50 Packable School Lunch Ideas

Don’t sweat school lunch! Get fresh ideas from our huge list of healthy, simple, and packable lunches. Print the list with my free printable to hang on your fridge!

Also check out our huge school lunch photo gallery with 90+ complete kid lunches.

Packing a school lunch: how hard can it be? Slap together a sandwich, add a piece of fruit and some baby carrots, and you’re done. Easy, right? At least in September, it’s that easy.

But a month or two into the school year, packing lunches starts to feel like a slog. The food starts to come back uneaten. Your kids are complaining about their umpteenth turkey sandwich on wheat. And most troubling of all, there’s no end in sight.

Don’t sweat it. And avoid the lunch-packing burnout with our huge list of packable school lunch ideas to keep you ticking all year long.

Tips for Packing School Lunches

Plan Ahead and Prep

This is SUCH a sanity-saver. You can pack the entire lunch the night before and put it in your fridge. Or you can prep pre-portioned items that are easy to grab in the morning. Some examples are:

• Snack size veggie bags
• Sliced apples with a little lime or lemon juice
• Dips in small containers
• Make sandwiches and freeze them in individual containers

Have a Variety of Healthy Choices

Kids can get tired of the same foods after a couple of weeks. Vary the foods you have for lunches by buying smaller portions or making different recipes and rotating every few weeks. You can also cut fruits and veggies in different fun ways to mix things up. Here are some ideas:

Veggies

• Snap peas
• Bell pepper cut into strips
• Celery sliced thin
• Cucumber rounds
• Cherry tomatoes
• Carrot sticks or coins

Fruit

• Melon balls
• Strawberry halves
• Kiwi slices
• Berries
• Grapes
• Apple slices
• Applesauce pouches

Sides + Snacks

• Energy Bites
• Homemade Granola Bar
• Trail Mix
• Cheese Stick
• Healthy Cookie
• Edamame
• Fruit Leather
• Popcorn
• Fruit Snacks

50 Packable School Lunch Ideas

1. Homemade lunchable: crackers + cheese + deli meat
2. Pinwheel sandwich: tortilla + cream cheese + turkey + provolone cheese + lettuce
3. Soup in a thermos + roll
4. Chopped salad with chopped veggies, boiled eggs, deli meat
5. Veggie-packed pizza rolls
6. Muffins with a cheese stick
7. Waffle sandwich
8. “Finger Food” lunch: trail mix, cheese cubes, and raw veggies
9. Homemade protein bar + fruit
10. Egg muffins
11. Bean and cheese burrito
12. Tuna and crackers
13. Pita Pizza Pocket: shredded cheese + marinara + pepperoni
14. Slider on a hawaiian roll
15. Pasta salad
16. Energy Bites + veggie sticks
17. Egg salad sandwich
18. Chicken nuggets in a thermos to stay warm
19. Guacamole + salsa + tortilla chips
20. Pasta and meat sauce in a thermos
21. Chicken salad wrap
22. Nut butter + fruit sandwich
23. Cheese quesadillas with guacamole
24. Pizza kebabs 
25. Homemade “Uncrustables” 
26. Ham and cheese roll up
27. Homemade pretzel bites with cheese sauce
28. Cheesy spinach bites
29. Homemade hot pocket
30. Turkey club wrap
31. Veggie lunch wrap
32. Yogurt and granola with berries
33. Bagel sandwich with turkey and cheese
34. Banana bread with a hard-boiled egg
35. Quick Mac and Cheese in a thermos
36. Pita with hummus + veggies
37. Rice cakes with nut or seed butter
38. Taquitos or flautas
39. BLT sandwich
40. Chili in a thermos
41. “Bistro Box” with fruit, veggies, cheese, crackers, and hummus
42. Buffalo Chicken Wrap
43. English muffin pizza
44. Lunchbox taco salad
45. A thermos of Homemade Spaghettios
46. Apple and cheddar grilled cheese
47. Tuna salad wrap
48. Pizza lunchable: mini naan + marinara + pepperoni + shredded mozzarella
49. Cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches
50. The easiest packed lunch of all: leftovers from dinner

Free Printable!

More Tips and Ideas for Packing School Lunches

• Best School Lunch Packing Supplies
• How to Create a School Lunch Packing Station
• Lunch Packing Guide for Kids