Gone are the days of Turkey Twizzlers; but who says school lunches have to be boring? Not us!
But, when fussy eaters are thrown into the mix, conjuring up children’s school lunchbox ideas can be a dreaded chore. It’s important that you pack food full of nutrients to keep your child well-fed at school, but also food that will be enjoyed and doesn’t cost the earth.
At Wynsors, we’re always on hand to help busy mums and dads with back-to-school prep, and if you’ve bought school shoes with us, you’ll know that affordability is always on our agenda. We’ve sought out quick, easy and healthy lunchbox ideas for toddlers, teens and kids in-between to take to school or nursery.
Keep reading for the best purse-friendly lunchbox ideas.
Simple mini quiches
After a quick and easy school lunchbox idea? This mini quiche recipe from Watercress only takes five minutes to prepare and 10-15 minutes to cook!
Enough for nine mini quiches, you can pack a few into your child’s lunchbox for a guaranteed full tummy. Struggle to get your fussy eater to eat their greens? It’s easy to sneak some vegetables into these quiches to keep up with their five-a-day.
What you’ll need:
- 30g watercress (roughly chopped)
- 6 eggs
- 3 large tortilla wraps (either plain or watercress flavoured)
- 5 cherry tomatoes (halved)
- 2 slices of honey roast ham
- Salt and pepper
- 12cm round cookie cutter
- Muffin tin
- Pre-heat your oven to 180°C.
- Take the cookie cutter and cut out nine circles from your tortilla wraps. Once cut, push the circles into the holes of a muffin tin.
- Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add in the chopped watercress and mix.
- Tip the egg mix into a jug and pour carefully into the tortilla cases, not quite filling to the top.
- Next, cut the ham slices into squares and place one on top of each case, before topping with half a cherry tomato.
- Place the quiches into the pre-heated oven for ten minutes, or until the egg is set and cooked through.
- After this, remove from the oven and allow to cool for five minutes before removing from the tin. Once completely cooled, store your quiches in the fridge until it’s time to pack the lunchbox.
Layered lunch pots
Another delicious recipe from Watercress that’s packed full of the essential food groups, these layered pasta pots are bound to go down well!
This healthy lunch box idea has a super-speedy prep time of just ten minutes, and is enough to feed two hungry mouths with lots of goodness.
What you’ll need:
- 50g watercress
- 150g macaroni pasta (cooked)
- 1 tin of tuna in brine
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 orange pepper (de-seeded and sliced)
- 1 red pepper (de-seeded and sliced)
- 1 small tin of sweetcorn (drained)
- Salt and pepper
- 2 jars (with tight-fitting lids)
- Drain the tin of tuna and scoop into a small bowl with mayonnaise and a sprinkle of salt and pepper if desired.
- Split the cooked pasta evenly between each jar, before layering with the tuna mayonnaise, sweetcorn and peppers.
- Finally, top with watercress, seal the jars and keep refrigerated for up to 24 hours until needed.
Top tip: If your picky eater doesn’t fancy peppers and sweetcorn, you can mix up with any other veg they like. Plus, these pots are an ideal way to use up whatever vegetables you have in your fridge, making them a cheap, healthy and fun lunchbox idea for kids of all ages – even the fussy ones!
Vegan muffin goodness
Looking for an easy toddler lunchbox idea that’s vegan-friendly? The award-winning vegan cheese brand, Sheese, has you covered. Perfect for pre-schoolers with plant-based diets or nursery kids who fancy a tasty alternative to dairy, these courgette and sweetcorn muffins are sure to brighten up their lunchtime.
Taking up to 15 minutes to prep and 15-20 minutes to cook, this vegan recipe is certainly worth the longer bake for a lunchtime delight. Plus, it makes six servings – bonus!
What you’ll need:
- 125g quinoa, brown rice and oat flour
- 75g chickpea flour
- 2 tsp Italian or mixed herbs
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- Black pepper and salt
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 courgette (grated)
- 6 tbsp sweetcorn
- 75g mature cheddar-style Sheese (grated)
- 300ml water
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6-hole muffin tin
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Mix the flours, herbs, garlic, paprika, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and pepper in a bowl, before stirring in the grated courgette, sweetcorn and vegan cheese.
- Pour in the water and olive oil and stir well to create a nice batter texture.
- Lightly grease the muffin tin and spoon the mixture to the top of each hole.
- Bake for around 15-20 minutes until risen and golden. Leave to cool completely and keep in an airtight container for up to three days.
