Gosh, there is nothing more frustrating than spending those precious moments, either before bed or in the morning before school, packing this carefully curated lunch just for the kid to bring it home fully uneaten, or with several items untouched.
So here are 30 school lunch ideas kids will actually eat.
1) Turkey Hummus Wraps
This is such a fun idea, so colorful. You can put turkey in here, some hummus, some shredded carrots, spinach, and you could dice up some tomatoes. You can make this as fun and colorful as you like, using whole wheat tortillas if you’d like to add a little bit more fiber, or any tortilla that you like.
What you do is you basically lay out the tortilla and add your toppings. I would do the hummus first, spreading that on, then add the toppings and roll it up. You can leave it just like that rolled up if you’d like, or you can slice it and lay it down like little pinwheels.
So either way, that’s super fun, super colorful, and a way to switch up the typical sandwich.
2) Chicken Caesar Wraps
Delish. Using any tortilla that you’d like, flour or whole wheat for extra fiber, you can make a chicken caesar salad. You can even get the bagged salad from the grocery store and put rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken from dinner in there.
I would probably avoid the croutons, just because you don’t want to bite into an accidental crunch. Unless you use a chopped caesar salad, I think that would actually go really well, because then the croutons are much smaller, with the parmesan cheese and the caesar dressing and the lettuce right in there.
And this is so delicious. You have the protein, you have the carb, you have some greens in there. What’s not to love?
3) Build-Your-Own Lunchables
Absolutely involve the kids in packing their own lunch, especially if they’re first or second grade and above. They can absolutely contribute to packing their lunch and it’ll make it more fun, and chances are they’re probably going to eat more of it anyways.
Start with protein and think about which protein source you’d like to have in the lunch. Is it going to be the little meat sticks? We like the all beef meat sticks from Costco, or you can get beef jerky, that’d be super good. And you could put string cheese in there.
A little hint with string cheese that we’ve found success with: if you freeze the string cheese the night before and then pull it out and throw it in your lunch, it defrosts in time for lunch and it’s not warm and sweaty. So that’s my little tip with string cheese.
Then you’re going to want some fruit and some colors in there, maybe some baby carrots or apple slices. If you pour a little lemon juice on the apple slices, that helps them not brown. You could also do grapes, but if you’re sending grapes to school, I would recommend halving them just to decrease choking risk. Blueberries would go good in here as well.
Basically any fruits and protein that you want. You could put some little crackers in there, with a little side of hummus or peanut butter to spread on top if you’d like. Just think about getting all the protein, carb, and a fruit or veggie in there. Sounds super delicious.
4) Cheese Quesadillas
Delish. You could totally make this right before school for a fresh idea, using any tortilla you like. I like the raw tortillas from Costco. Spread any cheese that you’d like on top of the tortilla. You could do some Mexican shredded cheese to make your life easy in the morning, or if you want to shred it yourself, absolutely.
I like sharp cheddar, but choose whatever one you like or mix a couple up. And you can even grate them the night before so they’re ready to go in the morning.
Then you can add little toppings on the side in different little containers in their lunchbox. Or if you have little compartments in their lunchbox, you could add some salsa, pico de gallo, sour cream, avocado, or guacamole. There’s even those single size guacamoles that you can get from Costco. That would be really good and really easy for them to dip their quesadilla in.
If you want to, you can even put a little chicken or meat in there for a bit more protein if you have a bigger kid that’s hungry.
5) Turkey and Cheese Pinwheels
Such a great idea. This one’s so fun and so colorful. Think about the pinwheels that you get from Costco. If you’re in a time crunch, absolutely you can get those if you’d like.
If you want to make them at home, you can use any tortilla that you like and put down whatever spread you’d like first. It could be hummus, it could be melted cheese, anything you like. And then put the meat of your choice, whether it’s turkey, ham, bacon, or you could even do pesto. That would be super good too, pesto and bacon and turkey with maybe some spinach.
You could dice up some tomatoes or use some sun-dried tomatoes. You could put olives in there, spinach, shredded carrots. Make this super colorful, roll it up, and then after it’s rolled, just slice it perpendicular to make these little pinwheels. Arrange them in the lunchbox so they don’t fall apart in the chaos of getting to class.
