Today we are sharing our favorite kids lunch ideas for school which are great kid lunch ideas even for picky eaters. Coming up with creative school lunch ideas can be a challenge for picky kids. Kids of all ages can be picky making packing a school lunch, daycare lunch, summer lunches or any portable lunch a challenge. You either end up making the same thing every day or it becomes a very stressful kid lunch experience for everyone involved.
Portable School Lunch Ideas for Picky Eaters
Here are a bunch of picky eater school lunch ideas to decrease the stress and widen your picky eater food horizon.
Use this list of Kindergarten school lunch ideas, preschool lunch ideas and toddler lunch ideas for any grade and any lunch that is on the go. We hope these easy ideas for school lunches will help you fill their lunch boxes!
Watch how to make these Kid Lunch Ideas for Picky Eaters!
These picky eater lunches were originally featured on Family Food Live with Holly & Chris, we shared 5 Back to School Lunch Ideas for Picky Eaters!
Here’s a look at 5 lunches we are putting together for picky eaters.
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For each of the lunches, we used these BPA free lunch containers .
Master shopping list for these 5 Lunch Ideas for Picky Eaters
Fresh produce:
Sunburst tomatoes
Cherub tomatoes
Red onion
Basil
Parsley
Oranges x 2
Grapes
Strawberries
Banana
Apples
Refrigerator:
Feta cheese crumbles
Crescent roll dough
Shredded cheese
Go-gurt
String cheese
Tortillas
Slices of ham
Cheese slices
Slices of turkey
Freezer:
Frozen waffles
Pantry:
White win vinegar
olive oil
salt
black pepper
pizza sauce
Pineapple rings
Cheerios
Peanut butter, Nutella or Almond butter
Crackers
Applesauce or Chocolate pudding
5 Picky Eater Lunch Ideas
Lunchbox Idea #1 – Tomato Feta Salad Recipe
This easy salad recipe may not be obvious for a picky eater, but you can modify it with what they like and don’t like and it works really well in a sealed container to go to school and can help inspired us all to look beyond the sandwich when it comes to lunch ideas for kids.
You can add this as a side dish inside the lunch box or if you have a cooked roast chicken or some leftover fried rice, you can make this an entire lunchbox meal.
Ingredients Needed for Lunch Idea
- 1 cup Sunburst Tomatoes cut in half
- 1 cup Cherub Tomatoes cut in half
- 1 cup Red Onion chopped
- 2 tablespoons White Wine Vinegar
- 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh Basil chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh Parsley chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
- 1/2 teaspoons Black Pepper
- 1 cup Feta Cheese crumbled
Instructions to Make School Lunch
- Cut your tomatoes in half and add to a mixing bowl
- Add chopped red onions, olive oil, white wine vinegar, basil, parsley, salt & pepper — mix completely
- Fold in your Feta Cheese
- Package into a sealed container to be transported to school.
Lunch Box Idea #2 – Pizza Rolls & Pineapple
Picky eaters seem to always be OK with pizza! And this pizza roll recipe is super easy to whip up the night before and place into a lunchbox. Pizza rolls taste great cold. Add their favorite pizza toppings inside or just go with the cheese pizza choice.
Lunch Box Idea Shopping List
- Pizza Rolls (crescent round, sauce and shredded cheese)
- Oranges
- Pineapples
- Cheerios
Lunch Box Idea #3 – Nutella Waffles & String Cheese
Waffles and picky eaters go hand in hand. And why not, doesn’t everything just taste better in a waffle? Even a waffle sandwich with normal sandwich insides is elevated!
Lunch Box Idea Shopping List
- Waffles with Peanut Butter, Nutella or Almond Butter
- Go-gurt
- String Cheese
- Grapes
- Crackers
Lunch Box Idea #4 – Ham Wraps & Fruit
This is one of the favorite school lunch idea meals for my picky eaters. Fruit seems to go over well and these ham wraps are yummy! If you picky eater likes cheese, add a little of that as well.
