Looking for some easy make-ahead lunches for school? These awesome ideas and recipes are kid-friendly and can be done as pre-made lunches for the week!
Make-ahead lunch recipes
Ahhh it’s that time again – school is starting and it’s off they go, and parents are back to early mornings, homework, and daily lunch packing. I really strive to make sure my kids are getting a nutritious lunch each day, and it is wearing me out!
As much as I would love to make cute little bento boxes with hand-carved teddy bear sandwiches each morning for my kids, I simply don’t have the time. These make-ahead lunches for school taste good and are perfect to prep all at once and last for the whole week (Psst… you can teach your kids to pack their own lunch with this Printable School Lunch Packing Chart).
photo: My Mommy Style
17 Easy Make-Ahead Lunches For Kids
These kid-friendly lunch ideas for school are all perfect to make ahead for the entire week, no more rushing in the morning before heading out the door! From mac and cheese to sandwich roll ups, to making your own easy bento boxes, even picky eaters will love some of these school lunch ideas.
The best make-ahead lunch ideas
To get these make-ahead lunch ideas off the ground, you will need to do a little planning. Make sure you’re shopping for enough ingredients, including protein (chicken, turkey, ham, beans, chickpeas, avocado, eggs, etc.) vegetables (lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, etc.), sauce, bread, and more ingredients to make 5 lunches per child, one for each day of the week.
Be sure to balance out the meal with enough healthy snacks and sides for your hungry kids, you’ll have to prep those dishes, too. Then, it’s set it and FORGET IT! Try out some of these easy make-ahead school lunch ideas, they really look delicious. Some of these lunch recipes are meals that freeze well, so you can prep a few of these meals for yourself as well.
Hot packed lunch ideas for school
photo: Crazy Adventures In Parenting
1. Homemade pepperoni pizza rolls – Crazy Adventures In Parenting
2. Cheesy zucchini spinach quesadillas – Dizzy, Busy, and Hungry
3. Cheesy corn dog muffins – 5 Minutes For Mom
4. Fiesta Mexican rice – My Organized Chaos
photo: The Bewitchin’ Kitchen
5. Healthy mac and cheese cups – The Bewitchin’ Kitchen
6. Bean rice, and cheese burritos – Bowl of Delicious
7. Easy homemade chicken nuggets – Busy Creating Memories
8. School lunch box pizza muffins – Spaceships and Laserbeams
Cold lunch ideas for kids
photo: The Bewitchin’ Kitchen
9. Strawberry yogurt granola bars – The Bewitchin’ Kitchen
10. Caterpillar lunch snack pack – My Mommy Style
11. DIY lunchable style bento boxes – About A Mom
12. Healthy turkey roll-ups – Honey + Lime
13. Tortilla pinwheel lollipops – Home Cooking Memories
14. Deconstructed cobb salad bento box – Eating Well
15. Breakfast cereal cups and milk for lunch – Honey + Lime
16. Ham and Turkey Sliders – Fab Everyday
17. Turkey and cheese sushi rolls – All Things Mamma
Now you’ve got pre-made school lunches for the week!
I love these make-ahead lunches for kids and I am definitely gonna try some of them. They would love the homemade pepperoni pizza rolls and the cobb salad, I may go ahead and do both of these one week and see how it goes.
What are your favorite make-ahead healthy lunches?
These are such great school lunch ideas for elementary kids! Please don’t forget to pre-pack some grab n go back to school snacks, too, like strawberries, apples, cucumber, carrots, blueberries, corn, or whatever fruits and veggies your kids love – make sure they are available ahead of time along with the entree so that your kids will pack and eat them!
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Love this, so chic and cool.