6) Macaroni Salad
This one’s really amazing because you can make it the night before. This could even be served as a whole family, and then it’s an easy leftover lunch idea for anyone in the family.
You can really add whatever you’d like to a macaroni salad. Of course, you’ve got the pasta. You can use whole wheat pasta if you’d like a little more fiber. We really like the Goodles pasta because that one adds a bit more protein, but it’s not full on garbanzo bean, which is also a good pasta too if you like that. Goodles is kind of right in the middle.
You can get any shape you like. Of course, it says macaroni, but any shape you have lying around will totally work. Then you can find your favorite macaroni salad recipe. You could add peas, carrots, or sliced black olives if you’d like. You could add a little protein in there, some feta or string cheese chopped up, and I would put little carrots or some sort of color in there as well.
7) Cold Pasta Salad
Absolutely delicious. You can add whatever you like to your cold pasta salad, and you can make this the night before. Do your pasta any shape, toss it with some dressing, and add a bunch of veggies, maybe whatever you have lying around in the refrigerator.
You could put some broccoli in there, some pepperoni or salami, some tomatoes, some mozzarella cheese, olives, whatever you like.
8) Egg Muffins
This is also one you could totally make ahead of time. It’d be so delicious for breakfast, lunch, any time, and you can make these right in a cupcake tin. You’re going to scramble up some eggs and then think about what toppings you want in there.
You could line the bottom with a little bit of hash browns if you’d like, then add the egg, spinach, bacon, tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, whatever you like, and then bake these. They come out like little egg cupcakes, and you can refrigerate them and eat them anytime you like.
9) Bagel and Cream Cheese
Absolutely, why can’t you have bagels and cream cheese for lunch? So yummy. You could pick the bagel of your choice. If you want to make it more of a sandwich style, you could do the plain bagel and put the cream cheese right on it, or you can serve the cream cheese on the side and let them smear it when they get there.
My kids always go for the strawberry cream cheese, but you could do plain cream cheese as well, and then serve it with some fruit. If you’d like to add a little bit of extra protein on the side, that rounds it out.
10) Chia Pudding
Absolutely, chia pudding is so good, and this is also something you can make the night before. You can top it off with your favorite toppings. We really like to use berries, and you’re going to put those on in the morning and then put it right into the lunch.
This is great because chia seeds give you some fiber and some omega-3s, which is great for anti-inflammation. It’s filling and so good for you.
11) Ants on a Log
Remember these from when you were a kid? You have the celery and the cream cheese or peanut butter, or sun butter if you have an allergy free school, and then you line it up with ants. Typically you use raisins, but who’s to say your ants can’t be red today? You could use craisins if that’s what your kid likes.
That’s super fun and super finger food friendly for even the littlest kids. Adding that dried fruit is great, they’re going to get some fiber and some flavor from it, and some protein from the cream cheese or sun butter or peanut butter or almond butter. And then of course you’ve got the celery, which gives you a nice crunch and some fiber as well.
12) Cottage Cheese Bowl
You can use this just like you would use yogurt. Put cottage cheese in one of the little compartments of their lunchbox and top it off with whatever fruit you like, either on top or on the side. It could be savory or sweet, so you could do cherry tomatoes, or canned peaches if they like that. I don’t know why, but cottage cheese always seems like it goes well with canned peaches.
Any sort of fruit that your kiddo likes would be fun, pineapple, even apples. Cottage cheese is great because it’s high in protein, so that’s going to be good for them, and it gives them plenty of calcium too. Just round it out with some sort of fruit or veggie and it’s a thumbs up.
13) English Muffin Pizzas
Oh yes, I made these all the time growing up. They’re so good, and you can use any English muffin you’d like, the regular or the whole wheat for a little extra fiber. You can toast it if you’d like or put it in the broiler, and then add a little bit of pizza sauce.
Then go to town and have your kid add whatever toppings they like, whether it’s mozzarella, a little parmesan, a little cheddar, some ham and pineapple to make it Hawaiian style, some pepperoni, or whatever they like. That is such a fun spin on the sandwich and just jazzes up lunch.
