My sister-in-law is an amazing cook and food writer, but to me, her real talent is her ability to pack an AMAZING plane picnic. Before her plane picnics came into my life, I would often buy some sad, over priced snacks from Hudson News – but no more! Jessica has inspired me to change my ways. Here are my favorite plane snacks, which I always combine with as many club soda’s I can get from the flight crew.

  • Something Sweet: For me, it’s either M&Ms or chocolate covered raisins
  • Something Healthy: Fruit and nuts are an easy choice. I’m always proud of myself when I snack on cashews or almonds, (as opposed to what I usually want… Cape Cod potato chips), and fruit-wise grapes are the least messy.
  • Something Cheesy: Babybel cheeses never fail, or if you want to get fancy chose a cheese-end from your favorite cheese shop, but stay away from the stinky stuff. That is essentially the bougie-equivalent of bringing a big mac on a plane. Think of your seat mates!
  • A small sandwich: in our house it is either PB + J, or Salami and cheese.

Here are some additional tips from Jessica, who flies out of SFO:

  • “I usually pack hummus and cut up carrots, celery, cauliflower. I find that I like to snack oh, the entire flight, so it’s nice to have something crunchy and sort of refreshing, and those veggies are sturdy enough that they won’t get gross on the flight (and can be prepped the night before)”.
  • “I always bring some sweet treats–trail mix is good, but I also love those Ocho candy bars, which are not too big and crazy delicious. Lollipops if the kids are flying with me. Or gummy candy, which is a fun novelty for them”.
  • “I bring an empty water bottle to the airport–Terminal 2 in SFO has a fill station, so I stop there before I board and fill my own bottle”.
  • “In a pinch, Virgin America has a half peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich on its menu. It’s intended for kids and comes with a pack of fruit snacks alongside, but it’s a good option if you want to avoid sketchy meat and is a pretty good straight-ahead PB&J. Also, only $4!”

Thanks, Jessica!