Quick System For Packing Healthy School Lunches

So many parents dread packing school lunches because (by November) they feel that it takes too much effort to pack healthy school lunches. That all changes now with this super EASY system to keep school lunches healthy and interesting.

Whoop Whoop! It’s back to school time!

I’m super excited (and only a tiny bit sad) for the kids to go back to school. They have had so much time together over the summer that they need a break from each other in a big way.

And yet, I have no idea where the summer went- wow, did it fly by.

In the past, I have organized everything in sight right up to the first day of school. And I always had a goal of packing healthy (creative) lunches all year long. Oh, and healthy, filling breakfasts too.

Unfortunately, by the time November comes around, I’m starting to pack them the same thing every day.

Then when May arrives, their lunches hardly resemble anything healthy – or creative. By then it’s pretty much all prepackaged stuff accompanying bagels with cream cheese on them.

But at least I start off strong!

But this year IS different. I’ve got a different (simple) system in place and have already meal planned all the way through September.

Seriously, meal planning is the majority of the battle. If I can just get a game plan on paper, I can follow through on it!

The key to success is in the planning

I’m banning the daily request of bagels with cream cheese. Instead, I came up with a huge list of ideas and have my kids choose from the different options to keep lunch interesting.

I am sharing my list of some healthy school lunch ideas for kids with you! ❤️️

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Healthy Main Meal School Lunch Ideas

Sub sandwich
Bagel + Cream Cheese
Veggie +Hummus Wrap
Pita Bread + Hummus
Cheese + Crackers
Turkey + Cheese Roll-ups
Hard Boiled Eggs
Pasta Salad
Meat + Cheese Kabob
Chips + Guacamole
Ham + Cheese Sandwich
Almond Butter + Jam Sandwich
Quesadilla
Pizza
DIY “lunchables”: crackers, deli turkey or salami, sliced cheese
Sandwich or sandwich kabobs: disguise their sandwich by threading turkey, cubed string cheese, and squares of bread on skewers.
Tuna salad sliders
Tortilla pinwheels (cream cheese, sliced cheese, deli turkey, thinly sliced tomatoes, shredded lettuce or spinach – roll tightly and slice into rounds).

Get the print-friendly freebie of for pinwheel recipes here.

Fruit and Veggie School Lunch Ideas

Oranges
Apples
Strawberries
Grapes
Peaches
Blueberries
Raspberries
Natural Applesauce
Mangoes
Melon
Baby Carrots
Cucumbers
Grape Tomatoes
Edamame
Snap Peas

School Lunch Sides and Snack Ideas

Chips
Granola Bars
Pretzels
String Cheese
Yogurt
Trail Mix
Lara Bar or Cliff Bar
Nut Butter (of your choice) & Crackers
Fruit Leather
Popcorn
Crackers
Chips + Salsa
Fruit Cup
Pudding Cup
Graham Crackers

Drink Ideas for Healthy School Lunches

Water Bottle
100% Juice Boxes
Milk — Plain, Strawberry, or Chocolate

Healthy School Lunch Treats:

Homemade muffins (Try: Banana Protein, Zucchini, or Pumpkin)
Yogurt
Pudding
String cheese
Pretzels or Goldfish crackers
Fruit snacks or fruit leather
Dried fruit (raisins, craisins, banana or apple chips)
Z-Bar or fruit bars
PB and Oat protein bites
Rice Krispie Treats
Granola bars

Healthy school lunch with sandwich apple and water bottle

Healthy Hot Lunch Ideas (with a Thermos):

Thermos Use Pro Tip: Pack hot thermos in the morning (5 hours before it’s eaten). Heat the thermos first: add boiling water, cover and let sit 5 min then drain. Heat food until it’s hot. Place into a heated thermos and close tightly with lid. Food will be warm at lunchtime.

Best Thermos:

What to put in a hot lunch thermos:

Soup (try: chicken noodle soup or chili or turkey rice soup)
Pasta (try: penne with marinara or spaghetti with pesto)
Pilaf/rice, or stir fry (try: creamy chicken and rice, or Vietnamese-inspired noodle bowl)
Leftovers! (try: casseroles or lasagna, You can really get creative with a thermos. Just avoid foods with very strong aromas (i.e. broccoli and cabbage).

Combination Ideas for Healthy School Lunches

Just in case you’re saying “Heather, this list is great and all, but it’s so hard for me to put combinations together to make a lunch out of it”…stress no more!

In addition to giving you this list of food ideas, I’m also giving you a week’s worth of combination ideas to make it even easier to rock at making school lunches.

COMBO #1
Turkey + Cheddar Roll-up
Fresh Berries
Yogurt
Trail Mix

COMBO #2
Hummus
Pita Bread
Grape Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Sliced Oranges

COMBO #3
Cheese Quesadilla
Guacamole
Salsa
Tortilla Chips
Strawberries

COMBO #4
Deli Meat + Cheese Kabobs
Red Pepper Slices
Apples
Fruit Leather or Snacks

COMBO #5
Pasta Salad
Yogurt
Granola Bar
Raspberries

Grab our FREE Healthy School Lunches Mega List printable with even more healthy food ideas and more lunch combinations!

Our Favorite School Lunch Box Supplies

With so many options out there, it can be overwhelming to pick a lunch box and hard to know which ones are worth the money.

That doesn’t even include everything else you put inside the lunch box!

That’s where we come in! We have tried so many different products, it’s embarrassing.

But the benefit, I guess, is that we know which ones are worth the money and which ones are worthless.

Best Lunch Bag:

My Favorite Lunch Containers:

Best Thermos:

Leakproof Condiments Containers:

Best Accessories:

Make packing healthy school lunches full of variety a breeze with this simple system for planning ahead of time. Want even more variety and ideas? Download our free Mega List of Healthy School Lunch Ideas!