50 Lunch Ideas for Kids at Home or for School

Vegan Hummus Avocado Wrap

Use ripe avocado, or even leftover guacamole, and protein-rich hummus to make these vegan hummus avocado wraps. Add some sprouts or salad greens for crunch, but leave out the tomato if sending to school, to avoid sogginess.

Vegan Asian Rice Salad

A healthy vegan Asian rice salad with plenty of vegetables is a fabulous way to give vegan kids a boost of energy at lunchtime. Brown rice is full of protein and fiber, and kids love the crunchy texture and sweet and sour flavors.

Kid-Friendly Energy Bites

Skip the store-bought, highly-processed, sugar-loaded confections, and make your own kid-friendly energy bites at home, instead! With just a handful of wholesome ingredients (and a bit of chocolate!) these energy bites can be mixed up in a matter of minutes.

Cheesy Meatball Bombs

These cheesy meatball bombs that start with packaged biscuit dough explode with kid-favorite Italian flavors of meatballs, tomato sauce, and Parmesan cheese.

The Ultimate Avocado Toast

Kids love creamy avocado, and this easy toast recipe is a hit. The ultimate avocado toast can be served simply as is or layered with slices of crispy bacon to make a great open-faced lunch sandwich.

Easy Pizza Pockets

Whip up a simple tomato sauce, crack open a tube of refrigerated biscuit mix, gather some favorite pizza toppings, and you've got everything needed to make these kid-favorite easy pizza pockets.

Easy Meatloaf Muffins

Give kids a comforting, home-style lunch with this recipe for cute easy meatloaf muffins that are made from a classic meatloaf mixture baked in muffin tins.

Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

A thermos full of chicken noodle soup is the next best thing to a hug from mom. Make this tasty soup on the weekend and freeze in individual portions for heating and packing into a thermos for school lunches any day of the week.

Pasta Salad With Chicken and Spinach

Send yours to school with this packed pasta salad full of chicken, spinach, tomatoes, and other crunchy veggies. Use cooked leftover chicken, canned chicken, or a rotisserie chicken for this tasty salad recipe. The recipe is very forgiving, so feel free to change some of the ingredients to suit your taste.

Pepperoni Pizza Sliders

Skip the takeout pizza with this pepperoni pizza sliders recipe, which layers ingredients from a pepperoni pie onto slider buns to create mini-pizza sandwiches kids will love to eat.

Salmon and Cream Cheese Tea Sandwiches

Cream cheese and smoked salmon have traditionally been a favorite topping for bagels, but this combination can also make a wonderful filling for finger sandwiches. This recipe is a quick and easy addition for a light lunch. Place them in a cold bag to keep chilled until it's time to eat.

Vegetable Beef Soup

Cook up a big pot of this warming vegetable beef soup on the weekend for thermos lunches. The recipe is packed with potatoes, green beans, carrots, celery, and onion, but you can add whatever vegetables you have on hand, such as corn or zucchini.

Vegetable Lasagna

Make a nutritious vegetable lasagna on the weekend and freeze it in individual portions for easy weekday meals. Prep by heating it through in the microwave and wrapping it in aluminum foil before placing it in insulated lunch bags and lunchboxes.

Honeyed Fruit Salad

For those hot days when kids often crave a lighter lunch, this sweetened honeyed fruit salad with honey, lemon, and just a little sugar does the trick. Pack it into a plastic or glass container and add some cheese cubes and crackers to their lunch bags as a delicious snack.

BBQ Chicken Salad

This BBQ chicken salad is so satisfying even the adults will be fighting over it. We use poached chicken breast, but feel free to use a store-bought rotisserie chicken and bottled dressing if you're short on time. Pack the dressing separately and let the kids shake it all together when ready to eat.

Pizza Wraps

These easy pizza wraps with just three ingredients are basically cheese quesadillas with spaghetti sauce added inside. Go ahead and stuff them with your little ones' other favorite pizza toppings, such as diced green bell peppers, pepperoni slices, and mushrooms. Wrap in tinfoil to keep warm.

