10 Must-Haves for Quick School Lunches

In third grade, my stepdaughter used to always buy her lunch at school.  But, when we saw how much money we could save by making her lunch instead, it was kind of a no brainer. For her first day of fourth grade, I was nervous about having enough time to go through our normal morning routine AND make a school lunch on top of it.  It is enough of a hassle just to get out the door on time with shoes and jackets, let alone a lunchbox too.

Planning ahead and having prepackaged, ready to go healthy snacks makes lunches a breeze. You can use Amazon Pantry to help you preorder items so your fridge and pantry are always stocked. Here are my suggestions for some quick grab and go items:

1. Quality lunchbox

In order to keep lunch quick in the morning, it is important to have a good quality lunchbox. I love this bento style lunchbox from Bentgo. It has a removable piece that you can put in the freezer to keep your lunches chilled without needing an extra ice pack. Additionally, I enjoy filling up each section with something different, which helps ensure that my kiddo is getting enough variety. Clean up is also a breeze as this can be washed on the top rack of your dishwasher.

The only downside is that sometimes you can be limited for space. Fortunately, Bentgo also makes a carrier case for this lunchbox which allows you to have extra room for things like yogurt, utensils, or a water bottle.

 2. Sandwich or Leftovers

Sandwiches are obviously our go to when it comes to lunch.  They are quick and easy to make in the morning and can be changed up fairly regularly to keep lunches interesting.  They have these cute sandwiches cutters as well if you have a picky eater on your hand that hates the crust.

The best lunches though are the ones that are just leftovers from the night before!  Pasta always makes for a great leftover lunch.  I might also just try to incorporate a few leftover ingredients.  For example, if we happen to have tacos during the week then I might make ham and cheese roll-ups with the leftover tortilla shells.  Or, if we have leftover guacamole, then I might surprise the kids with some avocado toast.  I am up for making anything that is easy in the morning, as I’m typically a walking zombie at that time.

 3. Fruits

I always include some type of fruit.  Things like strawberries, blueberries, grapes, or bananas are the easiest as there is no prep work involved.  If you’re feeling fancy then you can cut up some fruit like kiwi or pineapple the night before and have it ready to go in the morning.

4. Veggies

A quick cheat to make these go faster is to grab a veggie tray from the grocery store and just divide them up into individual Ziploc bags.  If you have the Bentgo lunchbox, then you get to even save a step on bagging them up. It keeps all the prep work to a minimum.  I also buy the individual packs of ranch dressing for dipping which helps prevent you from having an unexpected spill in your kid’s lunch box when they get home.

5. Side Item

I tend to like to throw in something else just as a snack.  I have found things like rice cakes or a yogurt are great.  Other quick snacks like pita and individual packs of hummus are easy too.  If you freeze a GoGurt those can double as a freeze pack that will thaw by lunchtime.

Hot Tip: Be sure to put any yogurts in an individual bag as we once had one explode on us.  The clean-up was not fun to say the least.

 6. Salty Snack

We have a membership to Costco so it is easy to pick up a big box of prepackaged chips, cheez-its, or goldfish.  It is certainly cheaper to buy a big bag of pretzels or chips and then bag them yourself.  I however don’t always have time for that and so I am looking for what is quick.  Throwing in a salty snack is an easy way to complete a meal.

7. Sweet Treat

After Halloween, we are always left with enough candy to feed a whole army.  As a way to make sure it doesn’t all go to waste, some days I will throw one or two small treats. I try not to make a habit of this though and will only add them in as a special surprise.

8. Drink

We get the mini water bottles from Costco which are great for throwing in lunchboxes.  If your child wants more flavor, but you don’t want to give them sugary juice then you can get some water flavoring like the ones from MiO. My personal favorite is the fruit punch flavor.

 9. Note

Kids love when you leave them surprise notes in their lunchboxes.  I don’t do anything crazy, just quickly write that I love them and can’t wait to see them soon.  It helps start their day with a smile.  My stepdaughter once was really surprised when I wrote a message on her banana! If you aren’t super creative though, you can pick up these cute notes online which do half the job for you.

10. Cheat Day!

Not going to lie, some days I just don’t want to make a sandwich in the morning.  I’m typically so tired by the end of the week that I dread the idea of having to get all the makings out and put them away.  So, I sometimes will buy one Lunchable for the week, which I usually pull out on a Friday.  It is a reward for me to not have to make a lunch one day and then my kids also view it as a special treat.  It’s a win-win all around!

---

Bottom line, when it comes to lunches, I am always looking for what I can grab quickly from the pantry.  Items that are individually prepackaged work best when accompanied with some fresh fruits and veggies. I still have my days where I might hand my kid two dollars to just buy lunch. But, once you develop a routine, making lunches isn’t as bad as you think it might be.  This is also something my kids can easily do by themselves now. I just need to figure out how to get them moving faster in the morning!

I want to hear from you!  What tips do you have for quick and easy school lunches?