School Lunch Roundup VII

Since not everyone sees the lunches I post almost daily on Facebook, below is a little summary for inspiration. Also be sure to check out our School Lunch Photo Gallery. It’s updated weekly and allows you to search by dietary need and types of food. Lots of readers tell me they sit down with their kids to look at these photos so they can point out what they want packed in their own lunches.

To learn about the lunch boxes you see pictured below, I encourage you to check out our recent Lunch Box Review post as well as my explanation about how one of my favorite lunch boxes got discontinued last year. We’ve got tons of school lunch resources on the blog (including a School Lunch FAQs post), so if you’re looking for something that you don’t see here, feel free to type it in the search bar or ask about it in the comments below! Enjoy :)

Real Food School Lunch Ideas

• Chicken salad with grapes and pecans
• Lettuce “cups” for serving the chicken salad
• Whole-grain crackers
• Pineapple chunks

• Black bean soup
• Brown rice + sour cream to go on top
• Cheese quesadilla (served cold) (See recipe for whole-wheat tortillas)
• Apple slices

• Caprese salad (with homemade basil pesto and a splash of balsamic vinegar)
• Roasted cashews
• Whole-grain crackers
• Manchego cheese slices
• Hard boiled egg
• Packed in a Yumbox (use code SWEET15 to get 15% off!)

• Pita pizzas (from my cookbook)
• Apple slices
• Plain yogurt (mixed with a little pure maple syrup) with raspberries
• Homemade trail mix

• Whole-grain crackers
• Cheese slices
• “Apple Pie” Lärabar
• Colored carrots and radishes
• Pineapple and mango chunks

• Homemade baked beans (defrosted from freezer and served warm)
• Apple sandwich
• Whole-wheat blueberry scone
• Cheese round
• Lunchbox Love card :)

• Homemade egg salad
• Whole-wheat pita (cut into triangles)
• Frozen peas
• Purple carrots and yellow bell peppers
• Apple chunks

• Plain yogurt (mixed with a little pure maple syrup) and frozen berries
• Asian brown rice noodle salad
• Peanut butter and honey on whole-wheat bread cut into squares (using FunBites tool)
• Banana
• Purple carrots

• Corn muffin
• Piece of grass-fed beef jerky
• Cheese round
• Granola chunks
• Mini peppers (not hot!)
• Homemade onion dip (from my cookbook)
• Mixed melon

• Leftover taco meat with black beans (cold)
• Grated cheese
• Sour cream
• Lettuce/cabbage mix

• Tomato soup with whole-wheat noodles served warm in a thermos (See How to Use a Thermos)
• Grilled cheese with Applegate ham
• Apple slices

• Leftover whole-wheat couscous salad (with tomatoes, cucumbers, feta and vinaigrette)
• Deviled eggs
• Homemade applesauce carrot muffin (defrosted)
• Frozen smoothie pop (with berries, bananas, yogurt, spinach, and peanut butter)
• Apple slices

• Whole-wheat noodles (they love them plain AND cold)
• Ham and cheese
• Bell peppers and cucumbers
• Grapes
• Applesauce
• Packed in a Planetbox

• BLT (with mayo)
• Rainbow baby carrots (read why they’re fine)
• Grapes and peach chunks
• Honeydew melon chunks

• Cheese
• Whole grain crackers
• Deviled eggs
• Grapes
• Leftover roasted potatoes (served cold)

Previous School Lunch Roundups

• School Lunch Roundup I
• School Lunch Roundup II
• School Lunch Roundup III
• School Lunch Roundup IV
• School Lunch Roundup V
• School Lunch Roundup VI