Travel Food : Vegan Airplane Snacks

After being vegan/plant based for over 6 years now, I’ve learned to pack food when I travel. Whether that be a road trip, domestic, or international flight, I pack my own food. I was very cautious of packing food for a flight since there are some regulations on what you can and can not fly with. In 2017 I flew to Thailand & Maui and in 2018 I flew to the Bahamas. Those are by far the more ‘bigger’ trips I’ve done where the fights have been long and I’ve needed to think about food for the flight & through layovers.

In addition to bringing my own food, I am also striving to be plastic/waste free. I have by no means mastered this in anyway, but I’m trying my best!

Some of my favorite containers to use while traveling are Eco Lunch Boxes and Stasher Bags. You can store your food in them while you’re traveling as well as use them during your vacation for various things. And of course I bring my own reusable water bottle when I travel. Saves so much money & plastic instead of buying a water bottle every time you’re thirsty. I travel with my Yeti. I also bring my KeepCup for any coffee or hot beverage I get.

Yes, you can bring fresh fruit on a plane! There are some regulations of what kind you fly with and you can’t take tropical fruit OUT when you’re visiting…for example Maui or Thailand. You can’t take fresh mangos or avocados home with you or on the plane. So eat all that before you go through security if you want to have some before your flight. However, I have successfully flown out of CA with berries, oranges, grapes, & bananas. It’s always easier & lasts longer if you bring fruit that has it’s own ‘container’…for example: bananas, oranges, apples, ect.

If I’m flying for a long period of time where meals will be served, I bring instant organic oatmeal and just ask the flight attendant for a cup of hot water. This works so great and is extremely easy and light weight to pack.

I also love packing homemade cookies, trail mix, nuts/seeds, and fresh veggies. Usually after traveling for so long I just crave fresh things. And the Stasher Bags keep veggie snacks like carrots & snap peas so fresh.

For the homemade cookies I packed below, you can find the recipe HERE. We ate some while traveling but they also lasted a better part of the week in our hotel room. Perfect for curbing our chocolate cravings without buying anything.

Some of my other favorite snacks to fly with that I didn’t picture below include: Justin’s Almond Butter Packets, Trader Joes’ Honey Mints, Rice Cakes, Oat Energy Balls, roasted veggies & potatos, and Go Macro Bars. 

I have flown with everything I’ve listed above without a problem. However, some airports did make me take all the food out of my backpack and go through it. But they never took any of it away. The only thing I’ve ever had taken away from a TSA worker was guacamole (it’s considered a paste he told me). It was a sad sad day when that happened coming home from Maui. But hummus is ok! haha!