Kids Lunchbox Pasta Salad
A super easy kids lunch box idea - kids pasta salad that squeezes in three portions of fruit and veggies!
WHY YOU'LL LOVE THIS PASTA SALAD RECIPE
⭐️ Kids just seem to love cold pasta salad, and it makes a nice change from sandwiches and wraps.
⭐️ Our kids pasta salad contains 3 portions of fruit and veggies! And they all count towards your little ones 5-a-day.
⭐️ It’s super simple to make! You can literally throw this together in under 15 minutes.
EQUIPMENT NEEDED
- Chopping board
- Saucepan
- Teaspoon
- Colander
- Mixing bowl
- Wooden spoon - or any large spoon
KIDS PASTA SALAD INGREDIENTS
Pasta salad for school lunch is always a good idea, especially if your kids aren't keen on sandwiches.
- Dried pasta shapes - kids seem to like fusilli or penne for pasta salad but you can just use whatever shaped pasta you have in.
- Frozen peas - you could just use a peas and corn mix and use a total of 100g rather than weighing the vegetables out separately.
- Frozen corn
- Pineapple cubes - my kids love pineapple in pasta salad - it kinda has that Hawaiian pizza flavour vibe.
- Ham - chopped into bitesized pieces
- Sun dried tomato pesto - feel free to swap this to green pesto if your kids like that one better.
HOW TO MAKE KIDS LUNCHBOX PASTA SALAD
Step One - cook the pasta, peas and sweetcorn
- Put the pasta, peas and corn into a pan of boiling water - bring the pan back to the boil and cook for around 10 minutes until the pasta is soft.
- Drain the cooked pasta, peas and corn in a colander then run them under a cold tap to cool them down quickly.
Step Two - mix up the lunchbox pasta salad
- Put the cold pasta, peas and corn into a mixing bowl.
- Tip the pineapple cubes and chopped ham in with the pasta and stir in gently.
- Add the sun dried tomato pesto to the mixing bowl and stir everything together gently to coat all the ingredients in the pesto.
Step Three - serve
- Tip the pasta salad into lunchboxes and serve.
Be sure when making pasta and rice salad that you follow food hygiene guidelines – cool the rice/pasta quickly and store it at the appropriate temperature – even when packed in lunch boxes – rice needs to be stored at less than 5 degrees C.
INGREDIENT SWAPS AND ADD INS
Okay, so we've shown you the basic kids pasta salad for packed lunch, but you can mix things up and swap the ingredients to suit what your and your kids like best. I've popped some ideas below for you to try.
- Swap the ham for chicken, plant based ham or tuna.
- Make a vegetarian version and add mini mozzarella balls or a handful of grated cheese and skip the meat altogether.
- Make up a bowl of tuna pasta salad using our delicious tuna and sweetcorn recipe here.
SERVING IDEAS FOR KIDS PASTA SALAD
- Great for school lunchboxes - you can make this pasta and pack it up into boxes the night before ready to just grab and go in the morning.
- Turn the pasta salad into after school pasta snack pots. Make up a few pots and they'll keep in the fridge for a 48 hours ready for the kids to grab when they get home from school hungry.
LUNCHBOX SNACK IDEAS
Kid's are always super hungry by lunchtime so we've popped some lunchbox snack ideas below that you can add in alongside the kids pasta salad.
- Piece of fruit - banana, apple, pears, berries, melon slices.
- Homemade scones - these are nice spread with butter and a little strawberry jam.
- Homemade cookies - try our delicious cinnamon and raisin cookies recipe here.
- Veggie sticks with hummus or salsa dip
- Crackers with cheese - make up a little stack of cheese and crackers to put in alongside the pasta salad.
- Cheese sticks - just slice up little batons of cheese for the kids to snack on.
- Yogurt - you can make up little yogurt pots with fruit, natural yogurt and a drizzle of maple syrup or honey.
- Chocolate Cornflake Cakes - a super easy chocolate crackle cake recipe with just TWO ingredients!
Get More Lunchbox Recipes Here
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Hey, let us know how you get on making the kids pasta salad and you can share your foodie photos with us on Instagram or Facebook. And if you get a second we'd love for you to rate the recipe on the card below ⭐️
Kids Lunchbox Pasta Salad
Super easy kids lunch box idea – kids pasta salad that squeezes in three lots of fruit and veggies!
Ingredients
- 50g fusilli pasta
- 50g frozen peas
- 50g frozen sweetcorn
- 50g pineapple cubes
- 1 slice ham
- 2tsp sun dried tomato pesto
Instructions
- Put the pasta, peas and sweetcorn in a saucepan of boiling water - bring the pan back to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the pasta is cooked.
- Drain the pasta and vegetables in a colander and then rinse them under cold water to cool them donw quickly.
- Tip the pasta and vegetables into a mixing bowl, add the pineapple cubes, chopped ham and pesto and mix everything together gently.
- Tip into lunchboxes
Notes
This will serve 1-2 children depending on appetite.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 633Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 94mgSodium: 1504mgCarbohydrates: 82gFiber: 8gSugar: 13gProtein: 48g
Nutritional content will vary depending on the exact ingredients you use and how careful you are with measuring - this nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate - you should always calculate your own nutritional information especially if you have specific dietary requirements.
Grab our school packed lunch planner with menus here
If you LOVE our kids pasta salad recipe and you're stuck of packed lunch ideas for the kids - we've got a two week menu plan of packed lunch ideas for kids that are easy to make, delicious and healthy to eat.
Get more delicious meal ideas and easy recipes here
Wendy is the creator of Daisies & Pie, a UK food blog sharing easy meals and home lifestyle tips since 2012
