Healthy School Lunch Ideas For Kindergarten

LUNCH BOX IDEAS FOR KIDS

These are the real-life lunches that I have packed my daughters.

And for the most part, they have eaten them right up🙌!

I refuse to spend a ton of time making school lunches so all of these lunches were packed in roughly 5-10 minutes⏲, all while I was making dinner. I usually pack school lunches at night while I am making dinner because I just can’t get my sh*t together enough in the mornings.

TIP: To make simple, easy and fast school lunches I utilized leftovers and simple ingredients I can pull out of my fridge – no fancy labor-intensive recipes involved.

So if you see nachos in one of the lunches, we probably had taco night for dinner and I used the leftovers for a fun nacho lunch. Muffins – I had those leftovers from the weekend when I did have some time to make some fresh muffins, but you could also use store-bought. Same with pasta and pizza – all leftovers.

All the extra cute Pinterest-worthy items – animal or eyeball picks, sandwiches and fruit cut into shapes and fun cut fruits and veggies are ALL OPTIONAL. Please 🙏 do not feel like you have to go the extra mile here, they are just kids lunches after all. I have a slight bento box accessory shopping problem🙈, so I add the extras in. But you will still be an amazing parent and lunch-maker if you skip them altogether.

REASONS TO LOVE THESE PACKED LUNCH IDEAS FOR KIDS

• full of real wholesome foods that your kids will love
• can be made allergy-friendly – Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free or Nut-Free (see notes for each recipe)
• no fancy recipes – I used leftovers or simple ingredients to make these lunches
• great for daycare, preschool or elementary-aged kids
• also great for homeschool or remote learning
• can be packed in any bento box style lunch box or any containers you prefer (read about my favorite bento boxes)
• health versions of school lunch food – pizza, nachos and burritos – so your kid doesn’t feel left out
• balanced lunches with a protein, fruit, veggie and something fun (see my tips on packing healthy lunches here)
• bonus – fun or cute item to surprise your child

HELPFUL TOOLS

• Planetbox Bento Box
• Mini Dip Containers
• Fruit and Veggie Cutters
• Sandwich Shape Cutters
• Silicon Muffin Liners

CHICKEN “FRIED” RICE

Chicken, rice, corn and carrots sautéed in a drizzle of sesame oil and coconut aminos. Edamame, peaches, broccoli and ranch, raspberries with apples cut out in the shape of hearts and a few dark chocolate covered raisins.

Allergy-Friendly – GF and NF. Use DF ranch and treat to make DF.

DIY PB&J WITH CRACKERS

Crackers served with a container of peanut butter (or almond butter) and another container filled with jam, carrots, olives, golden kiwi, mini grapes, cut strawberries and raspberries and mini dark chocolate chips. Eye picks can be found here.

Allergy-Friendly – GF – use gf crackers, DF – use df chocolate chips, NT – use sunbutter instead of peanut butter

GLUTEN FREE PUMPKIN + CREAM CHEESE SANDWICH

Pumpkin pancake sandwich with cream cheese and raspberry jam, cut yellow peppers, mini grapes, Chobani yogurt tube and a piece of dark chocolate. The pancakes were leftovers from a weekend breakfast, the pancakes were made from a gluten-free pumpkin pancake mix from Trader Joes, but any homemade, mix or frozen pancakes would work in this lunch box.

Allergy-Friendly – GF and NF. Use a DF brand of yogurt tube (like Kite Hill) to make DF.

LUNCHABLE-ON-A-STICK

Turkey + Cheddar + Salami on a Stick, cut kiwi, red pepper and carrot sticks with a side of ranch, strawberries, blueberries and dye-free candy. Sandwich sticks can be found here and ranch container here (similar).

Allergy-Friendly – GF and NF. To make DF use DF ranch and cheese.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

Applesauce with cinnamon, salami with dinosaur pick, sliced and cubed cheese, turkey roll-ups, almond crackers, orange pepper slices, kiwi slices, mini grapes and chocolate raisins.

Allergy-Friendly – NF and GF. To make DF use DF treats and cheese.

