All you need to do is take the usual stuff you might put on a sandwich and roll it up in a tortilla instead. Then just sliced that roll into bite size pieces. I like to stick them on a little skewer so they hold together even if they get tossed around in the lunch box.

The ones you see in this picture have a variety of ingredients because my four kids have different preferences - ham, turkey, roast beef, one is just cheese. Some have mayo and some don’t. You can use cream cheese, or hummus, mustard - the possible combination are endless. Round out the lunch with a fruit, a veggie, and a little sweet treat, and you’re good to go. This is a lunch box that almost always comes home empty.

These lunches are packed in our favorite lunch container - the EasyBoxes Original. You can find even more of our favorite lunch packing products in this custom list on my Amazon shop.

If you need more easy lunch packing ideas be sure to check out even more of my lunch posts.

I call this the no sandwich lunch box - or the deconstructed sandwich.

Basically - take the things you would put on the sandwich, and put them in the bento style lunch box as separate components instead. My kids love this. Some kids will actually stack the bread and ham and cheese together and make themselves a little sandwich. Other kids will nibble at all the little pieces separately. However they do it is just fine. It’s quick and easy and it looks really appealing. Making the food look a little more fun and appealing is one of the simplest ways to get your kids to actually eat their lunch.

These are packed in our favorite EasyBoxes containers, and I’ve used silicone muffin cups as dividers (the exact ones I have don’t appear to be available any longer, but this set has some square ones and they have lots of great reviews). One of them has a little mayo in a small salad dressing container (again the one pictured appears to be out of stock but I also have these and like them a lot).

If you haven’t read my favorite tip for how to keep those sliced apples from turning brown, you’ll definitely want to read this post here.

For more of my favorite lunch packing products - check out this custom list in my Amazon store.

Looking for more tips for packing lunches your kids will actually want to eat? You can read all of my tried and true ideas here.

Thinking about how to do all this in a more environmentally friendly way and while sticking to a budget can sometimes feel like just a little too much. That extra layer of stress on top of your already overwhelming workload as a busy parent might feel like more than you can do.

But I’ve been packing lunches for 15 years and I’ve got loads of tips that can help you.

Making lunches that are nicer on the environment can be easier than you think, and can often be more cost effective too.

Cost is an important factor that often gets overlooked in posts about lunch packing supplies. It’s easy to fall into the Pinterest and social media trap with all the influencers, but so many of the things people are recommending to you are really expensive. I’ve got four kids so I’ve needed to buy a lot of everything, so making sure I’m getting the most for my money is really important to me. And I think it probably is to you too - now more than ever.

I’m here to tell you can it is totally possible to pack lunches that are more environmentally friendly and create a lot less trash without breaking your budget.

In fact, I think most of these tips are going to end up saving you money in the long run!

I think of eco friendly or environmentally friendly lunch packing as a spectrum. You can go all the way to the one end of the spectrum and use no plastic whatsoever, or you can be more on the other end and still use plastic containers but try hard to avoid single use plastics and other disposable things. The right mix is going to be different for everyone, depending on your family needs, how hardcore you want to be, and your budget. Being able to afford all of the organic, plastic free, bespoke stainless steel lunch containers and supplies is a luxury and a privilege that most of us don’t have, so you have to find the comfort zone that works for you.

I feel like every little thing we do can help make a difference, so even if we can’t go hardcore 100% eco friendly everything we can still make small changes that add up. Personally, I’m still comfortable with reusable plastic containers. These lightweight, durable containers help me minimize our single use plastics and other trash, while also still fitting in to a family budget. So read on if you’re ok with some plastics in your lunch supplies. If you are hardcore against all plastics, then my recommendations might not be for you.

Here are my top tips for environmentally friendly and budget friendly lunch packing:

Keep reading below for loads of detail about how you can do all of this on a budget.

1. Reusable containers, napkins, utensils, etc.

2. Compostable and recyclable bags and utensils

3. Minimize pre-packacked foods

4. Meal plan your kid’s lunch

5. Pack lunch ahead of time

1: Reusable containers and other items:

The biggest impact you can have on making your lunch packing more eco friendly is reusable supplies like containers and lunchboxes.

Everyone’s favorite most eco friendly lunch containers are stainless steel. And yes those are pretty awesome, but they are expensive. It might be ok if you just have one kid and they don’t tend to lose things or leave their lunch box at school. But if you have more than one kid, who is absent minded and forgetful like most kids are, buying multiple $30-$40 (and sometimes $50+!) lunch containers can break the bank real fast.

My favorite lunch container is a simple bento style lunch box, and our favorite one is the EasyBoxes. This one is plastic, but that’s part of what makes it so cost effective. You can literally get 10 of these for less than the cost of a single popular brand stainless steel container, and less than half the price of a single one of another popular brand.

I know some people don’t want to use plastic, but if you are trying to buy reusable lunch items on a budget it’s hard to justify the price of most of the ones that aren’t plastic. And I think the plastic is not so bad when you are going to get many years of use out of it. Some of our EasyBoxes containers are more than 15 years old and still really solid, so we’re not filling landfills with plastic containers.

If you really want a metal lunch box, the Blue Water Bento Splash Box by Ecolunchbox are my favorite. They are not as popular as some other brands but I’ve used most of the popular brands and I like these the best. And they are one of the more reasonably priced stainless steel options. The silicone lids are actually leakproof, while still being easy for kids to open and close, which I don’t think any other brand can boast, and they nest together for easier storage. They look small but they are really deep, so you can fit a lot in there.

In addition to the lunch box itself, you’ll want to consider a few other items.

Sandwich boxes: you might not always need a full bento box so it’s nice to have a few sandwich sized boxes around. These are also great for quesadillas or other snacks. I’m a big fan of the Sistema brand sandwich boxes, we have quite a few of these that have lasted us for more than 10 years. Lunchbots makes a nice stainless box that fits a sandwich, a lot more expensive but they last for a very long time.

Silicone bags and pouches: These can replace disposable plastic bags for sandwiches and snacks. These Stasher brand are great and very popular, but they can get pretty expensive if you need more than a couple of them. I’ve had these less expensive ones for many years now and have been very happy with them. I use these to make smoothie packs for my teens.

Cloth napkins: I don’t know about you, but my kid will come home with food all over his shirt if I don’t send him with a napkin. But don’t buy expensive ones, because kids are unreliable and they lose things. My favorite lunch napkins over the years have actually been little washcloths. You can get sets of small kitchen cloths for quite inexpensive, or take a bigger cloth or old towel and cut it into pieces. Or if you still have that stack of little baby washcloths sitting around and aren’t sure what to do with them, they make great lunch size napkins. I find that something made as a washcloth is more absorbent than ones sold as napkins, which works well for kids who tend to make a mess, and they are usually less expensive.

Reusable utensils: If you still have toddler utensils around that your kids have outgrown those make great lunch utensils, and they are probably just taking up space in the back of a kitchen drawer so you might as well use them. Smaller things fit the lunch box better and they are less likely to get lost if it fits actually inside the lunch container. And re-using something you already have is the ultimate in eco friendly. If you don’t still have those, then I recommend you buy some! They are the perfect size for lunch boxes. Don’t tell your kid they are for toddlers, just tell them they are special lunchbox sized spoon and fork. Here’s a really reasonably priced set of stainless steel utensils, or these are plastic and slightly less expensive and come in fun colors.

Drink containers: Most schools offer milk in little cartons, but if you’d prefer to avoid contributing to that waste or you want your kiddo to have organic milk, you can send milk and other cold drinks in an insulated drink container.These are a bit expensive but they last for years and I think they are a worthwhile investment. They come in loads of fun colors and prints. We use these for milk, water, juice.

Get creative! There’s no rule that says you have to pack lunch in a container that was made for lunch. One of my very favorite lunch boxes was actually a fun little pencil box. I found this in the $1 section at target many years ago and it’s the perfect size for a little box of nibbles. Look around and see what you have. You probably have other containers around that would be super fun to pack lunch in without spending extra money.

I’ve also reused plastic produce containers for packing a field trip lunch. Sometimes it’s painful that we have to buy all those plastic containers in order to get the grapes or berries, so it’s nice to come up with ideas for how to re-use them. You can see that two of the lunches in the picture below are packed in repurposed berry containers.

2: Compostable and recyclable items

The next best thing to totally reusable is stuff that is compostable or recyclable. There’s more and more of this kind of thing available now, which also means it’s getting less expensive. The catch here is that your kids need to know it’s compostable or recyclable so they don’t just throw it in the trash! And of course the school needs to have compost and recycle bins available. I wouldn’t really recommend this stuff for the younger kids, asking them to sort their lunch into compost and recycle is probably a bit too much. But middle and high school kids can certainly do this and probably can better appreciate the need for it too.

Sandwich and snack bags: I personally prefer the coated paper bags vs. the compostable zipper ones that are a bit like plastic. I think the paper ones hold up better for kids lunches. At the time of publishing these ones were currently the least expensive, they come in fun colors and a few sizes too. I’ll keep an eye out and update my eco-friendly Amazon list as I find others. These are great for sandwiches but also any kind of other snacks, cut up fruit and veggies, crackers, and more.

