One of the most important features successful lunchboxes have are the snacks you tuck inside. You need a main meal for lunch & to keep energy levels high throughout the day it’s best to have well balanced, tasty and healthy snacks at the ready.
Snacks don’t have to be over thought, they just need to provide essential nutrients and calories to keep you going. Reaching for overly processed items in vending machines and the school cafeteria are costly, filled with sugars, salt, also empty calories. One of the goals of Project LunchBox is to help you make better, more informed choices. Those choices are best when you purchase your own foods and cook at home.
Besides, snacks and mini meals are super fun to look forward to!
In case you are wondering, what you see above includes:
- Homemade Granola Bars
- Easy Peasy Fruit Salad (cut up fruit with a squeeze of lemon juice)
- Homemade Hummus*
- Homemade Applesauce*
- Beef, Turkey or Bison Jerky
- Homemade Granola
- Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits
- Dark Chocolate and Nuts
- Dried Fruit and Almonds
- Nutty Fruity Quinoa
- Homemade Tapioca Pudding (vegan)
- DIY Lunchables
- Whole Grain Pretzels and Cream Cheese
- Maple Roasted Pecans
*it’s OK if you buy the healthy stuff from the store too
Snacking tips
Eat whole foods.
We hear this time and time again. Not only are whole foods better for you, they are budget friendly and are more likely to keep you in your skinny jeans. Besides, whole foods (foods closest to their natural source) taste better. More on this in my 10 Secrets to Skinny post.
Choose your ingredients from the perimeter of the grocery store.
These are the freshest foods and the most economical choices.
Steer clear of packaged foods.
These are generally over priced, have wasteful packaging and are filled with ingredients you don’t need anyway.
By the way I am obsessed with these sistema containers. They are microwave safe, BPA free and super pretty. They come in so many shapes and sizes too. Lots of the containers have compartments to keep foods from touching one another. You can find them at my Project LunchBox Amazon.com store.
Read labels.
Always know what is in the food you buy. Keep an eye out for ingredients that you don’t understand, excess sugars, sodium and too many fats. Always remember, different strokes for different folks. In our house, fats from cheese, nuts, avocado, coconut and natural sources are amazing sources of energy. Fat helps sustain energy and feed the brain fuel. Some people are really into calorie counting and fat grams, that is not my thing.
Even though I do not calorie count ~ I do carefully watch portions and practice a mindful eating lifestyle. More about that on my About and Get Started pages.
Watch out for “enriched.”
The word enriched means that whole foods (let’s use whole wheat as an example) have been stripped of their essential nutrients (maybe in the bleaching process.) Vitamins and minerals are then added back in for color & flavor and to make you think the food still has nutritional value. Our bodies can’t process machine made foods nearly as good as they can real whole foods. As I said above, stick to the good stuff (fresh and minimally processed) and you will reap great rewards in the end.
Prepare a Big Batch when you have time.
Shop and prepare food when you have small chunks of time. That said, make sure you responsibly carve out chunks of time to do this. It is well worth it for your wallet, waistline, energy levels and taste buds. Prepare Big Batches of snacks to get you through a week or more of lunchbox meals.
Above is another one of my favorite lunch box containers (you all ready know how much I am in LOVE with Easy LunchBoxes!) That beautiful meal is featured in the upcoming Cooking With Trader Joe’s Cookbook – Easy Lunch Boxes that I photographed.
Have a separate bag or container for snacks.
In order to keep from eating everything in your lunchbox at once store snacks separately in brown paper bags or re-usable containers (LunchSkins and Itzy Ritzy are great for this). This is what we do for my Kindergartener son. It ensures kids eat their lunch and their snacks!
Make adjustments to recipes.
The recipes below are merely suggestions and ideas to point you in the right direction. If you have allergies or certain restrictions make the appropriate changes to ingredient lists. If you are in a nut free school zone many times sunflower seed butter is a great adaptation. Gluten free? Try swapping out whole wheat flour with gluten free options.
100+ Amazing, Easy & Healthy Lunchbox Snacks
Here is a list of 100+ recipes from around the web to get you started.
Bars
DIY power bars and granola bars are simple to prepare and are a great way to save money, use healthful ingredients and they taste amazing! See Brownies and Bars on Pinterest ~ lots of these are decadent, but fun to look at anyway!
