What Can You Buy With an EBT Card?
Updated August 2026
SNAP EBT benefits are meant to cover food for your household. The federal government sets one nationwide list of what's eligible and what isn't — every state follows the same rules, so the answer is the same no matter where you live.
What You Can Buy
Your EBT card covers any food for your household, including:
- Fruits and vegetables
- Meat, poultry, and fish
- Dairy products
- Bread and cereals
- Snack foods and non-alcoholic beverages
- Seeds and plants that produce food for your household to eat
What You Cannot Buy
A few categories are excluded nationwide, even though they're sold in the same stores as eligible groceries:
- Beer, wine, and liquor
- Cigarettes and tobacco
- Food or drinks containing cannabis/marijuana or CBD
- Vitamins, medicines, and supplements (anything labeled with a Supplement Facts panel)
- Live animals, except shellfish, fish removed from water, and animals slaughtered before you pick them up
- Hot foods that are prepared or heated at the point of sale
- Non-food items like pet food, cleaning supplies, paper products, hygiene items, and cosmetics
Source: USDA Food and Nutrition Administration, What Can SNAP Buy?
Hot Food and the Restaurant Meals Program
The "no hot food" rule has one exception: the federal Restaurant Meals Program (RMP). It lets eligible elderly, disabled, or homeless SNAP participants (and their spouses) use their EBT card to buy prepared meals, but only at restaurants that have specifically signed up for the program — not at every restaurant in a participating area.
RMP currently operates in:
- Arizona
- California
- Illinois (Cook and Franklin Counties only)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- New York
- Rhode Island
- Virginia
Source: USDA Food and Nutrition Administration, Restaurant Meals Program participating areas. If you live in one of these places, check your state's EBT page on this site or your state agency for a list of participating restaurants.
Shopping Online With EBT
A growing number of retailers accept SNAP EBT for online grocery orders, including Walmart.com and Amazon, in many areas. The same eligible/ineligible item rules apply online as in-store — and delivery or service fees usually can't be paid with EBT, so you'll need another payment method for those.
Curious whether a specific store accepts EBT at all? See our retailer-by-retailer guide.