40 Great Back to School Lunch Box Ideas

Tired of seeing the same sad sandwich come home uneaten? These 40 Back-To-School Lunch Box Ideas include kid-friendly sandwiches, wraps, sweet treats, and savory snacks, and many of them can be prepared ahead or frozen. Pick a few favorites, prep them on Sunday, and make weekday mornings much easier.

Browse the complete list, or jump to sandwiches and salads, rollups and wraps, sweet snacks, or savory snacks.

Sandwiches and Salads

From familiar ham salad to meatless chickpea fillings, these sandwiches and salads are easy to prepare ahead and pack. Most come together in fifteen minutes or less with no stove required. Several keep for days in the fridge, so one batch covers several lunches.

Finger Sandwiches

Finger Sandwiches by Noshing With The Nolands has a lovely array of different sandwiches that you can pack in a lunchbox or have at high tea. Most are extremely simple to make, and your kids will devour them.

Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad Sandwich

Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad Sandwich from Food Faith Fitness replaces most of the mayonnaise with tangy Greek yogurt. Coleslaw mix, almonds, and goji berries give every bite crunch and chew. The filling keeps two days in the fridge, so Sunday prep covers Monday and Tuesday.

Hummus Mashed Chickpea Sandwiches

Hummus Mashed Chickpea Sandwiches from The Roasted Root swap the tuna for chickpeas mashed with garlic herb hummus. The hummus doubles as a binder and spread, which helps keep the bread from becoming soggy. No cooking required, and the whole thing comes together in fifteen minutes.

Light and Healthy Chicken Salad

Light and Healthy Chicken Salad from Valerie’s Kitchen comes together in minutes. Toasted walnuts and dried cranberries bring crunch and a tart-sweet edge. Make it the night before, and it keeps three to four days.

Classic Creamy Tuna Pasta Salad

Make something the whole family will love for lunch with this Classic Creamy Tuna Pasta Salad by Noshing With The Nolands. This easily portable salad is full of wonderful ingredients that any tuna lover will want to devour.

Brazilian Chicken Salad

Brazilian Chicken Salad from Noshing With The Nolands, also known as salpicão, skips the mayo for a light citrus dressing. Shredded carrot, apple, and raisins keep it sweet and crunchy. Pack the potato sticks separately so they stay crisp until noon.

BLT Egg Salad Jars

BLT Egg Salad Jars from Iowa Girl Eats layer egg salad, bacon, tomato and arugula into mason jars. Nothing goes soggy, and five built on Sunday hold four days.

Greek Quinoa Salad

Greek Quinoa Salad from Wholefully pairs cooked quinoa with feta, kalamata olives, cucumber and tomato, sharpened by a red wine vinegar dressing as it chills. Nothing needs reheating, and it travels well in a bento box.

Easy Caprese Salad

This Easy Caprese Salad by Noshing With The Nolands is always a winner for lunch! It is fast and easy to pull together in a matter of minutes. And will be one of the first things to disappear in a lunchbox.

Rollups and Wraps

When an ordinary sandwich won’t do, these wraps, pinwheels, and kabobs make lunch feel more fun. Rolling the filling inside keeps bread from going soft in a warm backpack. A few skip bread altogether, which helps with gluten-free lunches.

Ham Havarti Pinwheels

Ham Havarti Pinwheels from Noshing With The Nolands roll deli ham and buttery havarti into a tortilla. A honey mustard cream cheese spread holds it all together. Chill the log before slicing, and you get clean, mess-free rounds.

Sandwich Wrap Kabobs

Sandwich Wrap Kabobs from Fork and Beans are flatbread, cheese, and raw veggies threaded onto skewers, so kids get the same sandwich in a shape they actually want to eat. Check your school’s rules before packing skewers.

Spicy Tortilla Rollups

Spicy Tortilla Rollups from Vegan in the Freezer are stacked with sun-dried tomato pesto, roasted red pepper, spinach, and olives. Every bite hits savory and a little spicy at once, and secured with toothpicks, they keep for three to four days.

Salmon Cucumber Rollups

Salmon Cucumber Rollups from The Tasting Page are smoked salmon and a herbed pine nut filling rolled up in cucumber ribbons. Dill and lemon keep the smoky salmon from feeling heavy. These are best eaten the same day, so pack an ice pack.

Easy Chicken Caesar Wraps

Easy Chicken Caesar Wraps from Wholefully need nothing more than rotisserie chicken, romaine, parmesan, and a good Caesar dressing. Lay the lettuce against the tortilla first to block moisture, then roll one fresh each morning.

Gluten Free Veggie Turkey Rollups

Gluten Free Veggie Turkey Rollups from Joyful Healthy Eats need no bread at all. Deli turkey wraps around roasted red pepper hummus, cucumber and carrot matchsticks, so there is no sandwich sitting in a locker going soft.

Spinach Hummus Wrap

Spinach Hummus Wrap from Delish Knowledge fills lavash with spinach hummus, crispy tofu and crunchy raw vegetables. The recipe is built for prepping ahead. Store the components separately and assembly takes two minutes on a school morning.

Sweet Lunchbox Snacks

Sweet does not have to mean a candy bar. Most of these lean on oats, nut butters, and real fruit, and nearly all of them can be made in one batch and frozen. Pull one out in the morning, and it thaws by lunchtime.

Energy Balls

Energy Balls from Noshing With The Nolands blend peanut butter, honey, oats, cashews, and raisins. They freeze well and thaw right in the lunchbox by noon, so a double batch on Sunday settles snacks for the week.

Monster Energy Bites

Monster Energy Bites from Cooking on the Front Burner mix mini M&Ms into an oat and peanut butter base, with cranberries adding a tart bite against all that chocolate. Ten minutes of stirring gives you a week of walnut-sized snacks.

