A new school year is here, and with it comes the dreaded packing of lunchboxes! The same foods, heading off to school, only to return again in the afternoon – untouched and uneaten. It’s time to mix things up. We have put together a handy list of 50 quick & easy lunchbox ideas that you can keep on hand all year long to give you that much-needed inspiration. Enjoy!
Time to get packing! Browse through our handy list of 50 quick & easy lunchbox ideas – including Recess and Lunch – to give you the inspiration you need this year. We have even linked some handy recipes to help you out.
Recess
Banana Bites: Just 4 ingredients and 5 mins to prep!
- Fruit: just stock up on those in season.
- Vegetables: carrot, capsicum, cucumber, snap peas, frozen peas (that will thaw during the day).
- Edamame: you can even get frozen packs from Woolworths and Coles.
- Hummus (or any dip!) with veggies.
- Ants on a log: celery with goat’s cheese and sultanas.
- Cheese sticks, blocks or slices served with crackers.
- Bocconcini and tomato skewers (or just in a container).
- Egg: boil and pop in lunchbox.
- Stewed apple with yoghurt.
- Yoghurt. Freeze them in the summer and pop in a spoon!
- Bliss balls: there are so many recipes out there, but here are some favourites: banana bites, chocolate bliss, lemon & coconut, raspberry coconut,
- Homemade oat bars: blueberry oat bars, muesli bars, strawberry oatmeal, apricot and oat muesli,
- Rice cakes: these can be top with any spread you like! Or serve plain.
- Banana pancakes.
- Corn chips, veggie chips, baked apple chips, sweet potato crisps.
- Muffins: ABCD, strawberry, yoghurt and banana, carrot cake, basic muffin, peach, ricotta and vanilla bean,
- Cookies: strawberry coconut cookie, chocky rock cookies, oat choc cookies
- Roasted chickpeas
Lunch
Sweet potato & bacon slice
- Sandwiches: can’t go wrong with a good, old-fashioned sandwich. Plenty of topics to choose from to mix it up.
- Meatballs: keep them in a thermos container to keep them warm.
- Soup: perfect option for winter that can also be kept in a thermos to stay warm.
- Cheesy pumpkin puffs.
- Wraps: again, so many fillings to choose from and you can mix it up a bit.
- Fritters: corn fritters, chicken and broccoli fritters, pesto vegetable fritters, vegetable fritters, zucchini fritters
- Muffins: there are plenty of savoury muffins out here to choose from, sweet potato, spinach & feta, broccoli and goat’s cheese muffins, butternut pumpkin,
- Mac ‘n cheese muffins.
- Spinach, feta and ricotta parcels.
- Pita pockets with hummus, tomato, olives, falafels.
- Mini quiches: another great one you can mix up with mini quiches, pea and bacon, pizza quiches, quiche lorraine.
- Sushi: you can opt for the homemade variety, or simply buy some the day before!
- Slices: sweet potato and bacon slice, zucchini and pasta slice, spinach, feta and tomato, bacon, zucchini and corn.
- Rice paper rolls: a great way to use up your leftovers. Fill with chicken, noodles, veggies and more.
- Patties: meat patties, salmon and sweet potato patties, tuna patties, beef and potato.
- Pizza bagels
- Spanish omelette
- Risotto balls: tomato risotto balls, mushroom risotto balls, mozzarella risotto balls, pumpkin risotto balls.
- Deli meats: ham, chicken, salami, cabanossi
- Ham & cheese pockets.
- Sausage rolls: chicken and vegetable, sausage rolls, vegetarian sausage rolls,
- Lasagne roll ups
- Quesadillas
- DIY tacos
- Bites: broccoli cheese bites, cheddar cheese bites, couscous bites.
- Savoury pancakes with smoked salmon.
- Scrolls: cheese and vegemite scrolls, ham and cheese scrolls, spinach and feta scrolls.
- Salad: greek salad, noodle salad, pasta salad.
- Shredded BBQ chicken roll.
- Leftovers: take a look at what you cooked the night before and see if you can send it to school.
- Fried rice.
- Skewers: tomato and sausage, sandwich skewers, salami and cheese skewers.
Sandwich Skewers are a fun twist on the classic!
Want more ideas for back to school?
- Essential Guide to Active Bodies & Minds, Term 1 2020
- Essential Guide to Creative Kids, Term 1 2020
- North Shore Mums Directory – Classes & Activities!
- First day of school printables
- Choosing the right preschool: Top questions to ask
