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Easy School Lunch Ideas That Aren’t Sandwiches

By Michelle Myers 20 Comments

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Easy Lunch Box Ideas for Kids Who Hate Sandwiches

When my first child was born, I fell into the routine of feeding her a hot lunch everyday.

For 1,000 ridiculous reasons, I thought that made me a better mom than someone who tossed a PB & J in front of their child. Clearly, my clever reheating of the previous night’s leftovers gave me super mom status to all who were watching, which was pretty much my 1 year old.

In the end, all it REALLY got me was child who didn’t like sandwiches. Hello, we’re talking the staple of most traditional school lunches and there is a reason. Because they are easy, transportable and really can be customized to whatever your child happens to like.

So, when the preschool years hit, I was faced with the challenge of packing a lunch box for the 1st time for a child that didn’t eat traditional fare. Now, your kids may love sandwiches and be willing to eat them night and day. But maybe you want to change it up a little bit or if you’ve got a pickier eater like I do, than my non sandwich school lunch ideas  are for you.

Non Sandwich School Lunch Ideas

Easy Non Sandwich School Lunch Ideas

Personal Pizzas

Non sandwich school lunch ideas

These are always a huge hit.  We’ve used bagel thins, sandwich thins or even english muffins.

Simply spread tomato sauce on them, cheese, and whatever toppings your kids like. I pop them in the oven until the cheese is melted. After they’ve cooled, I wrap them in foil and stick a piece of wax paper in between  if I’m packaging more than one pizza.

Stick them in the freezer and they’re thawed by lunch time. As far as school lunch ideas, it’s a WAY cheaper and healthier version of a pizza Lunchable!

Quesadillas

Non sandwich school lunch ideas

This is another one that is so easy to customize.

We use black beans, cheese, leftover chicken, veggies, or whatever you have on hand, melt the filling between the 2 tortillas, let cool, slice into quarters and place in sandwich bags.

Pop them in the freezer and they’ll be good to go by lunchtime! My kids love salsa so they’ll grab a serving of it from the refrigerator as well.

Banana Dogs

non school lunch ideas

My son invented these.

I spread peanut butter on a hot dog bun, package it and stick it in the freezer.

He’ll add a banana to his lunchbox, peel it in the cafeteria and stick it on the bun for a different spin on good ol’ PB & J!

A Few Other Easy School Lunch Ideas That Aren’t Sandwiches:

While the ideas above remain my kids favorites, we also have quite a few school lunch alternatives we use regularly. These include:

  • Cheese and Crackers (check out our DIY Lunchable ideas)
  • Fruit and Cracker Pizzas
  • Soup or Mac and Cheese sent in a hot food thermos . (Here are some of our other favorite school lunch accessories.)
  • Mini Pitas and Dips (Hummus is a great one)
  • Kababs – chunks of chicken or other protein they love on toothpicks
  • Mini waffles and peanut butter

Looking for more School Lunch Ideas?

Healthy, Quick and Easy School Lunches

Armed and Ready to Make School Lunches

DIY Lunchables

Do you have other ideas for non sandwich school lunch ideas? 

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Filed Under: Recipes, Young Kids Tagged With: Back to School, easy kid lunches, easy kid meal, Kids Lunches, school lunch, school lunch hacks

About Michelle Myers

Michelle Myers is mom to four kiddos ranging from elementary thru high school, each with strong opinions and a flair for the dramatic. In other words, they're a lot like her. Former educator and lover of learning, she divides her time between carpool and Starbucks by reading voraciously and giving TED talks to herself at red lights. A Floridian for almost 40 years, Michelle loves the beach, making people laugh, and date nights with her hubby of 25 years...and yeas, they clearly married at age 7.
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Comments

  1. Sheri Prescott says

    September 21, 2019 at 10:37 am

    Banana dogs! Love this idea!