Chicken Waldorf Sandwiches

The short set will enjoy the sweet, crunchy ingredients in these unusual chicken Waldorf sandwiches. The chicken-and-mayo filling gets extra zip from honey mustard and is mixed with chopped green apples, walnuts, and dried cranberries.

Vegan Banana Muffins

Vegan banana muffins are a great way to get healthy fruit into kids. Make them with or without walnuts and feel free to toss some vegan chocolate chips into the batter.

Creamy Potato Soup With Ham

This creamy potato soup with ham is like eating a stuffed baked potato in a bowl. Fill kids' thermoses with the rich and filling soup, which—along with some crackers—makes an excellent school lunch on colder days.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Tender chocolate chip banana bread packed with plenty of healthy fruit is a lunchbox snack kids will love. Give them a special treat by packing slices along with an orange or apple to keep their meal balanced.

Vegetable Fried Rice With Spinach

This vegetable fried rice with spinach makes a healthy, meat-free thermos lunch idea for busy kids. You could also add some diced marinated tofu and any other vegetables you usually toss into a stir-fry.

Greek Salad

A Greek salad has plenty of bright, crunchy veggies, plus salty black olives and creamy feta cheese, all dressed simply in a drizzle of olive oil and oregano.

Crescent Roll Pigs in a Blanket

Little ones will gobble up these crescent roll pigs in a blanket. Be sure to add extra for sharing and pack them along with little containers of mustard and ketchup for dipping.

Ham and Turkey Wrap

Deli-style turkey breast and honeyed ham slices are layered onto a whole-wheat tortilla wrap with Dijon mustard and some greens, then rolled up for an easy ham and turkey wrap. Slice it into pinwheels if you like.

Mini Cucumber and Cream Cheese Sandwiches

Kids love this mini cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches recipe, which can be cut into long "finger" shapes (or any other shapes) for their lunchboxes.

Beefy Macaroni and Cheese

Fire up your crock pot on the weekend to make this beefy macaroni and cheese for thermos lunches. It's easily made with inexpensive grocery store ingredients, including lean ground beef, prepared cheese sauce, condensed soup, canned tomatoes, and elbow noodles.

Vegetarian Crock Pot Taco Soup

Three kinds of beans provide this Tex-Mex vegetarian crock pot taco soup with plenty of protein, and the seasoning mix gives it the familiar taste of their favorite Mexican food. Skip the cheese and sour cream toppings to keep it vegan.

Perfect Tomato Soup

This smooth and creamy perfect tomato soup in a thermos makes a great lunch for kids on cooler school days. It's easily made with canned and fresh tomatoes, canned broth, onion, carrot, and simple seasonings. Float some goldfish crackers on top for a whimsical surprise.

Caprese Salad

Fresh mozzarella—or in kid-speak, "squishy cheese"—is added to juicy sliced tomatoes and fresh basil leaves in this simple olive oil-dressed Caprese salad.

Simple Chicken Salad

Juicy red or green seedless grapes (cut in half for safety) add a burst of sweetness to this simple chicken salad. You can use the recipe to make sandwiches or add some chopped iceberg lettuce to make it a container salad.

Gluten-Free Macaroni and Cheese

Gluten-free kids will be the envy of their friends at lunchtime when you send them to school with this rich and creamy gluten-free macaroni and cheese in their thermos. Amaranth flour is the secret to the thickened four-cheese sauce.

Vegetarian Oven-Baked Cheese Quesadillas

Vegetarian oven-baked cheese quesadillas with tons of melted cheese and a trio of crunchy, diced bell peppers make a winning school lunch. Bake them quickly in the morning and send them off with little containers of sour cream and salsa for dipping.

Corn Waffles

Waffles for lunch. Sneakily healthy waffles have canned whole kernel corn inside for extra nutrition. Wrap in foil to keep warm and add a small container of maple syrup that kids can pour on top of these corn waffles before digging in.

Cold Soba Noodle Salad

Cold soba noodle salad is flavorful and fun for kids to eat, thanks to its chewy, nutty-tasting buckwheat noodles, carrots, cucumber, bell pepper, radishes, and green onions. It makes a refreshing lunch on warm days.

