Packing your own airplane snacks can save your wallet, health and sanity. Here are the best easy airplane snacks for adults that are healthy and TSA-approved that I pack for every flight.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If a product is purchased using one of the following links, I may earn a small commission from the brand at no cost to you.
Healthy Airplane Snacks For Adults
Homemade Trail Mix
Trail mix is always a solid go-to airplane snack. There’s a reason why trail mix is one of the most common snacks passed out by flight attendants. A balanced combination of sweet and salty plus the calories trail mix provides make trail mix a very satiating snack. Personally, I prefer to make my own trail mix, as store-bought trail mix often comes with inflammatory candies and oils. Instead, I buy and mix my own preferred add-ins: organic unsalted cashews, almonds, shelled pistachios, organic pumpkin seeds, raisins and allergen-free (i.e. vegan, soy-free, minimal-ingredient) chocolate chips.
Dried Fruit
Next, dried fruit is easy to pack, won’t smush in your bag and is an overall very healthy sweet treat. Although some dried fruit packages have added sugar, you can usually find them without. My favorite dried fruits are no-sugar-added dried mango, dried apricots, freeze-dried strawberries and organic apple chips.
Fruit Bars + Fruit Leather
Similarly, if you’d prefer an easy individually prepackaged dried fruit alternative, I recommend fruit bars or fruit leather. The That’s It fruit bars have minimal ingredients. Plus, they’re compact and won’t get smushed. The Pure Organic fruit bars are delicious too, especially if you love a tart fruit taste over a sweet one. Lastly, the Bear real fruit snack rolls offer a healthy, minimal-ingredient alternative to fruit-by-the-foot type snacks, which are great for both kids and adults.
Applesauce Pouches
Additionally, applesauce pouches also make a great healthy airplane snack for adults. However, you will be limited to how many applesauce pouches you can bring through security. Most applesauce pouches should be under the 3.4 ounce liquid limit, but, remember, all of your liquids will need to fit inside one clear quart-size baggie. Nonetheless, organic applesauce pouches are one of my favorite easy airplane snacks.
Apples, Clementines + Grapes
Obviously, fresh fruit is a delicious, refreshing airplane snack for adults as well. However, note that most fruits smush easily and can make a juicy mess in your personal item bag if you’re not careful. Therefore, I have a few go-to fresh fruits that are easy to pack and tend to smush less: organic apples, clementines (which are naturally prepackaged) and new organic grapes. Newly purchased grapes tend to be firmer than older grapes, which is why I have the most success not smushing new grapes.
Carrots, Cherry Tomatoes + Celery
Similarly, pre-cut vegetables can make a great healthy airplane snack for adults, too. Like fruits, though, some vegetables smush easier than others, which is why I stick to firm vegetables when traveling. Baby carrots, newly purchased organic cherry tomatoes and pre-cut celery are good examples.
Jackson’s Avocado Oil Sweet Potato Chips
Looking for a salty, crunchy chip snack that’s healthier than most processed chips? I love the Jackson’s sweet potato chips. These chips are made from sweet potatoes, which are known to help balance hormones. Plus, the chips are fried in avocado oil, which is less inflammatory than traditional frying oils like canola, soybean or vegetable oil. They come in a few different flavors, all of which are delicious. My favorite flavor is probably farmhouse ranch. I have to admit, though, these chips are fragile and will get crushed if you’re not careful.
Popcorn
Popcorn and an in-flight movie, anyone? Yes please! Popcorn is a fun low-calorie snack that can pack the same salty punch as chips or other processed snacks. Even though many store-bought popcorns have unhealthy added oils and artificial flavors, an organic non-GMO popcorn like the Lesser Evil pink salt popcorn (air-popped with only three ingredients) makes for a tasty, crunchy, satisfying airplane snack that’s still healthy.
