9 Filling School Lunch Ideas For Kids

Need school lunch ideas for kids that they will eat can be easy when you have a few ideas in your back pocket. Head back to school with fun lunches all of your kid’s friends will want.

You’ll find both cold and warm ideas for easy lunch boxes even a picky eater will love. Many of these lunches are great for adult lunches too. I have some of them for lunch!

How To Prep Your Kid’s A Healthy Lunchbox

Making a filling lunchbox doesn’t have to be a challenge. I often use leftovers from dinner and I keep a variety of fruits and vegetables in the house each week to help round out the lunchbox.

Here are a few questions I try to ask myself when I am making my kid a healthy lunchbox.

• What is the protein in this lunch?
• What is the fat in this lunch?
• How many colors of fruits and vegetables do I have? (I aim for 2-3) 
• Did I include whole grains?

How To Help Your Kid Eat Lunch

Make sure they can open all containers and packaging – It’s pretty hard to enjoy lunch when you can’t get it open! Individual packaging can be tricky for smaller children. While teachers and lunch monitor try to help, you can help your child by packing in containers and packaging they can open and close by themselves. This may mean practicing at home before sending a young child to school so you know what they can and can’t open.

Serve fresh fruits and vegetables at home often. Send a mix of them to school too.

Test new main items at home first. If they enjoyed dinner at home they are more likely to enjoy it for lunch because it is now familiar. Some new foods may take many tried before kids will like it. Kid’s are still developing their tastebuds, so it can sometimes take a while for them to come around to a new food.

Try offering a single bite or two of a new food. This works well and it’s ok if they don’t always eat it, just add a piece or two next to a few foods you know they love.

Pack lunch together. It can help kids to eat a lunch if they helped pick it.

Serve lunch for snack time. Sometimes my kid is chatty and doesn’t eat all of her lunch. When I can, she eats leftovers from her lunchbox as her after school snack.

It’s ok if they don’t eat it all – Really it’s ok, they won’t eat everything every time! Try again in a few days and pack something different tomorrow. Lunch is a busy time and often kids get distracted by everything going on in the lunch room, talking to friends, or excitement for the next thing they are doing.

If your child are chronically not eating, that’s when it’s best to have discussions both with the school and consult a doctor or specialist if needed.

Where Do I find these bento lunch boxes to make my own lunches?

I use Omiebox, Yumbox and Bentgo lunchboxes for my child. You can find them along with other great lunchbox gear in my Amazon list here.

9 School Lunchbox Ideas

1. Cheese And Crackers Lunchable DIY

So many kids bring the very popular Lunchables to school every day. But a sharp knife with a block of cheese and you can have a cheese and crackers style lunch in minutes. Prep for the whole week at once, and mix it up with different kinds of cheeses like cheddar, colby, mozzarella, swiss or even string cheese!

I rounded out this healthy lunchbox with a sweet treat- our favorite clementine chocolate chip muffins. These muffins keep well in the freezer and are defrosted by lunch if you pull them straight from the freezer.

2. Granola, Fruit And Yogurt Parfait Lunchbox

Don’t overlook a parfait as a great lunch idea for kids! My homemade Maple Cranberry Granola is a house favorite. You can use your favorite flavor of yogurt, or plain yogurt mixed with a little honey.

Sometimes I’ll include a few chocolate chips or sprinkles for a treat.

I also added a some cucumbers and sugar snap peas, and a few of Annie’s bunny crackers as a side.

This lunchbox includes lunchbox notes to encourage your kid throughout the day. Encourage and recognize teachers with this easy and fast first day of school teacher gift. This three-minute gift has a free printable so you can even throw together the gift tag at the last minute.

3. Fluffy Pancakes (with almond milk) Lunchbox

Breakfast for lunch? Yes girl, the kids love breakfast in a lunchbox!

Make these fluffy pancakes with almond milk for brunch on the weekend, then serve up the leftovers in the lunchbox. These pancakes freeze well and are easy to prep ahead.

Also try the silver dollar pancakes or the green mint chocolate chip pancakes with spinach for another lunch idea.

I’ve added some sugar snap peas, cucumbers and a mini yogurt parfait with raspberries and granola. That parfait can be eaten on top of the pancake in this lunchbox if my kid is feeling it.

4. Basil Pesto Tortellini Lunch Idea

Pasta can be an easy win with some kids, and my kid is no exception! I mixed together some leftovers from dinner that include tortellini pasta, chicken, bell peppers and broccoli, which can be eaten cold.

Check out a summery version of this Pesto Pasta Salad recipe that’s perfect for a BBQ or dinner. The leftovers pack great in a lunchbox!

I go easy on the pesto and only use a small spoonful as it has a lot of flavor. This is my favorite jarred basil pesto, and I also like the pesto you can find at Aldi!

Added to this lunchbox is fresh watermelon,  cherry tomatoes (slice for young kids!) and a few mango flavored gummy candies I found at Trader Joes.

5. Black Bean And Cheese Quesadilla Lunchbox

Does your kid love mexican style food as much as mine? I can’t exactly say it’s super authentic Mexican food, but it is delicious. These black bean and cheese quesadillas were a hit with her and easy to prep ahead. These quesadillas are cut with a lunch punch food cutter, but you can simply use a knife also.

6. Chicken Mango Fresh Spring Rolls Lunchbox

Have you ever tried to use rice paper rolls to make fresh spring rolls? This mango chicken spring rolls recipe is a great lunch idea for both kids and adults.

Not only does this use leftover chicken from dinner, but it’s also totally customizable. Rolling just two or three for a lunchbox is super fast, and makes a healthy sandwich free lunch idea!

I’ve added strawberries, sweet potato crackers, cucumbers and string cheese to this lunchbox.

7. Easy Kid’s Kabobs Lunchbox

This is almost a trick because it has the ingredients of a sandwich but on a stick, so it’s not quite the same. Give it a try, a little kabob can be magical for kids! This version has ham, cheese, whole wheat bread and cherry tomatoes. (Slice in half for younger kids!)

Also in this lunchbox is cucumbers, baby carrots, raspberries and pomegranate seeds.

For a sweet treat I included a few store-bought chocolate protein bites this time but they aren’t my kid’s favorite.  She prefers my homemade chocolate walnut energy bites  every time!

8. Build Your Own Tacos Kid’s Lunchbox

Tacos are always a hit for lunch for both kids and adults. But can you pack it in a lunchbox?

Using my Omiebox lunchbox I can send warm taco filling of ground turkey, beans, cheese and corn. In a pinch, I sometimes send my turkey chili with less broth. It took a little finagling but this trick helped me to encourage my kid to eat the onions in the mix.

This lunch also features some strawberries, blueberries underneath, and a little lettuce for on top of your tortilla.

9. Cobb Salad On A Kabob Lunchbox

Lean turkey, hard-boiled eggs and cherry tomatoes make a delicious lunch. I like Great Day Farms hard boiled eggs in a pinch, but also make my own easy to peel hard-boiled eggs.

I’ve also added cheese, carrots, some thin pretzels and raspberries.

Hummus would also be great with this lunch. You can even check out tons of ideas of what to dip in hummus that works great for lunchboxes.

Did you try one of my healthy lunch ideas for kids? Tell me about it in the comments or tag your lunch on Instagram with @onmykidsplate