School Lunches: 25 Healthy Ideas

I have such an appreciation for moms.  Seriously. This whole kid’s lunch thing isn’t easy!  And gone are the days where you can throw a good ol’ PB&J sandwich into the bag in a pinch (thank you, nut allergies). Enjoy my 25 Healthy Ideas for School Lunches just in time for back to school.

I must say, I’ve received an overwhelming number of requests for healthy lunch ideas lately.  By far the most requests for a single topic that I’ve ever received!  Not one to shy away from a challenge, I put my head down and came up with a list of different tips and ideas for healthy kid’s lunches and snacks to help make life a bit easier on the parents!

Tips for Planning School Lunches

1. When you think about dinner, keep lunches in mind.  It is so easy to make a bit extra at dinner and use the meal, or even part of it, in the lunch.  For instance, if you have roasted chicken for dinner, why not use that meat in a sandwich instead of using processed meats?
2. If you make pasta sauce, freeze small portions of any extra for lunches in a pinch on top of some pasta. Same thing with taco night, you can freeze extra taco meat (or the veggie meat alternative which tastes nearly identical once dressed up with the spices) and have extra tortillas on hand in the freezer for a quick burrito.  Get my drift?
3. Make lunch fun – without excess processed foods!  I’m all for a treat once in a while, but why not make lunches fun in other ways?  Send a little note or some stickers in the lunch kit instead (you can put it in a plastic Easter egg to make it even cuter).
4. Use cookie cutters to make cute shapes out of the food: heart shaped cheese or a larger fun cookie cutter for the sandwich are a couple of ideas.
5. Use colourful silicone moulds to separate items in bento box style lunches (I love this stainless steel bento box!).
6. Buy a Thermos container or similar for packing hot items – leftovers reheated or a cozy thermos of soup makes a perfect lunch!  Pour hot water in and let it sit for about 10 minutes, empty and fill with your hot meal to keep to warm for longer. Don’t overfill it; the lunch room monitors will thank you!
7. Lean on a meal planning platform like Fraîche Table to take the hassle out of planning and grocery lists with lunches all mapped out for you!

Top 25 School Lunch Ideas

1. Fajitas (chicken, beef or tofu)
2. Bento Box: filled with fruit, veggies, crackers, cheese, and diced roast chicken
3. Egg Salad Wrap with spinach and red pepper on a wholegrain wrap
4. Sneaky Mommy Meatballs  in a sub
5. Pita with Tuna Salad
6. Cucumber & Cream Cheese Sandwich
7. English Muffin Pizza (toasted English Muffin cheese and pizza sauce) There is a great recipe on Fraîche Table
8. Salad Rolls (Tofu, Shrimp or Chicken) (just skip the peanuts and dipping sauce)
9. Corn Chowder Soup
10. Bean & Cheese Burrito
11. Chilli with Cornbread Muffins or Tortilla Chips
12. Turkey Meatball Pasta
13. Hummus, Pita & Veggies
14. Pasta Salad (pasta with tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, red pepper and chicken if desired with a vinaigrette dressing)
15. Quiche or even Mini Quiches!
16. Whole wheat waffles cut into sticks with Greek yogurt dip
17. Chicken Strips (can also be put into a wrap)
18. Lentil soup with crackers
19. Turkey Roll Ups (sliced turkey meat with cheese, spinach and mustard
20. Homemade Butternut Squash Macaroni & Cheese (or this vegan version)
21. Leftover Crêpes: rolled up with cheese, spinach and ham
22. Tomato Soup & crackers
23. Chicken Noodle Soup
24. Burger, Chicken Burger or Veggie Burger on a whole wheat bun
25. Stir Fry with Tofu or Chicken and Rice

Top 20 School Snack Ideas

1. Fruit kebabs (can add cheese or yogurt dip)
2. Lunchbox Cookies
3. Double Apple Muffins or Sneaky Mommy Muffins
4. Omega-3 Double Chocolate Zucchini Loaf made into mini-muffins
5. Veggies & dip (try these homemade dips)
6. Apple slices & cheese
7. Apple slices dusted with cinnamon & Wow or seed butter to dip
8. Edamame beans
9. Pumpkin Pie Cookies
10. Hard boiled eggs
11. Greek yogurt with berries (a sprinkle of Homemade Granola wouldn’t hurt)
12. Homemade nut-free trail mix (seeds & dried fruit with mini chocolate chips)
13. Homemade granola bars
14. Roasted Chickpeas
15. Chickpea or Black Bean Brownies (love the extra healthy protein in these)
16. Guacamole & Whole Grain Tortilla Chips
17. Popcorn
18. Apple Oat No Bake Bars
19. Graham Crackers (try your hand at homemade!) with cheese or seed butter
20. Healthier Date Bars
21. Homemade Applesauce

Fraîche Table

Fraîche Table is packed with dietitian-designed (by me!) wholesome and delicious recipes and meal plans. Enjoy the flexibility to adjust preferences when you need to, and the comfort of having streamlined grocery lists created to save you time, money, food waste and oodles of headaches. Healthy recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes are at your fingertips. There are SO many amazing lunches that are great for schools. Here are a few drool worthy images of some of our favourites!