School packed lunch planner

Cut yourself some slack in the morning and avoid the stress of thinking about what to pack for school lunch.

Packing a healthy and varied school lunchbox is easy. Just pick one item from each category, the mains, the fruit and veggies and the snack, add a bottle of water or semi-skimmed milk and you’re done. Easy huh!

School lunch box mains ideas

This is what they eat first – it should be filling and as healthy as possible, try to use wholegrain versions of bread where possible.

Sandwich/Wrap/Pitta – various fillings cheese, chicken, ham, tuna, tinned salmon, hummus, egg or nut butters if your school allows. Try to add a little salad if you can.
Slice of pizza – you can make muffin pizzas using a wholegrain muffin as a base.
Small pastry – like a quiche, slice of cheese and vegetable pie, quick veggie pasty or homemade sausage rolls.
Spring rolls or samosas
Crackers
Quesadilla
Rice salad
Pasta salad
Potato salad
Leftover of any soup/stew/curry packed in a thermos food pot

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.

School lunch box fruit and veg ideas

Try to include a portion of fruit and vegetables each day and vary what you put in so they don’t get bored.

Vegetable batons – try any of the following – carrot, pepper, cucumber, celery, broccoli florets, whole tomatoes
A little pot of hummus, tomato or bean dip with mini bread sticks
As well as the usual apples, pears, satsumas, bananas try making little fruit salads, slices of melon or kiwi, seasonal berries, tinned fruit in juice or handfuls of dried fruit.
Fruit pots or fruit kebabs

School lunch box snack ideas

A little snack is always a welcome addition to a packed lunch, it doesn’t always have to be a cake!

Flapjacks
Muffins
Cookies
Rice Pudding
Cheese cubes & nuts (older children only and check your school policy with regards to nuts)
Crackers with cheese or nut butter
Savoury snacks like baked crisps
Popcorn
Yogurts

School lunch box drink ideas

The best drink to send is plain bottled water or semi-skimmed milk. Don’t whack up the sugar content of the lunch by adding cartons of cordial or fruit juice drinks, water or milk are just fine.