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Coming up with school lunch ideas can be overwhelming as the back-to-school season approaches. I’ve gathered over 30 lunch ideas below to help you skip the guesswork each morning.
Below you’ll find a “cheat sheet” and kid-friendly recipes to help you pack healthy school lunches that your kids will want to eat.
You can mix & match from this list to come up with hundreds of combinations to keep your child’s packed lunches interesting all year long. (Feel free to use these ideas for yourself, too!)
Choosing a lunch box
The lunchbox you use will determine how you pack lunch. For example, if you choose a lunch box with three compartments, you’ll probably only need to select three items to pack each day. A lunch box with five compartments allows for more variety and smaller amounts of each item.
I use this bento-style lunchbox (affiliate link) for my kids, because it keeps each item separate, allows for more variety, and keeps them from feeling overwhelmed by large portions.
Just make sure you include an ice pack in your zippered lunch box to keep fresh food lasting well until lunch.
Lunch Ideas for School (Easy Formula)
This is the formula I use to pack lunches every day. It keeps things easy and ensures my kids get a variety of different tastes and textures.
Use the list below and pick one thing from each category to easily fill the compartments in your kids’ lunchboxes.
In each lunch, they’ll get:
- a serving of fruit
- a serving of veggies
- protein & healthy fats
- something you know they will eat and love
I’ve divided my school lunch ideas into 5 categories because that’s how my brain compartmentalizes them, but you don’t have to include all 5 options into each lunch if it doesn’t make sense for your kids.
For example, I don’t always include a main course or a crunchy item in every lunch. If I fill up the compartments with 1-2 servings of fruits, vegetables, and a few options with protein and healthy fats, I know they will feel full, even if they didn’t necessarily get a sandwich, a slice of pizza, or something else that we would usually consider to be a main entree.
A homemade Larabar can be just as satisfying as a peanut butter sandwich, but the bar is more fun for kids to eat, so sometimes I’ll give them that option instead.
Bite-sized finger foods tend to be more kid-friendly, so I’ve included plenty of those ideas in my list.
Here’s Your Printable Cheat Sheet:
Click on the image below to get the full-size PDF, which you can download or print!
Nut-Free Lunch Alternatives
Many schools are moving to a nut-free or nut “safer” lunchroom. In our case, we are in a nut-free school, so the classrooms are 100% nut-free for snacks, but it’s okay to have peanut and tree nut products in the lunchroom.
I’m excited to have the option of almond butter sandwiches this year, as our preschool was 100% nut-free last year.
If your kids are attending a nut-free school, keep in mind that you can almost always swap sunflower seed butter or tahini (a butter made of ground sesame seeds) for virtually any recipe that calls for peanut butter, or any other nut butter.
Easy 30 Ideas For School Lunches
These are the recipes I find myself using most often for my kids. You can click on the links below to be taken directly to the recipes.
- Spinach Muffins
- Mini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (pictured above)
- Banana Oatmeal Muffins
- Sweet Potato Muffins
- Protein Pancakes
- Chocolate Protein Balls
- Cottage Cheese Waffles
- Turkey Meatballs
- Paleo Granola (nut-free)
- Baked Chicken Breasts (cut into chunks)
- Oatmeal Pancakes
- Instant Pot Applesauce (or slow cooker applesauce)
- Date Energy Balls
- Lentil Meatballs
- Protein Balls (3 flavors)
- Peanut Butter Granola Bars (use sunflower seed butter for nut-free schools)
- Zucchini Hummus
- Healthy Mac and Cheese
- Black Bean Burgers
- Yogurt Ranch Dressing
- Perfect Instant Pot Black Beans
- Homemade Guacamole
- Healthy Granola
- Banana Almond Meal Muffins
- Protein Rice Crispy Treats
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats
- Baked Egg Muffins
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
- Almond Flour Muffins
If your child is more adventurous, feel free to explore my entire recipe index for additional healthy ideas! Any leftover can be used for lunch, including soup if you want to pack a thermos.
School Lunch Ideas (Printable Cheat Sheet!)
Ingredients
No-Bake Protein Balls
- ½ cup creamy peanut butter (or sunflower butter)
- ½ cup rolled oats
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened protein powder
- 2 to 3 tablespoons honey
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, oats, protein powder, 2 tablespoons of honey, and a pinch of salt. Stir well until the mixture looks like cookie dough.
- Taste the dough and add another tablespoon of honey, if needed. If the dough looks too wet to scoop into a ball, you can add another tablespoon of oats or protein powder. Stir well until the mixture looks relatively uniform.
- Use a tablespoon to scoop the dough into balls, then roll them between your hands. Place them on a parchment-lined plate and repeat with the remaining mixture. You should get 10 to 12 balls from this batch. Chill them in the fridge to help them firm up, then they are ready to eat.
- These protein balls will keep well in the fridge for up to 2 weeks and make an easy protein-packed snack for a lunch box. (Use sunflower butter to keep them nut-free, if needed.)
Video
Notes
Nutrition
I hope these school lunch ideas & printable cheat sheet will help make your school year a little easier! If you try one of these ideas or have some more that you would like to share, please leave a comment below.
We can all benefit from each other’s experiences!
you should put the recipes.
No need fear cut apples if you choose Gala apples. They don’t brown at the same rate as other apples.
Love this!!! Thank you soooo much for sharing your love of food.
Hello! Genius 🤯 we homeschool and I have my kids make these up the night before. Cheat sheet is on the fridge. It makes my lunches SO easy!
I love this. I sent it to my girls and daughter -in-law. I printed it for my own use and to use as a snack list when the grandkids are here.
WOW! Thank you for posting this! We homeschool, but I was running out of healthy ideas for my kids, plus one has a dairy issue we are just now figuring out. I really appreciate it. Thank you.
It is sooo good and funny 😁
Thanks for all these awesome ideas!! What are some of your go-to options for dry cereal?
Most schools are all nut free now by the way…..
I actually did a poll recently, and only about 50% of schools are nut-free among my readers. My children go to a “nut-safer” school, so their snacks in the classroom have to be nut-free, but the lunchroom is allowed to have both peanuts and tree nuts.
My school is exactly like yours. Nut free in the classroom and they are allowed nuts in the lunchroom. I am loving this post and the printable chart. It opened my eyes to so many new ideas. We are vegetarians, and I was always trying to think of a “main course”. I appreciate this so much!
So grateful that you posted this; I was needing some new ideas for my toddler! Thank you so much 😊
I hope it’s helpful for you this year! I needed it written down all in one place for myself. 🙂