Classic paper lunch bags: I guess these fell out of favor with all the reusable lunch bags and containers, but I still think they’re great. I always keep paper bags around for packing field trip lunches, plus they’re great for crafts and lots of other uses too. Sometimes I prefer the white bags, because I like to draw pictures on field trip lunch bags and white bags are just a little nicer for this. They’re probably not quite as environmentally friendly in terms of how they are made, but still just as easy to compost or recycle.

Bamboo or wood utensils: ok honestly not my favorite, I think they’re expensive and more trouble than they are worth. I’d much rather use washable ones. But if you really don’t want to have to wash and you really don’t want plastic, there are options that are bamboo or wood or I think some even made from corn that will work for you.

Paper napkins: No big tips here, we buy the big pack at Costco.

3: Buy in bulk and package your own

I think one of the biggest sources of trash at schools is all the little plastic packages from the individually packed snacks. So. Much. Trash.

Instead you can buy bigger containers and make your own snack packs. This takes a bit of time but if you do it once a week and keep a bin stocked and ready to go then lunch packing is still very quick and easy. Do this with crackers and cookies, fruits, veggies, and really anything you can think of. If you’re concerned about some things staying fresh if you pack they days ahead of time, check out this post with my secret for keeping apples from turning brown, or this post with allllll of my tips for packing lunch ahead of time.

The best part though - you will spend a LOT less money. Those little packages are the most expensive way to buy snack foods. You will save a lot of money if you buy the bigger bags and divide it into servings yourself.

If you use a bento lunchbox with little sections for each item, then you don’t even need to package the foods separately. But if you want to send some items individually packaged for snacks, you’ll need some containers for making your own snack packs, so here area few recommendations:

Yogurt & applesauce pouches: these are easy to fill and wash and come in a few sizes and prints. If you prefer silicone, these also come in a few sizes and are easy to wash. We have used these for many years. They are a bit more expensive but will last a really long time.

Silicone snack size bags. I don’t love these for little kids because I find them harder to close, but they are good for older kids. I have this brand as mentioned above, they come in a variety of sizes.

A variety of smaller sized reusable containers. These can be any combination of metal, silicone, or plastic. Remember those little toddler sized snack cups? Get those suckers back out and reuse them for school snacks. They are a great size. My favorite EasyBoxes makes a snack sized box that is great for a few little nibbles. You can find plastic containers, silicone containers, metal containers, metal containers with silicone lids - the possibilities are endless and I’ve have put a few favorites in my amazon list for you to chose from. Prices are really going to vary, stainless steel are going to be the most expensive and plastic the least expensive so you just have to figure out what works with your budget, but it’s nice to have a little variety of sizes for different needs.

4: Meal plan your kids’ lunch

I know this sounds a little crazy, but if you’ve ever done any dinner meal planning for your family then you know that it’s one of the best ways to save money. I also think it’s one of the best ways to help your family eat healthy, and it’s better for the environment. We are much less likely to reach for fast food, or processed foods, or foods with lots of single use trash plastic if we’ve got dinner already planned and shopped for and even prepped ahead of time.

And all this applies to lunch as well. A simple plan for what you are going to pack for lunch each day for the week ahead means you can shop all at once, take a little time to prep, and buy a lot less packaged snack foods. You will spend less money, and it will be more eco-friendly, for all the reasons I’ve already listed above.

I like to use a simple template for planning lunches - a general set theme for each day of the week - so it gives us the right balance of predictability without monotony. You can find all my tips about how to do this in this post.

5: Pack lunch ahead of time

Yes yes I’m a broken record about this. But I’ll stand on my soapbox again and tell you that packing lunch ahead of time is the solution to so many problems.

You can pack several days lunches at once, and have them in the fridge to grab and go. You might wonder why I include this in a post about environment and budget friendly lunch packing, and here’s why: When you are short on time, trying to throw together lunch at the last minute when you have to get kids to school and yourself to work, you are much more likely to reach for expensive and plastic packaged processed foods. You’re spending a lot more money, using a lot more single-use plastics, and creating a lot more trash when you relying and these convenience foods.

But if you buy in bulk, and prep a stack of lunches all at once then you are far less likely to need to reach for the expensive and not environmentally friendly plastic packages. Packing ahead forces you to think ahead, so you can take the time to fill those reusable containers, cut up fruit and veggies and put in reusable snack bags. I’ve heard all the questions and concerns about lunches that sit in the fridge, and I have solutions to all those questions in my full post about packing lunch ahead of time.

So there you go - my best tips for packing lunch with a little more care for our planet and without breaking the budget.

I hope you found this helpful.

Happy Lunch Packing!

In my first post I talk about all of the reasons why I think kids’ school lunches come home uneaten. If you haven’t read that post yet and are feeling stumped about why your kiddo’s lunchbox keeps coming home untouched, click on over to read that one now.

Hopefully I’ve got some insights you’ll find helpful from my many years of packing lunches and many hours spent in elementary school lunchrooms.

Now that we have some ideas why your child isn’t eating their lunch, let’s get to the tips for how to pack a lunch your child will want to eat.

How to pack a lunch your kid will want to eat:

If you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you might have noticed that I am not about extravagant things that take a lot of time. I’m about working smarter, not harder. So my tips for how to pack a lunch your child will eat are all very quick and simple things that I think anyone can do without spending a bunch of extra time, effort, or money. These are my tried and true strategies for packing lunches kids love that only take a few extra minutes or seconds to do.

So let’s get into it!

Here are the top tips summarized, but keep reading for loads more detail about each of these and some helpful links to get you going.

Top tips for how to pack lunch kids will eat:

1. Make it fun: kids like fun food, and I’ve got lots of tips for easy ways to make lunch more fun

2. Make it easy to eat: lunch needs to be easy to eat in a small amount of time

3. Add variety: some kids don’t want the same boring thing every day

4. Bited sized: everybody loves finger food, not only is it fun but it’s faster and easier to eat

5. No new foods: save the experimenting for the weekends at home

6. Involve them: kids are much more likely to eat food they participated in choosing and making

7. Use bento lunch containers: the right container makes it easier to pack and easier to eat

Now let’s get into loads more detail about each of these tips:

1: Make it fun

I can write many posts about how to make lunch fun, and in fact I have written many.

The short version is that kids like fun food, and they are much more likely to eat food they find appealing. Making it fun is an easy way to make food more appealing to kids.

There are so many little ways to make a packed lunch more fun, and the tips I have are ones that really don’t take any extra time at all. When kids come to expect that their lunch is going to be a fun surprise, they start to look forward to opening that lunchbox to see what fun things they’ve got today.

Here are just a few of my favorite ways to make lunch more fun:

• fun and colorful bento picks

• food on sticks and skewers - somehow kids love to eat food on sticks

• colorful silicone cups

• bit sized pieces and tiny forks

• cut food into fun shapes

Want even more ideas for how to pack fun lunches? Check out these posts:

2: Make it easy to eat

I talked in part one of this series about how one of the top reasons lunches come home uneaten is that the child isn’t able to eat it independantly. For little kids this is often because there are packages and containers they can’t open.

Here are a few simple ways to make lunch easier to eat:

Use lunch containers that are easy for little hands to open. I have used and recommended EasyLunchboxes (now called EasyBoxes) for over 10 years and the reason is simple - they make lunch easy to pack and easy to eat. They are easy for little hands to open and close. One of my kiddos has developmental delays and muscle weakness, so packages and containers are difficult for him to open. We tried a lot of lunch containers and the EasyBoxes were the winner, he can get them open no problem and he can get the lids back on. The extra bonus is that they are the least expensive boxes I’ve found.

Don’t forget to give them a fork or a spoon for anything you pack that isn’t finger food. If they have to go looking for a utensil then that takes up precious lunch time. Or often a kid will just not even try and won’t eat the food.

Open packages for them: If you are sending things that are in packages, maybe try making a little cut in the package ahead of time so it’s easy to open. Or just open the package at home and put the food in a section of the bento lunch container.

Prep & cut foods for them: Peel oranges, cut up apples, cut bigger things into smaller pieces, cut crusts off of sandwiches if you know your kid isn’t going to eat the crust. There are lots of simple little things you can do that take just a few seconds that can make it easier for your little one to eat their lunch.

3: Pack more variety

Now this is a tip that only work for some kids. You know your kid best, and you might have one that actually likes to see the same thing every day so they know what to expect.

But I think a lot of kids get bored with the same foods all the time, so if your old reliable lunch ideas aren’t doing it, then try mixing things up a bit. You don’t have to get fancy and it doesn’t have to take you any more time, but sometimes just rotating a few new ideas in the mix can solve the problem. The most popular posts on this site are the ones about non sandwich lunches, I think that’s because people are looking for ideas to add more variety to their lunches.

One way you can ensure you have a good variety in the lunch is to have a bit of a plan ahead of time. This doesn’t have to be elaborate, but having a plan for what you’re going to pack each day of the week is one of my favorite tips for making lunch packing easier. I have a simple template you can use if you think that might make it easier for you.

4: Bite Sized

This is part of making it easy to eat, but it deserves its own section. Cut things in bit sized pieces! Not only do little bites make it easier and faster to eat, but they somehow make it more fun.

