In my meal planning group, I see a lot of parents asking for school lunch ideas for kids. It can be such a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be! Here is your one stop guide for all things school lunches.
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One of my least favorite things about momming is packing a school lunch for my kids. I do not know why I hate it so much, as it truly only takes 5 minutes to do. It just seems so daunting!
My 7 year old also does not branch out a lot when it comes to school lunches. He picks and chooses from the school menu so he only needs a school lunch maybe 1-2 times a week. It’s always a ham and cheese sandwich, a fruit and chips or a veggie. He is not very adventurous!
So in my meal planning group for October, we decided to chat about school lunch ideas for kids. Honestly, it is kind of selfish of me because I wanted some new ideas for my own kid!
First, here are some products that you might want to grab for school lunches!
- Bentgo lunch boxes – These lunch boxes have little separators for each component of your lunch. (This is an affiliate link)
- Insulated lunch box – This one is super simple and you can pop an ice pack in the top also. (This is an affiliate link)
- Reusable bags – We have some of these that we use for lunches too so we’re not flying through the disposable ones! (This is an affiliate link)
School lunch ideas for kids
- Homemade Lunchables – crackers, meat and cheese
- Kebobs – Kids will eat anything on a stick, right? Meat, cheese, veggies, fruit, etc
- Quesadilla – Cook it in the morning and pack it in foil
- Macaroni and cheese – Make it in the morning and put it in a thermos. (This is an affiliate link). I’ve heard these work great if you let super hot water sit in it first, dump the water, then put the hot mac and cheese in it.
- Chicken nuggets or hot dogs (with the aforementioned thermos strategy)
- Cereal – buy milk at school to use!
- Hard boiled egg with cinnamon toast
- Meat/cheese and veggie tray – maybe toss some dip or hummus in there too
- Pasta salad – a nice cold lunch
- Protein filled muffins
- Roll ups with cream cheese – spread out a piece of flattened bread (or tortilla) and put some cream cheese on it (try the veggie cream cheese!) Top with meat and veggies, roll it up and slice.
- Yogurt pouch with a side of granola and fruit
My oldest is a very picky eater! We pack him “pizza lunchables” made with sliced mozzarella, pepperoni and crackers and pancake pb&j made with homemade small protein pancakes! Sometimes is easier to work with their Tastes then against them!