High Protein Snacks For Airplane Rides For Adults
Beef Sticks + Jerky
Now, perhaps you’re looking for high protein snacks for airplane rides as an adult. I have a few options that I usually pack. First, grass-fed beef sticks or beef jerky are solid, packable, high in protein and don’t need to be refrigerated — perfect for flights. I love the Paleovalley grass-fed beef sticks as well as the Chomps grass-fed beef sticks. Both brands offer a variety of flavors, and they never fail to fill me up when I’m craving protein mid-flight.
Truvani’s The Only Bar
Furthermore, protein bars can be a healthy, filling airplane snack as long as they don’t contain artificial ingredients, sweeteners or additives. I recommend Truvani’s The Only Bar bars because they’re made up of pure organic ingredients, such as organic almonds, dates and maple syrup. Depending on the flavor, they’ll give you 6-8 quick grams of protein. Plus, they’re individually wrapped, making them super easy to pack. I’m a long-time fan of Truvani’s protein power too; although, I definitely wouldn’t consider protein powder an easy airplane snack.
Nuts
Nuts are a good source of healthy fats and protein as well. Whether you add nuts to your trail mix or pack nuts alone is up to you. Almonds, cashews and walnuts contain the most protein other than peanuts. However, I would advise against packing peanuts due to the common peanut allergy. You may be asked by flight attendants to keep any nuts contained if there is a severe allergy on board. But, peanuts are the most common allergy. Other nuts are the safer option.
String Cheese
Lastly, if you’re bringing an ice pack and/or insulated bag, or don’t mind room temperature string cheese, string cheese could be a super easy high protein airplane snack to pack. Like many packable snacks, string cheese is individually wrapped and won’t get smushed in your bag easily. You can expect to get 6-7 grams of quick protein with a single cheese stick. Bonus points if you pair the string cheese with a meat stick for an in-flight charcuterie combo.
Fun Airplane Snacks For Adults That Are Still Healthy
Hu Dark Chocolate Bars
Personally, I’m a firm believer that fun treats make long flights more enjoyable. Yet, I’m still picky about my fun treats. I try to error on the healthier end of the treat spectrum. One of my favorite treats to pack on airplanes is Hu dark chocolate bars. Hu dark chocolate bars are minimally processed with minimal ingredients. They’re vegan, refined sugar free, non-GMO and, most importantly, melt-in-your-mouth delicious. My favorite flavors are the vanilla cashew butter dark chocolate bar, raspberry cashew butter dark chocolate bar and orange vanilla cashew butter dark chocolate bar.
Smart Sweets Low-Sugar Candy
Likewise, Smart Sweets candies are another fun low-sugar treat, making them an optimal airplane snacks for adults. Sweetened mostly with stevia, each bag of Smart Sweets candy only contains 3 grams of added sugar. There are a variety of gummy candy types to choose from (you can get a variety pack here), but know that they all have a Swedish fish-like gummy texture. If you like Swedish fish, you’ll like Smart Sweets. In fact, my favorite Smart Sweets flavor is the sweet fish flavor.
Comfort Snack
When in doubt, bring your favorite comfort snack to make your flight more enjoyable. If you have any travel anxiety, I recommend bringing a TSA-friendly comfort snack from home to keep you mentally grounded in-flight and in your destination. For me, this usually means a Hu dark chocolate bar or Unreal almond butter cups, but this could be something totally different for you.
Snacks You Shouldn’t Bring On An Airplane
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that there are certain foods that you should never bring on an airplane out of respect for the other passengers and flight crew. Do not bring smelly foods, such as hard boiled eggs, tuna, canned chicken, etc. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, I usually avoid peanuts because peanuts are such a common food allergy. Lastly, even though bananas are a convenient naturally individually wrapped healthy snack, they smush easily. Every time I bring a banana onto a plane, it browns by the end of the flight. So, I opt for clementines or oranges now instead.
More Airplane Tips
12 Productive Things To Do On A Plane Ride Without WiFi
17 Carry-On Packing Tips You’ve Never Heard Before
Personal Item Packing List: Essentials For A Great Flight
Flying For The First Time Step-By-Step Checklist
Save These Airplane Snacks For Adults
Save these airplane snacks for adults for easy access later by sharing to your socials.
Leave a Reply