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30 Healthy Travel Snacks For Flying

Healthy travel snacks that are easy to pack!

Packing your own food for the airport may sound like a silly thing to do. Most corporate travelers are able to expense their meals, so why bother bringing your own?

There are many reasons to consider packing at least a few healthy travel snacks on your next trip. Any seasoned traveler can share a horror story about a time they were stuck on a plane, on the tarmac for up to three hours with limited water and no snacks. If you travel enough, this scenario is bound to occur and you will be thankful to have a snack while you are stuck.

Packing your own healthy snacks will also help you resist the temptation to buy something unhealthy at the airport (remember-you are flying to work, not on vacation). If you are traveling with a daily per diem, avoiding overpriced airport food provides more money for you to enjoy a nice dinner when you arrive at your destination (hello Morton’s!).

Most importantly, if you have committed to staying on track with your diet or following a specific meal plan, packing your own healthy travel snacks ensures you will stay on track.


healthy travel snack

Healthy Travel Snack Ideas

healthy travel snack

How To Pack Cold Travel Snacks

There are many ways to keep your food cold during travel. You can borrow your kid’s lunch box or pick up a small soft-sided cooler. Our recommendation is to maintain your professional look and travel in style with a 6 Pack Fitness Bag that features an insulated compartment to keep your food cold and additional space to carry your laptop.

healthy travel snacks for flying

Healthy Travel Snacks To Keep Cold

  • Cheese Sticks
  • Grilled chicken or turkey
  • Turkey or Ham Roll Up with Cheese
  • Sandwich or wrap
  • Grapes, berries or cut melon
  • Fresh cut veggies
  • Fresh fruit such as grapes or berries
  • Greek yogurt*
  • Hummus*
  • Homemade salad (add dressing to salad before security, it is considered a liquid)
  • Quinoa Salad

healthy travel snacks for flying (1)

Check out tips for packing cold food and remaining compliant with TSA regulations.

All items with a * are considered gel or liquid by TSA and will have to be 3.4 oz. or smaller and packed with your liquid items following the TSA 3-1-1 regulations.

Stylish Cooler Bags for Travel Snacks

Smelly Travel Snacks To Avoid

There is nothing worse than being exposed to a strong odor when you are trapped in an air sealed room like an airplane. Prior to packing your food, please keep your future seat mates in mind. Yes, fish is very healthy, but it is incredibly rude to eat fish on an airplane (tuna fish included). I am the first to understand the need to eat protein (fish, eggs, etc.) so just be courteous and eat the smelly food in the airport terminal before you board the plane.

Odorous foods to avoid eating in-flight:

  • Fish or Shell fish
  • Garlic or Onions (raw or cooked)
  • Strong smelling cheese (like Limburger or Silton)
  • Anything fermented (Sauerkraut/ Kimchee)
  • Cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, cauliflower or broccoli)
  • Hard boiled eggs/ egg salad

Example DIY Airplane Meals

Breakfast: Greek yogurt + dry cereal

Snack: Grapes + nuts

Lunch: Turkey & veggie wrap/ sandwich + apple + granola bar

Snack: Fresh cut veggies + hummus

Dinner: 1 Bag of Pre-Mixed Salad + olive oil/dressing (add this at home & shake with lettuce, discard remaining liquid) + chopped vegetables +  rotisserie or grilled chicken (you can mix all of this in the salad bag to save space and avoid bring an extra container)

healthy travel snacks for flying

Meal Prep Guide for Home & Travel

If you are interested in learning how to prepare meals at home and during travel, our meal prep guide will teach you everything you need to know to get started!

meal prep guide for travel business travel life
Download the guide now!

Business Travel Life Meal Prep Guide Features:

  • Nutrition basics
  • Meal prep basics
  • Meal prep tools
  • How to meal prep at home
  • How to get food through TSA
  • How to meal prep during travel
  • Easy hotel meal prep ideas
  • 30 Healthy Travel Snacks
  • 4 easy meal prep recipes
  • Example meal plan
  • Weekly meal planning list
  • Delivered electronically so you can get started immediately!

Click here to download now!

What are your favorite snacks for travel? Please comment below!

healthy travel snacks


Business Travel Life

Business Travel Life is an online resource supporting the road warrior lifestyle. We give business travelers the tools they need to maintain their wellness and productivity when traveling. The topics we cover include business travel tips, travel workouts, healthy travel hacks, travel products, general travel tips, and industry trends. Our goal is to make business travel a healthier experience – and to make healthy travel practices more accessible to all road warriors.

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Kristina Portillo, CPT, MS

Kristina is the founder of Business Travel Life. Her love of fitness and travel unified to create a resource for business travelers and road warriors who want to take a healthier approach to business travel. She has traveled for business on and off for the past eight years. Kristina received a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Colorado State University and received her Bachelors of Arts in Business Marketing from Chaminade University of Honolulu.

4 Comments
  1. You might think about editing this list and not including nuts or items with nuts. Many people are alergic to nuts and deserve to have a safe flight without fear of being exposed to something they are allergic to.

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