IT’S FRIDAY AND I’M OVER SCHOOL LUNCHES

Cream cheese with honey star sandwich, lentil puffs, cut grapes, cut carrots and dye-free candy.

Allergy-Friendly – NF and DF. For GF use GF bread.

GREEN MONSTER SCHOOL LUNCH

Pesto gluten-free pasta with parmesan, cut kiwi, grapes and avocado salad, roasted seaweed, cut cucumbers and dye-free candy.

Allergy-Friendly – GF, NF and DF. If NF, make sure your pesto is nut free.

MEXICAN FIESTA

Bean and cheese burrito with guacamole (I wrapped the burrito in the foil before packing the lunch up), corn, sliced carrots, watermelon balls and dye-free candy. I used a frozen burrito for this lunch, but any homemade or frozen variety you prefer would work.

Allergy-Friendly – NF. To make GF and DF you can use DF cheese and a GF tortilla.

HIDDEN VEGGIE FOR #THEWIN

Beet applesauce, cut tomatoes, sliced string cheese, snapeas, cut mild Italian sausage with outer-space picks, mini container of mustard and a dye-free gummy.

Allergy-Friendly – NF and GF. To make DF, use DF cheese or omit.

GLUTEN-FREE PESTO PASTA WITH CHICKEN + CORN

Gluten-Free pesto pasta with chicken and corn, Pure Organics Apple Strip, cut cucumbers, blackberries and walnuts.

Allergy-Friendly – GF and DF. For NF, omit the walnuts and make sure you use pesto that is nut free.

DIY CHEESE & CRACKERS

Laughing cow with two types of crackers in silicon muffin liners, chopped broccoli, chopped red and green pluots, snapeas and a chocolate pretzel.

Allergy-Friendly – NF. To make GF, use GF crackers and treat. To make DF, use DF cheese and treat.

HEALTHY DIY NACHOS

DIY Nacho Kit – organic corn chips, lettuce, shredded cheese, taco turkey and guacamole all in silicon cups. Also in the bento is grapes with mandarin orange sections and allergy-friendly chocolate chips.

Allergy-Friendly – GF and NF. To make DF, use DF cheese,

TORTELLINI + CHICKEN DIPPERS

Cheese tortellini and chicken dunkers with pesto dip, cut cantaloupe, cut cucumbers, popcorn and chocolate pretzel.

Allergy-Friendly – NF and DF. To make GF, use GF tortellini and treat.

School Lunch Ideas For Kindergarten

SCHOOL

Today is the day! My children are returning to a class that is marvelous to me. I have no clue where the mid-year went and I have blended feelings about watching them return to class. I make them go out at 6:00 am, one at 7:00 am, and two at 8:00 am which means it is a relentless caught up with morning. So we ha have to make for the best school lunch ideas for kindergarten.

Moms arrange up a tempest paving the way to the main day of school and have an objective of pressing sound snacks throughout the entire year. When May comes around, their snacks scarcely take after lunch. In any case, I start off genuine solid! Haha!

They have a hypothesis however in our home and it works for us. My children pack their own snacks. Stop and think for a minute — kids are flighty. At some point, they cherish a specific granola bar and the following day they loathe it, oddly enough. They feel burnt out on specific sustenances thus I switch up their decisions frequently. I give them a variety of choices to keep lunch fascinating. So I am sharing a rundown of a few sound school lunch thoughts for children.

Cheesy pepperoni buns

Components

•       1 pound lean ground meat (90% lean)
•       2 cups pizza sauce or pasta sauce
•       1 bundle (3-1/2 ounces) cut pepperoni, cleaved
•       4 cuts process American cheddar, cleaved
•       12 smaller than normal buns, split
•       2 cups destroyed part-skim mozzarella cheddar

Bearings

Preheat stove to 350°. In an enormous skillet, cook meat over medium warmth until never again pink, 5-7 minutes, breaking into disintegrates; channel. Blend in pizza sauce, pepperoni and American cheddar. Cook and mix until cheddar are liquefied, 4-5 minutes.

