It’s that time of year for another installment in my School Lunch Roundup series! Sit down and look at these healthy school lunch ideas with your little ones so they can point out what they want you to make (and, more importantly, what they’ll actually eat!). And for older kids, don’t be scared to ask them to help or even make some of these all by themselves.
A Few Resources
- School Lunch Photo Gallery
- Why we switched to different lunch boxes this year
- Recipe Index (list) or Recipe Search (photos)
- My cookbooks all contain more lunch box ideas as well
School Lunch Roundup
- 100% whole-wheat everything bagel with cream cheese and cucumbers
- Strawberries
- Apples
- Whole wheat pita pizzas
- Sugar snap peas
- Oatmeal cookie energy bites (from 100 Days of Real Food on a Budget cookbook)
- Grapes
- Oranges
- Homemade breakfast burrito (defrosted from the freezer)
- Strawberries
- Organic cheese stick
- Homemade chicken salad with whole wheat crackers
- Orange slices
- Applesauce container
- Pita grilled cheeses (served cold)
- Pears
- Kiwi
- Orange
- Salad with sunflower seeds & parmesan
- Homemade (defrosted) tomato bisque with whole wheat noodles (their favorite)
- Pita pizza
- Orange
- Asian Lettuce Wraps (very similar to the recipe in my original 100 Days of Real Food cookbook )
- Whole grain pumpkin muffins
- Cucumber
- Carrots
- Hummus
- Piquetea crystal packet to add to their water
- Homemade breakfast burrito
- Orange
- Bell peppers with hummus
- Leftover whole-wheat banana pancake strips
- Pimento cheese and cucumber sandwich on whole wheat
- Applesauce
- Oranges
- Tomatoes
- Cantaloupe
- Kiwi
- Homemade Miso Soup
- Japanese Curry over brown rice (with vegetables and pork – served cold)
- Cantaloupe
- Ham/cheese/lettuce sandwich
- Mini bell peppers
- Cucumbers
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Pineapple
- Corn/tomato/black bean salad
- Pasta salad with red pepper pesto
- Cheese stick
- Organic pepperoni
- Apples and cantaloupe
- BLT
- Popcorn
- Grapes
- Cheese melted in a whole-wheat tortilla
- Whole-wheat cinnamon graham crackers
- Bell peppers
- Grapes
- Bag of popcorn
- Leftover taco dinner and corn tortillas (wrapped in foil)
- Leftover potato quiche
- White bean & pesto salad
- Grapes
Cauliflower & Pomegranate Salad with a Yogurt Dressing
Thank you so much for providing these school lunch “snapshots”. I’m dealing with a 10 yr old whom I consider to be a good eater in general, but when it comes to school lunch, I’m struggling. Will sit down again with her to look at these and hopefully add some new options to the “menu”.
Good luck! I hope the pictures help!
Thank you for including U-Konserve!
We love using them on our soup days! :)
What brand are the whole-wheat graham crackers?
Annie’s – they are not 100% whole-grain so somewhat of a “treat” around here. :)
Where do you purchase the whole wheat pitas? Or do you make them?
I get them from Trader Joe’s – they have a great option!
Can you tell us what lunch box that is? The clear plastic one?
Here are the boxes that Lisa uses – Nicole
https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/our-new-lunch-boxes-and-bags/
By this creative idea life of every mom would be little bit easy by giving their child a healthy food with no excuse.
I have a question about yogurt. I just got my daughter a YumBox and she was so excited to pack yogurt for lunch; however, it seems to leak out water (whey) as it sits. (I contacted YumBox and they sent us a new outer box but it still didn’t solve the problem.) We do organic whole milk plain yogurt (which I understand is what you use) usually by Trader Joe’s or Organic Valley GrassMilk. What brand of yogurt did you use and were able to pack in YumBox without leaking? Thanks!
We’ve tried various types of yogurt in our Yumboxes with no issues – sorry to hear that! Greek yogurt is thicker so you might have better luck with that.
Thank you so much for responding Lisa. I did try Greek too but same thing happened as whey got separated from the yogurt and leaked. Will contact Yumbox again. :-)
They only veggies that my kids will eat are corn, steamed carrot, and tomato (in spaghetti sauce). So most days, their lunch (and dinner) don’t include veggies. Do you have any suggestion how I can include more veggies on their lunch (that they will eat)?
Thank you,
Have you tried including some healthy dip with their veggies?
This is a great Ranch Dip recipe: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/recipe-ranch-flavored-dip/
Or try making some muffins and adding shredded veggies into them.
– Nicole
I remembering those days when my mom was packed my lunch with this fruit and veggies I loved to eat this recipe was remember the moms hand… Thanks lisa
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