Food Recipe Collections & Favorites Healthy Meals 12 Healthy School Lunch Ideas for Picky Eaters—Including 59 Recipes We offer strategies for getting nutrients into your school-aged kids without a fight. By Grace Elkus Grace Elkus Grace Elkus is a food writer and editor with over a decade of experience in culinary media. Highlights: * Associate food editor at Real Simple, where she developed recipes, wrote food stories, and assisted with styling * Deputy food director at Kitchn, where she and her team were responsible for 100 recipes a month * Currently the content lead for JOKR Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines and Lisa Milbrand Lisa Milbrand Lisa Milbrand has more than 20 years of experience as a lifestyle writer and editor, writing thousands of articles on topics that help people live better and healthier lives for Real Simple, Parents, and dozens of other top publications. Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines Updated on June 15, 2024 Close Photo: Getty Images If you have a picky kid, we have lunch ideas for picky eaters that you may want to pay attention to. Get them excited about lunchtime and—dare we dream—join the empty lunchbox club by implementing a few simple strategies to make a school lunch more enticing. We're talking about healthy versions of your youngster's favorite foods and having fun with presentation, among other tricks. Try these fun school lunch ideas to get your picky kid to eat every last bite. 01 of 12 Reinvent the Sandwich Antonis Achilleos While it's tempting to stick with plain PB&J or cheese sandwiches, they eventually lose their appeal. Experiment with new flavors and new bread options like tortillas, mini bagels, and even crackers. Have a little fun with presentation, too. Cut them into fun shapes with cookie cutters, or turn them into "sushi" by rolling, slicing, and portioning sandwiches into individual roulade-like bites. Recipes to Try Apple-Cheddar Quesadillas Chicken Satay Lettuce Wraps Fish Stick Tacos Chicken Pot Pie Empanada TikTok Tortilla Wrap 5 Best Sandwich Upgrades for the Ultimate Sammie 02 of 12 Play With Presentation Getty Images A few simple tweaks in prepping and packaging can encourage choosy kids to give new foods a try. Making food easy and fun to eat is important, so try these tactics: Bite-sized foods work well packed into a Bento-style lunchbox (amazon.com). Include fun, frilly toothpicks with small cubes of fruit and cheese. Thread protein, fruits, and veggies onto a skewer. Recipes to Try Caprese Skewers Nacho Cups Pizza Croissants Fancy Pigs in a Blanket 03 of 12 Make Their Favorites Healthier Greg DuPree Whether you sneak in some veggies or swap in whole grains, you can bulk up nutrition without sacrificing flavor, like adding roasted broccoli and tomatoes to perennial kid-favorite mac and cheese or sneaking veggies in pasta salad. And, if you have a family dinner recipe your child likes, make extra so you can pack it in a thermos for the next day's lunch. Recipes to Try Lemony Cucumber Pasta Salad Caprese Mac and Cheese The Meatiest Veggie Burgers Mini Grilled Cheese Sandwiches With Chutney 04 of 12 Take Time With New Foods If your child refuses to eat certain foods, it can be hard to know when to keep trying and when to give up. They may come around after repeated tastings, but it doesn't work for every picky eater. Try adding a small, bite-sized amount of a new food to their lunchbox, and continuing to reintroduce it on and off for several weeks to see if they can finally grow to love it. Recipes to Try Pea Mint Pesto Fusilli Crispy Falafel Bites Cold Peanut Noodles Green Goddess Pasta Salad Hummus and Cucumber Toast 05 of 12 Make Healthy Snacks at Home Grace Elkus Making healthy versions of kids' favorite snacks is a nutritious way to satisfy their taste buds. Granola bars that are homemade tend to have much less sugar and fewer additives than store-bought, but are just as tasty and will fuel them for school. If you go the store-bought route, stick to fruits and nuts, or products with short ingredient lists. Recipes to Try Nutty Superfood Breakfast Bites No-Bake Apricot and Oat Nuggets Make-Ahead Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars Crispy Chickpeas Marshmallow Popcorn Bars No-Bake Seed and Nut Bars 06 of 12 Add Color to the Lunchbox Caitlin Bensel Even if the main color palette is bland beige food, add pops of color with brightly colored produce like raspberries or cherry tomatoes. Fun colors just may entice them to take a bite. Recipes to Try Ricotta-Orange Toast Ginger-Lime Melon Salad Sugar-Crusted Raspberry Muffins Tropical Fruit Salad Strawberry-Chia Breakfast Pudding 07 of 12 Offer a Taste of Something New Heather Meldrom Offering components in small snack-sized portions, with a request to try it all, is often a winning strategy. When it's only a bite or two of something kids find strange or don't exactly love, they may be more willing to experiment. Grab your mini-muffin pan and make a batch of these little numbers to dole out throughout the week. Recipes to Try Mini Herb Frittatas Pizza Bites With Green Olives Mini Twice Baked Loaded Potatoes Glazed Cocktail Meatballs Pimento Mac and Cheese Bites 08 of 12 Heat Up Their Lunch GREG DUPREE Sometimes making a hot lunch—like soup or a hot pasta dish—can make an ingredient kids don't love more enticing. Invest in a good thermos and it's good to go! Recipes to Try Vegan Creamy Tomato Soup Broccoli Soup With Cheddar Croutons Chicken Spaghetti Casserole Creamy Veggie Chicken Noodle Soup Lasagna-Style Baked Ziti 09 of 12 Everything's Better With Dip Victor Protasio A tasty dip can make anything—like veggies, bread, and crackers—more palatable. Dips like hummus and guac are always a hit, and can add vibrant color, too. Recipes to Try Pink Hummus Glorious Green Dip Roasted Red Pepper Dip Herby Yogurt Dip Guacamole and Chips 10 of 12 Try Breakfast for Lunch Alison Miksch Breakfast for lunch is always popular with kids. Try whipping up whole-grain pancakes or waffles on Sunday and packing leftovers throughout the week. For an added punch of protein, layer peanut butter between two pancakes or waffles. Vary the pancake flavors by trying pumpkin, blueberry, or gingerbread. Recipes to Try French Toast Sticks Sheet-Pan Buttermilk Pancakes Slow Cooker Frittata With Sausage and Waffle Fries Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies PB&J Overnight Oats 11 of 12 Give a Smoothie a Whirl Caitlin Bensel Smoothies are a great way to get kids to eat things they don't recognize, especially those all-important vegetables. The tricky part is keeping them cold until lunchtime. Try one of these solutions: Store an empty thermos in the freezer overnight, fill it with a smoothie in the morning and it'll act like a freezer pack to keep everything in the lunchbox cold.Prep smoothies ahead, pour into twist-top freezer cups, and freeze. Pack one in the morning and, by lunchtime, it'll be thawed but still cold. Recipes to Try Pink Dragon Smoothie Mango Smoothie Carrot Pineapple Smoothie Tropical Creamsicle Smoothie Kale Smoothie With Pineapple and Banana 12 of 12 Include a Sweet Treat Jen Causey Don't neglect to provide a treat or two alongside proven favorites and new foods to try. Homemade treats are generally healthier than store-bought ones, and portion sizes are under your control. What's more, one batch of homemade goodies can provide a week's worth of lunches. Recipes to Try No-Bake Almond Butter Thumbprints Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies Vegan Blueberry Cookies Cookies and Cream Crispy Treats Chocolate-Oat-Date Bars Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit