These healthy school lunch ideas for kids will make your life as a parent infinitely easier! Plus there will be no need to rush getting the kids’ (or even your own) lunch ready the morning of ever again.
Note: this post has been updated with new images and ideas. I love this post and continue to make ahead my kids cold lunches to save time and money!
Coming up with exciting school lunch ideas week after week for a whole school year can be exhausting. Plus kids can sometimes get sick of eating the same thing for lunch every single day.
That’s why I’ve come up with a big ole’ list of fun & healthy school lunch ideas and I’m sharing them with you today! This list should save you so much time and give your kids a healthy variety of lunches they will love.
But first, let’s talk about my system. Because….well…..it rocks.
My Kids Pack Their Own Lunches
Yep! Every morning my kids grab their own lunch box and fill it with items that I’ve prepped for them. I have three small bins filled with individually sized portions of lunch foods – one I keep in the fridge, one in the freezer and one in the pantry.
How it works is one day a week I spend a few hours bagging up several small portions of fruits, veggies, sandwiches, and crackers. Then add them into the bins. And voila! Pre made lunches for the week! All the kids have to do is grab what they want out of the bins each day.
I have been making ahead my kids lunches using these bins forever now, and it is the best thing for busy moms! This method has totally saved me.
But even with using this system you need some creative ideas each week on what to add to the bins! So here’s my big list of ideas.
Back To School Kids Lunch Ideas:
Combo #1
Turkey & Colby Jack Cheese Sandwich
Mandarin Orange
Carrots
Chips
Combo #2
Cheese Quesadilla
Strawberries
Celery Sticks + Peanut Butter
Combo #3
Chicken & Rice Burrito
Pineapple
Red Bell Peppers, sliced
Combo #4
Quick Pasta Salad
Granola Bar
Yogurt
Blueberries
Combo #5
Veggie Hummus Wraps
Sugar Snap Peas
Orange Slices
Combo #6
Croissant BLT sandwich
Carrots + Ranch
Apples
Chips
Combo #7
Bagel & Cream Cheese
Sliced Smoked Turkey
Raspberries
Granola Bar
Combo #8
Hummus + Pita Bread
String Cheese
Fruit Leather
Cucumber Slices
Combo #9
Crackers, Meat & Cheese
Olives
Carrots
Hummus
Grapes
Combo #10
Pizza Pinwheel Bites
Edamame
Mandarin Orange
Frozen Yogurt Tubes
Combo #11
Homemade Hot Pockets
Green Peppers
Watermelon
Fruit Snack
Combo #12
Sesame Noodle Salad
Yogurt
Cantaloupe
Combo #13
Almond Butter (or Peanut Butter) & Jam Sandwich
String Cheese
Popcorn
Applesauce
Combo #14
Ham & Swiss Croissants
Sugar Snap Peas
Apple Slices
Combo #15
Hard Boiled Eggs
Cubed or Diced Cheese
Whole Grain Crackers
Celery & carrots with ranch
Combo #16
Tuna on Pita Bread
Carrots + Ranch
Banana
Granola Bar
Combo #17
Deli Meat & Cheese Kabobs
Crackers
Pears
Yogurt
Combo #18
Tortilla Chips & Salsa (or Guacamole)
Orange Bell Peppers
Sugar Snap Peas
Kiwi (Peeled and Sliced)
Combo #19
Nutella & Banana Roll-up
Pretzels
Broccoli & Ranch Dip
Fruit Leather
Combo #20
Homemade Muffin
Pre-cooked bacon slices
Yogurt
Raspberries
Carrots + Ranch
How Do I Make Meal Prep Lunches For The Whole Week?
The process for making your lunches for the week is actually much easier than it sounds. It can all easily be done in just a small portion of your day. Here’s a breakdown of the process:
- Once a week I chop and bag up all the fresh fruit, vegetables, crackers and any other lunch items all at once.
- Then I add them to 3 different cold or dry lunch buckets to store in my fridge, freezer and pantry.
- The kids can quickly grab the items to throw in their lunches themselves in the morning or evening before.
