Turkey can go in your carry-on bag, but you’re gonna have to check the gravy.
The most hectic travel days of the year are approaching, with the TSA expecting what may be the busiest Thanksgiving travel period on record. Those flying with food to bring to their Thanksgiving feast should know in advance which holiday favorites are permitted on flights.
The last thing a traveler wants to hear after waiting on a lengthy airport security line is that their homemade cranberry sauce needs to be in a checked bag.
“If it’s a solid item, then it can go through a checkpoint,” the Transportation Security Administration officials said in a news release. “However, if you can spill it, spread it, spray it, pump it or pour it, and it’s larger than 3.4 ounces, then it should go in a checked bag.”
And what about those items that need to be kept cold?
Frozen goods are permitted on flights, as are ice packs, but they must be frozen solid while going through security checkpoints. If your glazed ham is thawing at the airport, it might end up in a garbage receptacle with fellow passengers’ half-full bottles of water and oversized liquids, gels and creams.
Food items may also be subject to additional security screening and should be stored in an easily accessible location on carry-on bags. TSA also urges travelers to properly store their food to prevent foodborne illness.
Here’s a list of Thanksgiving dishes that can fly with travelers as carry-ons and dishes that should be safely stored in checked luggage.
Oh, and many of the same rules apply to whatever leftovers you’ll be flying back home with.
Thanksgiving foods that can be carried through TSA checkpoints
- Baked goods: Homemade or store-bought pies, cakes, cookies, brownies and other sweet treats
- Meats: Turkey, chicken, ham, steak. Frozen, cooked or uncooked
- Stuffing: Cooked, uncooked, in a box or in a bag
- Casseroles: Traditional green beans and onion straws or something more exotic
- Mac ‘n Cheese: Cooked in a pan or traveling with the ingredients to cook it at your destination
- Fresh vegetables: Potatoes, yams, broccoli, green beans, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, beets, radishes, carrots, squash, greens
- Fresh fruit: Apples, pears, pineapple, lemons, limes, cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, kiwi
- Candy
- Spices
Thanksgiving foods that should be carefully packed with your checked baggage
- Cranberry sauce: Homemade or canned are spreadable, so check them
- Gravy: Homemade or in a jar/can
- Wine, champagne, sparking apple cider
- Canned fruit or vegetables: It’s got liquid in the can, so check them
- Preserves, jams and jellies: They are spreadable, so best to check them
- Maple syrup
To see if dishes not listed can fly, be checked or neither, travelers can check the TSA’s “What can I bring?” tool, or inquire with @AskTSA on Facebook Messenger or X.
