Healthy School Lunch Recipes, Ideas, & Tips
By Teresa Wagner, RD, LD
September 9, 2019
“Do you have your lunch?” This is an almost daily question in my house as we wrangle our kiddos, spanning multiple grades at once, to pack their bags and make it to the bus or into the car each morning.
Can you relate?
If so, you’re also probably used to the daily thought of “What can I pack for lunch?” as you rack your brain to remember what’s in the fridge and what your kiddo can (and will) eat fast during their too-short lunch hour.
We’ve shared before how real food can make or break your children’s focus, health and success at school.
Today we’re back with the ins and outs of what a healthy lunch looks like as well as a collection of some of our favorite lunch recipe ideas.
Three Ingredients to Include in Every Lunch
When creating a lunch for your kids (and yourself), there are a few things to keep in mind.
First, focus on real food.
No processed baggies of chips or gummy bears. We know that these things are loaded with sugar and food dyes, which turn into even more sugar in our children’s (and our) bodies. This is not the best recipe for a calm and focused day at school (or a healthy immune system, but that’s a whole different story).
Second, include an animal protein (ham, rotisserie chicken and ground beef in chili to name a few), a healthy fat (butter, sour cream, olives and guacamole were all packed in the below examples) and good carbs (grapes, broccoli, apples, cucumber, carrots, etc.).
These three ingredients of animal protein, healthy fat, and real food carbs, in whatever combination you and your kiddos prefer, are crucial to:
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Keeping blood sugar stable, which keeps their moods level
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Supports their immune system
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Leaves them feeling full and satiated (fat is particularly important for this, so don’t skimp!)
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Maintains their metabolism and energy levels right where they should be
Healthy Lunch Prep Tips
Tip #1: Invest In Quality Food Containers
To be environmentally friendly, getting some containers your kiddos enjoy using will help them feel excited to eat lunch while not creating so much plastic waste.
A good quality thermos is a great idea for keeping foods hot or cold. There are also fun Bento boxes on the market these days that have little sections in one container. Perfect for making a healthy “Lunchables”-style meal!
One thing to consider about your choice of containers is that it has to be easy for little hands to open. Kids don’t have much time for lunch and I don’t want them fussing with the container, cutting into precious eating time.
Tip #2: Give Them Healthy Choices
Give your kids a little bit of choice. Two or three choices is sufficient—this isn’t a restaurant!
Giving them a few options let’s them have their preferences, which makes them more likely to eat their lunch when they feel like they’ve had a say over what got packed.
Tip #3: Make A Plan & Chop In Advance
Making a lunch plan for the week will simplify those school mornings, especially on a Monday!
Think about it in advance on what you can prep ahead to last the week. This will help you to have what you need for your shopping list!
Cut up all the veggies and anything else you can in advance, which obviously saves time in the mornings.
Similar to other children, I’ve learned that my daughter will eat meat protein only if it’s bite-sized. She wouldn’t touch a big hunk of turkey, so if I’m giving her turkey cubes, I buy nitrate-free deli meat in the thickest slices you can get, and then I cut it up.
Tip #4: Get Your Kids Involved
When they are old enough, start getting your kids involved.
When you plant the seeds of how to build a meal with protein, fats, and carbs, your kids will have a checklist of what to include in their lunches when they want to start making it themselves.
Tip #5: Make Healthy Food In Big Batches
Beyond that, if you have time, do a big batch of something. Try the Nutritional Weight & Wellness chili or maybe the Muffin Tin Meatloaf.
Egg muffins and chicken salad can also be made in a big batch and used throughout the week.
Below we’ve curated a list of some of our favorite recipes for you to try:
Best Healthy Lunch Recipes & Ideas
Check out these examples from a few Nutritional Weight & Wellness kiddos:
Chicken Sausage With Veggies & Fruit
Pair chicken sausage (protein), veggies (carb) to dip in ranch (fat) and grapes (carb) together for a nice finger food lunch.
Pork With Veggies & Fruit
Another option for your protein, veg, and fruit combo: use leftover pork loin cut up from dinner the night before with blackberries and clementine slices, olives for your fat, and cooked veggies with butter.
Ham Roll-ups with Cream Cheese
Make your own Lunchables with ham roll ups with cream cheese, carrots and bell pepper slices, guacamole, and grapes.
If your kiddo is dairy-free, swap the cream cheese for guacamole, avocado-based mayo, or an olive oil-based hummus.
Chili
Throw some chili from dinner into a thermos with sour cream and oranges.
Soup With Chicken & Apples
Pictured here is a broccoli cheese soup (soup is a great way to sneak in veggies!), but combine your kiddos favorite soup with some rotisserie chicken and apple slices.
We are also fans of the Pot Pie Soup or a creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup for those cold school days (just toss the rotisserie chicken right in the soup!).
Turkey Roll-ups with Avocado
These rollups can be made with a tortilla (gluten-free or brown rice are options) as the base, spread on a little avocado, add your turkey slices, shredded or sliced cheese, before rolling it up and cutting into 1” pieces.
Add fresh organic peaches with organic carrots and a healthy, balanced lunch is ready to go!
Summer Sausage Kebobs
Throw food on skewers and eating healthy food becomes more fun! Summer sausage chunks, mozzarella cheese stick cut into pieces, cherry or grape tomatoes are some options to add to the skewers.
Balance the meal with a small banana and a convenient to-go pack of olives.
Easy Chicken Legs
Pack baked chicken legs (2 used in this example) into a lunch container with organic celery and carrots. Include a to-go container of guacamole and a side of grapes for a balanced finger-foods lunch.
Drummies can be batch cooked in an oven or thrown in a slow cooker to have for the week.
Healthy Chicken Nuggets
Going with the chicken theme, how about upleveling your nugget game with this healthy chicken nuggets recipe? Pair with some berries, raw veggies, and our favorite Lil’ Dipper Veggie Dip (not just for veggies! Dip in your nuggies too!)
Chicken Salad
Naturally a cold dish, this chicken salad is perfect for lunch.
It already contains celery for a veggie and grapes or apple chunks for a fruit, but you can add a side of snap peas and some berries for a little extra delish.
Corn Dog Muffins
Make this recipe with nitrate free organic hot dogs and your kiddo will be the hit of the lunch table. Add a cheese stick for some healthy fat!
Meatballs
Meatballs are another easy protein to eat for a lunch. Throw a couple in with baby cucumbers, carrots, snap peas, a dipping sauce or hummus, and fruitto complete the meal.
We’ve got two fan favorites in terms of flavor profile: wild rice meatballs for beef and “This Little Piggy” meatballs made with pork!
We Can Help Make A Healthy Lunch Plan
Again, remember to do your best. We aren’t striving for perfection. It can take time to make healthy habitchanges, so take it one day at a time.
If you need help creating a healthy eating plan for your family, please consider scheduling a nutrition counseling appointment with me or one of my fellow nutritionists.
We’re here to help develop a plan that works specifically for you and your family, whatever your goals may be.