It’s as easy as that! You and your kids get a delicious and healthy cold lunch and you get a ton of stress taken out of your daily life. Win win!
The Make Ahead Lunch Bins System
The trick to making easy make ahead lunches for the week is all in simple organization. All you need to do is to separate all of your prepped items into three different lunch bins:
Bin #1: The Pantry Bin
The dry goods lunch bin is a simple plastic tote bin that I keep in my pantry. It’s filled with individual bags of dry lunch items such as bagged pretzels, crackers, homemade granola bars, trail mix, treats and more. Here is a list of ideas and dry lunch items we have done:
- Store-bought or homemade crackers
- Pretzels
- Pre-packaged fruit cups or applesauce
- Dried fruit
- Homemade granola or trail mix
- Homemade granola bars
- Popcorn
- Nuts (if your school doesn’t ban for allergies)
- Fruit snacks or fruit leather
- Beef jerky
- Chips
- Graham crackers
- Homemade cookies or brownie bites (bake a big batch and individually bag them up)
- Special treats, candy or snack cakes (usually for a holiday)
Bin #2: The Refrigerator Bin
The cold refrigerator lunch bin is where you store any of your lunch items that need to be refrigerated. Once a week I take the time to separate out fruits and veggies, like grapes, chopped oranges, chopped apples (soaked in pineapple juice or Fruit Fresh so they keep longer), and chopped carrots or celery sticks. Here are some more cold lunch idea items you can keep in the refrigerator bin:
- String cheese, cubed or squares of cheese, or mini Babybel cheese
- Yogurt smoothies or other yogurt cups
- Carrots (I found little cups with lids at Cash N Carry that I add ranch dip to)
- Sliced apples (soak for 10 minutes in pineapple juice or Fruit Fresh so they don’t go brown)
- Homemade pasta salad
- Sliced oranges
- Mandarin oranges (whole)
- Strawberries, blueberries or raspberries
- Green peppers (sliced thinly)
- Celery sticks
- Sugar snap peas
- Grapes, cherries, cantaloupe or other seasonal fruit cut up
- Green salads
- Mini cups of hummus
- Mini cinnamon streusel, blueberry, lemon poppyseed or even savory muffins
Bin #3: The Freezer Bin
The freezer lunch bin is primarily filled with sandwiches. I know that a frozen sandwich may sound strange, but it’s honestly the perfect way to prepare sandwiches for the week!
They last a lot longer when you freeze them, and they thaw throughout the day, making for a perfectly cold sandwich by the time lunch comes around.
The process is pretty straight forward. You take a sandwich bun or roll, add the meat and cheese only, and then wrap and freeze them individually.
Outside of the basic meat and cheese sandwich, here are some additional make ahead lunch ideas that you can freeze:
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
- Quesadillas
- Frozen homemade yogurt tubes
- Wraps with meat, cheese, pesto and/or cream cheese
- Homemade hot pockets
Tips for Freezing Sandwiches:
- If you’re going to add condiments before freezing, add them between the cheese and the meat. That way you keep the condiment from penetrating the bread and making it soggy and gross when it thaws.
- You can also just get some individual condiment packages and throw them in your lunch bag the morning of.
- Do NOT add lettuce, pickles, peppers or any other vegetable to the sandwich before freezing it. Frozen veggies always come out slimy and less than appetizing. If you’ve got to have some veggies on your sandwich, you could always make up individual bags of sandwich fixings and add it to the cold refrigerator lunch bin.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Should I Make?
To figure out how many to bag up for the week, I count out the number of days for cold lunch that week times how many children. Here is my own personal math:
- 4 kids x 5 days = 20
- 20 bags of various chopped vegetables
- 20 bags of various chopped fruit
- 20 bags of chips/crackers
- 20 string cheese (or even treats if I’m feeling extra nice that week)
- 20 sandwiches, quesadillas, or other main dish options
Once everything is prepared I can let the kids do the rest! They can just grab all the separate bags and throw them in their lunch bags for the day while I take care of other tasks that need done in the morning.
How Many Days Ahead Can You Meal Prep Kids Lunches?
