Don’t sweat school lunch! Get fresh ideas from our huge list of healthy, simple, and packable lunches. Print the list with my free printable to hang on your fridge!
Also check out our huge school lunch photo gallery with 90+ complete kid lunches.
Packing a school lunch: how hard can it be? Slap together a sandwich, add a piece of fruit and some baby carrots, and you’re done. Easy, right? At least in September, it’s that easy.
But a month or two into the school year, packing lunches starts to feel like a slog. The food starts to come back uneaten. Your kids are complaining about their umpteenth turkey sandwich on wheat. And most troubling of all, there’s no end in sight.
Don’t sweat it. And avoid the lunch-packing burnout with our huge list of packable school lunch ideas to keep you ticking all year long.
Tips for Packing School Lunches
Plan Ahead and Prep
This is SUCH a sanity-saver. You can pack the entire lunch the night before and put it in your fridge. Or you can prep pre-portioned items that are easy to grab in the morning. Some examples are:
- Snack size veggie bags
- Sliced apples with a little lime or lemon juice
- Dips in small containers
- Make sandwiches and freeze them in individual containers
Have a Variety of Healthy Choices
Kids can get tired of the same foods after a couple of weeks. Vary the foods you have for lunches by buying smaller portions or making different recipes and rotating every few weeks. You can also cut fruits and veggies in different fun ways to mix things up. Here are some ideas:
Veggies
- Snap peas
- Bell pepper cut into strips
- Celery sliced thin
- Cucumber rounds
- Cherry tomatoes
- Carrot sticks or coins
Fruit
- Melon balls
- Strawberry halves
- Kiwi slices
- Berries
- Grapes
- Apple slices
- Applesauce pouches
Sides + Snacks
50 Packable School Lunch Ideas
- Homemade lunchable: crackers + cheese + deli meat
- Pinwheel sandwich: tortilla + cream cheese + turkey + provolone cheese + lettuce
- Soup in a thermos + roll
- Chopped salad with chopped veggies, boiled eggs, deli meat
- Veggie-packed pizza rolls
- Muffins with a cheese stick
- Waffle sandwich
- “Finger Food” lunch: trail mix, cheese cubes, and raw veggies
- Homemade protein bar + fruit
- Egg muffins
- Bean and cheese burrito
- Tuna and crackers
- Pita Pizza Pocket: shredded cheese + marinara + pepperoni
- Slider on a hawaiian roll
- Pasta salad
- Energy Bites + veggie sticks
- Egg salad sandwich
- Chicken nuggets in a thermos to stay warm
- Guacamole + salsa + tortilla chips
- Pasta and meat sauce in a thermos
- Chicken salad wrap
- Nut butter + fruit sandwich
- Cheese quesadillas with guacamole
- Pizza kebabs
- Homemade “Uncrustables”
- Ham and cheese roll up
- Homemade pretzel bites with cheese sauce
- Cheesy spinach bites
- Homemade hot pocket
- Turkey club wrap
- Veggie lunch wrap
- Yogurt and granola with berries
- Bagel sandwich with turkey and cheese
- Banana bread with a hard-boiled egg
- Quick Mac and Cheese in a thermos
- Pita with hummus + veggies
- Rice cakes with nut or seed butter
- Taquitos or flautas
- BLT sandwich
- Chili in a thermos
- “Bistro Box” with fruit, veggies, cheese, crackers, and hummus
- Buffalo Chicken Wrap
- English muffin pizza
- Lunchbox taco salad
- A thermos of Homemade Spaghettios
- Apple and cheddar grilled cheese
- Tuna salad wrap
- Pizza lunchable: mini naan + marinara + pepperoni + shredded mozzarella
- Cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches
- The easiest packed lunch of all: leftovers from dinner
Free Printable!
More Tips and Ideas for Packing School Lunches
Natalie Monson
I’m a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.