Just about anything can be cut into little bite sized pieces. It’s such a simple thing to do, and really will take you less than a minute, but it can make a big difference for a lot of kids.

There’s the obvious stuff like fruit and cheese, but I also cut pizza, sandwiches, quesadillas, burgers, and more into bite sized pieces. Basically if it can be cut up, I’ve done it. I could pack the exact same lunch, one with the food whole and the other with it cut into little bites, and I can guarantee you the one cut into bites will get eaten more than the uncut one.

You can put those bites on a skewer which is super fun, I’ve said before that kids love food on sticks. Or you can give them a tiny fork or a toothpick to pick up the bites with. Or just leave them as finger food.

5: No new foods

Keep the new and unfamiliar things for home.

When your kiddo opens their lunch box they need to see foods they recognize and they know they will like. This might sound contrary to the tip about about variety, but I don’t think it is. I’m just saying don’t pack foods they’ve never had before or you’re not sure if they like.

I’m big on encouraging kids to try new foods and expand their palettes, but the lunchbox is not the place to do it. Try out new things on the weekends when the pressure is off and you have more time, and if your kiddo likes it then tell them you will be putting it in their lunch.

6: Use Bento style lunch containers

You might not think that a container can make a difference in whether a kid eats their lunch, but I believe it does. Another one of the top reasons why kids don’t eat their lunch is sometimes because the whole situation is just too overwhelming.

I talk about this more in part one of this series as well. But I have found that one way to make the food seem less overwhelming is to present it in an organized and tidy way, and bento style lunch containers are perfect for that. Each food has its own little spot in the container, they don’t get all jumbled together, and it makes it easy for the lunch to be presented in a way that feels very approachable.

My favorite bento style lunch container is the EasyBoxes container, and most of the lunch pics you’ll see on this blog are in those containers. They make several sizes now with a variety of compartments, but my favorites are still the original. These containers hold up for years (we literally have some that are more than 15 years old) and they are the least expensive option you can find - literally you can get a dozen of them for less than the price of one of many other brands.

7: Involve them

Get those kids involved in packing their lunch!

Kids are way more likely to eat food that they have been involved in choose and making. I think there are three important steps to involving kids in making their own lunch.

First is the planning. Involve your kid in coming up with a list of foods they are willing to eat for lunch.

I have a simple template I like to use with kids. It has a section to fill in for proteins, veggies, fruits, and grains. You can print this out and sit down with your kiddo and brainstorm ideas for each food category. Ideally you will come up with 5 different things for each spot - then you have a different option for each day of the week. But I think you can still make this work if you can come up with at least 3 for each category.

Next up is shopping. Some kids really love going to the store and getting to pick out their food, and they are more likely to eat things they have chosen for themselves. Take your list with you and let them find and choose each of the items.

Finally is the actual packing. This is where I think a bento lunchbox like the EasyBoxes really shines: You have your list of four categories of foods that your kiddo will eat. You’ve shopped and you have at least 3-5 options in each food group. And you have a bento lunch box with four sections - one for each food group.

Now you just take a bento lunchbox with sections and you put something from each food category into each section of the lunchbox. Kids actually love helping with this, there’s something fun about deciding what goes in each section.

Of course you can get fancier, you can add silicone cups and fun cutouts and cute picks to make the lunch more fun as I talked about above, but you don’t have to. Sometimes simple and minimal is better. Just basic foods they know they like, presented in a very basic way.

When they get to lunch time at school and open their lunchbox they will see a selection of foods that they chose, and they will see them organized in a very simple way and they are going to eat it!

And that’s it.

Follow these 7 tips and I can almost guarantee you that those lunch boxes will start to come home empty.

I hope these tips are helpful for you.

Happy Lunch Packing!

~Lisa

It really doesn’t take much to make a fun themed lunch for your kids. Today I’m showing you just a few quick tips to add a little Halloween fun to the lunchbox.

I’ve got another post here that you should definitely read all about how to make sandwiches more fun, and a lot of these halloween lunches use those same tips. But here we’re getting just a bit more specific. I don’t do spooky stuff for halloween, my kids were always freaked out by skeletons and spider things when they were little, so we keep it simple and lighthearted and fun.

Tips for Halloween lunch packing:

You can see all of these ideas in the photos below. I’ve got loads of links in here for you for lots of little fun products to make themed lunch packing easy, but if you’d like to go straight to the list you can find it here on my Amazon Storefront.

• Cut a sandwich with a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter. You can leave it just as the pumpkin shape, or you can go a step further and cut little eyes and mouth, or use an orange bento pick to add more detail. You can add a leaf bento pick too. There are loads of options for fun halloween shaped cutters.

• Add in some orange foods - like oranges, cheddar cheese, cheese crackers. So easy!

• I love using a little leaf pick in the top of a mandarin orange to make it look like a little pumpkin.

• You can use a sharpie to draw a face on a mandarin with the peel on.

• Cut slices of cheese in little pumpkin shapes. I have a set similar to this with a variety of fall themed mini cutters and the pumpkin one is the perfect size for these little details.

• Cut quesadillas with that same big pumpkin cutter.

• Use small letter cutters to press “BOO” into your sandwich or quesadilla. You can make actual cuts, or just use the cutters to make a little impression, or you can dip the cutter in jam to basically use as a stamp on your sandwich.

• Orange silicone cups and a green napkin background give a fun pumpkin patch sort of feel.

• A few years ago Babybel put out special cheeses with Halloween wrappers. They were a super easy and fun way to add a little Halloween to some of these lunches and I hope they do this again.

• There are also lots of cookies out now with halloween themes, like these fun halloween Oreos.

• My drawing skills are the best but you can draw pumpkins or spooky pics or BOO on a little napkin.

• Get some inexpensive little plastic spiders or similar themed items in the party favor section, or use cupcake toppers with a Halloween theme.

• There are so many fun bento picks available, and you know that bento picks are one of my most favorite ways to quickly and easily dress up a lunch to make it more fun. Look at these fun little ghost and goblin bento picks I found! Or here is a set with ghosts, spooky cats, and pumpkins.

Remember you can find all these items here in this list on my Amazon Store.

All of these ideas take really seconds or minutes to do and kids love them!

Here are just a few pics of some Halloween lunches I have done in the past, I hope you find my ideas fun and inspiring!

One of my top tips for back to school lunch packing is to make lunch ahead of time. It’s the number one thing that I recommend to relieve stress on school day mornings - if those lunches are already packed and all you have to do is grab them out of the fridge.

I’ve got a whole post with all of my tips for successfully packing lunch ahead of time that you should definitely read and save. But I get a lot of questions specifically about how to make sandwiches ahead without them getting soggy so that’s what this post is all about!

Nobody likes a soggy sandwich, and especially if you have kids who are a little sensitive about the texture or consistency of food, you need to figure out ways to pack a sandwich for school lunch and keep it fresh. The good news is that this is actually pretty easy to do, once you know a few simple tricks.

A lot of folks have questions about how to pack a sandwich for lunch so it doesn’t get soggy. My tips below for packing sandwiches will help! I’m going to tell you all of my easy tricks to keep lunch sandwiches from getting soggy!

How to pack sandwiches ahead of time.

Most of our lunches are not sandwiches, and my most popular posts about lunches are the ones about no sandwich lunches. But let’s be honest, sandwiches sometimes are the easiest and quickest thing to make, and some of us really do love them. Personally I’ve hardly ever met a sandwich I didn’t like.

So if you do want to pack a sandwich for lunch, and you want to save yourself the time and stress on school day mornings, I have some great tips for you about how to pack sandwiches ahead of time. The biggest concern is the sandwich getting soggy, so most of these tips are about little changes you can make to how you assemble the sandwich to ensure that it stays just as fresh tomorrow or the next days as it was when you packed it.

Here are my top tips for packing sandwiches in advance.

Keep reading for more detail about each of these!

1) Avoid wet ingredients

2) Seal the bread with something

3) Meat in the middle

4) Use the freshest meat possible

5) Use bread that is more dense or dry

6) Pack a deconstructed - or “make your own” sandwich box

7) Jam in the middle

8) Toast or grill the bread

Read on for all the detail about each of these tips for packing sandwiches ahead of time.

1) Avoid wet ingredients

Give a little thought about what sandwich ingredients are the biggest contributors to making them soggy, and just switch those out. Leave out the lettuce or tomato or cucumber, or other similar veggies that are going to release a lot of moisture. If you really want veggies for your sandwich, keep them separate and add them to the sandwich right before eating.

If you’re just packing the night before and not days ahead, I’ve had good luck with putting the lettuce and tomato in the middle of the sandwich so it’s just not touching the bread. You can also try blotting the veggies with a paper towel to absorb some of that extra moisture before putting them in the lunch box.

2) Seal your bread with something

I usually have no problem with mayonnaise making bread soggy. I know some people say they do. I wonder if they’re using light or reduced fat mayo, that may contain more water? Regular mayo is mostly oil, so there shouldn’t much moisture or water in there to make bread soggy.

If that still doesn’t work for you, try a thin layer of butter on the bread to seal it, then your other spreads or toppings. Or some people have good luck with leaving out the spread and packing it separately, and then adding it at the last minute. There are great little containers available that hold just the right amount of mayo for a sandwich. 

3) Meat in the middle.