I typically just meal prep on the weekends for the upcoming week. Frozen things like sandwiches should keep for about 5 days, where refrigerated items should last 5-7 days. Just make sure that items like veggies and fruits are properly stored in air tight bags or containers and they should keep for the duration of the week.
Where Can I Get The Bins & Reusable Bags?
I purchased the large sized BINO brand bins on Amazon.com here and I totally LOVE them. They fit perfectly in my fridge, freezer and pantry. Plus they look great too!
As for the letters on the bins, I used my vinyl cutting machine at home. But if you don’t have one of those you could easily order in some 2-inch vinyl letters from Amazon.
If you’re looking for some quality reusable snack & sandwich sized bags I am loving these ones here I ordered off Amazon as they wash up really well with some dish soap and water. If you want bigger reusable bags such as gallon sized freezer safe ones, check out my review post for the 5 best reusable bags ever.
These cold lunch ideas are much healthier than getting fast food or your attempt at a healthy lunch that you threw together for your kids 5 minutes before they get on the bus. Meal prepping your lunches for the week allows you to really ensure that you and your kids get a healthy, balanced lunch, which makes for a healthier and happier you!
Kids School Lunch Ideas Printable Option:
Awesome School Lunch Ideas (Kids Will Love!)
Ingredients
LUNCH MAIN IDEAS
- Turkey & Colby Jack Cheese Sandwich
- Cheese Quesadilla
- Chicken & Rice Burrito
- Quick Pasta Salad
- Veggie Hummus Wraps
- Croissant BLT sandwich
- Bagel & Cream Cheese
- Hummus + Pita Bread
- Crackers, Meat & Cheese
- Pepperoni Pizza Bites
- Homemade Hot Pockets
- Sesame Noodle Salad
- Almond Butter (or Peanut Butter) & Jam Sandwich
- Ham & Swiss Croissants
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Tuna on Pita Bread
- Deli Meat & Cheese Kabobs
- Tortilla Chips & Salsa (or Guacamole)
- Nutella & Banana Tortilla (or crepe) Roll-up
- Cinnamon Streusel Muffin
- Leftover Slices of Pizza
LUNCH FRUIT IDEAS
- Oranges, (Whole Mandarin, Segments or Slices)
- Apples (soak for 10 minutes in pineapple juice or Fruit Fresh so they don’t go brown)
- Bananas
- Berries (Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries)
- Grapes
- Cherries
- Peaches
- Cut Up Melon (Cantaloupe, Watermelon, Honeydew)
- Mangoes
- Kiwi (Peeled & Sliced)
- Applesauce Cups
- Diced Fruit Cups
- Raisins
- Dried fruit
LUNCH VEGETABLE IDEAS
- Baby Carrots
- Bell Peppers, thinly sliced
- Celery Sticks (with nut butter)
- Sugar Snap Peas
- Green Salad with dressing
- Cucumber Slices
- Cauliflower (Raw Florets or Steamed)
- Broccoli (Raw Florets or Steamed)
- Sweet Potato (Cooked & Diced)
- Edamame
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Olives
OTHER SIDES TO ADD
- Granola Bars (store-bought or homemade)
- Cheese (String cheese, Cubed or Squares of cheese, or Babybel cheese)
- Yogurt Cups
- Homemade Go-gurt Tubes
- Chips
- Crackers
- Pretzels
- Fruit Snacks or Fruit Leather
- Popcorn
- Mini cups of hummus
- Beef jerky
- Nuts (if your school doesn’t ban for allergies)
- Homemade Granola or Trail mix
- Graham crackers
- Homemade cookies or Brownie Bites (bake a big batch and individually bag them up)
- Special treats, candy or snack cakes (usually for a holiday)
DRINK IDEAS
- Water Bottle (mini size are fun)
- Drink packet mix for bottled waters
- Chocolate Milk
- Milk
- Juice Boxes (100% juice)
- Yogurt Smoothies
Notes
Lunch Idea Combos:
Combo #1:- Turkey & Colby Jack Cheese Sandwich
- Mandarin Orange
- Carrots
- Chips
