Keeping school lunches exciting and healthy for kids can be a challenge. Sometimes as parents, we find ourselves guilty of packing lunch with the same old jam sandwich, banana and yogurt pot day after day.
But creating a fun, nutritious and varied kids' lunchbox doesn’t need to be a chore! When you’re next battling for inspiration, look no further than these easy and healthy lunch ideas. Some of these recipes might even be a great opportunity to get the kids involved helping in the kitchen. Give them a go and your kid's lunchbox will be the envy of the playground.
For more ideas to help you win in the kitchen, check out The Prep Hub.
Where do you start?
Before you start putting together an out-of-this world healthy kids' lunch , you'll need to start with a lunchbox or lunch bag. There are heaps of fun bento box lunchboxes (Sistema make great bento boxes like the 1.25l Cube or the 1.76l TO GO). These super helpful bento box options have compartments to help keep different food groups separate and make sure healthy lunches stay fresh all day at school.
If you don't have a bento box available, you can use a small containers or food wraps - just whatever you have on hand. If you're including any perishable items like chicken or pasta salad in a school lunch, consider including an ice pack or packing lunch in a cool bag.
Morning Tea
Morning tea is the perfect time of the school day for some healthy snacks. Perhaps something sweet and tasty like some apple slices, fruit skewers, banana chips or yogurt, or maybe something savoury like a hard boiled egg, cheese roll ups, cherry tomatoes or some carrot sticks with hummus.
There are so many easy great ideas when it comes to creating healthy kids' lunches and so many are so simple. Fruit and vegetables make some of the best healthy fillers in any yummy lunch.
But if you're looking for something outside of the square, try your hand at making one of these fun and tasty recipes!
Homemade rice snap bars
Filled with protein-rich nut butter, dried fruit, seeds, nuts, and delicious dark chocolate chips, these homemade rice snap bars are even better for you than the traditional muesli bar. You can also tailor them to whatever you have on hand or whatever your kids like best - peanut butter, almond butter or any other kind of nut butter are all interchangeable.
Peanut butter apple slices
Incredibly quick and easy, these peanut butter apple slices only need four ingredients - sliced apple, peanut butter, almonds and dark chocolate chips. One of the simplest additions to your kids' healthy lunches that ticks off nearly every food group!
Beetroot dip with pita chips
Every kid loves chips and dip. This healthy version of a staple is packed with tasty vegetables, herbs and spices. If you don't have pita breads on hand, you could also use tortilla bread to make similar tortilla chips. Yum!
Cheese and red onion muffins
These tasty and delicious cheese muffins will quickly become your kids' favourite lunch box addition! Use whatever shredded cheese they like best (Tasty, Edam and Colby all work well!) then make a big batch of these muffins ahead of time. You can even store them in the freezer for a quick lunch box filler. Kids will love helping you make and eat!) this easy recipe too. For a few more of our favourite muffin recipes, check out our Ham, cheese and courgette muffins (packed full of hidden veggies) and Carrot and banana oat muffins.
Looking for good ideas for extra lunchbox fillers? Check out what's in season to explore tastier produce at a good price.
Lunch
Lunch, the halfway point of the school day. By now, your kids have worked up an appetite and they're ready to eat something filling to see them through the rest of the afternoon.
We've put together some of our favourite lunch recipes for kids' lunches - but that doesn't mean there isn't still a place for some of the more traditional school lunches! Sandwiches, pasta salad, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, veggies and fruit are all excellent healthy lunch ideas.
But if you'd like to mix it up with some new options, check out these healthy lunch recipes below.
Sushi sandwich
A fun twist on sushi and sandwiches! Kids will love how fun and colourful this tasty recipe looks in their lunch box. Using only bread, mayo, shredded cooked chicken, cucumber and avocado, this will be one of the quickest and easiest lunches you'll ever make. For another variation on this same idea, try adding cream cheese or cottage cheese in place of mayo or carrots and ham in place of cucumber and chicken.
Pams Sandwich skewers
Carrying on the theme of sandwiches with a twist, these stacked sandwich skewers are a fun and easy idea for school lunches! Use whatever yummy ingredients you have in your kitchen - ham, turkey roll ups, chicken, tasty cheese, bread, cut carrots, snap peas, grape tomatoes, cucumber, pickles, feta cheese, olives or even leftovers from last night's dinner can all be great ideas to add to your fun lunchbox skewers.
Cheesy-mite scrolls
These savoury cheese scrolls are another great recipe for kids to help bake in the kitchen! Using only simple pantry ingredients, they make one of the tastiest and simplest lunch foods. They also freeze well so can be made in big batches then thawed overnight ready for school lunch the next day. For another variation on this theme, check out the Cheese and tomato pinwheel scones - another great addition to any school lunch!
Mini bacon and asparagus quiches
Getting enough veggies into kids can be tough, but these mini bacon and asparagus quiches are the perfect food for hiding plenty of veggies! Feel free to use whatever veggies are seasonal - if you can't find asparagus, finely chopped broccoli or spinach are equally delicious. The recipe can be used using only a handful of pantry ingredients - bacon, olive oil, onion, garlic, pastry, feta cheese, eggs and cream. Perfect for every kids' lunch.
Looking for more great school ideas for kids? Check out our Back to school tips.
Afternoon tea
The school day is done and your kids are back home. Their lunchbox is empty but they're hungry once again and looking for something to eat to tide them over until dinner.
Afternoons can be a busy time for parents. As you try to prepare an evening meal, finish up the day's work and get ready for the next day ahead, it can be tempting to just feed the kids junk food.
Luckily, it doesn't need to come to that! There are plenty of quick and easy solutions to feeding them a healthy snack that'll get them through the afternoon.
Have a look through some of our best ideas for kids' afternoon tea snacks.
Wholegrain no-bake granola bars
These tasty bars are packed with healthy seeds, oats and grains and sweetened with natural peanut butter and honey. Super simple to make ahead, they are popular with kids for their sweet flavour - perfect for an after school pick-me-up! Add your kids' favourite dried fruit and pop in some dark chocolate chips for some extra deliciousness. Honey can be substituted for brown rice syrup or maple syrup too.
Kumara brownies
This might be the least healthy recipe on our list - but it also might be the most popular food you could possibly add to your kids' lunchbox! After all, who doesn't love brownies!? These brownies are much better for you than regular brownies though, as they manage to hide veggies in the form of kumara!
Avocado bliss balls
Bliss balls have taken the world by storm! These delicious little treats are made with all natural ingredients, so you can be sure your kids are getting a nutritious snack to end the school day. These require no baking so come together very easily. They're also gluten and dairy free. Some of our other favourite bliss balls include the Peanut brownie bliss balls (made with dried fruit, nuts, peanut butter and cacao powder), Scorched almond bliss balls and the Date, apricot and almond bliss balls.
Cheese Quesadilla
For those days when your kids are craving hot food, pull out the big guns to whip up this quick and easy cheese quesadilla. A cheese quesadilla is a Mexican snack, made by grilling a wrap with grated cheese. For other variations add in some black beans and corn to create the Black bean and corn quesadillas or add some chicken to make the Cheesy chicken quesadillas.