Some people feel that sliced lunchmeat makes their bread soggy. So try putting the meat in the middle of the sandwich, rather than right next to the bread. Put slices of cheese on either side touching the bread. Or you can dry the meat a little with a paper towel before you put it on the bread. 

4) Use the freshest sliced lunchmeat possible.

I find that pre-packaged sandwich meat often has a lot of water added to it, and it’s almost drippy when take it out of the package. But if you get freshly sliced meats from the deli they don’t have as much water added and they work much better for making sandwiches ahead. If you buy packaged sliced meat, check the label to see if it has water or “a solution” added.

5) Use a more dense, dry bread.

That wonderful soft, white sandwich bread that we all love is just too delicate to hold up to packing in advance.  It absorbs moisture too easily, and it also starts out more moist than a lot of bread. Instead try a more dense bread - a multigrain, or at least a whole wheat bread (but not one that's too soft), or a good firm and chewy sourdough. We also love bagel sandwiches, and most bagels hold up really well to packing ahead of time. I’ve got a fun post here about how to make this simple bagel sandwich lunch.

6) Try packing a “make your own” sandwich box.

This is actually one of my kids favorite lunches. It’s an easy way to make sandwiches more fun. Pack pieces of bread, sliced meats and cheese, sliced veggies, mayo, all in separate containers or separate sections of the lunch box so none of the components are touching each other. Then they get to assemble their own sandwich at lunch time. Bento lunch boxes with silicone dividers are perfect for this kind of lunch.

7) Jam in the middle

If you are making PB&Js, you might try rearranging your usual method. Try putting a layer of peanut butter on both pieces of bread, and then the jam in the middle. You can also try adding a thin layer of butter to the bread if you really don’t want peanut butter on both sides.

Use jam instead of jelly. A lot of folks don’t know the difference and assume they are different names for the same thing. They are not. Jelly is made from just the juice, so by nature it is much wetter. Jam on the other hand is made from the whole fruit, usually with the pulp and skin, so it’s thicker and there is less moisture to soak into your bread. I always use only jam, never jelly.

8) Toast or grill sandwiches.

Toast the bread before making the sandwich, or make a toasted or grilled sandwich. Just toasting the bread only takes a few extra minutes but it gets you started off with bread that is a little more dry. If you make a grilled sandwich we usually do those with butter or oil or mayo, and that will help crisp up and seal the bread even more. And of course melted cheese helps keep it all together without getting soggy. I make all kinds of grilled sandwiches ahead of time - grilled cheese, tuna melts, grilled ham and cheese, etc. If your family loves tuna melts as much as mine does, you’ll definitely want to try my tip for the best tuna melts.

Finally, as I also say in my full post about packing lunch ahead of time:

Adjust your expectations, and just give it a try.

There are lots of things that are going to work for packing ahead of time, and some things that won’t. I think packing lunch ahead of time is such a great time saver and stress reliever that it’s worth a few tradeoffs. But you are going to just have try a few different ways of doing things and see what works for you to pack a sandwich for lunch that won’t get soggy.

The daily grind of lunch packing and school lunches can get old really fast - for the busy mom (or dad!) doing the lunch packing, but also for the kids. But it’s not hard to mix it up and make lunch packing more fun, so why not give it a try? Especially on those extra special days of the year - why not make the lunch just a little extra special too. I’ve got easy tips for you to pack fun lunches for birthdays, holidays, or other special occasions that will only take you a few extra minutes, or maybe even less than that.

These tips aren’t just for special occasions - they can be for every day lunch packing too. Particularly if you are struggling with how to get your kid to eat their lunch at school - and I hear so many concerns from parents about kids lunches coming home uneaten and kids being hungry at the end of the day - these simple tips to make lunch more fun will also help ensure that you are packing a lunch that your child actually wants to dive in to.

As humans we are visual creatures - we are drawn to things that are pleasing to look at. And kids are no exception to that. One of my top tips for getting kids to eat their lunch at school is to take the extra minute or three and make the lunch just a little more fun to look at and eat. I can almost guarantee that if you pack the same foods in a slightly more fun way, your kiddo is much more likely to eat it.

Easy ways to make lunch fun:

Here are my top easy ways to make lunch more fun.

Keep reading for the detail about each of these tips.

1. Accessorize the lunch with fun picks (or even cupcake toppers)

2. Cut sandwiches and other foods in fun shapes

3. Add a little extra bright color with napkins and silicone cups

4. Use silicone cups in fun shapes that match the holiday theme

5. Put food on sticks (kids love this!)

Want my top tips for easy lunch packing?

I’ve put all my best tips for getting started with school lunch packing into an easy ebook for you, and I’ve also made printable versions of my lunch packing grocery lists and planning templates. Be sure to check out my downloads section for those.

More detail!

1) Accessorize with fun picks

This is the easiest thing in the world to do. If you have a stock of fun little bento picks, toothpicks, or even extra cupcake toppers, it takes just seconds to stick a few in an ordinary lunch and instantly transform it into something special. The options of fun picks available are practically endless. I’ve saved some of my all time favorites here in my Amazon Store.

Here are just a couple examples of lunches that have a pick added - see how much more fun they are?

2) Cut sandwiches and other foods in fun shapes

Another one that really takes maybe an extra minute if you have the right supplies. You can buy cutters that are made just for sandwiches, but I have also used lots of regular cookie cutters for cutting sandwiches and other foods. You can easily get so creative with what you can cut, and it’s the simple little touches that really stand out.

You’ll find some of my favorite cutters in my Amazon Store.

Check out these examples of ways I have gotten creative with cutters for fun and easy lunches.

3) Add bright fun color with napkins and silicone cups.

It’s amazing how the whole look of the lunch can change when all you did was stick a fun party napkin in there. It really doesn’t take much, just a pop of color, to make the lunch look so much more fun, and that makes kids want to eat it!

Fun colors of silicone cups in the lunchbox can have the same impact, and they are great because they are reusable.

I have so many examples of lunches that I have used this trick with if you brows my other lunch pages, but here are just a few of my favorites.

4) Use silicone cups to add fun shapes for holiday themes.

You can get silicone cups in all kinds of fun shapes now - my favorites are hearts and stars, and you can see how just adding those fun shapes to the mix make the lunch instantly look more appealing and feel like a little celebration in a box. Here is a link to a fun set that gets you stars, hearts, and flowers.

5) Put the food on a stick.

Seriously kids love eating food from sticks - little skewers, cocktail picks, fun toothpicks, etc. I don’t know why, but they do. I don’t always recommend this for the littlest ones, we don’t want anybody poking their friends with sticks, but for the older elementary ages it can be a really fun way to mix up the otherwise boring lunch.

One of my other top tips for getting kids to eat their lunch is giving them foods that are already in bite sized pieces. It just makes the food more approachable and they feel like they can eat it better in the short amount of time they have. So cut up those bigger items into bite sized pieces and put them on a stick.

I have loads more examples of lunches that include all of these fun tips and more, so be sure you are browsing through my other lunch pages so you never run out of lunch ideas.

Switch things up with this fun and easy bagel sandwich lunch!

Packing a fun and healthy lunch for kids doesn’t have to be complicated, and bagel sandwiches are a perfect solution!

Looking for ways to keep lunch interesting?

Bagel sandwiches offer variety without the hassle. They’re perfect for kids who are tired of the same old sandwiches, but still quick and easy to make. Pair with fruit, veggies, and maybe a treat on the side, and you’ve got a balanced, delicious meal they’ll look forward to!

Here is just one quick and easy example of how I make a simple bagel sandwich lunch but make it fun.

What you need to make this lunch:

1. Mini bagel with cream cheese and turkey

2. Cut apple (read my post about keeping apples from turning brown)

3. An individually wrapped cheese

4. A handful of cookies

5. Some fun little bento picks.

Put it all together in your favorite lunchbox and lunch is made!

Need more help with stress free lunch packing?

Check out my downloads section for some of my favorite lunch packing printables.

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If your kids are tired of the same old sandwiches, it’s time to mix things up with pizza!

Our family loves pizza, we have it for dinner every Friday, and pizza lunches are some of our favorites. Pizza lunch ideas are a fun and easy way to keep your kids excited about lunchtime.

When I make pizza, I always make sure there is a lot of leftover, because it makes the easiest lunch ever. But it doesn’t have to be just leftover pizza—there are so many creative ways to pack pizza for lunch and always keep it interesting. From pizza bites and pizza quesadillas to pizza rolls and more, these options are perfect for busy parents looking for non-sandwich lunch ideas that are both quick and kid-approved.

Packing pizza for school lunch offers endless variety, whether you're using leftovers from pizza night or making fresh, portable versions of their favorite slice. Plus, pizza is easy to customize with healthy toppings that your kids will love! Try homemade pizza rolls, bite-sized pizza snacks, or even pizza quesadillas for a fun twist. Each option is simple to prepare, packed with nutrition, and sure to be a hit.

If you’re looking for easy, flavorful alternatives to the usual sandwiches, these pizza-based ideas will make your mornings less stressful and your kids’ lunches more exciting.

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Here are five fun ways to pack pizza for kids lunch:

1. Mini pizzas

2. Pizza bites

3. Pizza rolls

4. Pizzadilla

5. Pizza melt

Keep reading for all the details on how to pack pizza lunches that are fun, easy, and perfect for school!