- Cheese Quesadilla
- Strawberries
- Celery Sticks + Peanut Butter
- raisins
Combo #3
- Chicken & Rice Burrito
- Pineapple
- Red Bell Peppers, sliced
- Quick Pasta Salad
- Granola Bar
- Yogurt
- Blueberries
- Veggie Hummus Wraps
- Sugar Snap Peas
- Orange Slices
- Croissant BLT sandwich
- Carrots + Ranch
- Apples
- Chips
- Bagel & Cream Cheese
- Sliced Smoked Turkey
- Raspberries
- Granola Bar
- Hummus + Pita Bread
- String Cheese
- Fruit Leather
- Cucumber Slices
- Crackers, Meat & Cheese
- Olives
- Carrots
- Hummus
- Grapes
- Pepperoni Pizza Bites
- Edamame
- Mandarin Orange
- Yogurt
- Homemade Hot Pockets
- Green Peppers
- Watermelon
- Fruit Snack
- Sesame Noodle Salad
- Yogurt
- Cantaloupe
- Almond Butter (or Peanut Butter) & Jam Sandwich
- String Cheese
- Popcorn
- Applesauce
- Ham & Swiss Croissants
- Sugar Snap Peas
- Apple Slices
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Cubed or Diced Cheese
- Whole Grain Crackers
- Celery & carrots with ranch
- Tuna on Pita Bread
- Carrots + Ranch
- Banana
- Granola Bar
- Deli Meat & Cheese Kabobs
- Crackers
- Pears
- Yogurt
- Tortilla Chips & Salsa (or Guacamole)
- Orange Bell Peppers
- Sugar Snap Peas
- Kiwi (Peeled and Sliced)
- Nutella & Banana Tortilla (or crepe) Roll-up
- Pretzels
- Broccoli & Ranch Dip
- Fruit Leather
- Pre-cooked bacon slices
- Yogurt
- Raspberries
- Carrots + Ranch
If you make your own Meal Prep Lunch bins, I would love to see it! Snap a picture of your bin and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #happymoneysaver and tagging me @happymoneysaver!
More Freezer Meal Lunches
- Homemade Hot Pockets
- Oven Baked Chicken Strips
- Make Ahead Ham & Cheese Sliders
- Mini Naan Pizzas
- Easy Meatball Subs Recipe
- Homemade Chicken Taquitos
Girl, thank you! Sending my kiddos back to school, and tired of paying $3 for them to eat a pb&j every day at school. This is going to help SO much. You rock!
love the idea, hate all the plastic use. I hope you consider using reusable baggies.
I’m am mum of a 10 and 13 year old and wish I would have seen this years ago! Thanks SOOO Much!
And ladies- we are all mums- raising kids in this day/age is damn hard- be supportive… like I tell my girls; if you don’t have nothing nice to say- keep it shut!
Karrie, your webpage is beautiful and full of great info, keep it up darling!
Bobbie
thank you!!
I have kind of done this with the kids, but only for a few days at a time.
For lunches I aim for Protein, Fruit/Veg, Salty, Crunchy, & Sweet. Not as a nutrition guide, but to keep the lunch interesting. An Apple would be Crunchy and Sweet and Fruit. Crackers would be Salty and Crunchy. etc.
I sometimes do it more Bento Box style so everything is not in its own container.
I am confused, though, why the distinction between Cold Lunch, which is mentioned a lot and Hot Lunch, which is somehow inferior or lazy? I sometimes send them off with soup or pasta in an insulated container.
Great tips Lynnie! I like hot lunch stuff too, I think sometimes the hot lunch stuff can be even more work since you have to warm the container first so it will stay hot all day till lunch. But I love the idea of the hot lunch too. This post is more about making ahead cold lunch items though since it’s kind of hard to make ahead hot lunch.
I think when she mentions “hot lunch” she is referring to the lunch the school provides.
I know this post is super old. But I noticed in one of your pictures you were doing mini sub sandwiches. How does that hold up in the fridge? Did you leave off the condiments? Maybe buy some little ones like a fast food restaurants to put in their kits?
