Ultimate Healthy Lunchbox Ideas Your Kids Will Actually Eat

From mini burritos and savoury muffins to warming soups and chilli in a flask.

A mum recently commented on one of my Facebook posts that she needed inspiration for healthy lunchbox ideas for kids. Her children have a mix of school dinners and packed lunches. They are bored with the same old things, and food is coming home uneaten.

Sound familiar?

Cleaning the lunchboxes at the end of the day is one of my least favourite jobs. There is nothing more dispiriting than finding the sandwich you have lovingly made at 6 am untouched. The apple uneaten but battered and most of your good intentions still sitting inside it.

Even the healthiest of lunchboxes is not use if it doesn’t get eaten!

I’m not a fan of picture-perfect lunches. You can keep your cucmber stars and dinasaur-shaped sandwiches (unless you genuinely enjoy doing that sort of thing at seven o’clock in the morning!). For me, a lunchbox needs to tick three simple boxes:

• Tasty
• Easy to make and quick to eat
• Full of the good stuff that gives growing children the get-up-and-go energy to learn, play and thrive.

Here are a few ideas from the Lunchbox Legends chapter of Enerjoy! for Active Families.

Start with what they already enjoy

When children are fed up with their lunch, it’s tempting to change everything. A box full of unfamiliar food can be a bit overwhelming, however, especially in a noisy dining hall when the clock is ticking.

Keep one or two trusted favourites and add something different alongside them. Keep the usual yoghurt, for example, but swap the sandwich for a mini burrito. Add a little pot of hummus and crunchy veg, or pop in a savoury muffin instead of the usual packet of crisps.

It is also worth asking what is actually wrong with the lunch that comes home.

Perhaps they like the sandwich, but it has gone soggy.

The portion may be too big. The apple might take too long to eat. The lid on that lovely little container may be completely impossible to open!

Sometimes it’s the practical things, rather than the food itself, that make all the difference.

Try my simple lunchbox formula

There is no need to dream up a completely different masterpiece every day. Choose one thing from each group and mix it up across the week:

• Cool carbohydrates: wholegrain bread, a wrap, pasta, rice, couscous, oatcakes or a savoury muffin.
• Protein power: chicken, egg, cheese, tuna or salmon, hummus, beans, lentils, tofu or yoghurt.
• Colour and crunch: fruit, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, grated carrot, sweetcorn or any veg they enjoy.
• A little extra: a dip, a small homemade bake, a raspberry energy ball perhaps, seeds, popcorn or another favourite snack.
• A drink: water is usually the simplest option.

That gives them slow-release energy, something satisfying to keep them going, especially if they have an after-school activity or sports training, and plenty of colour and crunch. It also means there is a choice of tastes and textures if they do not fancy one big item that day.

What if they only eat the crisps and treats?

We’ve all been there! The carefully prepared wrap comes home untouched, while the crisps and sweet treat have mysteriously disappeared…

Children will often eat the quickest and most tempting foods first, particularly when lunchtime is short and they’re surrounded by friends. Crisps and sweets are not the enemy, but if they regularly replace the rest of lunch, try packing a smaller portion or offering them less often.

Make the nourishing food just as easy to grab. Cut wraps into small pieces, choose bite-sized quesadillas or muffins, chop fruit, add a few dates and include a dip with crunchy vegetables. You could also agree together that the wrap, pasta or flask comes first, followed by the extras if they are still hungry.

The aim is not to create forbidden foods or a lunchtime battle. It is to make sure the crisps and sweets are part of the lunch, rather than becoming the whole lunch.

Think beyond the sandwich

I love a good sandwich, but it can become a little dreary by Thursday. Lunchboxes become much more exciting when we stop expecting two slices of bread to do all the work.

The Lunchbox Legends in Enerjoy! are simple, portable and packed with flavour. A few favourites are:

• Baby Black Bean Burritos with brown rice, avocado, tomato, lime and gentle spices
• Chicken Satay Wraps stuffed with crunchy vegetables
• Greek Salad Lunchbox Pasta with tomatoes, cucumber, herbs and feta
• Cheesy Chorizo and Courgette Muffins, perfect for making ahead
• Mixed Bean Quesadillas, delicious hot or cold
• Brain-booster Buddha Bowls with colourful vegetables, chickpeas, rice and seeds
• Lunchtime Protein Pots layered with noodles, crunchy veg and salmon

This does not mean starting a brand-new recipe at 7am. Most can be made ahead, and leftovers are your lunchbox friend.

Cook a little extra pasta, rice, chicken or roasted veg at supper and tomorrow’s lunch is halfway there. Five minutes of assembling feels much more achievable on a busy morning.

Souper Enerjoy! Send them in with something hot

On chilly days, there is nothing quite like opening a flask of something warm, comforting and delicious.

Soup is an obvious winner, but a wide-necked food flask is also brilliant for:

• smoky bean chilli
• lentil dhal
• chicken or vegetable curry
• tomatoey meatballs
• macaroni cheese or pasta with a favourite sauce (this PENNE WITH HOMEMADE PESTO always goes down well, hot or cold!)
• last night’s casserole or stew

These are particularly good for children who are not keen on sandwiches, and they are a very easy way to turn last night’s supper into today’s lunch.

TOP TIP! Preheat the flask first. Fill it with boiling water, put the lid on and leave it for five to ten minutes. Meanwhile, heat the food until it is piping hot. Tip out the water, spoon in the food and seal the flask straight away. Remember to pack a spoon…I speak from experience!

Make it easy to eat

Children often have far less time for lunch than we imagine. Anything too fiddly, messy or difficult to open may simply be abandoned.

Mini versions work brilliantly: little wraps, bite-sized quesadillas, half a savoury muffin, chopped fruit or a small pot of pasta. Keep portions realistic too, particularly with a new food. A small helping that gets eaten is far better than an enormous portion that feels like hard work.

Use an ice pack for food that needs to stay cold, keep wet dressings separate if sogginess is an issue and check that your child can open every container themselves.

Get them involved

Children are much more likely to eat something they have helped choose or make, so rather than asking the enormous question, “What do you want for lunch?”, offer two options: “Would you prefer a burrito or pasta tomorrow?”

Older children can make a wrap, mix a pasta salad or fill their own flask. Younger children can wash fruit, grate cheese or choose which colourful veg to add.

It sounds like a small thing, but that little bit of ownership can make a real difference.

Treat the leftovers as clues

Try not to let the returning lunchbox become a battleground. Get curious instead.

Was there enough time? Was the portion too big? Had the wrap gone soggy? Was your child simply not very hungry that day? Don’t question them too much though or they’ll sense your anxiety and you know what happens then!

Look for patterns, make one small change and try again. Children often need several relaxed opportunities to get used to something new.

If they are just eating the crisps and treats, then

Five easy changes to try this week

1. Swap one sandwich for a wrap, mini burrito or quesadilla.
2. Make a batch of savoury muffins and freeze them individually.
3. Turn leftover pasta or rice into a colourful lunchbox salad.
4. Send soup, chilli or last night’s supper in a preheated food flask.
5. Let your child choose and help prepare one lunch each week.

Now that is what I call Lunchbox Enerjoy!

You will find all these recipes, with simple swaps for different diets, in the Lunchbox Legends chapter of Enerjoy! for Active Families. If you want quick access to the recipes in the kitchen, there’s also a digital version: Enerjoy! for Active Families (ebook).

The best packed lunch is not the fanciest one on Instagram. It is the one that works for your child and your family: affordable, manageable, packed with great-tasting food and, most importantly, eaten.