Easy and Healthy School Lunch Ideas For Kids

Can you believe we are already talking about easy and healthy school lunch ideas for kids?  It’s an enormous eye-opener for me because my kids will be heading back the start of August.  It doesn’t seem possible that I’m already thinking about healthy school lunch ideas, but here we are.  I know if my kids are heading back early many of your children are and it won’t be much longer until the rest of the kids will start back to school.

Easy and Healthy School Lunch Ideas For Kids

Here are a few easy and healthy school lunch ideas for kids:

• Peanut Butter Sandwich – You don’t have to stick with the traditional peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Try peanut butter and banana sandwich.

• Peanut Butter & Jelly Tortilla Rolls – Another fabulous choice for the kids, and they’re easy to make.

• Soup – Even when my kids are home they like chicken noodle soup without being warmed up, lol.  Of course, they like taking it to school!  I just have to be careful what container I use, so it doesn’t spill.

• Turkey and Cheese Sandwich – One of our favorite sandwiches is a simple turkey and cheese even during the summer.  It makes a great lunch for the kids too.

• Turkey and Cheese Wrap/Rolls –  My kids tend to like turkey, but you can use ham or several different lunch slices of meat.  Add cheese, some veggies your kids enjoy and, a little ranch dressing.  If you want to change things up cut your wrap up so the kids have little bit size rolls. YUMMY!

• Beanie Weenies – Every now and then I’ll make my kids beanie weenies and every single time I do they say how much they love it.  Hot or cold, they don’t care!

• Squash & Zucchini Spaghetti and meatballs – When I make spaghetti for dinner I make a little extra so the kids can have some for lunch the following day.  Add a fruit for something sweet and their favorite veggie.

• Tuna Sandwich – All my kids like tuna, but they tend to like it different ways.  My oldest and youngest are pretty traditional and stick with the tuna sandwich.

• Tuna Salad Lettuce Wrap  – This is Vayda’s favorite healthy lunch, sounds crazy, but she would rather toss her tuna in lettuce.  I can’t blame her it tastes fantastic, especially with some Goldfish. Lucky for us we can use the Rubbermaid LunchBlox to keep it nice and cool.

• Strawberry & Cream Cheese Sandwich – Can you say SUPER YUMMY!

• Pretzel Sandwich Kabobs – The kids love these, and they are easy to make.  Grab long pretzels and create a kabob with ham, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and anything else your kids will like.  It’s fun, different, and easy to take with them in their awesome Rubbermaid LunchBlox.

• Stuffed Pasta Shells – You can stuff your pasta shells with things like your choice of meat, ricotta cheese, pasta sauce, and my kids love it when I add black olives.

Easy and Healthy School Lunch Side Ideas For Kids

I thought I would include a few sides that my kids enjoy. Whether they’re at home or headed to school, adding them to their lunches will be easy, especially since we’ll be using the Rubbermaid LunchBlox this coming school year.

• Muffin – Now and then I like to send my kids with a yummy treat like Cranberry Orange Muffins or a Honey Cinnamon Oat Bran Muffin.  They are delicious and gives them something sweet now and again.

• No Bake Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Balls – I like to keep a few  for easy snacks for all of us, but make an awesome treat for the kids lunches.  Plus I can put a little chia seed, flax seed, etc.

• Homemade Dried Fruit – Any time you are worried about someone not eating all the fruit, make homemade dried fruit.  It’s a great sweet treat for the kids.

• Popcorn – You can have fun with the popcorn. Rather than adding all sorts of butter, why not try ranch popcorn?

• Carrot Sticks – I’m blessed all my children love carrots.  They’ll happily eat them with or without hummus, ranch, or some other dip.

• Celery & Peanut Butter Sticks – My kids are always happy with celery and peanut butter.  Every now and then we’ll toss on some raisins and call them antie logs, lol.

• Applesauce – My kids love applesauce and it’s even better when it’s homemade with a little cinnamon.  YUMMY!
• Dill Pickles Slices – My youngest loves her dill pickles and always tells me what a great mom I am when she gets surprised with dill pickle slices.
• Cherry Tomatoes – Who doesn’t like cherry tomatoes, they go great with cottage cheese.

• Cucumbers – One of my personal favorites is cucumbers!  They’re easy, taste great, and are perfect for kids of all ages to eat when they’re sliced up.

• Extra Fruits – My kids’ favorite fruits are cherries, blueberries, apple slices, mixed fruit, grapes, strawberries, peach slices, oranges, pear slices, watermelon, cantaloupe, and almost anything else you can come up with.  I typically substitute cookies and candy for a sweet piece of fruit, and my kids love it.

• Extra Veggie Ideas – bell pepper slices, carrots, celery sticks, and broccoli and cauliflower.

• Cottage Cheese – How could I forget cottage cheese?  Cottage cheese is one of our family’s favorite sides for lunch at home, on the go, and of course at school.  Thankfully, it can stay nice and cold with the awesome Rubbermaid LunchBlox.
• Hummus – One of our favorite things to dip our veggies in is Hummus.

• Almonds – My kids love almonds, and they have so many great benefits.

What are you sending to school in your kids lunchbox?