LOVE this idea so much. I combined through looking for how the bins were labeled and was flabbergasted at the amount of people who feel the need to pull out their soapbox and parent shame the rest of us.
Awesome ideas!
I love this! I am 8 1/2 months pregnant and always looking for ways to prep ahead of time. Our daughter is 5 years old and packing a lunch sometimes is very tedious for me (especially when I’m sore already and those Braxton Hicks start kicking in). So I love this! Thank you!
I love the ideas you have for being prepared and saving time. However the use of so much disposable plastic alarms me! myself and the planet would greatly appreciate if you look into other options for storing the food. reusable containers, beeswax wraps, recycled paper bags etc
Do you ever have trouble with the dry snacks going stale in the plastic bags?? I ways use Ziploc brand bags and whenever I prepare dry snacks like pretzels or cereal or mini marshmallows (and almost anything else) they’re stale by the next morning..! IDK what I’m doing wrong… =/
LOVE this idea! My son has a bento box so I’ll be doing the gallon zip lock and toss in the box in the morning option. This will make mornings so much easier!
I homeschool an almost 5 year old and have an almost 2 year old. Everyday I try to figure out what to do for lunch. This is such a great idea for us!
Nothing Goes Better With Peanut Butter Sandwiches and Tips on Packing Lunches Quite Like A Group Of Parents Bickering Over Something They Have No Control Over.
#entertainmentfordays
#allfoodallergiesmatter
#savethekidshittheparents
You people do realize anaphylaxis isn’t limited to tree nuts and peanuts, right? I keep reading how it would be impossible for a strawberry or other food to cause it, which is really weird. It’s like everyone only did their research on one thing and then made broad assumptions. You can’t sterilize a child’s environment, people. You cannot force everyone to change who they are to suit your needs. Listen when I tell you that cannot 100% prevent accidental exposure, even at a peanut free school. It is impossible. Kids may come from their home with it on them somewhere, and believe me, at some point, they will! What you can do is educate your child and if need be, change their environment by homeschooling. You guys keep saying how selfish parents are for wanting to keep items available to children with limited diets or how selfish they are because they want to see more schools allow peanuts. The really selfish argument here is the one where a parent feels so entitled that everyone else needs to change to accommodate them and their child. Negative. You need to dig deep and carry that cross yourself, as their PARENT! They are your responsibility first.
“You people”? Really Momnom? Food allergies come in many different forms. Peanut allergies are unique because the peanut protein doesn’t need to be ingested to cause anaphylaxis. The protein in peanuts is unique in that it can become airborne and therefore can be inadvertently inhaled and cause a potentially deadly reaction. Other food allergies ( such as shellfish, which I have) only cause a reaction when ingested ( for all the ignoramuses reading this, that means eaten). I would not expect schools to ban shellfish because the danger of accidental exposure when not eaten simply isn’t there. In our school board children are not allowed to share their food and are educated about how some foods can harm their classmates, hence the no sharing rule. Again, this rule does not protect the children with peanut allergies because ingestion doesn’t need to occur. I had a friend that had a reaction upon entering our home that had a butter knife in the sink that had been used to spread peanut butter earlier in the day ( and he was 2 rooms away from the kitchen when he entered and reacted). If your child will only eat peanut butter they clearly have some nutritional deficits and you should look at perhaps expanding their horizons. Grow up and act like compassionate adults instead of entitled little cry babies that are clearly too lazy to try to find an alternative ( it’s not like peanut butter is a super food ffs).
I believe the purpose of this post was to help give parents some ideas of how to get organized and make lunches for their children a less burdensome process. I didn’t know it was a forum for vilifying children with peanut allergies. While I wouldn’t wish that stress or constant worry on my worst enemies, the people on here who would rather remain ignorant about life threatening allergies and feel just fine putting innocent children’s lives at risk simply because they feel entitled that their child’s ” right to eat his/her favorite food at school” trumps the right of a safe, non life-threatening environment for another student seems absurd and I can only say it would be Karma should someone they care about discover they have a life threatening food allergy. I’d love to see how their stance changes then. Empathy can only be taught to some people through direct experience. Sad really.