If you want to pack lunches that look like mine - you can find all of my favorite lunch packing products in one easy place at my Amazon Store.

Ok, here we go - all the details about my top five ideas for how to pack pizza for lunch!

1: Mini Pizzas

Just as the name says - small versions of pizza. You can make English muffin pizzas super fast in your oven or toaster oven. Or if you have pizza dough and are making homemade pizza for dinner, just make some mini pizza crusts to save for lunch. All you need is some kind of bread base, a little smear of sauce, and a sprinkle of cheese.

2: Pizza Bites and Strips

Take that leftover pizza and cut it into bite sized nibbles, or smaller strips. One of my top tips for packing lunch that will get eaten in the limited amount of time kids have at school is to give them food that is already bite sized. It’s just faster for them to eat, especially for the little ones. You can give them fun little picks to eat with, or put the bites on a mini skewer, or even cut in fun shapes. Here are just a few fun examples of cut up leftover pizza for lunch.

3: Pizza Rolls

This is one of my favorite make-ahead and freeze lunch ideas. Pizza rolls are super easy to make with packaged crescent or biscuit dough, they back up fast and they freeze great. I like to keep a bag of these in my freezer at all times, all you have to do is pull a couple out and pop in the lunch box with a little fruit or veggie and maybe a little extra protein on the side, and lunch is done in minutes. You can find my pizza rolls recipe here.

The Pizzadilla!

We love quesadillas, and we love pizza - why not combine the two? This is just a quesadilla, with a little spoonful of pizza sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese. You can add in any other kind of pizza toppings as well if you like. It’s a great way to use up a little bit of extra sauce.

The Pizza Melt

This one is like a grilled cheese, but with mozzarella cheese instead of American or cheddar, and a little pizza sauce. I don’t necessarily recommend this one for the littler kids, because it can be a bit messy, but it’s a fun way to mix up the lunch for your older ones. Add in some pepperoni or other favorite pizza toppings.

Can’t get enough pizza for lunch? Scroll through the gallery below for even more pictures of pizza lunch ideas for kids. These are all real lunches I have packed for my kids.

The mental load of figuring out the what and how of packing lunch for kids every day can be overwhelming. I get it.

I have two sets of twins - four kids less than three years apart - so I had to figure out how to pack four lunches for school every day without losing my mind.

I’ve packed literally thousands of lunches. I know all the tips and tricks and I’m here to help make it easier for you. If you are new to lunch packing for kids, this page is a great place to start. I’ve taken all of my experience with lunch packing and simplified it down to my top five tips for you.

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Here are my top 5 tips for easy school lunch packing! 

1: Follow a basic formula for a healthy lunch

There's no need to overthink this. I know you see pictures on Pinterest (and even here on my own blog!) of some very fancy and pretty lunches. But obviously this isn't anyone's every day reality. Lunches don't have to be pretty, they just have to get the job done. If you just follow a basic formula every day, you will have no problem packing lunches that fit the bill just fine. 

The simple formula is this: Protein + veggie + fruit + carb.

I find the easiest way to accomplish this is to use a bento style lunch container. Then you just know - protein in one spot, veg in another, fruit in another. Throw in a few crackers for good measure, and boom! You're done!

Don't even worry about if the things don't seem like they go together, honestly I think we moms care about the aesthetic appeal of the meal way more than our kids do. 

Also, while I'm a big fan of having variety in the lunch box, I don't think that lunch is the time to really experiment too much on new stuff. Kids have a very limited amount of time to eat. They need to be able to open their lunchbox, see food that is appealing and familiar, and just eat without having to think about it too much. Save the experimenting on new foods for dinner & weekends. 

2: Have a plan

Yeah I'm basically telling you to meal plan your kids school lunch. But honestly this is easier than dinner meal planning.

Getting up in the morning and scratching your head about what to pack for lunch is a recipe for disaster and quick burnout.  

Planning what you are going to pack ahead of time makes it much easier.

This doesn't have to be complicated. You don't have to re-invent the wheel every week, and you don't have to have a super specific plan ahead of time.  

Just give yourself a basic framework for the kind of thing you're going to pack each day of the week.  This makes it easy for you to figure out what to pack, and it ensure that your kids get variety.  It keeps you out of the lunch packing rut. 

I use a magnetic dry erase menu on the fridge for quick meal planning. I took a sharpie and a ruler to make a line down the middle to divide the sections into space for lunch and dinner. 

My plan looks something like this:

Monday: Pizza, or Other Leftovers 

We do pizza every Friday and I try to make sure there is enough left for Monday lunch. If not pizza, then there's usually some leftover pasta or soup or something like that. I ALWAYS cook lots extra, because I think leftovers make the world go 'round.

Tuesday: Homemade Lunchable

A snack box with divided sections with crackers, cheese, lunchmeat, fruit & veggie. Super quick and easy.

Wednesday: Breakfast for Lunch

I always make extra when I cook a big breakfast on the weekend - pancakes, waffles, french toast, muffins, etc. Some of our favorite lunches are sandwiches with a pancake and cream cheese, or waffle with peanut butter. Or you can do oatmeal in a thermos container, or cold cereal and pack milk in the thermos. You can look here for a lot of my breakfast-for-lunch ideas. 

Thursday: Tortilla Something

This might be a quick quesadilla if I'm in a hurry, or a burrito, or a turkey & cheese roll in a tortilla, or a pizzadilla (basically a quesodilla, but use mozzarella cheese and add a spoonful of tomato sauce), or nachos. You can get creative and do a wide variety of stuff, but just knowing that I'm basing it around a tortilla gets me off to a good start.

Friday: Sandwich Day

If I'm in a hurry I can just throw together some PB&Js. If I'm feeling more creative, one of my kids favorite lunches are make-your-own sandwich kits.  I give them slices of bread cut in smaller squares, meat, cheese, mayo, and veggies, and they assemble their own sandwich to their liking. Keeping sandwiches to just one day a week ensures that nobody gets tired of eating them, and I don’t get tired of making them.

I will follow this basic routine all year long and it absolutely is a critical key to success for me.  It gives me enough framework to not have to figure it out from scratch every day, but leaves enough flexibility to get creative if I want to. And it really, really helps on those days when I am just too tired to figure it out. 

3: Pack lunch ahead of time!

Really. Just do it. Even if you really don't want to. 

It's late. You've had a full day. The last thing you want to do is make lunch. I totally get it. 

Honestly, every time I decide to just skip it and pack in the morning, I regret it. School day mornings are so much easier if the lunch is already made. I try to get the lunches packed earlier in the day - either while I'm cleaning up from the morning rush, or while I'm in the kitchen making dinner. Often it doesn't get done until after dinner, but even that is better than waiting until morning.

If you have a few extra minutes and have the space in your fridge, try making two days of lunches at once. Then you get to skip a day of packing, and it kinda feels like a vacation.

I have a whole post here all about strategies for packing lunch ahead of time.

4: Shop & Prep Lunch Ingredients Ahead of Time

You've got your lunch plan for the week. Now make sure you have the food you need to deliver on it!  At the beginning of the week, or on the weekend, look at your list of what you plan to send for lunch, and just make sure you have all that food in your house.  

Then get it ready to pack!

After you get your groceries for the week, spend a little time doing some prep work and organizing.  

Cut up celery, carrots, and cucumbers. Slice apples and oranges (store them together and the orange juice will help keep the apples from browning).  I also have a whole post about how I cut apples days ahead and keep them from turning brown. Wash and chop lettuce (the apple tip works here too). I find it so much easier to send a variety of fruits and veggies if I have them ready and prepped ahead of time.

Fill little containers with yogurt, peanut butter, hummus. Fill reusable squeeze pouches with yogurt and applesauce. Cut blocks of cheese into sticks or cubes. You can even pre-fill a couple days worth of water bottles, or insulated drink bottles with milk. You can find all of my favorite containers for these tasks in my Amazon Store.

Taking the time to prep some of this stuff ahead will save you so much time when you are packing. It will also save you tons of money over buying pre-packaged foods. Use fridge organizing containers to create handy spaces in your fridge for your grab-and-pack items.

Cook lunch items in advance too!

When I cook, I always, always make extra.  And if it's something that freezes well, then I make even more. You can freeze all kinds of stuff - pizza rolls, or english muffin or mini pizzas, corn dog muffins, pasta, burritos. Lots of breakfast items freeze well - I always make loads of extra pancakes and waffles and muffins.  Even cooked oatmeal freezes great.  

Experiment, and see what works for you.  

It's so easy to just pull a serving size portion out of your freezer and pop in your lunch box the night before, add a little fruit or carrot sticks on the side, and you're good to go. 

5: Buy the right lunch packing supplies, and keep them organized.

Get yourself a basic, consistent set of good quality lunch packing products, and then keep them organized and handy. I am a huge believer in the concept of a job being made easier if you have the right tools.

If you're fumbling around trying to figure out what you are going to pack in, or searching for the right kind of container, then lunch packing really quickly becomes a giant drag. But if you have the right stuff, and have it handy, then you can throw together a great lunch really fast.  

