What can't you buy with an EBT card?

A few categories are excluded nationwide: beer, wine, and liquor; cigarettes and tobacco; food or drinks containing cannabis/marijuana or CBD; vitamins, medicines, and supplements; live animals (except shellfish, fish removed from water, and animals slaughtered before pickup); hot foods prepared or heated at the point of sale; and non-food items like pet food, cleaning supplies, paper products, hygiene items, and cosmetics.

Can you use EBT to shop online?

Yes — a growing number of retailers, including Walmart.com and Amazon, accept SNAP EBT for online grocery orders in many areas. The same eligible/ineligible item rules apply as in-store, and delivery or service fees usually can't be paid with EBT.

What Can You Buy With an EBT Card?

Q: Can you use EBT for hot food or at restaurants?

Generally no, but the federal Restaurant Meals Program (RMP) is an exception: it lets eligible elderly, disabled, or homeless SNAP participants (and their spouses) use their EBT card at restaurants that have specifically signed up for the program, in states where RMP operates.

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.

CheckEBTCardBalance is an independent informational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the USDA, any state government, or any EBT card issuer. Always confirm details directly with the official source before relying on them.

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.

Delivery apps count too: DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Instacart all let you pay with EBT for SNAP-eligible groceries at participating stores — just not for restaurant food delivery, which EBT never covers on any of them.

Curious whether a specific store accepts EBT at all? See our retailer-by-retailer guide.