    Reply
  2. CMaxHack says

    August 28, 2015 at 12:37 am

    Reinvent just about any sandwich or salad by wrapping it in a tortilla. I usually cut it in half and send a little ‘dip’ (dressing) for it.

    Reply
  3. Hilary says

    August 20, 2015 at 9:08 am

    Love the banana dog idea!

    Reply
  4. Amanda says

    October 25, 2014 at 6:16 am

    That banana peanut butter on a hot dog bun is genius!

    Reply
  5. Valerie says

    October 23, 2014 at 5:36 pm

    Great ideas! My son tires of the same thing easily, so I’m always trying to come up with something new for him. He’s kind of picky and doesn’t care much for sandwiches either, but a couple of his favorites are: 1) buffalo chicken (canned or leftover shredded chicken mixed with mayo and a small bit of wing sauce) with crackers or a mini bagel; and 2) bean dip (refried beans mixed with salsa and sour cream) and tortilla chips.

    Reply
  6. Jennifer Dawn says

    September 2, 2014 at 11:49 pm

    Great lunch ideas! Everything looks delicious!

    Reply
  7. Kate Williams says

    September 2, 2014 at 4:10 pm

    Great ideas 😀 Thanks for linking up with Tuesday Tutorials #pintorials

    Reply
  8. Liv says

    September 1, 2014 at 7:34 pm

    Stopping over from HDYDI! These are great hacks! Pinning for later.

    Reply
  9. Jill says

    September 1, 2014 at 7:52 am

    These are yummy options for lunch for little ones.
    Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!

    Reply
  10. Katelyn F says

    August 29, 2014 at 11:07 pm

    This makes me feel like a slightly bad mom for just throwing a PB&J at my kids pretty much everyday for lunch. But, then again, I usually eat the same boring thing for lunch too. Great ideas here!

    Reply
    • Kira Lewis says

      August 30, 2014 at 2:23 pm

      Don’t ever feel like a bad mom – they’re getting fed right? Plus, most kids LOVE the same thing everyday. We each run our show the way it works best for us!

      Reply
  11. kristi@ishouldbemoppingthefloor says

    August 27, 2014 at 9:30 pm

    That banana dog is brilliant! Such a great idea! Thank you bunches for linking up and partying with us this week!

    Reply
  12. mila furman says

    August 27, 2014 at 11:19 am

    This a super SUPER cute post!!! I love the banana hot dog 🙂 Thanks for linking with us at #foodie Fridays!

    Reply
  13. Lisa @ The Wellness Wife says

    August 26, 2014 at 4:52 pm

    Banana dogs! What a great idea! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 10 Fun and Meaningful Back To School Traditions for Your Family says:
    August 10, 2017 at 3:36 pm

    […] Lunch Box Hacks; Easy School Lunch Ideas […]

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  2. A Healthy Start to the New School Year with Kiwi Shop - Mama Smiles says:
    August 15, 2015 at 1:36 am

    […] Lunch box hacks from Sunshine & Hurricanes […]

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  3. Armed and Ready to Make School Lunches says:
    August 5, 2015 at 8:30 am

    […] out or School Lunch Hacks […]

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  4. Awesome Lunch Box Hacks | Pregnancy Parenting 101 says:
    February 4, 2015 at 10:08 pm

    […] Awesome Lunch Box Hacks […]

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  5. 12 Hacks for a Healthier Halloween | Twin Cities Moms Blog says:
    October 28, 2014 at 7:18 am

    […] seems the buzzword around the internet these days is hack. There is a hack for everything including lunchbox hacks, sensory hacks to calm an angry child, ice cream hacks that will take your life to the next level […]

    Reply
  6. Teaching Kids To Pack Their Own Lunches - Sunshine and Hurricanes says:
    September 14, 2014 at 12:17 pm

    […] meal”- either a sandwich, pizza, or quesadilla along with an ice pack from the freezer. This post will tell you all about how we pre make these and freeze […]

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