We have tons of healthy School Lunch Ideas for kids (and a free printable you could hang in the kitchen) to help with burn-out from the grind of making kids lunches each day.
And, if you need some kid-friendly meal ideas, try our popular Hawaiian Meatballs, Spaghetti Pie, Sweet and Sour Chicken, or Pizza Sliders.
Mastering the art of school lunch ideas monotony!
Mastering the art of school lunch ideas monotony!As a mom of 4 school-age kids, I get how packing a healthy lunch for them each day is a grind! I created this free school lunch ideas pdf years ago for our family to use and things have gone more smoothly ever since. I laminated mine so it has lasted for years.
I’ve also included my best 4 best tips to winning the school lunch game; just read on.
Tip #1: Have pre-made or freezer-friendly options:
Have items in your fridge or freezer you can just throw in a lunchbox and your done! This works well for breakfast items, too, for an easy grab-n-go morning.
- Freezer Muffins will thaw by the time it’s lunchtime. Try our Snickerdoodle Muffins, Healthy Banana Muffins, Chocolate Chip Muffins, Skinny Chocolate Muffins, and Healthy Pumpkin Muffins.
- Hard boiled eggs -make a dozen and label them in the fridge for an easy protein to add to any lunch.
- Snacks: Chewy Granola Bars, Protein Bars, Trail Mix, Chex Mix, Granola Bites, Beef Sticks, and Instant Pot Applesauce. Check out all of my healthy snacks for kids!
- Homemade yogurt with healthy granola.
- Breakfast items: Freezer Breakfast Sandwiches, Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets, Breakfast Burritos, Sheet Pan Pancakes, and Chocolate Overnight Oats (stored in the fridge).
Tip #2: Use your leftovers
When making dinner, make extra so you have enough to heat in a food thermos for school lunch the next day. This works well for pastas, soups, and casseroles, like:
- Pasta: Boursin Pasta, Swedish Meatballs, or American Goulash.
- Soup: Taco Soup, White Chicken Chili, Chicken and Dumplings, or Corn Chowder.
- Casseroles: Chicken Casserole, Chicken Noodle Casserole, Pizza Casserole, or Chicken Divan,
Tip #3: Pack Lunch the Night Before (Have Kids Help!)
- Fresh Sandwich Trick: To keep sandwiches from getting soggy, place cheese slices directly on the bread, and then the mayo and mustard on top of the cheese. This establishes a barrier to the bread and will keep it fresh, especially if you’re making it the night before.
Tip #4: Have the Right Equipment
Lunch Box Containers: I’ve tried them all, and I always come back to these simple bento-style containers that don’t have a million parts to clean, are easy to open, dishwasher-friendly, and leak proof. But these Bentgo boxes are a really popular choice as well.
Thermos Containers our our favorite for enjoying leftover hot food for lunch.
Lunch Bag: I am obsessed with these lunch bags that come with the ice packs! They are durable and have held up so well for us.
Don’t Miss These Sales!
- My favorite divided lunch containers are 30% off right now!
- Lunch Bags with built in ice packs less than $20! Just keep the whole bag in the freezer. We have the snack size of these and use them constantly!
- Reusable utensils with fun case are only $15!
- Cute lunch box joke cards are on sale for only $5 and are sure to create a smile!
- I love to use Silicone Muffin Liners in my kid’s lunch boxes when they need one more little compartment. They are so handy and you can get 12 for $6.
- All prices accurate at time of publishing
Free Printable
Recipe
School Lunch Ideas
Ingredients
Main Course:
- Meat, Cheese and Crackers
- Pita bread and hummus
- Chicken salad on roll or croissant
- Ham and cheese sliders
- Wrap: like Turkey Bacon Avocado wrap, or Chicken Caesar
- Pasta salad
- Pizza Quesadillas
- Tuna with crackers, or on sandwich
- Healthy Muffins
- Sushi Rolls
- Bagel and cream cheese
- 7-layer Bean dip with chips
Hot Lunch (Thermos Ideas):
- Leftovers: casseroles, pasta, Mexican food
- Oatmeal
- Soup or Chili
- Egg Casserole
- Chicken nuggets
- Ravioli
- Waffles, French Toast, Pancakes
- Taquitos
- Mac and Cheese , or heat up a container of easy mac
- Grilled Cheese
Veggies:
- Cucumber
- Cherry Tomato
- Avocado
- Edamame
- Snap peas
- Celery
- Carrots
- Bell peppers
- Pickles
- Broccoli florets
- Olives
Fruit :
- Peaches
- Cutie orange
- Apples
- Berries
- Banana
- Applesauce
- Grapes
- Dried fruit
- Melon, cut into cubes
Sides and Treats:
- Trail mix
- Nuts
- Granola bars , or Granola Bites
- Fruit leather
- String cheese
- Cottage cheese
- Popcorn
- Chex mix
- Yogurt and Granola
- Rice crackers
- Fig bar
- Rice Cakes
- Fruit snacks
- Hard boiled egg
- Celery with peanut butter
Complete Meal Ideas:
- Summer sausage slices, Cheese cubes, crackers, sliced cucumber, apples
- Hummus and pita bread, hard boiled egg, grapes, yogurt Tube
- Healthy muffin, veggies and dip, string cheese, berries
- Pasta Salad, carrots, granola ball
- California sushi roll, almonds, applesauce
- Sandwich, edamame, cutie orange
- Tuna with crackers, pickle, string cheese, strawberries
- Quesadilla, chip with salsa and guac, apple slices
- Bagel with cream cheese, trail mix, veggies
- Turkey wrap, celery with peanut butter, fruit
Create a FREE Account to save your favorite recipes and create meal plans
What additional tips and ideas do YOU have?! Share with us below!
Follow me for more great recipes
I originally shared this post August 2016. Updated August 2022 and 2024.
This post contains affiliate links.
This is so great! I printed and laminated as a resource. We do a lot of plain cheddar cheese quesadillas on corn tortillas, and refrigerate for the next day. They’re a hit!
I make up 10-12 boiled eggs at once and keep them in a separate egg carton (Mine is blue). I wrote ‘BOILED’ in sharpie on the carton. So far, everyone in the family understands were the boiled eggs are kept.
Thank you so much for creating and sharing these delicious, easy to follow recipes and shopping lists! This is an amazing resource that has helped me tremendously. I’m a stay at home Mom of two young boys and I’m so happy I found your site.
I’m using these for MY lunches! No more kids at home, but I’m a Kindergarten teacher and need all the energy and time saving tips that I can get! This will work great! 🙂
Thanks for the great ideas! I love that I can print this and hand it to my child with a highlighter and have him mark what he things he will eat. Will make the upcoming school lunch prep so much easier.
Thank you for posting this as I struggle with making lunches and you just made it easy💕😁💕
Such good ideas😍 NO more stress🥳