Best Food for Long Flights

Best Food for Long Flights

The majority of long flights will serve food, but it isn’t always adequate. If they have snacks for sale to satisfy your appetite, you may find that they sell out quickly or they aren’t anything that you like. Fortunately, you can bring food along with you for a long flight.

Here’s our list of Best Food for long flights that can be easily packed and eaten.

Meal Ideas:

Sandwich or wrap:  It’s ok to purchase a sandwich while at the airport, or even pack your own sandwich at home, just don’t use aluminum foil as your food is scanned through the x-ray machines.  You can bring small travel size peanut butter, hummus, guacamole, salsa, salad dressings or other dips, as long as they are 3.4 ounces or smaller.  Another great option is your favorite cold pasta salad. Be creative with veggies & fresh herbs. One of our favorites is bruschetta pasta made with fresh basil, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and a little Italian dressing. Pasta is great to pack in a collapsible tupperware, so it takes up minimal space once you have eaten.

Salad in a jar is another great option.  You can find endless recipes on the internet. Pictured here is a salad with white cannelli beans, tomato, mozzarella cheese, orzo pasta and a mix of romaine and bib lettuce. Remember to put your salad dressing of choice at the bottom of the jar, and then just shake when you are ready to eat (don’t forget a fork!)

Remember to pack any home made sandwiches or wraps all in a see through plastic bag. While on the subject of bags, bring along a few empty zip lock bags. Once you are through security go buy a side and fill up the zip lock with ice. This will help keep your good cold during a long flight. Ziplock bags can leak, so I like to put the one with ice inside of another one just in case. Frozen gel ice packs don’t always get through security, which is why we use this option.

While you are at the soda machine, this is also a good time to fill an insulated travel mug with ice so you can have ice cold water for the duration of your flight.

Trail Mix

This is a great food to bring on a flight with you as it’s readily available or you can make your own. Traditional trail mix tends to consist of things like raisins, nuts and granola. However, you can put whatever you want in it as long as it tends to be dry. So if you have some dry snacks that you want to use up before going on a flight, consider mixing them altogether and making your own trail mix to snack on while traveling.

Keep in mind you should avoid a lot of salt to prevent bloating while on a long flight, Chex Mix, pretzels, chips, popcorn, sunflower seeds, goldfish crackers, cheerios and raisins are all popular snack items to pack.

Fruit And Veggies

Looking for a healthy option? You can bring fruits and veggies with you when you are on a long flight. Just make sure they are washed and possibly cut up beforehand. Baby carrots, whole apples and bananas tend to travel well. You can pack pretty much any fruit or vegetable that you want, but certain fruits like cut up strawberries need to be eating quickly as they can become mushy if they go too long without refrigeration. An added bonus of packing fruits and veggies is that they tend to have a lot of fiber in them and can help keep you full.

Freeze fruits such as orange or grapefruit wedges, grapes & berries, and they can also help keep other food items cold for you. Yogurt also freezes well.

If you are flying internationally, make sure you only take enough fruit that you will eat on the flight, as you will likely have to get rid of any left over food before clearing customs. Make sure and review customs restrictions for the place you are traveling to.

Lunchables

You can easily find Lunchables in a lot of grocery stores. They are great to take on long flights as they don’t take up a lot of room and they contain items that have protein. You can also make your own “Lunchables” if you have some meat, cheese and crackers on hand. There are healthy/organic options such as MiniMeals2Go, Organic Valley kits with cheese, a variety of meat options & whole wheat crackers, Sargento balance breaks with cheeses, nuts & fruits or P3 portable protein packs. If you aren’t watching your calories, try Philadelphia cream cheese bagel chips with cream cheese dip.

Cookies & Crackers
Lots of options in this category whether you want healthy or a treat. Saltines, animal or graham crackers, fig newton, peanut butter crackers, belVita breakfast cookies, Cheez-It & Nutter Butter bites are just a few of the options you have.

Oatmeal

Not many people realize that they can bring oatmeal with them while on an airplane. All you have to do is pack an oatmeal packet and ask for a cup of hot water and a spoon once you are on board your flight. This will allow you to make a quick, easy meal that will fill you up. It’s also nice to have something hot, especially if you are on board a chilly airplane. Nature Valley, Quaker and Redd provide healthy oatmeal bar options.  Another option is to bake your oatmeal and pack it as a snack cake or muffin. You can also make no-bake cereal bars ahead of time with your favorite brands.

Some Things To Consider

If you are worried about keeping food items cool, you can pack a frozen water bottle and put it next to your cold items. Frozen water can be taken through the TSA despite the fact that regular water can’t, but it must be completely frozen.  Plan ahead with wipes, utensils and whatever else you may need.  Try to incorporate food that help hydrate the body which include cucumbers, radish, cantaloupe, watermelon, bell peppers, pears, pineapple, carrots, red grapes, apples, oranges & celery.

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