly fun to eat.
The main thing you need to take care of is choosing the ingredients for your sandwich based on the temperature. According to the USDA, foods that need to be refrigerated shouldn’t be left out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours , but if you can store them at 40°F or below (outside the danger zone), you’re fine.
Use a small, padded, collapsible cooler to keep your sandwich cold longer (and you can also use it to bring home souvenirs ). If you don’t want to fuss with all that, just fill your sandwich with ingredients that are stable at room temperature. Although the TSA considers peanut butter jars to be a liquid, you can bring as many PB&J pesos as you want on board. Make a toasted vegetable baguette or pack a fruit and cheese sandwich. While cheese and cooked vegetables are technically refrigerator foods, I personally give them a little more leeway.
And finally, a clever trick
Who would I be if I didn’t give you at least one neat trick for bringing more food on the plane? Please, I have some honesty. Again, I only take personal items and carry-on luggage, even on long international flights, and an adult should have space for clothes and shoes. I put some small groceries in my personal bag, but I usually bring an extra bag with me to carry most groceries. (I know what a scammer.)
This can be a reusable bag or a disposable plastic bag. A bag containing food and drinks does not count as part of your baggage. After all, if you bought all that food at the airport and put it in a Hudson News plastic bag or pizza box, you’ll be allowed to bring it on board, too. It just so happens that you saved a ton of money instead of buying them at the airport. Yes, it’s another thing to carry, but only on the way there .