Today is the day! My kids are going back to school which is mind boggling to me. I have no idea where the summer went and I have mixed emotions about watching them go back to school. I have one leaving the house at 6:00 am, one at 7:00 am, and two at 8:00 am which means it is a non-stop busy morning.
I am one of those Moms. I organize up a storm leading up to the first day of school and have a goal of packing healthy lunches all year long. By the time May comes around, their lunches barely resemble lunch. But I start off real strong! Haha!
I do have a theory though in our home and it works for us. My kids pack their own lunches. Here's the thing -- kids are fickle. One day, they love a certain granola bar and the next day they despise it, for some odd reason. They tire of certain foods and so I switch up their choices often. I give them a lot of different options to keep lunch interesting. So I am sharing a list of some healthy school lunch ideas for kids.
BACK TO SCHOOL KIDS LUNCH IDEAS:
OPTION #1
Turkey + Cheddar Roll-up
Fresh Berries
Yogurt
Trail Mix
OPTION #2
Hummus
Pita Bread
Grape Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Sliced Oranges
OPTION #3
Cheese Quesadilla
Guacamole
Salsa
Tortilla Chips
Strawberries
OPTION #4
Deli Meat + Cheese Kabobs
Red Pepper Slices
Apples
Fruit Leather or Snacks
OPTION #5
Hard Boiled Eggs
Baby Carrots + Ranch
Pretzels
Peaches or Applesauce
OPTION #6
Pasta Salad
Yogurt
Granola Bar
Raspberries
OPTION #7
Almond Butter + Jelly (or PB +J)
String Cheese
Fruit Cup
Chips
OPTION #8
Crackers
Cheddar Cheese Cubes
Grapes
LaraBar or Cliff Bar
OPTION #9
Bagel + Cream Cheese
Yogurt Tube
Baby Carrots
Fruit Snacks
OPTION #10
Veggie Wraps with Hummus
Edamame or Snap Peas
Clementine
Granola Bar
MAIN MEAL:
Pita Bread + Hummus
Cheese + Crackers
Turkey + Cheese Roll-ups
Almond Butter + Jam Sandwich
Cheese Quesadilla
Hard Boiled Eggs
Pasta Salad
Meat + Cheese Kabob
Chips + Guacamole
Ham + Cheese Sandwich
Bagel + Cream Cheese
Veggie +Hummus Wrap
FRUITS + VEGGIES:
Oranges
Apples
Strawberries
Grapes
Peaches
Blueberries
Raspberries
Natural Applesauce
Mangoes
Melon
Baby Carrots
Cucumbers
Grape Tomatoes
Edamame
Snap Peas
SIDES and SNACKS:
Chips
Granola Bars
Pretzels
String Cheese
Yogurt
Trail Mix
Lara Bar or Cliff Bar
Fruit Leather
Fruit Snacks
Popcorn
Crackers
Chips + Salsa
Fruit Cup
Pudding Cup
Graham Crackers
Cookies
Rice Krispies Treats
DRINKS:
Water Bottle
100% Juice Boxes
Capri Suns
Bolthouse Smoothies
Milk -- Strawberry or Chocolate
Here are some suggestions for kids lunchbox containers:
Rubbermaid LunchBox Sandwich Kit and Rubbermaid Take Alongs Food Storage Container (Set of 6) and EasyLunchboxes 3-Compartment Bento Lunch Box Containers, Set of 4
Here is a suggestion for a kids lunchbox:
Rubbermaid LunchBlox Small Lunch Bag, Blue
KIDS SCHOOL LUNCH IDEAS PRINTABLE OPTION:
- MAIN:
- Pita Bread + Hummus
- Cheese + Crackers
- Turkey + Cheese Roll-ups
- Almond Butter + Jam Sandwich
- Cheese Quesadilla
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Pasta Salad
- Meat + Cheese Kabob
- Chips + Guacamole
- Ham + Cheese Sandwich
- Bagel + Cream Cheese
- Veggie +Hummus Wrap
-
- FRUITS + VEGGIES:
- Oranges
- Apples
- Strawberries
- Grapes
- Peaches
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Natural Applesauce
- Mangoes
- Melon
- Baby Carrots
- Cucumbers
- Grape Tomatoes
- Edamame
- Snap Peas
-
- SIDES and SNACKS:
- Chips
- Granola Bars
- Pretzels
- String Cheese
- Yogurt
- Trail Mix
- Lara Bar or Cliff Bar
- Fruit Leather
- Fruit Snacks
- Popcorn
- Crackers
- Chips + Salsa
- Fruit Cup
- Pudding Cup
- Graham Crackers
- Cookies
- Rice Krispies Treats
-
- DRINKS:
- Water Bottle
- 100 % Juice Boxes
- Capri Suns
- Bolthouse Smoothies
- Milk -- Strawberry or Chocolate
-
- OPTION #1
- Turkey + Cheddar Roll-up
- Fresh Berries
- Yogurt
- Trail Mix
- OPTION #2
- Hummus
- Pita Bread
- Grape Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Sliced Oranges
- OPTION #3
- Cheese Quesadilla
- Guacamole
- Salsa
- Tortilla Chips
- Strawberries
- OPTION #4
- Deli Meat + Cheese Kabobs
- Red Pepper Slices
- Apples
- Fruit Leather or Snacks
- OPTION #5
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Baby Carrots + Ranch
- Pretzels
- Peaches or Applesauce
- OPTION #6
- Pasta Salad
- Yogurt
- Granola Bar
- Raspberries
- OPTION #7
- Almond Butter + Jelly or PB +J
- String Cheese
- Fruit Cup
- Chips
- OPTION #8
- Crackers
- Cheddar Cheese Cubes
- Grapes
- LaraBar or Cliff Bar
- OPTION #9
- Bagel + Cream Cheese
- Yogurt Tube
- Baby Carrots
- Fruit Snacks
- OPTION #10
- Veggie Wraps with Hummus
- Edamame or Snap Peas
- Clementine
- Granola Bar
What do you love to serve in your kid's lunchbox? I would love to hear your favorite things! I hope this list of back to school kids lunch ideas helps you pack those school lunches. Have a great day, my friends! xo
Hope your kiddos have a fabulous first day!
