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school lunch ideas
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70+ Healthy School Lunch Ideas (With 2-Week Menu)

Katie WellsAug 26, 2022
Reading Time: 7 min

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Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » 70+ Healthy School Lunch Ideas (With 2-Week Menu)
Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • Real-Food Healthy School Lunch Ideas
  • Tip #1: Let the Kids Help+−
    • How to Teach Your Kids to Help Safely
    • Setting Up the Kitchen for Kids
  • Tip #2: Use Reusable Lunchbox Containers+−
    • Reusable Lunch Boxes (no plastic)
  • Tip #3: Always Include Veggies and Fruit
  • Tip #4: Get Creative With the Drinks
  • Tip #5: Use a Meal Planning Tool
  • What to Put in Your Child's Lunchbox: A Rotating Meal Plan
  • Best School Lunch Ideas+−
    • School Lunch Ideas for Protein + Main Course(s)
    • Warming Soups + Main Dishes
    • School Lunch Ideas for Snacks + Sides
    • Sweet Treats (That Are Still Healthy!)
    • Drinks to Sip On
    • Dips for Dunking

Before I share these healthy school lunch ideas, I have a confession to make… Since we homeschool, this isn’t an area I have daily experience with as I don’t need to pack lunches every single day (but much respect to all of you parents who do!).

Most of us grew up on grilled cheese sandwiches (crusts on or off?) or the classic PB&J. But it is possible to reinvent the wheel and pack more nutritious options during back-to-school time.

Real-Food Healthy School Lunch Ideas

This year, we’ve made field trips a priority each week. So I’ve gotten a lot of experience packing lunches for 6-8 kids (we bring friends) at least once a week, sometimes more. In my kid’s lunch packing experimentation, I’ve realized how much time they can save. I’ve started “packing” lunches a few days a week for the kids to eat at home on our lunch break.

They love the kid-friendly packed lunches because it’s a break from the norm, and I love that I don’t have to prep lunch that day. I can even pre-make several days’ worth of lunches at a time. I usually make a mason jar salad for myself or eat leftovers while my kids enjoy their “easy school lunch.”

Green book cover with spices, bears, and veggies on a table

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Over time I’ve figured out how to make packed lunch prep even easier.

Tip #1: Let the Kids Help

This is a big one. Letting the kids help translates into them being excited to actually eat the food they’ve made. I’ve seen incredible results after working with my older kids to allow them more freedom in the kitchen. My son even wrote a cookbook with his friends!

How to Teach Your Kids to Help Safely

Let your children help with all aspects of cooking. Kids naturally enjoy helping out in the kitchen with food prep and cooking. And they’re probably able and willing to do much more than they’re currently allowed.

Our family utilized these Kids Cook Real Food online classes which teach kids basic and advanced cooking skills. You can watch three of the lessons (including an amazing knife-skills class for kids of all ages) at no cost using the link above.

While these videos are the easiest way I’ve found to let my kids learn how to help (because they get to learn from someone else besides just me… and she is an excellent teacher), I recommend finding ways to involve your children more in food prep and cooking. They’ll likely be much more willing to eat healthy foods that they’ve helped make.

Setting Up the Kitchen for Kids

I keep all the “kid” dishes in a bottom cabinet in the kitchen, not just the lunch ones. This way, they can easily reach their dishes to get a cup for a drink or a plate for food. In our cabinet, we have:

  • Stainless steel plates
  • Stainless steel cups
  • Stainless steel bowls
  • All lunch box items below

Tip #2: Use Reusable Lunchbox Containers

One of the biggest hurdles I encountered was finding something to pack the lunches in. When I was growing up, I had a plastic lunch box. And there were plastic Tupperware and plastic bags to go inside.

Since we try to avoid plastic, these weren’t options for me. I also didn’t want to use our regular glass food storage dishes when we were away from home. Many schools don’t allow glass dishes or lunch boxes either.

Reusable Lunch Boxes (no plastic)

After trying several options I finally decided on large-size lunch bots steel lunch boxes. These bento boxes are large enough to hold my older kid’s food, they’re dishwasher safe, and easy to clean. I’ve used smaller-size lunch bots in the past and they’re great for our little kids, but don’t hold enough for my school-age kids (6+). They’re more expensive than plastic lunch boxes, but they’re much healthier and last longer.

Here are some other healthy containers we use for packing lunch:

  • Condiment and dip containers (they’re leakproof!)
  • Steel water bottles
  • Silicone bottles (for smoothies, chia seed gel, etc.)
  • Insulated thermos (great for cooler months)
  • Beeswax wraps (or try this DIY version)
  • Silicone containers (for nuts, seeds, fruit, mini sandwiches, cottage cheese, etc.)