Panda-themed bento boxes
Taking 20 minutes to prep, this bento box lunch idea for kids is what dreams are made of! Once again from our friends at Watercress, little ones will love this cute, Japanese-inspired packed lunch that’s nutritious, colourful and fun.
What you’ll need:
- 2-inch length of cucumber
- Small handful cherry tomatoes
- 100g chicken breast (cooked and sliced)
- 1 tbsp teriyaki sauce
- Handful of watercress
- 2 tbsp mixed nuts and seeds
- Small handful of grapes (cut in half)
- 3 strawberries (quartered)
- 50g sushi rice (cooked according to packet instructions)
- 1 sheet nori seaweed
Optional:
- Panda rice mould with nori cutter (available online)
- Bento box (or a lunchbox with compartments)
- Small, shaped cookie cutter
- Pack the rice mould full of cooked sushi rice, making sure that any small, detailed sections such as the ears are tightly packed. If you don’t have a mould, you can simply shape the rice into firm balls using wet hands.
- Carefully turn the panda-shaped rice out of the mould and decorate with small shapes cut out of the nori sheet so that it resembles the face of a panda. Refrigerate until needed, up to 24 hours before using.
- Slice the cucumber into thick slices and cut out your desired shapes with a cookie cutter (or by hand if you’re feeling creative!).
- Take the cooked chicken and toss in the teriyaki sauce until well coated.
- Assemble the bento box by neatly placing the panda rice, chicken, watercress, cucumber, tomatoes, fruit and nuts into the sections of the lunchbox. Â
Top tip: Bento boxes make brilliant school lunches for even the fussiest eaters. Depending on what food they like, you can swap out some of the fruits, veg or flavours to suit their palate.
Fun (and healthy!) flapjacks
Our next recipe is courtesy of Love Your Gut, a national campaign dedicated to highlighting the importance of maintaining good digestive health.
For a healthy snack to pop in your child’s lunchbox, why not try an oat bran flapjack with coconut and sunflower seeds? The perfect piece of protein to keep your little one energised at school, these bitesize treats are easy-peasy to whip up the night before.
What you’ll need:
- 140g rolled oats
- 140g oat bran
- 100g soft brown sugar
- 1 tbsp desiccated coconut
- 3 tbsp sunflower and pumpkin seeds
- 140g unsalted butter
- 5cm deep baking tin
- Start by pre-heating the oven to 200°C (gas mark 6).
- Mix the oats, oat bran, soft brown sugar and the sunflower and pumpkin seeds together in a large bowl.
- Melt the butter gently in a saucepan and mix in the dry ingredients.
- Tip this mixture into the baking tin, making sure to press down and smooth out with the back of a metal spoon.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes until the flapjack begins to turn golden brown at the edges.
- Cut your flapjacks into squares as soon as you remove them from the oven, and leave to cool before removing from the tin. Once cooled, store in an airtight container.
Top tip: These flapjacks also make a great snack to take on the school run as a late breakfast!
Lovely lemon cookies
Another vegan bake from Sheesh, this vegan lemon sandwich cookie recipe makes a healthier alternative to traditional choc-chip cookies. These zesty treats take 25 minutes to prepare and 12 minutes to bake.
What you’ll need:
- 100g stevia (a healthier sugar substitute)
- 180g self-raising flour
- 135g oats
- Pinch of salt
- 1 lemon
- 100g dairy-free butter (melted)
- Baking tray
- Greaseproof paper
For the cream cheese filling:
- 1 tub of cream Sheese (room temperature)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Extra zest to serve
- Pre-heat your oven to 180°C.
- Using a large mixing bowl, pour in the stevia, flour, oats and salt, then stir to combine the dry ingredients together.
- Add the juice and zest from one lemon to the melted butter and mix to form the zesty cookie dough.
- Roll some of the dough into balls and squish them down gently onto the baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.
- Bake in the oven for approximately 12 minutes, before removing the cookies from the oven and placing them on a wire rack to cool.
- While the cookies are cooling, prepare the cream cheese filling by placing the cream Sheese into a mixing bowl and mixing with extra lemon juice and zest.
- Dollop a spoonful of the icing mixture in-between two cookies and gently press together. Sprinkle with extra zest and et voila!
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If you give any of these recipes a try, we’d love to see the outcome over on our Facebook page! Now you’re full of kids’ school lunchbox ideas ahead of the back-to-school return, all that’s left to do is sort their essentials. We’ve got you covered with our affordable range of school shoes online or in-store.
Looking for more tips and tricks to make term time less stressful? Make sure you check out our back-to-school hub, packed with useful advice from one parent to another.