- Banana Molasses Granola Bars Anja’s Food 4 Thought
- Chocolate Hazelnut Larabars The Healthy Foodie
- Crispy, Gooey Trail Mix Bars MarlaMeridith.com
- Coconut Rolled Raw Energy Balls Blooming on Bainbridge
- Dark Chocolate and Dried Cranberry Granola Bars Thyme
- Fresh Fig Bars Healthy Happy Life
- Grab and Go Granola Bars Out of the Box Food
- Homemade Coconut Luna Bars
- No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bites Bran Appetit!
- Telluride Trail Bars MarlaMeridith.com
- The Raw Brownie My New Roots
Breakfast-y Snacks
These double as breakfast on the go or delicious snacks. if you are anything like me then you crave breakfast all day long! See loads of great (constantly updated) Breakfast ideas on my Pinterest page.
- Acai Bowl Epicurean Mom
- Bircher Muesli Ami’s Vegetarian Delicacies
- Cinnamon Chia Scottish Oats edible perspective
- Double Chocolate Banana Scones (vegan and gluten free) MarlaMeridith.com
- Oatmeal Sandwich Bread Eat, Live Run
- Peanut Butter and Jam Surprise Oat Scones Yummy Mummy Kitchen
- Pumpkin Pie Granola My Baking Addiction
- Raspberry Maple-Pecan Granola MarlaMeridith.com
- Rise and Shine Breakfast Burritos (make ’em small for snacks) TidyMom
- Spiced Banana Almond Meal Pancakes Roost
- Wheat Brioche Buns (top with a healthy spread) Sprouted Kitchen
- Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread Pancakes Food Doodles
Cookies (healthy ones)
Want more cookies? Check out my Cookie favorites on Pinterest.
- Almond Coconut Cherry Breakfast Cookies Running to the Kitchen
- Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe Girl
- Apple Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies – Gluten Free MarlaMeridith.com
- Brown Butter Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies Naturally Ella
- Cocodate Cookies Weelicious
- Healthy Carrot and Oat Breakfast Cookies Lauren’s Latest
- Lemon Ricotta Breakfast Cookies MarlaMeridith.com
- Sesame Date Breakfast Cookies Dessert for Two
- Sunflower Seed Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies MarlaMeridith.com
- Toasted Quinoa Shortbread Cookies Kitchen Konfidence
Crackers + Crunch
For more ideas follow my Snacks and Nibbles Pinterst board.
- Breakfast Snack Bites The Urban Baker
- Homemade Parmesan Crackers Yummy Supper
- Gluten Free Graham Crackers All Day I Dream About Food
- Parmesan Potato Chips Picky Palate
- Seedy Crisp Crackers It’s Not About the Recipe
- Sesame Crisps food4tots
- Spiced Roasted Chickpeas Sweet Savory Sweet Life
- Toasty Nuts La Tartine Gourmande
- Vegan, Gluten Free Crackers Averie Cooks
- Whole Wheat Carom Seed Crackers
- Whole Wheat Cheese Crackers Guilty Kitchen
- Whole Wheat Cheese Straws Apt. 2B Baking Co
Fruity Snacks
Berries and sliced fruit and fruit salads are great in the lunchbox. You can also try these recipes. Follow my Tutti Fruitti board on Pinterest.
- Baked Applesauce Sweet Peas Kitchen
- Dehydrated Apples and Bananas Bev Cooks
- Dried Banana Coins The Slow Roasted Italian
- Fruit and Yogurt Parfait Back to Her Roots
- Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips Laura friendly
- Homemade Fruit Leather Georgia Pellegrini
- Rainbow Fruit Skewers Brooklyn Supper for Babble.com
- Rainbow Fruit Wraps Gimme Some Oven
- Raspberry Applesauce MarlaMeridith.com
Muffins and Healthy Cakes
Follow Muffins on Pinterest too!
- Almond Meal Banana Muffins Honest Fare
- Banana Nut Oat Bran Muffins Two Peas and Their Pod
- Berry “Queen” Muffins Scandie Foodie
- Brown Butter, Apple and Carrot Muffins – Gluten Free Cannelle et Vanille
- Lime Olive Oil Muffins Wears Many Hats
- Mom’s Bran Muffins The Moveable Feasts
- Paleo Banana Bread Muffins With Style and Grace
- Paleo Pumpkin Muffins Multiply Delicious
- Peaches and Coconut Cream Muffins Food For My Family
- Sweet Strawberry Snack Cakes MarlaMeridith.com
- Vegan Pumpkin Cornbread {never} homemaker
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts for Nuts! on Pinterest….for even more nutty ideas.
