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Home » Kids Lunch Box » Back To School Lunch Ideas

Back To School Lunch Ideas

Published: Aug 2, 2019 · Modified: Aug 5, 2021 by Shweta Arora · This post may contain affiliate links

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20 easy back-to-school lunch ideas for kids to make that morning rush a little easier!!

In this post, I'm sharing easy, nut-free, healthy, kid-friendly, and delicious lunchbox ideas that include Indian, Global, and vegetarian recipes with lunchbox packing tips and tricks!!

Back to School Lunch Ideas

It's August month which means back-to-school time for many of us. It also means kids' lunchboxes from Monday to Friday for the new school year.

Coming up with new school lunch ideas every day can be overwhelming and I feel we all need help and inspiration in this department. Here is my share!!

In this post, I'm sharing a few of our favorite school lunch ideas that are easy, healthy, nutritious yet fun, and delicious.

From Pasta, Pizza to Paratha, sandwiches, and rice, from Indian to Global recipes like Mexican, Italian with vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. You will find a variety of recipes to chose from to pack a healthy school lunch and snack for your children.

I've included a few tips and tricks to help you pack meals and make this lunchbox journey easy and less stressful.

Check out my other post School Lunch Ideas for Kids where I've documented our Kindergarten lunch box and snack box ideas in more detail.

Table of contents

  • Kids Lunch Box Ideas
  • 1. Creamy Vegetable Sandwich
  • 2. Veggie Pita Bread Pizza
  • 3. Creamy Garlic Pasta With Veggies
  • 4. Leftover Dal Paratha
  • 5. Veg Fried Rice with Spring Rolls
  • 6. Aloo Paratha
  • 7. Paneer Bhurji Sandwich
  • 8. Beetroot Paratha
  • 9. Veg Quesadilla
  • 10. Beetroot Burger
  • 11. Phodnicha Bhaat (Stir Fried Rice) 
  • 12. Rava Upma
  • 13.Veg Pulao and Carrot halwa
  • 14. Idli Chutney
  • 15. Bagel Pizza
  • 16. Red Kidney Beans and Cheese Burrito
  • 17. Bread Pizza Roll Ups
  • 18. Poha
  • 19. Mexican Rice with Black Beans and Corn
  • 20. Egg Salad Sandwich
  • Tips for packing school lunches
  • More recipes for Kids Lunchbox
  • More recipes for kids Snackbox

Kids Lunch Box Ideas

Here are some easy, kid-friendly school lunch recipes that are nutritious, healthy yet balanced, fun, and colorful that will keep the kids full and satisfied through school!

I use stainless steel tiffin from Lunchbots or Thermos at times to pack my kid's lunch. You can check my Amazon Shop Page where I link and update all our lunch box favorites.

1. Creamy Vegetable Sandwich

Creamy vegetable sandwich with veggie sticks and fruits (strawberries and blueberries).

Lunch box packed with vegetable sandwich, straws and berries

2. Veggie Pita Bread Pizza

Veggie Pita Bread Pizza (used onion and green bell pepper) with red grapes, mini cucumber, strawberries, and blueberries.

School lunch box with veggie Pita Bread Pizza, fruits and cucumber

3. Creamy Garlic Pasta With Veggies

Creamy Garlic Pasta With Veggies (used onion, corn, green peas, and red bell pepper) with red grapes and cantaloupe, Blueberry skewers.

Creamy Garlic Pasta with veggies with fruits in a stainless steel lunchbox

4. Leftover Dal Paratha

Leftover Dal Paratha with quick raw mango chunda, coconut ladoo, and fruits (strawberries, blueberries, and grapes)

Leftover Dal Paratha with fruits and ladoo in stainless steel Lunchbox

5. Veg Fried Rice with Spring Rolls

Veg fried rice with veg spring rolls and strawberries.

Veg Fried rice and spring rolls and strawberries in lunch box

6. Aloo Paratha

Aloo paratha with yogurt to dip in, red grapes, and Kaju katli (cut in shapes using cutter). Kaju Katli is made from cashews so avoid and replace it with another sweet treat for a nut-free option.

Aloo Paratha with grapes and Indian sweet in stainless steel  lunchbox

7. Paneer Bhurji Sandwich

Delicious Paneer bhurji stuffed in white buttered bread and cut-in finger sandwiches with a side of ketchup to dip in and chocolate-coated sunflower seeds (from trader joes).

Paneer Bhurji finger sandwiches with ketchup and treat in stainless steel lunchbox

8. Beetroot Paratha

Beetroot Paratha with ketchup for dipping and strawberry. Vegan lunch option.