No-Bake Cranberry Chocolate Almond Energy Bites

No-Bake Cranberry Chocolate Almond Energy Bites from Iowa Girl Eats taste like cookie dough with tart cranberries running through. Almond flour and dark chocolate give them a richer base than most oat bites.

Chocolate Coconut Protein Balls

Chocolate Coconut Protein Balls by Noshing With The Nolands can be upped with even more protein by adding protein powder to this simple mix. These taste like you are indulging but are very healthy.

Chia Pudding with Coconut Milk

Chia Pudding with Coconut Milk from Dessert for Two sets chia seeds in coconut milk with diced mango. Four hours in the fridge turns it thick and almost cheesecake-like, and it travels well in a tightly sealed jar.

Cottage Cheese Chocolate Mousse

This Cottage Cheese Chocolate Mousse by Noshing With The Nolands is a lighter version that is protein packed. Although you would never know that it has cottage cheese in it. Rich, creamy and delightful, your kids will love it.

Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars

Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars from Noshing With The Nolands combine oats, puffed rice, dried cherries, and almond butter. No oven required, just a few hours in the fridge to set, and they keep six weeks in the freezer.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

No-Bake Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Granola Bars from Nutmeg Nanny start with dates and banana chips, held together by peanut butter and cinnamon. The dense, chewy bars slice cleanly after an hour in the fridge.

Almond Joy Granola Bars

Almond Joy Granola Bars from Delish Knowledge toast the coconut and almonds, then bind them with almond butter. They taste like the candy bar with a whole lot more oats. Brown rice syrup sets firm, so the squares slice clean instead of crumbling.

Easy Homemade Granola Bars

Easy Homemade Granola Bars from Cake Whiz stir peanut butter, honey, oats, and coconut into no-bake squares. Mini chocolate chips make them an easy sell with kids, and they freeze up to a month wrapped individually.

Peanut Butter Crunch Cereal Bars

Peanut Butter Crunch Cereal Bars from Spoonful of Flavor coat Rice Chex and peanuts in peanut butter caramel. The coating hardens as it cools, so the bars hold at room temperature. No fridge and no ice pack required.

Double Chocolate Coconut Flour Muffins

Double Chocolate Coconut Flour Muffins from Trial and Eater fix the gritty texture coconut flour usually brings. A little starch alongside the eggs keeps the crumb tender. They are grain-free and less sweet than a bakery muffin.

7 Grain Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

7 Grain Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins from The View from Great Island stay soft despite the whole grains. Pumpkin puree and warm spice carry the flavor. Mix the batter the night before and bake a few fresh each morning.

Back to School Breakfast Cookies

Back to School Breakfast Cookies from The View from Great Island pack oats, dried fruit, seeds, and chocolate into one dense cookie. They are chunky enough to survive a backpack. Breakfast or snack, they hold their shape either way.

Iced Oatmeal Cookies

Want an irresistible treat for the lunchbox? Try these delicious Iced Oatmeal Cookies by Noshing With The Nolands. These are also great for after-school munching with a peanut butter glaze that is so yummy!

Oatmeal Cookie Bars

Want a snack that your kids will love? These Oatmeal Cookie Bars by Noshing With The Nolands will be the first to go! They are crunchy, chewy, and chocolatey; they really have it all!

Chocolate Covered Blueberries

Chocolate Covered Blueberries from Cake Whiz take fresh berries and dip them in melted chocolate with lime zest. The shell cracks and the berry stays juicy underneath. Make them the night before, since they keep about two days.

Homemade Apple Chips

Homemade Apple Chips from Yummy Healthy Easy bake thin apple slices low and slow with cinnamon. They turn out crisp and sweet enough to read as dessert. Cool them completely before storing, or they lose their snap.

Savory Lunchbox Snacks

For the kid who trades away dessert, these crunchy, salty snacks round out a lunchbox, and most of them keep for days. They store well in big batches, so weekly prep takes one afternoon. Nothing here needs a microwave at school.

Kale Chips

Kale Chips from Noshing With The Nolands are crisp kale with olive oil and salty parmesan, and the cheese cuts the bitterness that turns kids off kale. Store them with a little dry rice to keep them crunchy.

No Bake Ranch Oyster Crackers

These No Bake Ranch Oyster Crackers from Midlife Healthy Living toss crackers with ranch mix, garlic powder, and oil. No oven involved, and a day of sitting lets the seasoning soak through. They stay good for two weeks, which makes them a lunchbox staple.

Trail Mix Recipe

This Trail Mix Recipe by Noshing With The Nolands is sweet, crunchy, chewy and utterly delightful in a lunch box to curb those hunger pains at recess, lunch or right after school.

Homemade Snack Mix Recipe

Homemade Snack Mix Recipe from Yummy Healthy Easy bakes Chex, pretzels and oyster crackers in seasoned butter. Add cayenne or leave it out depending on the kid. Portions run about 95 calories, so it scoops easily into small containers.

Pizza Dippers for School Lunch

Pizza Dippers for School Lunch by Finding Zest thread pepperoni and mozzarella onto small skewers, with pita wedges for dipping. Five minutes of assembly, no cooking, and no microwave needed at school. Pack an ice pack so the cheese stays cold until noon.

Broccoli Cheddar Cups

Broccoli Cheddar Cups from A Cedar Spoon bake eggs, broccoli and sharp cheddar into muffin tins. They are good cold, which matters when there is no microwave. Freeze them individually and they last three months.

No more relying on the same sandwich every day. Choose a few recipes your family will enjoy, prepare a batch over the weekend, and mix and match them throughout the week. We’d love to know which lunchbox ideas came home completely eaten.