6 Healthy School Lunches (easy & kid-friendly) that are perfect for picky eaters to start the new school year. Included are tons of nut-free, dairy-free and gluten free options. Everything can be served chilled or at room temperature – no heating or microwave needed!
Healthy School Lunch Ideas
The summer holidays are just about over and many kids have already headed back to school from their summer break.
Like many parents, we can start to run out of new ideas when it comes to packing school lunches for your kids.
The new school year is a great time to switch things up and get creative apart from the regular peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
It’s a great time to meal prep a large batch so you can revamp a few leftovers for special lunches for your kids.
FOR MORE SCHOOL LUNCH IDEAS, BE SURE TO ALSO CHECK OUT THESE SCHOOL LUNCH POSTS:
5 Easy Bento Box Lunches for Fall
For this post, I’m using the LunchBots Trio and LunchBots Classic Duo. We love the design, quality and size of these boxes.
Here are some more details:
- Separate compartments let you pack different foods in one container.
- Only the highest-quality 18/8 stainless steel comes into contact with your food.
- Dishwasher safe and virtually unbreakable.
- Optional snap-on, plastic Dots cover adds color and style.
- Duo food containers are not leak proof. Please pack dry foods only.
6 Healthy and Easy School Lunches for the New Year
1.
- Strawberry Spinach Salad with leftover Instant Pot chicken
- Berry Blender Muffins
- Apricot and Almond Joy Energy Bites (omit Almond Joy Energy Bites for nut-free version)
- Pistachio nuts (leave out for nut-free version)
2.
- Turkey Sandwich with Spinach & Vegan Cheese on Gluten Free Bread. (Use grain-free or gluten-free bread as needed. We like Base Culture or California Country Gal)
- Dried Apricot & Banana Chips
- Orange
- Grapes
- Mixed Vegetables
- Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and dried blueberry homemade trail-mix
3. Breakfast for Lunch
- Baked Oatmeal Cup with gluten free dairy free chocolate chunks – leave out if desired
- Berry Blender Muffins
- Orange, apple and kiwi slices
- Yogurt cup – leave out for dairy-free version
4.
- Turkey & Vegan Cheese on Gluten-free Croissant Sandwiches. We like Schar Gluten-Free Croissants.
- Ham, Spinach & Vegan Cheese Roll-ups on Whole Wheat Tortillas – swap out for gluten free tortillas as needed. We like Siete Grain-Free Tortillas.
- Roasted corn
- Sunflower seeds, dried apricot, coconut & cranberry homemade trail-mix
- Banana
5.
- Macaroni and Cheese with vegan cheese and almond milk instead for dairy free version
- Mixed vegetables
- Orange and apple slices
- Grapes
6.
- Turkey Sandwich with Spinach and Vegan Cheese on Gluten Free Bread. We like Base Culture or California Country Gal)
- Orange, and Kiwi Slices
- Mixed Vegetables
- Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and dried blueberry homemade trail-mix
SOME HELPFUL TIPS WHEN PACKING SCHOOL LUNCHES:
PLAN AHEAD
Make lunches ahead of time at night and portion off any dried snacks that keep well on Sundays for the rest of the week.
MIX IT UP
Include a variety so your child doesn’t get bored. Switch things up and pair different snacks, fruits, carbs and protein. Leftovers like muffins, pasta salad or chilled sesame noodles are some great choices.
HOMEMADE SNACK IDEAS
GRANOLA BARS
- Healthy Homemade Granola Bars -12 Ways
- No Bake Pumpkin Cashew Butter Granola Bars
- No Bake 5 Ingredient Granola Bars
- {No-Bake} Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chips Granola Bars
- Healthy Chewy No-Bake Granola Bars with Almond & Cranberry
- Chewy No-Bake Peanut Butter and Jelly Granola Bars
BREAKFAST COOKIES
Healthy Breakfast Cookies – 12 Ways
Zucchini Breakfast Cookies (Flourless)
ENERGY BITES
- Energy Bites – 12 Ways
- Energy Bites (No Bake 5 Ingredients)
- Cranberry Energy Bites
- No Bake Almond Joy Energy Bites
KEEP FOOD SEPARATE WITH A LUNCH BOX WITH DIVIDED COMPARTMENTS
Having a lunchbox with separate compartments and / or liners will help you remember to include all the components of a balanced meal.
These are the ones I used for this post:
Keeping your grains, protein, fruit and veggies separated also makes it fun for the kids when they open up their lunchboxes. It’s also perfect for picky eaters that don’t like various food to touch.
Adjust portion sizes based on your child’s appetite or age
FOOD SAFETY
FOR MORE SCHOOL LUNCH IDEAS, BE SURE TO ALSO CHECK OUT THE SCHOOL LUNCH POSTS AT THE TOP OF THE POST.
6 Healthy School Lunches (easy & kid-friendly) that are perfect for picky eaters to start the new year. Included are tons of nut-free, dairy-free and gluten free options. Everything can be served chilled or at room temperature - no heating or microwave needed!
- Strawberry Spinach Chicken Salad
- Baked Oatmeal
- Turkey Spinach and Cheese Sandwiches. Use grain-free or gluten-free bread as needed. We like Base Culture or California Country Gal.
- Ham & Cheese Roll-ups
- Macaroni & Cheese
- Cucumber zucchini with grape tomatoes
- Yogurt
- Orange slices
- Apple slices
- Kiwi slices
- Grapes
- Homemade trail mix
- Blender Muffins
- Pistachio nuts
- Include a variety of ingredients from each category and divide into lunchboxes.
Lunch Box Ideas and Grain-Free Vegan Substitutions
Be sure to check the blog post for the full list of lunch options plus more vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, grain-free, paleo, low carb, keto options and links.
- Grain-free bread - We like Base Culture or California Country Gal.
- Grain-free tortillas - We like Siete Grain-Free Tortillas
- Gluten-free Croissants - We like Schar Gluten-Free Croissants
- Grain-free tortilla chips - We like Siete.
- Grain-free crackers - We like Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers
- Dairy-free cheese - we like Violife and Chao
- Dairy-free ranch - we like Primal Kitchen
- Dairy-free yogurt - we like Culina or Kite Hill
- Deli Slices: We like Applegate. Or for a meatless option, sub with cooked tofu, tempeh or vegan deli slices or plant-based pepperoni slices
- Eggs: You can sub with Just Egg for a plant-based option
Janet -
Love all these lunch ideas! thank you for sharing!