Store your lunch packing supplies as close to where you will be packing lunch as possible. Mine are all in a cabinet right next to my main prep area in my kitchen. 

My number one favorite container for lunch packing is the EasyLunchboxes bento container. Most of my lunches you’ll see are packed in these. I have a lot of reasons why I love these and I have a whole post here with all the details if you really want to get into it.

You can find all of my favorite lunch packing products and tools listed in my Amazon Store.

That's it - my top five tips for easy school lunch packing.

My number one tip for back to school lunch box ideas is to make lunch ahead of time - and I’ve got tons of make ahead lunch ideas for you. You can pack lunch the night before, or even pack lunch days ahead of time. I promise this will save you so much time. Make ahead lunches for kids saves so much time.

It's one of the single best things I do for myself. Really, for myself. If I take an hour (at the most!) on Sunday to pack lunches for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, then that's free time I've bought myself for each of those very busy those days of the week. 

Here I am going to tell you how to make lunch for kids ahead of time - all of my best tips for packing a lunch that will stay fresh for days.

It takes a little extra time up front and a little extra planning, but I have never, ever regretted doing it.  I really encourage everyone to give it a try.

Every time I post about lunches that I've made a day, or two, or even three in advance, I get loads of questions about them.

Questions about how do I keep the food fresh that long, what do I pack, and how do I pack to ensure that the lunches are still good three days later.

I figured it was a topic that deserved a blog post all its own. 

How to pack school lunch ahead of time:

1: Start with the freshest food possible

Time your grocery shopping with your lunch prep and packing day, so that you are starting out with food that you know is already going to be good for well past the couple of days ahead that you are packing.

You can find my school lunch grocery list here.

2: Keep foods from touching each other

I love using a bento style lunch box with separate compartments, they make it very easy to keep foods from touching.

In addition to that, I like to insert silicone muffin cups to act as extra dividers, or use other small containers inside the lunch box. Sometimes I even use just pieces of parchment paper to provide a little separation. 

If you can keep the different foods from touching each other, then they will all stay fresh for a lot longer. 

3: Don't pack wet food

A lot of the questions I get are about how do I keep the foods in the lunch from getting “soggy”. My answer to that is to just not pack anything that would bother you if it got "soggy".

Sometimes you just have to use common sense. Avoid the wet stuff.

Don’t pack sliced tomatoes in advance, or anything else that has a tendency to leak moisture over time.  Stick to the more dry stuff. 

Want to pack lunches that look like mine? Shop my amazon store to get all of my favorite lunch packing products.

4: Avoid packing ‘combo’ foods

Try to avoid packing foods that are layers of things with different textures and moisture level.

Sandwiches with layers of vegetables are just not going to hold up well. Salads with vegetables of different moisture levels mixed together, like cut tomatoes touching lettuce, can be tricky. Or salads with dressing already mixed in.  

If you want to pack a salad, try keeping the different veggies as separated as possible, and the dressing in a separate container. I've had pretty good luck packing salads a day in advance with just the dressing on the side, but if you want to pack for 2 or 3 days ahead then I suggest you keep all your veggies separate and mix up your salad right before you are ready to eat.

If you want to pack a sandwich, I've got some tips below just for sandwiches.

5: Avoid most cut fruit

If you follow my pages, you know how I feel about cut apples.  

I have no problem packing those days in advance, because browning has never been a big problem for me. But other than apples, I avoid packing cut fruit very much in advance.

A night before is ok, but no longer than that. Instead go with whole berries, whole grapes, whole plums or apricots, whole peeled mandarin oranges.

Most of the more juicy fruits start to release their liquid as soon as they are cut, so after a day or two the fruit will be a little more dry, and you’ll have some juice making a mess in your lunchbox. But fruits with their outer skin intact will retain their moisture better and stay fresh longer. 

Bananas are ok for a day or two if all you’ve done is cut off one end - that end might get a little dry/brown but the rest of the banana will be just fine.

Oranges or mandarins are ok if you peel them carefully, ensuring not to break any of the protective membrane on the sections. 

6: Choose cut vegetables carefully

Some veggies will keep just fine when cut, and others don't.

Lettuce, carrots, celery, and broccoli all store well when cut ahead - think about the kinds of veggies that don't release a ton of water after they sit for a while. These are all actually great choices for doing a once-a-week prep - get them all cut and stored in containers in your fridge so they are easy to grab and throw in a lunch or salad. I like these green storage containers for produce, they do help keep it fresh.

Not all veggies will tolerate being cut and stored ahead of time. Most slicing tomatoes top this list. Cut or sliced tomatoes are just not the same overnight in the fridge. If you want tomatoes in your lunch, choose small cherry or grape tomatoes instead - the size that can just be put in the lunch whole or just cut in half. Cucumbers are hit and miss, I've had pretty good luck with keeping sliced cucumbers for a few days, but not always. But it’s pretty easy to find the mini snacking cucumbers now and those are great for lunch.

I think you just need to do a little trial and error, it seems to depend on the variety and how juicy they are. Avocados will turn brown on the exposed flesh after being cut, but if that little bit of brown doesn't bother you, then go for it. The flavor isn't affected. Think about other veggies you can include that can be left whole - sugar snap peas, fresh green beans, mini sweet peppers. 

7: Cut with a sharp knife 

This seems like a small tip, but it does make a big difference.

If you are going to pack cut fruits or vegetables, try cutting them with a very sharp knife.  Very sharp knives slice through foods with much less pressure - and that means less bruising and less damage to the fruit and vegetables. If they are cut with minimal bruising, they will lose less juice, there will be less browning, and they will last longer.

You don't have to spend a fortune on a whole set of sharp knifes. Get one good knife, the best you can afford. Or at least get a good knife sharpener - my favorite knife sharpener is not at all expensive. You won't believe what a difference it will make. 

8: Pack in containers that are airtight enough to keep refrigerator moisture and smells out

I pack most of my lunches in EasyLunchboxes.

They are not totally leak proof, but a lot of people think that just because they don’t seal well enough to keep liquid in somehow also means that they don’t close tightly enough to keep food fresh, and that’s simply not the case. (see the picture comparison above of the same lunch three days apart.

I can put crackers or tortilla chips in an EasyLunchbox and stick it in the fridge and they will still be crunchy 3 days later!

I also love the way they all stack so neatly together, which makes it much easier to have several lunches in the fridge at a time.

9: Pack foods that you know will keep in your fridge

Honestly, if you’re packing a lunch that is all foods that would already be stored in your fridge for the same amount of time anyway, then as long as you follow my other tips above, it should all be just fine.

If it's already in your fridge, and all you’re doing is repackaging and storing it in a lunch box instead of whatever other container it was already in, then there's little to worry about.

10: Don't be afraid of the crunchy stuff

People seem to think that crackers and chips are going to get soft as soon as you put them in the fridge, and that's simply not true.

I'm actually not even sure how we all got that idea.

As long as they're in a closed container, they will stay just as crunchy. Temperature has nothing to do with it. Humidity is more of what causes these things to go soft, and for most of us the refrigerator is probably less humid than the rest of the house.

Honestly, in the winter time my garage (where my pantry is) is as cold as my fridge, if not colder.  If I can store crackers there, then why not in the fridge?

Go right ahead and pack crackers, chips, or even dry cereals. If you're really nervous about it, you can put the crackers in a little snack bag or a separate container, but I don't think that is strictly necessary.

11: If you're struggling with ideas, think "Lunchable". 

You know those lunchables that you can buy pre-packaged at the store?

Think about how they are packaged and what's in them: crackers, sliced meat, sliced cheese, maybe a cookie. And what's unique about how they are packed? They are in a container with a separate little section for each item.

There's a reason why they work (and it's not just preservatives, because there are lots of organic brands now) - it’s basically all of the tips I’ve listed above.

Next time you're at the store take a look at the lunchables and note what kinds of things they contain, then go home and make your own version of that - but healthier, and less expensive!

You can make the standard cheese, meat, and crackers. Or try the one that's a make-your-own pizza - with a piece of bread or english muffin, a container of sauce, shredded cheese, and some sliced pepperoni.  Or a make your own nachos, with chips, cheese, and salsa.

12: Make ahead, and pack from the freezer

Some of my favorite lunches to pack are the ones when I can just pull something already made out of the freezer and pop it in the lunchbox.

This makes lunch packing even faster. Most foods that freeze and defrost well are also going to hold up to lunchbox storage well.

I make things like pizza rolls, english muffin pizzas, pancakes, muffins, waffles, corn dog muffins, etc. all well in advance and freeze. Then when it's time to pack a lunch I just pull something out of the freezer and put it in the lunchbox while frozen. They slowly thaw in the fridge and are great for a several days. 

How to pack sandwiches ahead of time.

I already suggested that you maybe skip the sandwiches. But if what you really want is a sandwich, here are my tips for packing lunch with sandwiches ahead of time:

Avoid wet ingredients

Leave out the lettuce or tomato or cucumber, or other similar veggies that are going to release a lot of moisture. If you really want veggies for your sandwich, keep them separate and add them to the sandwich right before eating.

Seal your bread with something

I usually have no problem with mayonnaise making bread soggy. I know some people say they do.  I wonder if they’re using light or reduced fat mayo, that may contain more water. Regular mayo is mostly oil, so there shouldn’t much moisture or water in there to make bread soggy.

