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Save this list of kids lunch recipes to make packing and serving healthy kids lunches a little easier each week. With make-ahead and freezer-friendly options to serve to the kids at home or packed, these ideas will take some of the challenge out of the midday meal (or I hope they will at least!).
Kids Lunch Recipes
Making healthy foods ahead of time for lunch is one of the best ways to ensure our kids are eating well throughout the week—and that we’re not scrambling for lunch when everyone is hungry. These recipes are great to meal prep and they can be served to toddlers and big kids alike.
And even if you don’t find time ahead to make these recipes, you can prepare them in the morning or right before lunch to serve up a healthy meal.
TIP: You can of course eat these foods yourself too—parents deserve yummy food too!
Lunch Ideas for Kids at Home
With kids who are home for lunch, having this stash of healthy recipes to make ahead of time can be a big win. I always find that lunchtime comes so quickly when I’m home with my kids, so the more I can have at least one healthy option ready and waiting, the better able I am to serve them healthy lunches.
I have these broken up my type of food to help you easily scroll through to find options that will work for you.
TIP: These lunches work at home, as well as packed for daycare or preschool.
Muffin and Quick Bread Recipes for Lunch
One of my very favorite ways to get ahead for lunches is to rely on healthy muffins or quick bread as the main, then add simple sides like fruits and veggies, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, or even a smoothie to round things out.
This bread is free from gluten and nuts, and has an alternative if your little doesn’t do dairy. This bread is delicate when warm, so let it cool fully before you slice it with a serrated knife.
We like these on their own, topped with nut or seed butter, or even with a smear of cream cheese. See what your littles like! (I updated the leavening in July 2019 to ensure a more consistent rounded shape to the top of the muffins.)
These muffins are versatile, so check the Notes to adjust them for any allergies. Recipe updated February 2021.
These are delicious served warm soon after baking, at room temperature or even chilled, so see what your family prefers. They are naturally dairy-free and can be made gluten-free and egg-free as well. See the Notes section for details.
These simple blender muffins pack a serious nutrition punch and are dairy-free, with a nut-free option. I prefer the flavor of these once they are fully cooled and chilled in the fridge.
These store well, so you can make them ahead of time and pull them out of the fridge to serve. (Post updated October 2019)
This is an epic of a basic muffin recipe that you can then add flavor to in all sorts of ways—from fruit to veggies to chocolate chips. The batter is packed with protein too, so the muffins are great for breakfast or snack. (The allergy-friendly substitutions are listed in the Notes section at the bottom.)
Loaded with whole grains and protein, these healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins are a really great standard recipe to turn to whenever you’re in the mood!
I like to grate the carrot on a box grater and cut the top of each broccoli floret off and finely dice with a knife. Avoid the stems since they won’t blend into the batter as well.
These work well to make ahead and warm up for an easy lunch or dinner. These taste best served warm.
TIP: You can find all of my best Healthy Muffins here.
Breakfast for Lunch Ideas
Mix up when you serve favorite breakfast foods by serving them for lunch. It’s an easy way to keep the kids interested and also make it easy on yourself to prepare their lunch!
Egg muffins will stick to a muffin tin unless you grease it well with nonstick spray. So try not to skimp on that step!
These soft breakfast egg cups are packed with protein and vitamins—and can be made ahead of time! Add any veggie you like, whether carrots, butternut squash, broccoli, or spinach.
Learn to customize yummy smoothies for your toddler by starting with one simple method.
Scale this up or down according to how many servings you’re planning to make. The directions here are for one small toddler-size serving. (It’s okay if your kiddo wants more or doesn’t eat a whole serving though!)
This overnight oats recipe makes two toddler-size breakfast portions (or 1 mama-size serving). Double it to make additional servings.
TIP: The egg muffins are super easy to bake and then reheat quickly to serve for lunch. Try them with a side of ketchup or salsa for dipping.
Quesadillas and Burritos for Lunches
My oldest kiddo is a super fan of burritos and quesadillas so we tend to have them for lunch often—and I love to make big batches on the weekend to warm throughout the week.
