I’ve spent years combing the internet for tips on preparing my own meals for airplane travel. Especially on long haul flights, I like to bring my own food along for the ride—it is healthy and economical. Some food bloggers prepare fairly intricate, time-intensive recipes for their trips, but with the last-minute chaos I inevitably encounter before I take off, I must keep things simple. In this post I share my strategy for putting together meals for travel and give you a few examples of recent meals I’ve packed.
Strategy
- Prepare your travel meal the day before your trip. It’s probably too much to ask of yourself to get something together the day you travel.
- Use what’s left in your refrigerator, but steer clear of smelly foods that might offend your seat mates. No tuna fish, friends!
- Bring sturdy foods that can sit for several hours without perishing: bean or grain salads, nuts, apples, dried fruits, chocolate, hard cheeses.
- Pack your meal in a container you can reuse during your trip. Always bring your own utensils and a light weight water bottle that you can fill after you go through security. Bring a cloth napkin or tea towel.
My Airplane Meals
Fun Snacks. Let’s be honest. Often, we won’t even have time to make a sandwich before heading to the airport. In that case, treats are the best option. If you have any “special” snacks hiding in your pantry, now is the time to pull them out. Stash a few energy bars in your purse. My favorites are Gomacro. They are organic, they taste good, and the business is owned by a mother-daughter team. Do you love chocolate, like I do? Bring some of your best chocolate on the plane. In the above photo, I treated myself to mendiants from Vincent Guerlais’ artisanal chocolate shop in Nantes. Tiny squares of fine chocolate topped in dried fruit, hazelnuts, and pistachios. A delight! And don’t forget to bring a few pieces of fresh fruit—mandarin oranges and tiny lady apples accompanied me on the journey.
Lentil Salad. If you have some leftover lentils or beans lingering in the fridge, make a salad. Here, I tossed leftover black lentils in a red-wine vinaigrette. The flavor was potent, which I needed in the sky when my taste buds were dull. I folded in a little cucumber, apple, parsley, feta, and walnuts. Toast the nuts if you have time. This textured salad was flavorful and filling. I also brought some cashews, a few mandarin oranges, and a tea bag. I find airplane tea to be undrinkable, but the flight attendants will almost always bring me hot water.
Soba Noodle Salad. I made this noodle salad the night before I left on my last trip to France and dressed up the leftovers for the next day. I made a soy and sesame dressing and tossed it with soba noodles and roasted broccolini. I folded in finely shredded kale and topped the dish with toasted sesame and sunflower seeds. I slept well on the plane and felt like a million bucks the next day when I arrived in Paris.
How do you approach your travel meals? Share your ideas in the comment section!
Inspirations
Recipes and Tips for Healthy Travel from My New Roots
Pack a Picnic for Your Next Flight from the New York Times
I am just back from a brief business trip to France and basking in the glory of home. My days in Nantes passed in a flash—meetings, a bit of research, a few get-togethers with friends, and inordinate amounts of bread, cheese, and Muscadet. Then… poof! The week was over and I was headed home.
I’ve been making versions of Daniel Boulud’s gazpacho for almost 20 years. Over time I’ve streamlined the steps, but I still blanch the bell peppers to lessen their sharp bite. This recipe makes a creamy red soup, flecked with basil. Adapted from Café Boulud Cookbook
On the rare occasion that someone tells me they are not fond of chocolate, I wonder what is wrong with them. How could someone not love rich, decadent chocolate desserts? A chewy brownie, a slab of homemade chocolate cake, or a square of dark chocolate as an afternoon pick-me-up…
In the realm of space, your life is nothing but the lively energy of life, interconnecting with everything.
While the grandeur of Versailles resides in its Château, its charm is surely in its diminutive streets, passages, and courtyards. Lying in the shadow of the Château, la rue des Deux Portes (The Street with Two Doors) has mixed residental and business since the 17th and 18th centuries. Connecting the rue Carnot to the Place du Marché, boutiques and restaurants saturate this short pedestrian way. La rue des Deux Portes is lively, local, and picturesque, well worth a quick visit after your market trip or Château visit. Alternatively, make an afternoon of shopping on this street and in the antique district, le Quartier des Antiquaires, also located close to the Place du Marché.
Tiny white chocolate chips add a creamy sweetness to Elmwood Inn’s Southern Pecan Black Tea. I add a touch of maple syrup to this Tea Toddy, which pairs well with the caramel notes of Kentucky Bourbon.
[DECEMBER 2018 NOTE: The Rabbit Hole’s Redfern location will close after December 23, 2018, but Barangaroo location will still be open.]
T Totaler is a homegrown tea business, focusing on Australian grown teas and botanicals. Founded in 2012, Amber and Paul Sunderland make custom tea blends for restaurants, develop tea-based “mocktails”, and teach workshops. At their Newtown tea bar, I sampled a dazzling Teagroni, an iced White Peony tea with rose petals, and a hot Australian grown Sencha with coconut and lemon myrtle. Each one was perfect in its own way, and the tea bar’s decor was charmingly cozy with fiddle leaf figs and apothecary jars. Since my visit, T Totaler has opened a second location in the center of Sydney, which is now their primary location.
One of Sydney’s favorite dumpling restaurants, Lotus The Galeries also features a range of teas. I had the privilege and pleasure of sharing dumplings and tea cocktails with Sydney’s own teagramming sisters Neha and Smruthi. This charming and generous sister team marries the art of tea with the art of cocktails on their 
Sydney’s innovative and cutting edge tea scene also leaves room for traditional afternoon tea that showcases high end teas and fine pastries incorporating local ingredients. I spent a leisurely and luxurious afternoon at the Langham Sydney. This afternoon teatime is perhaps the most perfect I’ve ever experienced—attentive service, perfectly-infused teas, delightful savories and sweets, a cozy armchair. The pink champagne enhanced my languorous afternoon! I was able to sample a number of teas—a subtle Orange blossom tea, a creamy black Assam, and a white tea with melon. The scones were warm and crumbly, and other sweets were graced with an Australian touch: a hibiscus and guava tart and a cherry lamington. The savories were traditional and spot on: a curried free range egg finger sandwich as well as a prawn, shallot and dill finger sandwich.
