Giada De Laurentiis Leans Into This Simple Snack When Traveling By Airplane

What's the deal with airline food? We hear you, Jerry Seinfeld. There's a scientific reason why food tastes different on an airplane, but that doesn't mean foodies shouldn't snack during a flight. Especially on longer trips, traveling with a serious case of the "hangries" is a bad scene all around — and for chef and television personality Giada De Laurentiis, it simply isn't happening. As she told Forbes, "I travel with snacks, always." When De Laurentiis is packing for a trip, trail mix is in her bag. "Walnuts, almonds, Marcona almonds, chocolate chips, cranberries. I take little bags of that with me. It really helps," she said.

It's no mystery why De Laurentiis might opt for trail mix over boxed, tepid airplane food. Trail mix is flavorful, filling, and easy to pack. Depending on what specific ingredients you include in the mix, the snack's basis of nuts, seeds, and dried fruits is a good source of protein, fiber, and heart-healthy fats. From a practical perspective, trail mix is also one of the most conveniently-portable snacks of them all. It's shelf-stable, and can be tidily transported in a small resealable bag stuffed into your luggage or jacket pocket. Perhaps best of all, trail mix is mess-free to snack on while foodies are tightly-packed into close quarters with their fellow fliers. Few things are more unpleasant than sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with a stranger chowing down on a pungent egg salad sandwich. 

Whether you're traveling for business or pleasure, planning and navigating a flight can keep folks busy. Luckily, hitting the store for a bag of trail mix is a quick errand that can even be accomplished en route to the airport. Here at Tasting Table, we're loving the creative flavors of Target's Favorite Day brand trail mixes — especially the carrot cake and caramel cashew flavors. We've also rounded up 24 Trader Joe's travel snacks to take on your next flight, to help intrepid epicures travel hangries-free.

Alternatively (and happily for picky foodies), trail mix is highly customizable. If you're going the homemade route, this snack provides a great opportunity to incorporate your favorite flavors with different ingredients, like we did in our pumpkin spice trail mix recipe. Pro tip: For a nutritional boost to fuel your travels, build your trail mix with walnuts, cashews, and brazil nuts, which are some of the healthiest nuts you can eat. Plus, the textural elements of trail mix's chewy dried fruit and crunchy nuts help provide a little intrigue for breaking up extra tedious flights.