- Dark Chocolate Drizzled Cashews What’s Gaby Cooking
- Indian Spiced and Roasted Nuts Donal Skehan
- Maple Almonds A Small Snippets
- Maple Citrus Roasted Pecans MarlaMeridith.com
- Roasted Pumpkin Seeds My Kitchen Addiction
Popcorn
Also followt my Popcorn Pinterest board for more ideas…
- Bacon and Pecorino Popcorn A Spicy Perspective
- Cheesy Chili Lime Popcorn Bless This Mess
- Chili Lime Popcorn whole living
- Popcorn 100 Days of Real Food
- White Cheddar Popcorn How Crazy Cooks
Pudding
You can follow my Puddings and Custard Pinterest board too!
- Cinnamon-Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding An Edible Mosaic
- Fruit Pudding Elana’s Pantry
- Mango Pomegranate Mousse Beth Michelle
- Rice Carrot Pudding Kiran Tarun
- Roasted Peach Tapioca Pudding MarlaMeridith.com
- Vegan Tapioca Pudding dramatic pancake
Savory Bites
For more follow Savory Bites on Pinterest.
- Baked Quinoa Burgers (slice ’em or make them mini) Fig and Fork
- Everyone’s Favorite Teeny Tiny Potatoes MarlaMeridith.com
- Mini Caprese Skewers Skinny Taste
- Mini BLT Kebabs MarlaMeridith.com
- Simple Sweet Potato Fries with 2 Dips Sprout & Pea
- Sticky Stacky Sandwiches Super Healthy Kids
- Sweet Potato Hash with Canadian Bacon, Red Pepper and Sage Cookin’ Canuck
- Quinoa and Currant Summer Salad The Reluctant Entertainer
- Quinoa Edamame Salad Our Best Bites
Shakes and Smoothies
A great way to have a cold smoothie for your snack is to freeze it overnight and let it thaw throughout the day. Make sure you use a freezer safe container and you leave room for expansion! Follow Shakes, Floats & Smoothies on Pinterest.
- Alien Juice Smoothies Bake at 350
- Avocado Smoothie The Little Kitchen
- Green Smoothies Aggie’s Kitchen
- Frozen Hot Chocolate Ice Cubes (let them melt in milk for healthy chocolate milk!) MarlaMeridith.com
- Mixed Berry Smoothies 40 Weeks
- Pumpkin Smoothie The Pioneer Woman Cooks
- Sugar-Free Orange Julius Add a Pinch
- Walnut Date Cinnamon Smoothie Aida Mollenkamp
Spreads and Dips
Kids and adults love dips. Pack organic nut and seed butters or make your own! Dips, spreads and sauces make fruits and veggies more tempting and they add some sustain to your snack. Also follow Dip + Dress + Sauce + Spread on Pinterest.
- Avocado and Edamame Spread The Perfect Pantry
- Cannellini Hummus with Wonton Chips Once Upon a Plate
- Creamy Fluffy Hummus Fresh Tart Steph
- Feta Cheese Dip Heather Christo
- Green Pea Hummus Meal Makeover Moms
- Grilled Baba Ghanoush The Parsley Thief
- Lentil Hummus Deliciously Organic
- Homemade Nutella Diethood
- Sun Dried Tomato Hummus with Crispy Chips MarlaMeridith.com
- Toasted Coconut and Hazelnut Butter Top with Cinnamon
Veggie Snacks
Keep containers full of sliced and prepped veggies for grab and go snacks and lunches. You can also make these fun recipes. Eat Your Veggies on Pinterest.
- Baked Parmesan Zucchini Chips Ambitious Kitchen
- Baked Organic Zucchini Chips My San Francisco Kitchen
- Crispy Baked Kale Chips For the Love of Food
- Make your Own Veggie Chips Chow.com
- Roasted Green Bean Fries How Sweet Eats
- Sun-Dried Potato Chips eCurry
Extras!
- #ProjectLunchBox Pinnersmy my group Pinterest board
- 5 Best Drinks for Hydration Ingredients Inc.
- Healthy Road Trip Eats and Drinks (perfect for the lunchbox too!) Mountain Mama Cooks
- Healthy Snack Recipes for Kids Jeanette’s Healthy Living
- Patio Snacks: Oven Fries, Crudités and Mint Lemonade Olive Oil and Lemons
- Portable Baked Oatmeal Plus 10 on the Go Snack Ideas Oh She Glows
Thanks for including us in your list Marla!! Love all the resources you found. WOW!!