Spot buns on a heating sheet cut sides up. Spoon meat blend onto buns; top with mozzarella cheddar. Heat until cheddar is dissolved, around 5 minutes. Whenever wanted, present with extra warmed pizza sauce.

Sustenance facts

2 open-confronted sandwiches: 280 calories, 14g fat (6g immersed fat), 46mg cholesterol, 612mg sodium, 18g starch (4g sugars, 1g fiber), 18g protein.

Raspberry-banana breakfast tacos

Fixings

• 3/4 cup universally handy flour
• 3/4 cup entire wheat flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons heating powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 enormous egg, room temperature
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla concentrate
• 1/3 cup cream cheddar, relaxed
• 3 tablespoons vanilla yogurt
• 1 little banana, cut
• 1 cup crisp raspberries

Headings

Whisk together flours, sugar, heating powder, cinnamon, and salt. Consolidate egg, milk, canola oil and vanilla; blend into dry fixings just until dampened.

Preheat an iron over medium warmth. Delicately oil iron. Pour hitter by 1/2 cupfuls onto frying pan; cook until air pockets on top start to pop and bottoms are brilliant dark-colored. Turn; cook until the second side is brilliant dark-colored.

In the meantime, beat together cream cheddar and yogurt. Spread over flapjacks; top with banana and raspberries. Overlay up.

Sustenance facts

1 taco: 429 calories, 17g fat (6g immersed fat), 71mg cholesterol, 651mg sodium, 59g starch (19g sugars, 6g fiber), 11g protein.

EASY SCHOOL LUNCH IDEAS FOR KINDERGARTEN (AND BEYOND!)

Make sending your kiddo off to school for the first time much easier with easy school lunch ideas for kindergarten (and every year after!) they’ll love to eat! These are easy to make, kid-friendly, and a perfect way to start off the school year…or break a rut when you can’t decide what to send.

SCHOOL LUNCH IDEAS FOR KINDERGARTEN

Starting kindergarten is such a big milestone and it can bring up a lot of emotions for kids and parents alike. Lunchtime should be a source of comfort, so having a list of easy, yummy, and nutritious meals that the kids will love to eat can go a long way towards making the lunch packing (and eating) efforts much easier on everyone.

KINDERGARTEN LUNCHES (FOR EVEN PICKY KIDS!)

Consider whether your child will have milk with their lunch when deciding whether to send a drink—and keep in mind that milk is food and a source of dairy when packing a lunch.

1. Sunbutter and jam sandwich, applesauce pouch, cheese stick
2. Turkey and cheese sandwich, snap pea crisps, raspberries
3. Ham and cheese sandwich, snap peas, clementine
4. Cheese sandwich, fruit, veggie of choice
5. Hummus sandwich, banana, cookie
6. Cream cheese and jam sandwich, apple slices, roasted chickpeas
7. Pita pocket sandwich with hummus and cucumbers, veggie medley (in a thermos), fruit cup
8. Pita pocket wedges with hummus or ranch, diced chicken, baked chips, and strawberries
9. DIY lunchables with meat, cheese, crackers, and fruit in a lunchbox
10. Crackers, cheese, fruit, and veggies (carrots, cucumber, snap peas)
11. Crackers, hummus, fruit, and veggies (carrots, celery, mini cucumbers)
12. Mac and cheese with peas and fruit (see below for the full recipe)
13. Pesto pasta with fruit
14. Bean and cheese burrito with fruit and dessert
15. Healthy Chocolate Muffin with cheese and fruit
16. Blueberry Banana Muffin with yogurt pouch and cucumber
17. Banana Zucchini Muffin with pepperoni and cheese
18. Pretzels, cheese, fruit, and a veggie
19. Pretzels, hummus, fruit, and a veggie
20. Cheerios, raisins, nondairy yogurt, grapes
21. Snap pea crisps, cheese, fruit and a veggie
22. Granola bar, cheese, fruit, and a veggie
23. Granola bar, cheese, salami, fruit, and a veggie