I keep all of these containers in one bottom cabinet in our kitchen. This way the kids can reach them to help pack lunches and put them away after washing.

Tip #3: Always Include Veggies and Fruit

Veggies and fruits are excellent sources of many nutrients. Eating a wide variety not only helps make sure children get enough micronutrients but also helps develop their taste for these foods. It can be tricky to get children to eat and enjoy their produce, but I’ve found the tips above helpful here.

Here are some healthy school lunch ideas for fruits and veggies:

  • Snap peas
  • Cherry tomatoes
  • Broccoli florets
  • Cauliflower florets
  • Carrots
  • Sliced bell peppers
  • Apple slices
  • Watermelon cubes
  • Blueberries
  • Strawberries
  • Grapes
  • Cucumber slices
  • Diced jicama (with a little lime and salt)
  • Celery with almond butter or other nut butter

This is one area of lunch prep I always allow my children to help with or completely handle because it encourages them to try and enjoy new foods. My older kids have graduated to a regular chef knife, but even my toddlers can safely use crinkle cutters to chop fruits and veggies.

Tip #4: Get Creative With the Drinks

Thanks to our steel water bottles for drinks, and silicone squeeze bottles, we’ve been able to get really creative with drinks. This is another way I can sneak in vegetables, fruits, and vitamins. I always send water but also send a smoothie, chia seed energy drink, protein drink, or yogurt with fruit blended in the silicone bottle.

My kids love drinking these “treats” and I love that they’re full of extra veggies, gelatin, and other nutrient-dense foods. They pack more of a nutritional punch than your typical juice box or milk (and especially soda!) and take minutes to make.

Tip #5: Use a Meal Planning Tool

To simplify lunch planning even more (and integrate it with your shopping list), consider a meal planning tool. My all-time favorite is Real Plans. I like it so much that I merged my own meal planner with it and added all of my own recipes. You can seamlessly plan all of your weekly meals and it creates a shopping list for you.

It’s so easy even my kids use it. And I love that it saves me hours of time and money each week. Read my review of it here.

What to Put in Your Child’s Lunchbox: A Rotating Meal Plan

We homeschool our kids, but I attended public and private schools at different times while growing up. I remember one thing very clearly about school lunches (besides how bad most of them tasted): the rotating lunch schedule.

While my mom usually packed my lunch during the school year, I’d occasionally get money to buy it. I’d scour the lunch schedule to figure out which day to buy lunch. Ironically, I often never used the money, always waiting for better options. Tuesday was usually fish nuggets and Friday was often pizza (the most popular day at school).

I certainly won’t recommend scheduling microwaved fish nuggets, but there’s a valuable lesson in the idea of a lunch schedule. Children appreciate consistency and knowing a favorite food is the usual on Friday gives them something to look forward to. Even when they didn’t love the other lunch options as much.

For our purposes, I have a rotating group of ten meal options for whenever we pack lunches. For families on a regular school schedule, this could simply be a two-week rotating lunch schedule.

Here’s what those school lunch ideas look like:

Wellness Mama Healthy School Lunch Ideas and Menu

Best School Lunch Ideas

Here are some of our favorite healthy school lunch ideas when it comes to packed lunches. While many of these lunch recipes are finger foods, you won’t find pepperoni bagel bites, Lunchables, or even whole grain pita bread sandwiches on this list. Our family doesn’t eat a lot of grains and there are so many options that don’t require making sandwiches!

Some of these require a little prep work ahead of time, but you can make a big batch that will last for later in the week. Most are tasty at room temperature, or you can use a thermos for hot foods (like soup).

School Lunch Ideas for Protein + Main Course(s)

  1. Egg Muffins
  2. Ham and Egg Breakfast Cups
  3. Beef Jerky Sticks or Paleovalley Beef Sticks
  4. Mini Greek Meatballs
  5. Chicken Salad
  6. Chicken Fingers
  7. Meatza
  8. Sweet Pepper Steak Salad (add gluten-free noodles if desired for pasta salad)
  9. Bacon Chicken Bites
  10. Steak Fajita Salad
  11. Avocado BLT Salad
  12. Tex Mex Lettuce Tacos
  13. Chipotle Style Burrito Bowl
  14. My Big Fat Greek Salad
  15. Spinach Artichoke Chicken Salad
  16. Sweet Potato Frosted Meatloaf Cupcakes
  17. Chicken Parmesan Nuggets
  18. Homemade Fish Sticks
  19. Egg salad served over lettuce
  20. Hardboiled Eggs (the Instant Pot is great for this)
  21. Quesadillas made with corn flour tortillas and Mexican or cheddar cheese