If that still doesn’t work for you, try a thin layer of butter on the bread to seal it, then your other spreads or toppings. Or some people have good luck with leaving out the spread and packing it separately, and then adding it at the last minute. There are great little containers available that hold just the right amount of mayo for a sandwich. 

Meat in the middle.

Some people feel that sliced lunchmeat makes their bread soggy. So try putting the meat in the middle of the sandwich, rather than right next to the bread. Put slices of cheese on either side touching the bread. Or you can dry the meat a little with a paper towel before you put it on the bread. 

Use the freshest sliced lunchmeat possible.

I find that pre-packaged sandwich meat often has a lot of water added to it, and it’s almost drippy when take it out of the package. But if you get freshly sliced meats from the deli they don’t have as much water added and they work much better for making sandwiches ahead.

Use a more dense, dry bread.

That wonderful soft, white sandwich bread that we all love is just too delicate to hold up to packing in advance.  It just absorbs moisture too easily. Instead try a more dense bread - a multigrain, or at least a whole wheat bread (but not one that's too soft), or a good firm and chewy sourdough. 

Try packing a “make your own” sandwich box.

This is actually one of my kids favorite lunches. It’s an easy way to make sandwiches more fun. Pack pieces of bread, sliced meats and cheese, sliced veggies, mayo, all in separate containers or separate sections of the lunch box so none of the components are touching each other. Then they get to assemble their own sandwich at lunch time. Bento lunch boxes with silicone dividers are perfect for this kind of lunch.

How to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ahead of time.

Try putting a layer of peanut butter on both pieces of bread, and then the jam in the middle. 

Use jam instead of jelly. A lot of folks don’t know the difference and assume they are different names for the same thing. They are not. Jelly is made from just the juice, so by nature it is much wetter.

Jam on the other hand is made from the whole fruit, usually with the pulp and skin, so it’s thicker and there is less moisture to soak into your bread. I always use only jam, never jelly.

Toast or grill sandwiches.

The extra toasting on the outside gets you started off with bread that is a little more dry, and the melting of the cheese helps keep it all together without getting soggy. You can make grilled cheese or grilled ham and cheese ahead of time.

Adjust your expectations

There are lots of things that are going to be just the same as the day you packed them, but some aren't.

And as long as you're ok with the change in texture, then it's still ok to eat.

I make quesadillas days in advance all the time. No, they're not still crispy on the outside like they were when they were just cooked on a hot pan, but I still think they taste great. I pack burritos ahead of time often - and yes, the tortilla does get a little soft, but we deal with it.

Toasted or grilled sandwiches aren't going to be quite as crisp, and that's ok. 

Just give it a try

A lot of this is trial and error. You're going to make a few mistakes, and that's ok!

Experiment with different things, and see how you like what they look & taste like after a few days.

What's the worst that can happen?

If you pack a lunch a few days ahead of time and check it the morning you want to use it and think that the berries or the crackers don't look quite fresh enough - just quickly swap them out, and remember to try a different kind the next time. You're still ahead of the game because you still have a lunch that's already mostly packed. 

If you think the fruit is just past where you kid will eat it, but it’s not spoiled - don’t throw it out! Toss that fruit in a zipper bag in your freezer and use it for a smoothie. Freeze the crackers too, smash them up next time you need bread crumbs for something.

My bottom line advice is really to just pause and think through things before you pack whatever you would normally pack.

Not every lunch is going to work just a well when packed days in advance.  

But you can pack lunch in advance, with my tips above and little bit of thought and planning, you can easily get at least 3 or 4 days of lunches packed at once.

It’s amazing how much time it saves during the week, so it’s really worth taking the extra time to think it through. 

The after school snack attack is real!

We’ve all been there—your kids rush in from school, bags drop to the floor, and they’re immediately hungry! As busy parents, the daily after-school rush can feel like a whirlwind. It can be a daily challenge to provide something healthy, quick, and satisfying. I know the struggle well from my years of packing lunches for four kids. Over time, I’ve learned how to balance convenience with nutrition to keep them fueled and happy without too much effort. I’m here to share my tried-and-true, simple snack ideas that are perfect for busy families.

Why Healthy Snacks Matter

After a long day at school, kids need nutritious snacks to refuel their energy, stabilize blood sugar, and keep them full until dinner. Opting for balanced, nutrient-dense snacks not only keeps them satisfied but also ensures they’re getting the fuel they need throughout their day. Protein-packed snacks and fiber-rich options like fruits and veggies are key to curbing hunger without reaching for processed foods.

A lot of the things I serve for snacks are the same things I pack in lunches - just in smaller quantities. So if you look at my lunches, especially my no-sandwich lunches, you'll get plenty of ideas.

I have a few priorities I keep in mind for after school snack ideas:

1) Snacks need to be nutritious.

I try very hard to avoid empty calories. The point of after school snacking is to refuel their brains and bodies enough to help them recover from their long school day, have enough energy to get through their homework or after school activity, and still be hungry again by dinner time.

I like to keep the same ideas in mind for snacks as I do for all other meals - a balance of protein, fruit, veggies, and carbs. Not all at the same time, but I just try to keep some balance in mind with the snacks I offer through the course of the week. 

2) Snacks need to be quick and easy.

I make enough meals, I don't need to be spending a bunch of time every day making snacks too. I want stuff that's quick for me to get out and put on a plate. Prepping ahead of time helps with this, like keeping veggies already cut, fruit washed, and snack containers filled and organized.

I think snacks also need to be quick and easy for kids to eat. They want to get on with the fun. So foods that are bite sized and not too messy are ideal. It's even better if the snacks are stored in a way that the kids can help themselves - I try to keep snack sized cheese, yogurts, veggies, and fruit at a level where my kids can reach.

3) Snacks need to be affordable.

You’ve seen how much these kids can eat, right? Especially as they get older, and don’t even get me started on how much teenagers can put away.

I try hard to minimize the amount of pre-packaged snacks we eat at home. Not because I have anything against them, there are plenty of healthy options, but mostly because that stuff gets expensive! My four kids can demolish a box of granola bars or applesauce pouches in minutes.

I keep a good supply of those kinds of things available in our garage to throw in a snack bag for when we are out, or for everyone to always have an extra snack in their backpack. But my rule at home is that we don’t eat the packaged snacks. It’s so much less expensive to buy whole foods in bulk and do some snack time meal prep once a week.

My favorite after school snack serving suggestion: the kids grazing table.

One of my favorite things to do for snack time, and sometimes even lunch when we are home, is to just put out a platter or cutting board with a variety of choices. It's easy for me, and I've found that my kids will actually eat better if they have a little control over the choices. I’ve got a whole post with lots of kids snack tray or grazing table ideas that you’ll definitely want to read.

Now, for my list of go-to snacks:

Let’s get on with it. Here are my detailed after school snack idea suggestions. Bookmark this page and you’ll never run out of after school snack ideas for kids again.

Want a quick printable shopping list? Download my school lunch packing shopping list, all these foods are on it and there’s room to add some of your own ideas.

Fresh Fruit:

We love all kinds of fruit, but here are some of our favorites:

• Apples: cut them up ahead of time so you always have a container in the fridge to grab. Read my favorite tip for keeping cut apples from turning brown.

• Oranges or Mandarins: I try to buy the easy to peel mandarins so my kids can eat them independently.

• Grapes: washed and in a bowl (try freezing them too - a great treat for hot summer days!)

• Berries: My kids go nuts for any kind of berries, I usually try to buy what’s in season because they can get expensive.

• Bananas: Leave the peel on but cut the ends off, cut into two or three portions, and slit the middle so it’s easy to peel.

• Avocados: we like to fill the center with soy sauce and scoop them with a spoon, or we love avocado spread on toast or bagels.

Fresh (raw) Veggies:

For some reason my kids are much more willing to eat raw veggies than cooked. Fine by me. It's easier. I try to keep a variety in the fridge so I can serve a selection that will include something for everyone. 

• Carrots

• Celery

• Cucumbers

• Tomatoes

• Sweet peppers - especially red and orange

• Zucchini

• Sugar snap peas

Dried fruits & veggies:

These are great because they keep longer, and more and more stores are offering a wider variety of dried things. 

• Raisins

• Dried cranberries

• Dried strawberries

• Dried blueberries

• Any freeze dried fruits - these are crunchy, instead of chewy like normal dried fruits. You can get all kinds - apples, bananas, strawberries, mango, etc. I usually get them at Trader Joe's, but I've seen a wide variety at Whole Foods, and sometimes at Costco.

• Apple sauce, or any other kind of fruit sauce. 

• Seaweed snacks

• Dried veggie chips

Dairy:

• Snack sized cheeses. For snacking it works best to either have pre-packaged cheeses like Babybel or string cheese, or just take a few minutes once a week to cut a big block of cheese into cubes or sticks. Small cubes are great for smaller fingers.

• Yogurt tubes - from the fridge, or frozen. Freeze them and kids think they are getting some kind of special treat.

• Milk. Yes, sometimes just milk. A cup of milk has 8 grams of protein. It's a great way to quickly get a kid fueled up with some protein and natural sugars. I don't even mind a little chocolate milk for those occasions when they really need a quick boost of energy - I usually try to keep a handful of chocolate milk boxes in my car, in case someone is especially hangry at school pickup. 