14) Fruit Salad
Absolutely, there are so many benefits to eating numerous different plants in one week, and it’s so good for your gut and your immune system to have access to a number of different plants. By mixing several different fruits in the same sitting, you’re going to get a better array of colors and health benefits from the different fruits and vegetables. You’re going to get some vitamin C, some vitamin E, some vitamin D, all these different vitamins from your fruits.
I like to do different berries and apples, putting a little bit of lemon juice on them so they don’t turn brown. I would not use bananas, they’re going to brown too fast and look mushy and icky. You could do grapes if they’re diced up or halved. Just really have fun with this.
15) Veggie Sticks and Ranch
You can use any veggie sticks you like here, carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers, or even the little cute bell peppers, those ones are so cute. And then you can use ranch, hummus, tzatziki, whatever sort of dressing they want to dip it into.
I would have some sort of protein on the side, of course, with this lunch item. This is so fun and colorful, and dipping is so fun. They don’t even realize they’re eating vegetables.
16) Yogurt Parfait
Delish, we love yogurt parfaits. You can choose whatever yogurt you like. I try to go with ones that are a little bit lower in sugar, especially if you’re going to be adding fruit on top. I feel like you really can get away with a lower sugar yogurt, so you might take a plain, or if they’re not used to the plain yet, take the vanilla or the honey and mix it a little with the plain to get them down to a less sweet yogurt.
I feel like yogurts these days can be really sweet, especially those go-gurts and ones aimed towards kids. But yogurt is such a great source of protein, especially if it’s Greek yogurt. I would top that off with whatever berries you like. I feel that blueberries last really well. The raspberries tend to disintegrate, especially if you rinse them off before school, but disintegrating into the yogurt, I feel like it’s not a bad thing in this scenario.
I would serve the granola on the side just so it stays crunchy, and we like to put a little chia seeds in our granola as well, just to give it more health benefits and get you those omega-3s.
17) Mini Meatballs
Yes, we are big fans of meatballs in our family. You could do turkey, beef, or Italian, and switch it up. There’s the bigger ones and the mini ones, which are perfect for the lunchbox. You can cook those in any sort of sauce that you like. We love marinara, and you could also do pesto if you’d like.
Serving those in the lunch is so fun. It’s going to give you some protein, and it’s easy since you have it right there in your freezer, so it’s a last minute lunch idea. Make sure to serve it with a fork if it’s saucy. I would serve it with a little fork, or you can get those really cute little animal themed pokers off Amazon, or at Michael’s I think.
18) Pretzels and Cheese Dip
Absolutely, whether it’s soft or crunchy pretzels, all the kids love them. And you could do some sort of a little cheese dip. This is like a fun spin off of Nutella, but doing it with cheese instead, so you can get away with it. It’s not like, oh, I sent chocolate to school, it’s cheese and pretzels, and that’s so fun.
Who doesn’t love dipping, especially in their lunch? And especially when it’s hot outside, you’re going to give them a little bit of salt and a little bit of electrolytes with a crunchy or soft pretzel, dipping it right there in the yummy cheese. I would add a little fruit and protein on the side to make this a well-rounded meal.
19) Baked Chicken Nuggets
This is a great one to add. I love the Bear chicken nuggets, I get them from Costco, they’re super good. You can use any chicken nuggets, so even if your kid likes dino nuggets, that’s fine. You could bake them or put them in the air fryer, and let them cool of course before you stick them in the lunchbox.
Then you can add a little ketchup, honey mustard, or chick-fil-a sauce, whatever sauce you like on the side, especially if you have one of those little self-contained sample packs from one of the restaurants. I’ve even heard that putting a little parchment paper or paper towel in with the chicken nuggets, I think a paper towel is better, helps absorb any moisture so it’s not mushy.
20) Overnight Oats
Overnight oats are so versatile. Obviously you can make them at night and then they’re ready in the morning. You can use whatever type of oats you prefer, and then add some yogurt, some milk, and whatever fruit you like. I like to do frozen blueberries or blackberries, and lots of chia seeds of course. Love the omega-3s you’re going to get from the chia seeds.
You could also do diced up apples with some cinnamon, that’s going to give you an apple pie sort of flavoring. In the morning this is all perfectly soft and mixed up and ready to go, and you can spoon it right into breakfast or right into the lunchbox. Serve it with a spoon.