Warming Soups + Main Dishes

  1. Hearty Italian Sausage Soup
  2. Loaded Sweet Potato Soup
  3. Chicken Tortilla Soup
  4. Chicken Taco Soup
  5. Simple Tomato Soup
  6. Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Soup
  7. Slow Cooker Orange Beef Stew
  8. Orange Chicken
  9. Sweet and Sour Chicken
  10. Rotisserie Style Chicken
  11. Bacon Chicken Alfredo (one pan)
  12. Sheet Pan Honey Garlic Sausage

School Lunch Ideas for Snacks + Sides

  1. Zucchini Fritters
  2. Chia Seed Gel
  3. Homemade Applesauce
  4. Trail Mix with Dried Fruit
  5. Homemade Yogurt
  6. Real Cheese Crisps
  7. Coconut Flour Waffles
  8. Crispy Baked Kale Chips
  9. Soft Pretzel Bites (grain-free)
  10. Simple Cucumber Salad
  11. Roasted Chickpeas

Sweet Treats (That Are Still Healthy!)

  1. Probiotic Marshmallows
  2. Probiotic Jello Snacks
  3. Chia Seed Energy Balls
  4. Fruit Leather (Like Fruit Roll-ups)
  5. Coconut Butter Cups
  6. Chocolate Peanut Butter Fat Bomb
  7. Tangerine Gummies
  8. Apple Cinnamon Coconut Muffins
  9. Dark Chocolate
  10. Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait
  11. Peanut Butter Chia Seed Pudding
  12. Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
  13. Banana Bread Muffins
  14. Orange Cranberry Muffins
  15. Coconut Chocolate No-Bake Cookies
  16. Coconut Granola

Drinks to Sip On

  1. Creamy Berry Smoothie
  2. Herb and Fruit Infused Water
  3. Probiotic Lemonade
  4. Natural Electrolyte Sports Drink
  5. Kombucha
  6. More Drink Recipes

Dips for Dunking

  1. Creamy Yogurt Fruit Dip
  2. Radish Cream Cheese Dip
  3. French Onion Dip
  4. 5 Minute Homemade Ketchup
  5. Real Food Ranch Dressing
  6. Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
  7. Guacamole
  8. More Condiments and Dips

These healthy lunch ideas are a starting point for us and include the basics of protein, vegetables, fruit, and healthy fat. I’ll often include some homemade sweet potato chips or other snacks. To keep things simple, you can just rotate these ideas on a two-week schedule. Post them on the fridge so the kids can help prepare lunches each day.

Some of these lunches don’t have the same variety of vegetables and healthy fats as we’d eat at home. But I focus on making sure that over the course of a day, our children eat a well-balanced diet and get enough of each macronutrient. For packed lunches, I typically make more of their favorites and finger foods to keep things simple.

If you fall off track, don’t worry… leftovers also make great school lunches!

What are your healthy school lunch ideas and tips? Do you pack school lunches every day? Let me know in the comments!

Category: Recipes

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About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a wife and mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

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Reader Interactions

Discussion (43 Comments)

  1. Emily

    January 10, 2016 at 6:03 PM

    I’m so excited by this post. Thanks so much for sharing all of this information! I can’t wait to put it to good use.

    Reply
  2. Natalia

    January 10, 2016 at 5:00 PM

    I don’t have kids (yet) but am always in need for lunch inspirations for myself. I and student teaching now and still taking some classes so my schedule is always chaotic lol. Prepping ahead saves my life, and I always appreciate more tips! Thank You!

    Reply
  3. Sue

    January 10, 2016 at 4:33 PM

    Do you have any suggestions for wrapping pita type sandwiches. I tried using beeswax wrap but I can’t stand the smell and it doesn’t stay together very well – kept losing the goodies. I eat these sandwiches while walking the golf course so I need something that will stay wrapped around the pita. I hate to use saran but I haven’t found an alternative. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Lisa

      January 4, 2017 at 11:00 PM

      I use waxed paper to wrap sandwiches, Then seal with a piece of masking tape. When opened the paper acts as a plate to eat off of.

      Reply
  4. Pam

    January 10, 2016 at 3:32 PM

    OMG! You are a HUGE life saver!! This is an amazing post with healthy and easy lunches for our kids (which happens to be my biggest hurdle ever). Thank you SO much!!