You can make as few or as many of these easy quesadillas as you like.
These are called “breakfast” burritos since they have eggs, but you can serve them for any meal of the day!
You can also do this with full size spinach if that’s what you’re able to find. Just discard any stems before starting the recipe.
Serve these quesadillas with salsa, sour cream, and/or guacamole as desired. You can leave them as simple vegetarian quesadillas or add in a protein like chicken or beans.
This makes 6 rolled up tacos, so you can adjust this as needed for your family. Taste the refried beans before you make the roll ups and adjust the salt and/or cumin if needed. You can also serve the ingredients in separate bowls and let your family serve themselves.
TIP: You can pack any of these in a lunchbox or thermos as needed.
Make-Ahead Proteins
Whether meat or vegetarian based, these easy protein options are perfect to prep ahead—either by a few days or a few minutes!
These chicken nuggets have simple ingredients and a pleasantly crispy exterior. Aim to cut the chicken into similarly sized pieces so they bake evenly.
To make these with panko breadcrumbs, use 1 cup and stir ¼ teaspoon salt into the flour before you dredge the chicken.
These meat buns have all of the components of a cheeseburger, but are much easier for little kids to eat! Plus: They store well in the fridge and freezer so can be made ahead of time.
You can double this recipe to feed a family of 4-6. Or make this smaller batch and serve to your toddler throughout the week. Try serving these with ketchup, ranch, or marinara sauce.
Classic Italian meatballs with kale tucked inside to help toddlers eat their greens! (You can of course use the more traditional parsley instead of kale if you prefer.)
Classic Italian meatballs with kale tucked inside to help toddlers eat their greens! (You can of course use the more traditional parsley instead of kale if you prefer.)
We use homemade relish in this recipe but you can use any that you like the flavor of.
TIP: Meatballs are one of my favorite recipes to batch cook and freeze for future meals.
Pasta Recipes for Lunch
I love to make an easy pasta recipe to have ready for the kids for lunch and all of these are great for adult lunches too.
This will likely make enough for two meals. You can freeze the leftovers for a future meal. (This recipe was updated to improve the taste and method in April 2019.)
I like to use a small shape to keep this dish as fast as possible.
Use yellow or white cheese according to your child’s color expectations!
This works well anytime of the year, but the flavors are particularly great in summer
You can use ABC pasta, orzo, pastina, or ditalini—or any other very small pasta shape in this recipe!
TIP: Add frozen peas or broccoli to your pasta cooking water for the last two minutes when making boxed mac and cheese to easily add a veggie to the mix.
Kids Lunch Recipes with Veggies
Serve up a veggie-packed main dish or add a simple side. We also like no-cook options like sliced cucumbers, sliced bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, avocado, snap peas, and shredded carrots.
With quinoa, cauliflower, and cheese, these healthy little tots are a great finger food for kids. This recipe makes about 20 tots, which is 4-6 servings for toddlers—or 1-2 servings for adults.
You can cook the rice up to 5 days ahead of time and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake the tots.
I like to prep the veggies and rice ahead of time so that the process of making the nuggets is a little quicker. You can of course do it all at once though!
Choose one veggie to add from the flavor options below according to what you have on hand or what your family likes best.
Use your family’s favorite shape and type of pasta in this recipe. (We like elbows or mini shells!)
TIP: I like to have roasted veggies on hand most weeks since they have natural sweetness and are good at room temp or warmed. Find all of my best recipes for veggies for lunch, including how to serve raw veggies to toddlers, here.
Easy Sandwich Ideas
If your kids aren’t quite able to chew a sandwich with two pieces of bread quite yet, serve them open face or with the components deconstructed.
You can plan for the kids to eat these cold or you can warm the bread ahead and pack it in a thermos so it’s warm at lunchtime. So easy!
You can make one sandwich at a time, or make a batch of a few to stash in the freezer. Adjust this as needed for your preference.
You can use regular plain yogurt, though I like the consistency that Greek yogurt yields a bit better.