Other Proteins:

• Ham, turkey, salami, chicken - sliced or cubed

• Boiled egg

• Nuts

• Nut butters - great on celery or crackers, or I have one that will just eat a spoonful.

• Cubes of baked tofu

• Mini hot dogs, or a regular dog cut into bites.

• Tuna salad with crackers. I like to mix in shredded cheese when I make tuna for the kids.

Baked goods:

Homemade baked goods are perhaps the ultimate in after school snacking. They will create fond memories that last forever. They can taste like a treat but you can pack them full of nutrition. Use whole grains, add ground flax or wheat germ, add extra eggs.

• Muffins: you can pack a lot of goodness into homemade muffins. I make extra and keep them in the freezer. Mini muffins are great for snacking. Try my banana chocolate chip muffins.

• Quick breads: banana bread, zucchini bread, pumpkin bread. I’ve got a really versatile quick bread recipe that everyone loves.

• Whole grain bread & rolls. A little butter or jam on a nice multi-grain roll or slice of bread is a great snack! I have a recipe here for a super quick biscuit that my kids just love. A slice of a really good quality multi-grain bread has 4-5 grams of protein.

• Cookies. In moderation of course, but you can actually cut back the sugar quite a bit in a lot of cookie recipes, or swap it for honey, and you have something much healthier that still tastes delicious. Paired with a glass of milk and you have a great snack.

• Pizza rolls: one of our all time lunch and snack favorites.

Other Grains & Carbs:

• Lots of different kinds of regular crackers - you know, Ritz, Triscuits, etc. 

• Of course we also do the usual kid favorites - cheese crackers, animal crackers.

• Granola bars, cereal bars, breakfast bars

• Rice cakes

• Mini bagels

• Graham crackers

• Rice crackers

• Sesame crackers

• Toast

• Tortilla chips

• Packaged lower sugar cookies - little mini graham cookies, animal crackers, etc.

• A bowl of cereal - Cheerios, Chex, any other low sugar cereal with a serving of milk.

• Popcorn

Dip & Spreads:

Some kids love dipping, so dips can be a great snack with veggies, crackers, or bread.

• Ranch dip

• Hummus

• Bean dip - I like to just do refried beans heated with some shredded cheese. You can add a little salsa if your kids like a little spice. 

• Peanut butter, or other nut butter

• Spreadable cheeses

• Guacamole - sometimes I buy the little single serving containers, or it can be just as easy as mashing up an avocado with a fork and adding a bit of salt and lemon juice. 

Other ideas:

• Smoothies & milkshakes. Really the possibilities are endless. These are great for busy on-the-go type of days. Sometimes I will make a really loaded smoothie and take them in the car for pickup, if we are running around to activities. 

• Quesadillas - cut in strips for easy munching. I always make extra quesadillas to have in the fridge for quick snacks and lunches.

• Simple sandwiches. If you have a few kids, you can make one simple sandwich, like a toasted cheese or a PB&J, and cut it in quarters. A quarter of a sandwich with a few sliced apples is a nice little snack.

• Leftovers - a small bowl of dinner leftovers is about as easy at it gets. Not a full meal sized serving, but just enough to tide them over. A little bit of leftover pasta, a cup of soup, a bowl of rice...

Get creative!

You don't have serve the "typical" snack foods just because it's snack time. Anything they like to eat, and you are ok with them eating, makes for a fine snack. Just serve it in a snack sized portion, rather than a full meal portion. 

You may have also heard me talk about how much I believe in "everything in moderation".  We don't follow any specific kind of "diet", other than eating just real food.  (I don't consider that a diet though, I consider that to just be normal.)  We don't have any food allergies or specific food intolerances, there isn't anything that we can't eat.  We are omnivores, who eat all real foods, in moderation. But moderation to me means that we don't eat all the things all the time, and we shouldn't eat all the kinds of things at every meal.

So even though I don't have to for a dietary reason, you will still find me fixing meals for my family that are gluten free, grain free, nut free, dairy free, meat free, etc.  

I believe in doing this to provide variety for my kids, and I think it's good for them to learn that they can have a great meal even if it doesn't include bread, or dairy, or meat, etc.  

I think that sometimes limiting things from our meals also provides a great learning opportunity for the kids - we have had conversations about what is gluten, what it means to be gluten free, or nut free, what it means if someone has a food allergy.  

Even though we don't have any food allergies I still want my kids to understand and be aware of what that means, so that they can be understanding and supportive of their friends and classmates who do have food allergies, and understanding of why they maybe can't take certain things to school.

Hats off to the moms who are getting extra creative in making those well rounded meals for their kids with food allergies or intolerances every single day.  My occasional lunches are just a drop in the bucket compared to what some folks do, but hopefully they can give you some good ideas.  

All of my lunches are packed in Easy Lunchboxes.  

I'll write a whole post about how much I love them one of these days.  But in the mean time, click the link to the right to order some for yourself.  These are our favorite set - the "brights" colors, but they come in other colors too.  

Now, here you go. 28 Gluten free (and mostly grain free) lunches!

(including a few that could be very easily adapted by just swapping out a few crackers.)

Note that where I have used chips or tortillas in these, they are gluten free corn chips and tortillas, unless otherwise noted.

The following lunches do contain some small amount of cracker or bread, but they could easily be adapted to be gluten free.  In most cases I would just swap out the crackers for a gluten free cracker of your choice.  Or leave it out all together and put a little extra fruit or protein in its place. 

Looking for ideas for non sandwich lunches?

Or ideas for packing lunches without bread? 

Packing kids lunch for school doesn’t have to be boring. Sandwiches get old, I know, I’ve made thousands of them. Sometimes you need ideas for lunches to pack that don't use bread.

I've got you covered.

I've been sharing lunch packing tips and easy lunch ideas here on this blog for years and I've packed like a million lunches, most of them without sandwiches. This page - and new video! - have my top five ideas for packing lunches without sandwiches. But I also have dozens more ideas for you. When you are finished here hop on over to this page with links to all of my other posts about non sandwich lunches. I’ve packed so many that they don’t all fit on one page. I promise you’ll never run out of fun lunch packing ideas again.

Here are my top five ideas for lunches that aren't sandwiches. 

1. Homemade Lunchable

This is your homemade version of the kid food classic favorite. Crackers, meat, cheese & a sweet treat.

The possible combinations are endless - with different kinds of crackers, meats, cheese, fruits, and veggies - you could pack this every day and never make the same combo twice. 

Add veggies & fruit on the side to make it a healthy lunch for kids! 

2. Pizza Rolls

Pizza rolls are a big hit - and my post about them is consistently one of the most popular posts on this page. They area perfect kid food, and a family favorite. They are easy to make and basically the perfect non sandwich lunch idea. 

I make these several dozen at a time and freeze them.

When you make lunch the night before - put the frozen pizza rolls in the lunchbox, with a little veggies and fruit on the side.  Put the packed lunch in the fridge overnight, and they will be thawed and perfect room temperature by lunch time. 

3. Quesadillas

Quesadillas, in my opinion, are just about the easiest lunch you can make. All you need are tortillas and cheese, and the possibilities to customize it are almost endless.

I usually use just a basic flour tortilla - but you can use corn tortillas, or whole wheat, or any combination. 

For cheese, we go for a shredded Mexican blend most of the time - these usually have some cheddar, jack, and some Mexican style queso mixed in. You can use basically any kind of cheese you like - get creative. 

The plain cheese quesadilla is the most common for lunch, but if you have a kid who is a little more adventurous, add more stuff to it. Chicken is great, or diced ham. Any other kind of thinly sliced or diced meats work well - leftover steak, or pot roast, or pork chop - you name it! 

You can add beans, or avocado, or other veggies. For lunch packing I just recommend you avoid anything that's going to leach out too much moisture and make your quesadilla soggy. 

As for cooking - you can cook these in the microwave, or in a frying pan, and I've even been known to pop them on the rack in the toaster oven. For make-ahead lunches I prefer to get them a little crispy, so either a pan or toaster oven, because that helps keep them from getting soggy. 

Final tip for quesadilla making - make sure they are totally cool before you close up the lunch box. Any heat will create steam, which will make them soggy. 

To round out the lunch, add some fruit & veggies on the side! 

4. The Pinwheel

This is an easy variation on the sandwich that just helps keep lunch a little more interesting. Basically you just take a tortilla - or any other kind of flatbread - spread out sandwich fillings, roll up, and slice. I like to do these with cheese and ham, or with turkey & cream cheese. One of my kids like butter & cheese. We even do them with peanut butter & jam. You can add almost anything you like, just keep everything sliced thin so it's easy to roll. 

This lunch has some dried seaweed snacks on the side. If you haven't tried these I encourage you to do it! Most kids really like them - they are crunchy and salty. And they are super healthy. 

5. The fruit & cheese box.

This is one of my personal favorites. I love fresh seasonal fruits. Most kids do too, so it's usually a really popular lunch. Buy whatever fruits are fresh & in season, and pair them with some sliced cheese, and maybe a few crackers. It's quick and easy if you've got fresh fruit in the house.