21) Egg Fried Rice
You can take some leftover rice that maybe you have from the night before. It could be white rice, or brown rice if you like a little extra fiber. You’re going to scramble an egg and heat the rice together.
You can add some frozen peas and carrots if you’d like a little color. You could do some green onions and a little soy sauce, and this is a delish meal.
22) Banana Muffins
This is a favorite in my house. We like to even add the tiny mini chocolate chips to them. We always seem to have sad brown bananas laying around the house, so this is a perfect way to reuse them, and you can find your favorite banana muffin recipe for this. We make them right there in the cupcake tins, and if you spray it or line it with some avocado oil, then you don’t need the muffin papers.
Delish, a great way to reuse the banana, but it’s sweet and tastes like a dessert, and they’re still eating fruit, so that’s great. I would combine it with some protein, and you could do some fresh fruit on the side if you’d like for a little extra color, that’s always fun.
23) Ham and Cheese Sliders
This is such a fun idea. You can do any sort of bread on this, like a hawaiian sweet roll, croissants, biscuits, english muffins, or whatever you like. And then go ahead and add ham and cheese.
You can do mustard and mayo on there if you’d like, if your child likes a little of that on the bread to moisten it up. And you have a complete meal, just add some fruit or veggies on the side.
24) Apple Slices and Sunbutter
Sun butter is delicious, and I was turned on to this when my kids went to an allergy free school. It’s sunflower seed butter, so it’s seeds, not nuts, which is great if your kid, like mine, has a best friend with a nut allergy and is super sensitive to that.
You can add some sun butter in a little ramekin or right there in the lunchbox, slice up your apple, maybe put a little lemon juice on them so they don’t brown, and you can dip those right in. You can also do peanut butter or almond butter if your kiddo likes that better. Great snack.
25) Sushi Roll-Ups
Yeah, you can make sushi at home, so it’s so fun. You just get some sticky rice and whatever ingredients you like. We like to use a strip of cucumber. You could use fish, or you don’t have to use fish if they don’t want something fishy in their lunch. You could do avocado or cream cheese, whatever ingredients they like, and shredded carrots is always really fun for some color.
If you have the fish in there, then you have everything you need, protein, carb, and a fruit or a veggie, so that’s complete, with that seaweed roll on the outside of course.
26) Deviled Eggs
This is something great that you can make beforehand. You can make it the night before and then just put them in the refrigerator, or you can even pack their lunch and stick their lunchbox into the refrigerator if you want.
This is really fun. You’re going to get some good protein there, about six grams of protein for each egg, and you can top it off with a little bit of seasoning if you like, put a little paprika on top of the deviled egg, that’s so yummy. And then I would just serve it with some sort of a carb and a fruit or a veggie to round it out.
27) Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Hey, we’ve got to go to school even when it’s a rainy day, so this is probably something I would serve on one of those days. You could use whatever bread you like for the grilled cheese, whole wheat, sourdough, whatever you have on hand, and whatever cheese you like, a sharp cheddar is great.
You could use canned tomato soup here, no problem. Put that in the little thermos, that would be great because you can keep it warm, and then serve it with a spoon.
28) Popcorn Chicken
Like chicken nuggets, right? So delicious, gonna be high in protein, and you can send it with some sort of a dip and then serve it with some fruit or veggies.
29) Peanut Noodles
So delicious. This is going to be like a savory sweet, and everyone loves this one. You can add some sesame and some soy in there. You could add some edamame if you’d like, and I’d probably do some shaved carrots in there as well.
You’re going to get some carbs, and if you put some protein in there, whatever protein you have on hand, that would be really delicious. The peanut provides a little bit of protein, or sun butter, that’s great too. This can really be a complete meal with the carb, the protein, and the fruit or veggie, add it all in, or serve it on the side.
30) Trail Mix Snack Box
This is so fun because your kiddo could really go to town and switch it up every single day, with crackers or cheese, dried fruit, fresh fruit, pretzels, whatever you have, Goldfish, Cheez-Its, Pirate’s Booty.
I would try to add some nuts in there if your kiddo is allowed to eat nuts at school, and that’s going to give you some protein as well. You could do cashews, macadamia nuts, almonds, pistachios is our personal favorite. And that’s really fun.