    Reply
  5. Nicole

    January 10, 2016 at 1:07 PM

    Is there any way you can put your meal plan separately as a picture to save? It’s hard to read so small and I’d love to “save”‘it for future reference?

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      January 10, 2016 at 1:52 PM

      All of my meal plans can be found here: https://wellnessmama.com/go/meals/

      Reply
  6. blaire

    January 10, 2016 at 10:27 AM

    I love this idea of meal planning for lunch and a rotating schedule although this doesn’t explain if I pre make this at beginning of the week or the night before..how is it easy to grab? I am afraid if I make it too early in advanced that it will go bad or turn the items brown..do I freeze them? I’m confused on how I store them, I am intrested!

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      January 11, 2016 at 3:06 PM

      I typically just make one or two days at a time the night before and store in the fridge. I don’t freeze but will pre-chop more sturdy vegetables like carrots and wash grapes, etc ahead of time.

      Reply
  7. Melanie schmittt

    January 9, 2016 at 10:15 AM

    I started using bento this year and love them. I have three kids and pack everyday. I also use a recycled snapple glass bottle for milk. Looking for more ideas on what to put the bento box in to keep cold. I have lunch bag that you freeze but it is lined with plastic and hard to clean.

    Reply
    • Jenny

      January 10, 2016 at 3:56 PM

      I found plastic “ice cubes” at the party store. While I wouldn’t want to use them in drinks (as intended), they work great in small spaces. I used them with the Planet Box lunch boxes. They also make a long, thin ice pack to work with their boxes.

      Reply
      • Diana

        January 11, 2016 at 2:23 AM

        I’m not remotely into plastic but think that’s a great idea – one I shall be implementing! Thanks! 🙂

        Reply
        • Fran

          January 19, 2016 at 4:27 PM

          These are what we use with our bentos and the kids coolers their school makes them use–they work great! https://www.amazon.com/Lunch-Ice-lunchboxes-Delicious-Agent/dp/B00EN1TUMQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=wellnessmama-20&linkId=6b6311ed3a856eb1e0c1a32ae31df402&language=en_US

          Reply
      • Susannah

        August 11, 2017 at 9:59 PM

        I use those hard, flat, square plastic ice packs, and slip them into reusable cloth sandwich bags. It keeps them from sweating everywhere, and there is no plastic contact with the food.

        Reply
  8. Wanda

    January 9, 2016 at 8:16 AM

    I wish I could send more healthy options… unfortunately most schools in Canada are nut free or “nut aware” so that takes a big chunk off the table ? I do sometimes sneak coconut flour baked goods bc the kids aren’t allergic to coconut and I can only make so many concessions!

    Reply
    • Carol

      January 10, 2016 at 4:46 PM

      My daughter in California has the same issue. NOTHING related to ANY form of allergic reaction is allowed!!! Not even in tiny amounts. She has difficulties finding snacks that are healthy and have nothing in them that can be related to allergies… so sad.

      Reply
    • Lisa

      January 29, 2016 at 10:39 AM

      We have the same issue. On our list of foods to omit is eggs,citrus,fish, all nuts and dairy. It is really a difficult task to send a lunch to school.

      Reply
  9. Tania

    January 8, 2016 at 8:36 PM

    Everything sounds delicious but how do you find the time to prep everything, on top of pregnancy and homeschooling? My children are 4, 3, 1 and I’m not pregnant (yet!) Or started official homeschool but by days end I’m exhausted! I just don’t feel like prepping more food after a day of cleaning and cooking.

    Reply
  10. Laura

    January 8, 2016 at 5:02 PM

    What thermos do you use for soups? I’ve not been able to find a non-plastic one with a wide enough mouth to actually eat from.

    Reply
    • Wellness Mama

      January 8, 2016 at 8:15 PM

      We have this kind https://www.amazon.com/LunchBots-Wide-Thermal-Stainless-Steel/dp/B0727L6QGG/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=wellnessmama-20&linkId=73258f760ad4578c9f6db8fd98a6b718&language=en_US

      Reply
      • Jenny

        January 11, 2016 at 11:25 AM

        Hi I was curious what you think. I have read eating fruits with other foods ferments in the stomach and aggravates Candida. What do you think of this? I really value your opinion and I love the lunch ideas!

        Reply
        • Wellness Mama

          January 11, 2016 at 2:40 PM

          In my experience, it depends on the person and the ferment, but if in doubt, you could definitely omit the ferments. Thanks for reading!

          Reply
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