Frugal School Lunch Ideas

You stare at your kiddos lunch box/bag and try to think of what you have on hand that you can fill it with that (A) your kid will eat (B) is fairly healthy & (C) don't have to work more than a couple minutes to put together. It's the joy of school lunches. Time to get creative.

Due to allergies, we have no choice but to send a packed lunch with my son to school. While many of these ideas we can't use - this is a big list that we can all refer back to during the school year when our creativity is waning.

SANDWICHES

• Lunchmeat
• PBJ or use Sunbutter or Almond Butter**
• Carved meat - leftover ham, turkey, chicken, etc
• Wraps - pizza, lunchmeat, taco, fajita, etc
• Cheese
• Subs
• BLT
• Cream cheese & jelly (think on a tortilla)
• Instead of bread - use a tortilla, flat bread, pancake, waffle, crackers, English muffin, bagel, biscuit, pizza crust, pita, etc

LUNCH MEAT

• Sandwiches
• Wraps
• Cut up with crackers & cheese (think homemade lunchables with ½ the sodium)
• Wrap around a piece of string cheese

DIPS

• Peanut butter, sunbutter, almond butter, nutella** (With pretzels, apple slices, vanilla wafers, carrots, etc)
• Salsa & chips
• Hummus
• Ranch or veggie dip
• Yogurt

OTHER - Great way to use leftovers.

• Salad
• Waffle
• Lasagna rolls
• Pizza
• Hot dog
• Quesadillas
• Meatballs
• Chicken Strips
• Spaghetti (unless they are a messy eater)
• Soups (Use a good insulated thermos/cup and make sure your kid know they HAS to bring that part home.)

SIDES

• Veggies - raw carrots, celery, green beans
• Fruit - apples, pears, peaches, bananas, mangos, melon, strawberries, pineapple, grapes, blueberries, cherries, etc
• Pretzels
• Pita or bagel chips
• Banana or zucchini bread
• Breakfast cookies**
• Cornbread
• Dried fruit or fruit leathers
• Hard-boiled egg
• Pasta
• Rice or quinoa
• Potato - hash browns, mashed, etc
• Parfait - yogurt, fruit, granola
• Yogurt
• Jello
• Rice, wheat, saltine, or whole grain crackers
• Granola bar
• Occasional sweet treat - cupcake, cookie, chocolate, fruit snacks, pudding, brownie, etc
• Energy bar**
• Cereal
• Popcorn
• Sunflower or pumpkin seeds
• Cheese
• Nuts **

**(use caution with potential allergies of classmates)