Thanks Amy!! I hope this post helps out many people 🙂
What an awesome round up Marla! So many great ideas there, thank you so much for sharing!
WOW this is a fantastic list! Thank you for sharing 🙂 I think finding something healthy, fun, and filling for the lunch box is one of the biggest quandaries of the school week so it’s always good to find some new ( and great!) ideas to freshen up your repertoire lol.
So happy I could help you out Jami!
Oh Marla, I love all the work you put into this post…it is AWESOME and full of so many helpful tips. I have really gotten into a good lunch packing groove this year with the kids. The easy lunchbox containers have been great, and I’m trying to keep things fun and fresh for them too. Thanks so much for the link love!!
GREAT POST!!!
You are so welcome Aggie. Glad you like this list and I hope it is helpful for all that busy lunch packing this year!
Marla this is just an astounding roundup and post! WOW! Can’t even imagine how long this took you – but thanks for all the great ideas and for the linky love. I appreciate it and hope someone packs a lunch for YOU now 🙂
Seriously Averie, I need a private chef for this house asap 😉 Happy you like the list. Yes, it did take a long time….I hope worth it to everyone though!
What an incredible list of ideas! Thanks for including me. 🙂
Your welcome Sommer ~ thanks for all of your excellent recipes 🙂
Oh my! I am bookmarking everything on here! Thank you, Marla, for sharing, and for including me.
Awesome Kate! Hope you get to try EVERYTHING!!
Incredible list and tips on healthy lunchbox ideas, Marla! And thanks for the link love! Off to pin 🙂
xo
You are so welcome Kiran. You have amazing recipes and so many are helpful for people trying to pack healthy + tasty lunch boxes.
This is an incredible list Marla! I am inspired now instead of dreading another year of scrambling for packed lunches!
Heather, it is hard not to have that scramble. Hopefully we can all encourage one another to be great lunch box packers!
Thanks for taking all the time to put this post together Marla. My kiddos are starting school this week, so back to packing school lunches and healthy snacks. Thanks also for the link love to my Healthy Brain Boosting Snacks. Best wishes for a fantastic start of a new school year.
Jeanette, glad you are finding this helpful. I had a great time putting it all together and visiting all of your blogs.
What a fantastic post Marla! It’s so helpful. Thank you!
So many great ideas, Marla! Thanks!
I love the sistema systems too! got some at homegoods and they are perfect for little ones and my lunches.
Kristin, we all love the sistema boxes here. Soooo simple to use and easy to clean! Love that we don’t have throw away packaging too!
Thanks for including my smoothies. I love your lunchbox ideas!!
Pinning this for later! My daughter is only 2 1/2 and I’m already thinking about the horrors of school lunch. I am so set on packing a lunch for her, and making sure she gets a healthy, unprocessed meal. Plus, I can’t wait to leave her notes to remind her of how much I love her.
Awesome Jackie ~ stay in touch. Lots of ideas over here for when your little gal needs that lunchbox!
This is incredibly useful for parents — LOVE IT! Thanks for the link love too! 🙂
What a fantastic post, so many recipes! I need to get some lunch boxes!!!
I just discovered your website and I am so excited to try to get lunches healthier and more of a variety for my kids this year. Thanks for all the suggestions.
Hi Jennifer! Thanks for stopping by and I am thrilled you found me too. Please stay in touch 🙂
Great list! Thank you so much for including me! I’m going to have to spend some serious time on this post. And I’ll definitely be saving it to check back on over and over again! Thanks for putting this all together 🙂
Heidi, happy I could give you some material to hold onto. I need to get started working with these recipes for the back to school rush!
What a great idea for a topic. I am sure many will find this very useful. Your entire site is really fun to visit and has a lot of good information and beautiful photography. Thanks for including a link-back to my blog.
You are welcome Dina! Glad you could pop over for a visit 🙂
Awesome post, Marla!
This post is thoroughly impressive. I’m very inspired. Thanks Marla.
Glad I could help to inspire Val!
fabulous post packed with great info Marla!!
thanks for the linky love too!
Thanks for featuring my white cheddar popcorn! I love all these ideas and this post will certainly come in handy when my kids start school!
This is an amazing list! You put so much awesome work into this. Love it!
Most schools do not allow any nuts or nut products – which I am happy for because I have a severely nut allergic child.
All of these snack ideas are SO creative, Marla! Going to steal a few of them for my weekdays! Thanks so much for sharing.
Great ideas and links – thanks you for all your effort it is very appreciated!