Kerri,
Would almond butter or other nuts cause the same reaction? Because their are so many other options to the standard peanut butter. Or is it all nuts?
This year I started using wide mouth mason jars for mine and my daughters lunches. You can get reusable plastic lids that I write on with a dry erase marker, and they are freezable. I have a variety of sizes, but mostly use the 8oz wide mouth Kerr (for cottage cheese, applesauce, yogurt, and veggies), Ball 4oz regular mouth jelly jars (for dipping sauces or salad dressing), and Ball wide mouth pint (for salads). We also have plastic sandwich boxes that I mostly got at the dollar store (we have Avengers, Star Wars, Hello Kitty, and Disney Princess ones). Besides being able to freeze the mason jars, you can also sanitize them in the dishwasher. I will also make up “freezer meals” in the Ball pint jars, where I will portion leftovers into single serving meals and freeze them. Then you can have food ready for those nights where you don’t feel like cooking and might otherwise turn to carry-out!
Wow, didn’t any of you see the boy in the plastic bubble! Peanuts and peanut butter aren’t going anywhere any time soon. Just saying. Educate or get them a bubble.
My daughter likes “lunchables” I use Turkey pepperoni, whatever cheese she is in the mood for and crackers (again whatever she is in the mood for. We put the cheese & pepperoni in one bag and the crackers in another and put them in a lunch bag. She also likes the pinwheels so I make my own and with what she wants and slice them up for her. Doing these ahead of time would be great!!
Thanks Theresa! Great ideas, I really appreciate your comment!
You may have already answered this, and I tried to skim the comments but didn’t see it. Do you use ice packs in their lunch boxes? Or do you just let the frozen sandwich serve as one? Or both? Just curious if the sandwich would thaw well enough during the day if there were also an ice pack in there, but not sure if the sandwich alone would be enough to keep cheese or yogurt cold enough.
Thanks!
Hello Jenn,
I freeze wet sponges into plastic baggies and use them as ice packs. Super thrifty as they don’t cost much to do. If you had a sandwich and frozen gogurt it might last keeping it all cold for those 3 hours, but I don’t like to take a chance.
The sponge idea is great one!! Thank you for sharing this post of such good ideas. We are in the process of becoming foster parents so I am so glad I found your site! I have one quick question…it is okay to put either the mayo or mustard in between the meat & cheese and freeze it? Just wanted to make sure I had it correct. I think these ideas are great to have even during this time of learning/working from home. Also the pineapple juice on apples, what a great idea! My mother always put lemon juice on ours and by high school I never wanted to see a sliced apple again.
Thank you again for your website and sharing your tricks with the rest of us!
Yes you can freeze them in between the meat and cheese! However, Mayo can sometimes change consistencey after freezing, but the kids may not notice.
I just don’t understand the peanut allergy thing. There is a girl in may daughter’s band who is severely allergic. This year we are having to read the labels & not bring anything even made around peanuts for her sake. I don’t know how she has been surviving high school. We’ve been told she can die from the smell of it. So how on earth is she even in school? I would be TERRIFIED of my child going anywhere if it was that serious. ‘Cause there is no way of knowing a student didn’t eat a peanut butter sandwich, pnut butter crackers or a granola bar for b’fast without washing their hands. My child does most every morning in the car on the way to school. Her school is not peanut free, candy bars are sold in snack machines. A person couldn’t walk into any grocery store/gas station because there are peanuts in every single one of them. IF this allergy is as bad as we have been told how the heck is she still alive?
This why parents like me are not understanding/compassionate – because we truly don’t get it. So enlighten us.
Yep
Thrive Life sells foods that are pre- washed, chopped, and cooked. Everything is freeze dried so it makes prepping even easier. You can make some super yummy trail mixes or even do meals in the jar where you just add water. Smarteats.thrivelife.com/recipes
Norwex also sells some reusable sandwich bags.
I try to live GREEN and hate baggies. So when I use them, I make the kids bring them home – then I rinse/wash them out and reuse! Please don’t throw them out!! The poor earth just can’t take any more plastic.