Taste the hummus and adjust for salt as needed. You may need more depending on whether or not you started with canned beans, and sometimes after the hummus sits in the fridge, it needs another sprinkle of salt.
TIP: You can find my full list of Kids Sandwich Ideas and more easy lunch recipes in my Yummy Toddler Lunches ebook.
Pizza for Lunch Ideas
Using the flavors of pizza to make easy lunches is fun and kid-friendly. And most of these ideas are super simple too!
You can use store-bought pesto if desired in place of the homemade version below.
Fluffy pizza bites are a delicious lunch or dinner option—and you can customize the filling to please your kids! We like these with a little side of warmed marinara sauce for dipping.
Be sure to grease your pan well and roll the dough up fairly tightly around the fillings for best results. (But it’s okay if they don’t look perfect when they go into the pan!) This recipe was updated in September 2019 to ensure that the middles of each roll cook through.
For delicious homemade pizza without the work and in a lot less time, Flatbread Pizza to the rescue. Adjust this for allergies as you need.
If you’re using Homemade Pizza Dough, make it at least an hour before you plan to assemble the pockets. If using store-bought, let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes so it’s not super cold when you try to form the pockets.
TIP: Find my full list of Pizza Ideas for Lunch.
Best Snack Recipes for Lunches
I’m a HUGE fan of snack lunches for the kids, where you assemble a mix of snacks to make a lunch (sort of like a kid version of a cheese plate). You can do it with any store bought snacks, but these homemade ones make nice options too.
We like to have these granola bars as a snack or toddler breakfast with milk or a smoothie—and they’re an excellent lunch box component too. You can make them plain or choose a flavor to add!
You can make these ahead and store in the fridge or freezer and have grab and go snacks on hand for days/weeks!
These bars are tender when warm out of the oven, so do be sure to let them cool completely before slicing.
Moist tender Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins that taste as good as store bought, but have a little extra nutrition? Sign. Me. Up. These muffins are seriously delicious and are a must-make if you have fans of Little Bites in your house!
These no-bake bites taste like a cross between oatmeal raisin and peanut butter cookie dough. I use natural creamy peanut butter (like the kind from Smuckers) and it works really well. (Recipe updated slightly in June 2021 to ensure the best texture.)
If you use larger cookie cutters, you may need to bake on the longer end of the baking time—and mini cookie cutters on the shorter end. This makes a relatively small batch, so double it if you want extras to last all week!
TIP: Learn more about making healthy snack meals here.
Helpful Tips for Packing Lunches in a Lunchbox
Packing leftover chicken, meatballs, pasta, and more can bring up some questions, so these tips should help!
- Pack leftover cooked chicken, chicken nuggets, or tenders to be eaten chilled or warm in a thermos.
- Pack quesadillas, burritos, or any other dish that’s better warmed in a thermos.
- Cut up muffins, sandwiches, and any other baked goods or breads into cubes if it’s easier for your child to eat them that way.
- Pack smoothies in a reusable pouch to send with lunch. (You can also make them right before lunch to serve at home.)
Kid-Friendly Lunch Ideas for School
Packing lunches for kids will vary according to your own unique child, so do keep in mind the preferences of your kiddo and adjust your lunch plan accordingly. I try not to send any brand new foods in a lunchbox since the kids don’t have much time to eat them AND they are likely very busy chatting with friends.
TIP: And aim to pack foods that are easy to eat—put yourself in your kid’s shoes as you pack everything and make things easier to open, access, and eat as needed.
School Lunch Ideas for Picky Eaters
One last consideration for pickier kids: Keep their lunches simple. It’s also okay if they don’t have a huge variety at their midday meal since they may also be dealing with the demands of socializing—which is a lot of work for some kids!
You don’t need to make Pinterest-worthy lunches. Just ones that your kids will eat and enjoy!
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I’d love to hear any lunch tips you have so please comment below to share. I love hearing what works for your families and I appreciate all feedback!
This post was first published July 2018.
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