Hi. I just found this page from Deliciously Organic and am looking forward to perusing your “whole food recipes” and ideas.
I was wondering if you choose/approve the advertisements that appear on your pages? I see on this page 2 Pillsbury dough-in-a-can products that contain many dangerous and other questionable ingredients.
Cinnomon Rolls:
Enriched Flour Bleached, Water, Sugar, Partially Hydrogentated Soybean Oil, Dextrose, Wheat Starch, Bakin Powder, Palm and Soybean Oil, Whey, Salt, Cinnamon, Corn Starch, Corn Syrup Solids, Monoglycerides, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate, Polysorbate 60, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Yellow 5, Red 40
Artisan Pizza Crust:
Whole Wheat Flour Bleached, Enriched Flour Bleached, Water, Soybean Oil, Vital Wheat Gluen, Destrose, Sugar, Leavening, Ssalt, Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Natural and Articial Flavor, Mono and Diglycerides, Xanthan Gum, Yeast, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Azodicarbonamide
While I haven’t seen much of your site yet, these ads don’t seem to fit with the “fresh”, “whole”, and “healthy” titles I see at the top.
Thanks for your well researched comment! Hopefully you can find plenty of whole food, great for you recipes on FFC 🙂
Thanks Marla for mentioning my Paleo Pumpkin Muffins! What an amazing post! Great ideas for snacks for the kiddos. I’m always looking for healthy snacks for my little ones and your detailed list is going to be fabulous!
I hope you are doing well! I have been following you on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook and your photography continues to amazes me! 🙂
What a great resource you’ve put together here Marla!
I have been sharing this post with everyone – thank you for putting this together!
This is well done. Great job! Looking forward to trying some of these 🙂
http://therealfoodrunner.blogspot.com/
I love this! Adults and kids need help in the lunch department!
Thanks for including me in the roundup 🙂
What a great list Marla! i’m saving it for future reference. Thanks for putting it together
Thanks for the ideas! I love having so many creative lunch ideas in one spot. I am going to share this on facebook for all of my mommy-friends to see 🙂
Awesome Sally and thanks so much for the share 🙂
What a wonderful roundup of snack ideas! Thanks so much for including my baked applesauce! 🙂
you have really outdone yourself with this one! what a thorough list.
thank you for compiling it all in one place!
Thanks Domonique – hope you gets loads of new lunchbox ideas 🙂
Thanks for the great ideas. I have perhaps a silly question: we eat healthy, organic meals at dinner & I usually make extra so we can have them for lunch during the week (we homeschool). Our snacks are fresh fruits & veggies & hummus/bean dips. Is it less nutritious to eat leftovers, even healthy ones? Should I be making fresh lunch everyday? TIA!
Hi Jeri, I always make extra big batches to have food at the ready when we need it most. As far as nutrition on leftovers – not sure about that. Someone knowledgeable in the science of food would know better 🙂 Good luck!
Thanks for putting your ideas on pinterest. I found this invaluable. Any suggestions for feeding fussy eating toddlers?
These ideas are great!! I hope you dont mind but I just added a link to this post on my blog about school lunch inspiration.
Love your ideas! Thank You for sharing
My son loves his food crispy and crunchy. I tried sending him with mini quiche baskets that was crispy when I got it out of the oven but turned soft and soggy in his lunch box. The quiche was cooled before packing it in the box. Any ideas on how to retain crispness in boxes?
Do you buy organic or focus on the dirty dozen or what.? Also what cheese do you recommend.? Organic or raw.? Thanks so much.!!
I am so happy to have been suggested to search for healthy lunchbox items on your site! My kids have been bringing back their lunchboxes with uneaten food and I was almost thinking of sending them to school with nothing but a water bottle!! Their school wants us to pack them healthy food and they practice Trashless lunches. So I am looking forward to using your excellent tips, advice and suggestions to get our kids to eat right and enjoy their food as well. I happened to have already bought some Systema containers. Can’t wait to fill them up with your recipes!
Hi Lani, I am thrilled you found my blog as well. Sounds like you are all ready on the right track with lunch boxes. It is really tricky to get it right (and not all days will we do so) The best we can do is try many options! Good luck & hope to see you around here a lot 🙂
This is an amazing list. Thank you so much!
Way cool! Somme extremely valid points! I appreciate you writing this write-up and the rest oof tthe website is also very good.
good job..thank you
Thank you, you’ve worked out my older sons school lunch box hehe!
Fabulous! Great to hear 🙂