Beetroot potato stuffed paratha with ketchup for dipping and strawberry Snacks -

9. Veg Quesadilla

Vegetable Quesadillas with Guacamole, Sunchips, red grapes & Trader Joe's dye-free candy-coated chocolate drops.

Quesadilla,Guacamole, chips, grapes and chocolate drops

10. Beetroot Burger

Beetroot Burger made using air-fried beetroot patties. Served with dye-free valentine gummies from trader joes and raspberries.

Beetroot Burger, Raspberries and gummies

11. Phodnicha Bhaat (Stir Fried Rice) 

Phodnicha Bhaat is a quick rice stir fry using leftover rice. You need just a few basic ingredients and spices. Packed with mini cucumber, sweet treat, and some yogurt on the side (not in pic). 

Phodnicha bhaat (stir fried rice), Cucumber and sweet treat

12. Rava Upma

Rava Upma with green peas and potato, lemon slice (in case she wants her Upma tangier), strawberries, m&m's for dessert 

Upma, Strawberries, M&M's

13.Veg Pulao and Carrot halwa

Veg Pulao, Gajar halwa (carrot pudding) both made in Instant Pot packed blueberries and cucumber stars (made using these cutters)

Mix veg pulao , Gajar ka halwa (carrot pudding), Blueberries and cucumber stars

14. Idli Chutney

Pillowy soft mini idlis (rice cakes) with coconut coriander chutney to dunk in. Vegan and gluten-free lunch option.

Paired it with a sweet treat to complete this easy and delicious lunch box.

Mini idlis with coriander coconut chutney and sweet treat

15. Bagel Pizza

Bagel pizza with cucumber and carrot sticks, and red grapes

This 3 ingredient Bagel Pizza is our favorite and we love it for the lunchbox as well as an after-school snack too. All you need is bagels, your favorite marinara sauce, and mozzarella cheese.

To make the Bagel Pizza, toast the bagel, spread your favorite marinara or pizza sauce, top it with shredded mozzarella and Parmesan and broil it in the oven or air-fry it at 370°F for 3-4 mins until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown.

bagel pizza, cucumber & carrot sticks,red grapes

16. Red Kidney Beans and Cheese Burrito

Bean and Cheese Burrito inspired Rajma chawal (red kidney beans curry and rice) and cheese rolled in homemade chapati (whole wheat flatbread). Lightly toast it till cheese melts. Packed with chocolate-flavored coconut rolls from sprouts and cucumber and cherry tomatoes. 

Bean and Cheese Burritos, chocolate coconut rolls and cucumber, cherrytomatoes

17. Bread Pizza Roll Ups

Bread pizza roll-ups packed with oranges and strawberries for snacking and Smores mix for dessert (chocolate chips, marshmallows, and cinnamon-flavored cereals).

Recipe for bread pizza roll-ups - cut the sides of bread slices, and roll them thinly using a rolling pin. Apply butter, marinara, sprinkle some cheese, veggies (red onion, red bell pepper, and corn), salt pepper, and oregano. Roll it tight.

Cut each roll into 4 equal rounds. Air fry at 400°F for 3-4 mins or until the cheese melts and the outside is crispy.

Transfer it onto a cooling rack and let it come to room temp before packing.

Bread Pizza Roll ups, Strawberries, oranges and smores mix

18. Poha

Kanda batata Poha (flattened rice with onion, green peas, and potatoes) packed with a lemon wedge on the side, raspberries, blueberries, and dye-free chocolate drops from trader joes as a sweet treat.

Poha, raspberries and blueberries and chocolate drops

19. Mexican Rice with Black Beans and Corn

One-pot Mexican rice made with black beans and corn made in Instant Pot with avocado, sour cream, mango pieces, red grapes, and blueberries.

Mexican Rice with black beans and corn, mango, avocado and sour cream on side in Lunchbox

20. Egg Salad Sandwich

Creamy egg salad loaded made with perfect hard-boiled eggs (in Instant Pot), mixed with mayonnaise, dijon mustard, salt, and pepper stuffed in white buttered bread and cut-in finger sandwiches. Packed with veggie sticks, sweet treats, and fruits (strawberries and blueberries.

Egg Salad finger sandwiches with berries and sweet treat in stainless steel lunchbox

Tips for packing school lunches

Below are some tips and tricks to make things easier when packing back-to-school lunches and snacks.

Plan your lunchbox: It helps make mornings easier for packing school lunches. If you meal plan, plan your kid's lunchbox alongside and make it an extension of your meal that way you are not making completely two different things.