Lunch Box Idea Shopping List
- Ham Wraps (Butter spread on tortilla, with slice of ham and rolled up)
- Strawberries
- Banana
- Orange
Lunch Box Idea #5 – Turkey Rolls and Apple Slices
This picky eater lunch idea couldn’t be any simpler! Grab a few things you likely already have on hand and make this easy lunchbox solution. This one was a big hit as a Kindergarten lunch idea for my youngest just starting school.
Lunch Box Idea Shopping List
- Cheese & Crackers
- Turkey rolls
- Apple slices
- Apple sauce or Chocolate Pudding
Kid Lunch Ideas FAQs
There are several reasons why a child won’t eat lunch at school. Some things to consider are:
Social: Your child might feel anxious, shy or overwhelmed in the school lunch environment. Your child may be influenced by other student’s eating habits or teased for his/her food choices.
Time: Sometimes there is not enough time provided for a meal in between classes and kids feel rushed.
Preferences: Your child may be picky and not finding anything to eat in the school lunch program or packed lunch! We hope you will use these ideas to overcome this issue.
Appetite changes: Some kids may not be hungry during lunch at school due to growth, activity level or fluctuations in appetite.
Health issues: Undiagnosed or unaddressed health concerns may be causing difficulties. Things to talk over with your doctor include allergies, GI problems and sensory issues.
Everything on the list is a non-sandwich solution for picky eaters at lunch! Other non-sandwich ideas include:
Make a non-sandwich sandwich: Use unexpected bread alternatives for your sandwich or wrap like waffles, crackers, pita bread, tortillas, lettuce leaves, crepes and anything else you might have on hand.
Find the right container: You can take almost any meal for lunch if packaged for travel. If your child has a favorite food, try a thermos or suitable container to get the lunch safely to school. One of my kids took a thermos of oatmeal with toppings nearly every day for a year!
Almond butter
Sunflower seed butter
Cashew butter
Soy nut butter
Tahini
Pumpkin seed butter
Coconut butter
Hazelnut butter or Nutella
Macadamia nut butter
Chickpea butter or hummus
More Ideas for Kid Lunches from Kids Activities Blog
- 15+ Lunch ideas for kids that they can pack themselves! <–I love that part
- Here are some lunch ideas for the holidays
- Nut free lunch ideas for kids…oh, and these are meatless too!
- Sandwich free lunch ideas your kids will love
- School lunches kids love
- School lunch hacks that make lunchboxes much easier!
- Cute back to school notes to add to your child’s lunch box
- Awesome school lunches
- These adorable school sandwich ideas are soooooo cute!
- Gluten free lunch ideas for kids
- Vegetarian lunch ideas for kids
- And check out these lunch notes for kids…what a fun way to brighten their day.
These back to school coloring pages are adorable and can help kids get excited about returning to school.
What picky eater school lunch idea is your child’s favorite? Did we miss one that you use in your lunchbox schedule?
Where were these AMAZING school lunch ideas for picky eaters back when I had a picky eater?! LOL! She’s a teen now, but she will still eat a lot of these, I’m sure!
My oldest always wants to eat the same thing every single day ???? These school lunch ideas look like great ways to adapt some of his favorite meals for on-the-go! Thanks for sharing!
My child is the pickiest eater ever. I needed more school lunch ideas. Trying to keep up with what she will tolerate and what she won’t is exhausting.
Do you cook the waffles first?
I do — I pop them in the toaster in the morning and let them cool before popping them into the lunchbox just to crisp them up a bit.
I have to say, #1 made me laugh out loud! ? My picky eater would come nowhere near tomato feta salad. Hahaha! Glad I kept scrolling though because there were some good ideas after that.
So glad that you found some ideas that work for you!
88 acres also has a chocolate sunflower butter that is sooo yum!
I have a tough time with my picky eater. He won’t eat cheese, yogurt, lunch meat, and a host of orher things most kids love. Three out of the four above would not work for him!
Sunbutter and wow butter are good alternatives!
There is a sunflower seed butter called SunButter that my son will eat. It’s allowed at our completely nut-free preschool.
Some schools now don’t allow you to send nut based spreads even if your child isn’t allergic to them. In that case, what do you recommend for the lunch where peanut butter, nutella, or almond butter is suggested?