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

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Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » 70+ Healthy School Lunch Ideas (With 2-Week Menu)

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.”

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:

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:

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
  17. Fruit and Nut Cake Bars

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!

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Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a 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.

Comments

43 responses to “70+ Healthy School Lunch Ideas (With 2-Week Menu)”

  1. Kim Avatar

    Hi Katie,

    I realize that you homeschool, but I am curious if you or your readers have any ideas on what to send to school for field trips that require “disposable packaging.” The daycare we attend has this rule for field trips and I find it very hard to send in food when my little one does not eat sandwiches, crackers, or things that don’t need to be refrigerated. Any ideas?

      1. Kim Avatar

        I have looked into Good Kitchen, but most of them contain nuts, which is not allowed at school, and the meals still need to be heated up. Thank you, though!

  2. Jake Avatar

    Hey I’m traveling in Kyoto now and thinking about buying bento for my nephews. Have your kids ever been teased for having lunch boxes like these at school?

    1. Susannah Avatar
      Susannah

      Mine were “teased”(more like curiosity and lots of questions) all last year for their eco friendly organic cotton lunch sacks. They have been “teased” for eating healthy since day one, but I don’t remember anyone ever giving them any grief over their bento boxes though? Except one teacher in pre-k. Yeah, I said teacher.

  3. Patricia Bustos Avatar
    Patricia Bustos

    Thanks for the recipes.
    I will be trying a few since I am limited because of weather. I live in Guayaquil, Ecuador and temperatures here are between 85-95 average. Schools here don’t provide cold storage for lunches like our old school in MI so I try to only send things that won’t get spoiled.

  4. Cecilia Avatar
    Cecilia

    Hi. I’m a mum of 3 (7, 5 and 1) in Sydney, Australia. My husband put me onto your page as a hint to start giving healthy meals for my kids lunches (at home and school). I love the recipes but most schools here, including the ones my older two attend, are nut-free. Also last week my 1 yo son had a reaction to a coconut, chia seed and nuts spread he just licked. So do you have any alternative nut-free meals? Thanks a lot.

    1. Laura Avatar

      I’m in Sydney too, and my kids are 6, 4, 2 & 8mo, so I have one in school and one in preschool. For my kids lunches I sometimes send leftovers, but otherwise send foods that I can cook in batches and freeze. Meatballs/rissoles are great, quiche or zucchini slice (which is basically another form of quiche), also my kids love Wellness Mama’s pumpkin muffins, or sometimes chicken legs/pieces, or hard boiled eggs. I make sure they have veggie sticks each day, and a piece of fruit, plus one extra snack for recess – which might be banana bread (made with coconut flour), or yoghurt, dried fruit & seeds, or occasionally popcorn.

  5. Maria Ghumman Avatar
    Maria Ghumman

    Hi!
    Since you encourage eating healthy but then chicken is not healthy, they feed the harmones, give them too much of antibiotics and for a lot of other reasons chicken is considered unhealthy. Mutton and fish is preferred. So what is your opinion of giving chicken to kids? Thanks

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar

      I agree that commercially produced chicken is problematic and recommend (and buy for my family) humanely raised local chicken that has not been given any hormones or antibiotics and that has been allowed to free range.

  6. Jennifer Avatar

    Hi there,
    I stumbled across your site while following up on a suggestion to try castor oil for my over-plucked eyebrows. Little did I know what nuggets of wisdom I would find! Thank you for putting all of these ideas down in such an organized way and for referring me to “real plans,” which my family and I are enjoying.
    My question: I tried to prepare the chia seed gel for the squeeze tubes, but the liquid never became gel at all. I used all of the ingredients from the recipe exactly: pure pomegranate juice, extra lemon juice, the chia seeds, etc., and put them in a clean pickle jar. When it didn’t work I did an online search and read that warming the liquid first might help, but it didn’t.
    Any tips you have would be much appreciated!
    Congratulations on your new baby!
    Jennifer

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar

      That’s strange. I’ve never had a problem with it gelling before. How long did you leave it? Also, were the chia seeds raw? Thanks so much for reading 🙂

      1. Jennifer Avatar

        Hi Katie,
        Thanks for responding so fast! How you do it with a new baby is beyond me!
        Anyway, they are called “spectrum essentials” chia seeds and I ordered them from Amazon. I am not sure if they are raw or not or how to tell. I can check the package when I get home.
        Jennifer

  7. Danielle Avatar

    I may not be a super mom, but I try to do better every day :). We pack leftovers for every lunch except one a week. We are also on a 4 day school week, may sound nice but it is not. To be honest I feel utterly overwhelmed by your lunch menu. Also I have a limited time for extra prep. I am amazed at all you can do. Keep it up :).

  8. Robyn D Avatar

    I cook everything from scratch and yet this looks exhausting! I stole some of your recipes, though, going to try them out! They are actually simple, like I like to keep it. I imagine some things like the fish sticks and chicken could be prepped and frozen or made in a big batch and frozen/reheated. Thanks for sharing!

  9. Becky Avatar

    Not sure if this OK to put here so please delete if not. 🙂 We are nut free due to my own daughter’s peanut and tree nut allergy. We are working with a naturopath who believes we will be able to eliminate or greatly diminish these allergies. Katie, I read somewhere on your site that one of your kiddos has overcome a significant food allergy. Have you shared details that I can go read about his journey or can you share quickly here? Stories of hope are so good for us! Thank you and I love your site and app so much!

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar

      We did a modified version of the GAPS protocol to reverse my son’s dairy allergy. He was not anaphylactic though, so I’m not sure if this protocol would work on someone who was.

  10. Emily Avatar

    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.

  11. Natalia Avatar

    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!

  12. Sue Avatar

    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.

    1. Lisa Avatar

      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.

  13. Pam Avatar

    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!!

  14. Nicole Avatar

    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?

  15. blaire Avatar

    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!

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar

      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.

  16. Melanie schmittt Avatar
    Melanie schmittt

    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.

    1. Jenny Avatar

      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.

      1. Diana Avatar

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

      2. Susannah Avatar
        Susannah

        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.

  17. Wanda Avatar

    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!

    1. Carol Avatar

      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.

    2. Lisa Avatar

      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.

  18. Tania Avatar

    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.

  19. Laura Avatar

    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.

      1. Jenny Avatar

        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!

        1. Wellness Mama Avatar

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

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