Prep in advance: Prep as much as possible the night before or over the weekend to make it less stressful in the mornings.

For example - make the quesadilla filling or paratha filling the night before, cool completely, and refrigerate.

Likewise, portion any dry snacks/chips or sweet treats the night before or over the weekend for the entire week.

Wash dry the fruits on the weekend that way they are ready to be packed.

Prevent food from getting soggy: This is applicable for lunch boxes not meant to keep food warm. Hot food when packed in the lunchbox causes condensation which makes the food soggy. In order to prevent that, allow the food to cool completely before packing.

For food like pizza, quesadilla, and paratha’s, remove them onto a wire rack to cool so air circulates from the bottom too.

Bento Box  - I love using lunchboxes with compartments or dividers as that keeps the food separate and prevents mixing. It also allows packing a variety of food like a main meal, snacks, and sides and provides a more balanced meal.

Switch things up: Variety is the key to keep kids interested and intrigued about their lunchbox. Repetition and monotonous lunches will make it boring so always switch things up be in snacks, fruits, or main lunch. Example Its is Ok to pack breakfast food at times for lunch as long as your kid loves it. 

School lunch for kindergarteners or picky eaters: Pack a combination of familiar and new food, smaller portions, and variety. That way they are sure to find some things they like and then explore some new ones too.

Involve kids in lunchbox planning - It helps them learn about new foods as well always results in them eating their lunch better.

More recipes for Kids Lunchbox

  • Semiya Upma | Vermicelli Upma
  • Veg Pizza Sliders
  • Cucumber Cream Cheese Sandwiches
  • Matar Paneer Pulao

More recipes for kids Snackbox

  • Chocolate Chip Granola Bars Recipe
  • Shankarpali Recipe
  • Eggless Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
  • Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Cookies (Eggless)
Tried this recipe?Please rate the recipe by clicking the stars below
Quesadilla,Guacamole, chips, grapes and chocolate drops

Back To School Lunch Ideas

Shweta Arora
20 easy back-to-school lunch ideas for kids to make that morning rush a little easier!! They are nut-free, healthy, kid-friendly, and delicious lunchbox ideas that include Indian, global, and vegetarian recipes with tips and tricks!!
5 from 3 votes
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Cuisine Indian, Indo-Chinese, Italian, Mexican

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  • Kids Lunchbox
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Update Notes: This post was originally published on Aug 2, 2019, but was republished with, more details, new photos, and tips, in Aug of 2021.

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Comments

  1. Gayathri

    November 21, 2022 at 10:02 pm

    Lovely lunch ideas... Perfect combination of lunch with fruits, veggies and rice varieties...

    Will u please share the link of 3 partition lunch box used in this blog..

    Reply
    • Shweta Arora

      November 21, 2022 at 10:27 pm

      Hi Gayathri, thank you so much! so glad to hear that! Here is the lunchbox seen in this post.

      Reply
  2. Gayathri

    September 14, 2022 at 3:26 pm

    thank you so much for these wonderful dishes! lovely presentation too !🥰

    Reply
    • Shweta Arora

      September 14, 2022 at 6:21 pm

      Thank you 😊

      Reply
  3. Samiya Mushtaq

    June 12, 2022 at 10:49 pm

    Lovely, lovely variety of dishes!!!
    Loved it from the bottom of my ♥
    Best Regards,

    Reply
    • Shweta Arora

      June 13, 2022 at 8:43 am

      Thank you so much!!

      Reply
  4. Nachu

    August 25, 2021 at 4:39 pm

    5 stars
    Hi Shweta,
    I am glad I found this post just in time before my kid started kindergarten( and thanks a ton for the details shared over DM).

    Reply
    • Shweta Arora

      August 25, 2021 at 4:48 pm

      Thank you! Glad you found it useful!! All the best for the new school year!!

      Reply
  5. Jancy

    August 16, 2021 at 1:46 pm

    Hi,

    How old is your child. I am about to send my 5 year old and dilemma of what type of tiffin box i need. Should i be packing in thermos(which i have) or are the ones you showed 3 compartment lunchbox good to go.

    Reply
    • Shweta Arora

      August 17, 2021 at 8:34 am

      Hi Jancy, the type of lunchbox is totally up to your preference. If your child prefers the food warm, then a thermos is a better option since these bento boxes don't keep food warm. But if your child prefers variety over one single food item and doesn't mind food at room temperature then a 3 compartment lunchbox is a good option. I would suggest try with what you have and go from there. You may need to pack snacks separately if using Thermos. Hope this helps!

      Reply

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