Love this, Melissa! What are your kids favorite brands/flavors of hummus?
Hi Angie! Great question! I buy an assortment of hummus so my kids don't tire of the same flavor. I tend to buy the large Sabra red pepper hummus at Costco. I love the pine nut hummus as well. You can find smaller tubs on sale at the grocery store for about $2. I also love making my own. I make an avocado ranch and a cilantro jalapeno hummus. Those are my kid's favorites. Hope that helps!
can you share the avocado ranch and clinatro jalapeno hummus recipes?
Great visual of the preped lunches. Any ideas for adult lunches that can be prepared a few days in advance?
Great post! My goal is to get lunches made the night before and have the girls help plan the weekend before what they want. Wish me luck!!!!! I agree with your IG post - by May, lunch is a hodgepodge. LOL
When you give the kiddos hummus, what do you give them for protein? Thanks!
Hummus is protein.
Yes
Love all of our idea generators putting stuff out there to help with packing healthy lunches! It takes a a village to raise a child! My two cents -take Capri Sun off the list for beverages they average 13 grams of sugar -almost 4 teaspoons. Sugar is the second ingredient! Yikes! I had my kids try fruit infused water -they loved it! We make it ourselves and there are no "extra" ingredients!
I see there are no thermos meals here. I do use thermos' with mine. I put veggy soup in it and other probably what would be considered not so healthy stuff but... Then they drink water with water flavors with 0 sugars and because of the assortment of flavors they are good. And sometimes we might use the ones that have little sugar in them. But they also take salads and dressings on the sides. Love your ideas. Have never tried hummus.
Hi Suzette! Thank you for including those great ideas. I do need to add more thermos ideas. I appreciate it! Have a great day. -- Melissa
Do your kids eat the cheese quesadillas cold? I’d like to do more than our current ham & cheese routine, but not sure about serving “hot” things (quesadilla, burrito) either cold or room temp ...
This is a great round up of ideas. Thank you so much. I do French toast sticks with maple syrup to dip in with fresh fruit and yogurt that my kids love. I also keep my freezer stocked with healthy freezer muffins to add as a main dish too!
Hi. Do you have a recipe for the healthy muffins?
Please explain veggie wraps with hummus. My son recently decided he doesnt like bread or wraps and doesnt care for cheese. This may be a solution!
This is So great. Thanx for the printable version! Heading to the store and really appreciate the time you saved me.
You have really helped me. I have one child. He goes into kindergarten this week (tears).
This post helped me so much! It was the first thing to pop up too on google when I searched “school lunch ideas!” I am in college & have zero time to grab lunch between classes, so I needed some quick & easy ideas for cold lunchbox lunches! Thanks so much!
This post was so incredibly useful. I really love the list by food group. I also have my kids pack their own lunches and I have them pick at least one food out of each group.
Love this post. My kiddos need to be out the door by 7am next term. So we will be making ahead on the weekend. Any ideas on keeping it fresh for the week?
What a lifesaver! Thanks for this...especially the printable!
love these ideas and the printable with it
Thank you so much for putting this document together. I love the idea of the food groups you have put together and I am going to have my kids highlight the ones they love best with each of the food groups. I will then always have their favorite on hand for them to pack their lunches. We are a vegetarian family and even your menu options can all work for us by easily substituting the lunch meat products for plant based. Again thank you for the chart.
Thanks for these ideas!I'm kinda worried about the food that has cheese, my son is not allowed to refrigerate his lunch at school. Is it advisable to bring food with cheese without refrigerating?thanks
Hi Anne! I always like to put a cold pack in my kids lunch. I just have several that I freeze ahead of time so they are ready to go. I place the cold items directly by the freezer pack to keep them cold throughout the day. Hope that helps! 🙂
I use a plastic water bottle and fill it half way with juice and freeze. When packing lunch I fisnish filling the bottle with juice. This keeps lunch cool and the juice thaws to a perfect drinking temp by lunchtime.
awesome so many great ideas
These are great suggestions and super helpful! Thanks for taking the time to share!
I truly love the recipes. Thank you so much!
Great post!
Hi. What do you do to keep rice safe in the lunches? Do you put it in a thermas or serve it cold. I'm aware rice can be difficult to keep safe.