Vegan Snacks For Long-Haul Flights

Every time a new trip approaches, we start anticipating which yummy healthy vegan snacks we will be packing for our long-haul flight. They must be delicious, yet nutritious and healthy; after all, it is bad enough having to sit for almost twenty-four hours (sometimes even more) on a plane with no fresh air and no physical activity.  Under those circumstances, it is wise to make sure that at least our food is high quality, right?

Though James is what I call a work-in-progress-vegetarian when it comes to healthy snacks he is as vegan as they come!

1 – Carrots to take care of the munchies

Carrots are one of our favourite snacks whether we are at home or travelling. Their crunchiness makes them a perfect low calorie, nutritious and healthy vegan snack for dealing with the munchies during flights. We prefer medium-sized carrots. Just need to peel and cut them into four pieces, then pack them in an eco-friendly reusable bag.

2 – Fruit for happy mood, energy and hydration

Who doesn’t like to feel happy?

Eating fruit literally makes us feel happy. The colour, textures, juiciness and sweetness of fruit, in general, are just the right combination for good mood.

We normally eat lots of fruit during the day, thus it would be unthinkable to go on a long-haul flight relying solely on the small portions served onboard. However, some fruit can be messy to transport, so we narrowed down our options to only a few, namely, apples, pears and grapes.

If you are like us and cannot live without bananas, we suggest taking them in a banana case, like the image below, otherwise, they will become bruised and you may easily end up with mashed bananas in your hand luggage!

Airplane cabins become extremely dry. A delicious way to hydrate is to have juicy citrus fruit. Peal a mix of oranges, tangerines and grapefruits, separate the individual segments and place them in an eco-friendly reusable storage bag. You will be juiced up (with fibre included) and ready to go.

3 – Nuts and Seeds for Pure Satisfaction

Did you go nuts with the news?

We certainly did!

Now, choose from whichever nuts make your mouth water: almonds, walnuts, peanuts, cashew nuts, Brazil nuts or hazelnuts. They are all good sources of energy, healthy fats, proteins and carbs. Buy the unsalted and unsweetened roasted versions. If you have time, the best option is to buy them raw and roast them at home. Avoid the fried versions. They are NOT healthy!

In any case, we have decided to include a table with nutrition information about different types of nuts so you can visualise the nutritional intake from each of our favourites.

We used the Food Calorie Calculator from the Calorie Control Council.

Pumpkin and sunflower seeds are also tasty, nutty and scrumptious options, with lower fat than nuts and higher in fibre.

4 – Dried Fruit – A Chewy Energy Kick

Figs, plums, apricots, apples, raisins, mangoes, are just a few of our prefered dried fruits. Avoid those with added sugar and try to buy organic. Check out the table below** for nutritional information on our preferred options.

Our all-time favourites are the delicious middle eastern, or north African, dates. Try the Terrasoul organic Medjool Dates  for a sweet and delicious, fibre rich snack to eat while watching a good movie during your long-haul flight.

5 – Homemade Sandwiches

Here our last tip to complete our list of healthy vegan snack for long-haul flights. Take your own sandwiches just as a security measure in case the main meal served during the flight is not to your liking. Here your imagination will be the limit. Our sole condition is not to use white or long-life bread as it comes packed with preservatives.

Our favourite spreads are coconut oil, peanut butter, almond butter, tahini, or the mouth-watering chocolate and coconut spread from Biona. Another option is to go fruity and use avocados or bananas as a spread, but we actually prefer to use them sliced on top of the spread. Yummy! My mouth is watering already.

Whether you choose to make your sandwiches sweet, salty or a mix, make it fun!

Speaking of making things fun, you can wrap your sandwich in a reusable eco-friendly snack sandwich wrap with insulated fabric, which can also become very useful to carry sandwiches in your final destination when you go around exploring.

Take your snack in a classic or more fun version of an Organic Cotton Lunch Bag and don’t forget to buy at least one bottle of water at the airport after passport control, of course, as you will need to keep hydrated. In our case, if we were to ask onboard for the amount of water we usually drink, they would probably charge us an extra fee!

Now you are all set to go. By now you may be thinking, “Wow, these guys carry the fridge with them!”, but it actually sounds worse than it is. After all, it is better to be safe than sorry, or in this case, it’s better to be properly packed than hungry!