This post is by blog team member, Kiran. To learn more about Kiran, check out our team page or her website!
Teens. They certainly can be challenging in a number of ways, right? :) I love the interaction and friendship that I have with my 14-year-old, but emotions, not so much. Of course, there are other areas where it sometimes feels like it’d be helpful to have a book to reference as we try to lead them down the right path. So today, I’m hoping that we can shed a little light in the area of lunch ideas for teens, because this can be a tricky situation as well.
Since I don’t have any teenage boys (yet – my littlest is about to turn 7, so I’ve got a bit of time!), I reached out to a few friends of mine who do. Out of 5 of them, here are some interesting facts that I gathered:
- All 5 of them still pack their son’s lunches.
- Their sons all request brown bags vs. reusable lunch boxes/bags.
- Teenage boys have insatiable appetites.
- Four out of five want peanut-butter and jelly every.single.day!
Each of these moms want to pack differently, but struggle in this area for one reason or another. So without further ado, here are some options for healthy school lunches for your teen boys OR girls that Lisa packed for her teen and tween last week (containers came home every day almost empty, she said!). They are from one of the weeks of our new Real Lunches, Real Easy 4, which is only available for a few more days (through March 19th). I hope this provides some inspiration for you!
Real Easy Lunch Ideas for Teens
Lunch #1: Oven-fried chicken (or turkey if preferred), roasted sweet potatoes, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Simple, but oh-so-good. Your teens will be begging for more of this chicken!
Lunch #2: Lime-cilantro quinoa salad over spinach, hard boiled eggs, and a brown rice cake with peanut butter on it (if PB is not allowed or you teen has an allergy you could sub sun butter). The rice cakes taste a lot like popcorn! You can easily add more chicken to this healthy lunch because the recipe makes enough.
Lunch #3: Lime-cilantro quinoa salad stuffed avocado, cherry tomatoes, and some YUMMY baked chicken & cheese taquitos. Pack more than two for bigger appetites.
Lunch #4: Baked chicken & cheese taquitos (with optional salsa to dip them in), roasted sweet potatoes, berries, and cucumbers. Berries can be subbed with any other fruits in season.
Lunch #5: Two brown rice cakes with peanut butter and raisins on top, plain yogurt mixed with a little pure maple syrup and berries + more berries (on the side), and oats to mix in. Again, you could sub sun butter if peanut butter is not allowed at your school.
Like what you see and want more?
Or even need some help making these? Then check out Real Lunches, Real Easy 4, which has recipes for the above + 5 more weeks, along with shopping lists, pictures, templates, and more! This one is geared toward teens, tweens, and adults. In addition, let’s help each other out: I’d love to hear your ideas for teen lunches in the comments below. :)
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Recipes are super good. I am going to cook it for my office lunch.
I can tell you don’t have teenage boys, because the food in the pictures would not be enough to feed one. They can eat at least twice as much if not more… lol It’s been a challenge for sure. My boy does not like eggs, he is more into soups and salads and not big on meet either.