School Lunch Ideas

Healthy lunches do not have to be time-consuming or expensive. You can send these school lunch ideas every day of the week with our simple and easy-to-make recipes.

There is a wide world of healthy packed lunches outside of sandwiches! Some of our favorite "main dishes" for lunchboxes include chicken quesadillas, muffins and yogurt, and pasta salads. We have a whole selection of more school lunch ideas below!

Stainless steel bento-style lunchbox filled with a snack lunch: pretzels and dip, grapes, watermelon, popcorn, cucumber spears, and deli meat roll-ups

Shelf of a utility cart holding small containers and accessories for zero-waste lunch packing.

Lunch Packing Tips

Once you have the right tools, lunch packing is actually pretty easy! Here's everything you need to get started packing eco-friendly lunches.

Bento-style lunch box filled with the makings for two-bite tacos

School Lunch Ideas: Stainless steel lunch box with Greek pasta salad, pita chips and hummus, and clementine slices.

18 Eco-Friendly Lunches

We pack school lunches nearly every weekday, and these are some of our biggest hits. Whether your family is vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, or eat a little bit of everything, there is a lunch here for you!

The Ultimate Guide to Healthy School Lunches

We've packed (pun intended!) all our knowledge from years of making school lunches into one digital master guide!

All the latest recipes

Find all of our favorite school lunch ideas and recipes below. We've got something for everyone—gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, and nut-free options can all be found below.

A variety of breakfast egg muffins sit on a gray background.

Meal Prep Breakfast Egg Muffin Cups: 4 Recipes to Try!

Easy-to-Peel Hard Boiled Eggs - Perfect Egg

3 Methods for Perfect, Easy-to-Peel Hard Boiled Eggs

A hand dunks a chocolate drizzled cookie snack bite into a small glass of milk.

3 Ingredient Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Snack Bites

Whole Wheat Parmesan Crackers arranged on a marbled background

Parmesan Whole Wheat Crackers

Meal Prep Baked Falafel Lettuce Wraps packed into glass lunch containers with mixed berries

Meal Prep Baked Falafel Lettuce Wraps

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola

Hands holding a filled bento-style lunch box for a zero-waste lunch

How to Pack Zero-Waste School Lunches

A quesadilla packed into a lunch box with a condiment cup of sour cream

Avocado Black Bean Quesadilla

A "Love you Berry Much!" note rests on top of a special packed lunch with red and white candies, fresh berries, cucumber slices, pretzel twists, and a spinach tortilla wrap.

8 Cute Printable Valentine Messages for Kids

Serving platter of pinwheel appetizers stacked with one on top showing all the spiraled layers inside.

Italian Pinwheels with Cream Cheese Spread

One Bowl Whole Wheat Banana Bread

One Bowl Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Meal Prep Healthy Veggie Stir Fry

Meal Prep Veggie Stir Fry

Chicken quesadillas are stacked on top of a wooden cutting board.

Chicken Quesadilla Recipe

Four jars of yogurt with fruit on the bottom lay on their sides, surrounded by fresh fruit and a tea towel.

Yogurt with Fruit on the Bottom (Homemade!)

An overhead shot of stir fry in a bowl.

The Best Healthy Chicken Stir Fry

Two Vegan Blueberry Muffins sit together surrounded by fresh blueberries.

One Bowl Easy Vegan Blueberry Muffins

Two mason jars are layered with chicken, black beans, tomatoes, and lettuce. A fork with a teal handle rests in front of the jars.

Chicken Taco Salad in a Jar

Side angle shot of prepared Meal Prep Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits in glass jars

Meal Prep Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits

Overhead shot of Garden Fresh Tomato Soup on a white background, with whole tomatoes off to the side

Garden Fresh Tomato Soup

Overhead shot of Instant Pot coconut yogurt in a white bowl, garnished with mixed berries and seeds, and a drizzle of honey

How to Make Instant Pot Coconut Yogurt

Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins

Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins

Spinach and Quinoa Patties on a white plate, topped with sour cream and chives

Spinach-Quinoa Patties

Stack of Pumpkin Spice Dark Chocolate Nut Butter Cups arranged on a white plate. One of the cups is cut in half to show the filling.

Pumpkin Spice Dark Chocolate Nut Butter Cups

Two hands hold a chicken Caesar wrap that has been cut in half.

Easy Chicken Caesar Wrap Recipe

Three reusable snack bags, each spilling out a different snack - pretzels, almonds, and crispy snap peas

How to Make Reusable Snack Bags (Tutorial)

A pot of taco pasta skillet with a wooden spoon stirring it.

Creamy Taco Pasta Skillet

A metal spatula holds aloft a tall slice of banana cake dusted with powdered sugar.

Simple Banana Cake Recipe

Cross section of a cut chicken bacon ranch wrap showing all the ingredients wrapped inside.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap

Top view of blueberry muffins on a wooden serving board with fresh berries and a blue and white striped kitchen linen.

Easy Blueberry Muffins Recipe

Bento-style lunchbox filled with meatballs, cantaloupe, crackers, and hummus

18+ Zero-Waste Healthy School Lunch Ideas

How to Meal Prep Smoothies

Make-Ahead Smoothies, 3 Ways

Veggie wrap bites with hummus packed into a school lunch with fruit, cheese, and snacks.

Veggie Pinwheels for Packed Lunches (Vegetarian)

Homemade chicken nuggets on a white platter.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Top view of two pepperoni pinwheels atop other pinwheel bites, the pepperoni spirals deliciously displayed.

Pepperoni Pinwheels for School Lunches and Parties

Rainbow fruit skewers in a metal lunch container with yogurt dip, cheese, crackers, and veggies.

Rainbow Fruit Kabobs

Frosted cookies served on a parchment paper lined tray.

Iced Oatmeal Cookies

Overhead shot of 24-hour yogurt in a bowl, topped with granola and berries

How to Make Yogurt (With or Without an Instant Pot!)

Close view of two English muffin pizzas in a three-compartment metal lunch box.

English Muffin Pizzas

A muffin tin filled in alternating cups with six flavors of muffins and their corresponding mix-ins, such as strawberries, chocolate chips, blueberries, and more.

7 Secrets to Perfect Muffins (Plus, All the Muffin Recipes!)

Six bento-style Halloween lunches in two rows of three on a dark background.

Easy Halloween Lunch Ideas for Kids

A teal plate stacked high with chicken bacon ranch pinwheels.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pinwheels

Close-up shot of Baked Vegetable Chips in a white bowl

Crispy Baked Vegetable Chips