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NEW VIDEO COURSE: How to Can Salsa โ†’ Enroll Now

Wholefully ยป School Lunch Ideas

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

Lunch Packing Tips

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

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

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School Lunch Mains


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The real secret to packing a school lunch that your kid will eat? Let them have input, and pack whatever you think they’ll eat that will fuel their brain and keep them full through recess! Check out some of our favorite school lunch ideas:

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

Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap

An assembled walking taco rests in a stainless steel lunch box.

Walking Tacos Recipe

Sesame Soba Noodles

Sesame Soba Noodles

Close view of baked chicken meatballs on a serving board, garnished with chopped fresh herbs.

Best Baked Chicken Meatballs Recipe

School Lunch Sides and Snacks


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We like to make sure all of our packed lunches include a fruit, a vegetable, some form of protein, and some sort of carbohydrate. We may include more than that, but we consider a lunch complete if it checks those four boxes. Here are some of our favorite ways to fill out a lunch box:

Two Pumpkin Spice Baked Oatmeal Cups on a green plate with cinnamon sticks

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal Cups

Overhead of a loaf of gluten-free zucchini bread on a cooling rack with two slices cut and stacked beside it.

Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

A lemon poppy seed muffin with a bite taken out, showing the speckled inside, sits in its peeled liner on a light background.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Close view of a strawberry muffin lying on its side with a bite taken out of it showing pockets of cooked pink fruit inside.

How To Make Strawberry Muffins From Scratch

The Ultimate Guide to Healthy School Lunches eBook

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

Download Now!

All the latest recipes

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


Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal Cups

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal Cups

Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

Perfect Peanut Butter Muffins

Perfect Peanut Butter Muffins

How To Dehydrate Apples: 3 Easy Methods To Try

How To Dehydrate Apples: 3 Easy Methods To Try

Vegetarian Summer Orzo Salad Recipe

Vegetarian Summer Orzo Salad Recipe

Simple Banana Cake Recipe

Simple Banana Cake Recipe

Easy Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

Easy Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

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

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

Easy Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe

Easy Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe

Easy Blueberry Muffins Recipe

Easy Blueberry Muffins Recipe

Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap

Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap

How To Make Strawberry Muffins From Scratch

How To Make Strawberry Muffins From Scratch

How To Make Fruit Leather

How To Make Fruit Leather

Easy Cinnamon Muffins

Easy Cinnamon Muffins

Taco Roll-Ups (Taco Pinwheels)

Taco Roll-Ups (Taco Pinwheels)

Easy And Delicious Mini Blueberry Muffins Recipe

Easy And Delicious Mini Blueberry Muffins Recipe

Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe

Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Apple Cinnamon Muffinsย Recipe

Apple Cinnamon Muffinsย Recipe

Walking Tacos Recipe

Walking Tacos Recipe

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Any specific health claim or nutritional claims or information provided on the website are for informational purposes only. Nothing on the website is offered is intended to be a substitute for professional medical, health, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. See full disclosures ยป

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