The next best thing about Thanksgiving is the leftovers you get to take home. If you’re traveling, however, you need to be careful.

 

Before you grab some Tupperware or pack doggie bags, Thanksgiving travelers need to know that there are certain foods with which you can and can’t travel. Items like wine, gravy and cranberry sauce have to be packed in your checked luggage. Canned fruits and vegetables with liquid in the can and mashed potatoes also have to be checked. For solid potatoes waiting to meet their match, its okay to travel with them.

 

So what can you pack in your carry on? Shockingly enough, you can carve your baked or fried turkey and stuff it in your bag as well as bread, flour, sugar, nuts, and candy. Who knew that people travel with ingredients like sugar and flour? This brings us to dessert. Baked goods are suitable for travel regardless of the packaging. TSA is known for taking a closer look at sweets since some ingredients can look like explosive residue. Stuffing and casseroles fit in this category as well. An easy way to get past sticky TSA rules is to freeze your food. Weirdly enough, frozen foods can go in your carry on, as long as you make sure that they aren’t quick to melt.

 

Probably weirder than that is the fact that cast iron skillets are allowed to be checked in your luggage. For those vain enough to bring their own cookware to the family dinner, make sure they meet the size and weight requirements of your airline.

 

If this still doesn’t help you, TSA has the ‘What can I bring’ tool, which is available online and via the app.