Four-Cheese Mac and Cheese Muffins

Mac and cheese is a kid-friendly lunch that's even more fun to eat when turned into cute little muffins. You bake the four-cheese mac and cheese muffins in muffin tins prepared with paper liners to create filling pasta bites that students can eat with their hands.

Chicken Tenders

If your kids dig chicken nuggets, they'll enjoy these home-baked chicken tenders with a crunchy crouton coating. Pack in an insulated lunch bag for school with some raw veggie sticks or whole fruit.

Greek Mini Frittatas

Kids who like omelets will enjoy these Greek mini frittatas that you bake in muffin tins. Eggs, chopped fresh vegetables, and crumbled feta cheese combine with a few simple seasonings to make the tasty, handheld lunch bites.

Peanut Butter Hummus

Peanut butter hummus is definitely a kid favorite. Naturally high in protein, it can also be helpful for picky eaters who don't eat a lot of meats. But, while we definitely would like children to eat more legumes, such as the chickpeas that form the base of all hummus, the fact is that most adults love peanut butter every bit as much as children do.

Stuffed Baked Potatoes With Bacon and Cheddar Cheese

Kids love stuffed potatoes, and these twice-baked wonders are loaded with cheddar cheese and bacon for extra lunchtime goodness. You can also make this stuffed baked potatoes with bacon and cheddar cheese recipe ahead and refrigerate for up to three days.

Pasta With Vegan Spinach Cashew Pesto

This pasta with vegan spinach cashew pesto has plenty of protein and vitamins to keep vegan kids going and packs easily into their school thermos for a warm lunch.

Hummus Sandwich

This hummus sandwich is so easy to make and a great way to sneak extra protein into vegan and vegetarian eaters at lunchtime. All you need is pita bread, store-bought hummus, and your kids' favorite crunchy vegetables.

Crock Pot Hamburger Soup

Kids get plenty of energy from a meaty crock pot hamburger soup you can make on the weekend in the crock pot, with ground beef, frozen and fresh vegetables, onion soup mix, canned tomato sauce, elbow macaroni, a little soy sauce, and Italian seasonings.

Chicken Kabobs for Kids

Kabobs have magical powers for kids. The exact same food served on a plate may hold no appeal to them. But put it on a stick and voila! Suddenly, it becomes tasty. Such is the case when I make these chicken kabobs. The red pepper and spring onion add beautiful color to these chicken kabobs.

Vegetarian Tofu "Egg" Salad

Vegan and vegetarian kids can enjoy the texture and taste of "egg" salad sandwiches with this sneakily healthy vegetarian tofu egg salad. Vegan mayo and sweet pickle relish give the fluffy, protein-packed sandwich a great tangy taste and creamy texture.

Salmon Croissant Sandwiches

This salmon croissant sandwiches recipe is a fun idea for your little one's lunchbox. You can swap out the lettuce for other greens, depending on what your kids prefer.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

If your kids enjoy broccoli with cheese sauce, they're sure to like this warming broccoli cheddar soup recipe, which blends the two ingredients together into a warming thermos-ready soup.

Gluten-Free and Vegan Italian Rice and Beans

This gluten-free and vegan Italian rice and beans can be made with just a handful of pantry ingredients for a great last-minute lunch idea on colder days.

Taco Salad

This loaded taco salad with ground beef, refried beans, cheddar cheese, taco seasonings, and chunky tomato salsa features all of kids' favorite Tex-Mex ingredients. Add some tortilla chips for dipping.

Ham Salad Sandwiches

Use leftover cooked ham and your kids' favorite bread to make these easy ham salad sandwiches. Celery and onion add a nice crunch to the filling, which gets some extra tang from a little yellow or Dijon mustard mixed into the mayonnaise.

Bierocks (Runzas)

Skip the store-bought, highly-processed, sugar-loaded confections, and make your own kid-friendly energy bites at home, instead! With just a handful of wholesome ingredients (and a bit of chocolate!) these energy bites can be mixed up in a matter of minutes.

Soft and pillowy with a golden-brown top, these rolls are loaded with ground beef, cabbage, and onions. Bierocks—pronounced bee-rock and also known as runzas—are a German/Eastern European roll that made its way to the American Midwest. They're similar to the Russian pirozhki, another popular European meat-stuffed pastry.