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    Home » Bento Lunches » Healthy Lunch Box Food Ideas

    60 Kids Lunch Box Ideas to Mix and Match!

    Aug 20, 2014 · 11 Comments

    25.7K shares
    • 380

    Following on from my recent Lunch Box Ideas series, in today's post I'm bring all the information together in one blog post to create a useful mix-and-match lunch box food ideas resource.

    As you may remember, I covered the five main food groups; starchy foods, vegetables, non-dairy proteins, fruit and dairy.  I shared twelve food ideas for each food group, making a total of sixty different child friendly lunch box foods.

    If you pack one food from every food group in each lunch box that you make, and vary one item each time, there's (according to my mathematician brother) a total of 248,832 possible food combinations! I think that's enough to keep anyone going for a school year or two!

    60 Lunch Box Food Ideas for kids school lunches - mix and match these 60 different healthy foods for endless lunch packing combinations

    You can use the lists below to help you create a healthy, balanced lunch box, by choosing one food from each of the five food groups to be included in each lunch that you make.  You can of course include more than one food from any category (I usually try to include at least two vegetables for example).  I created this method for myself based on the UK's Eatwell Plate recommendations, and I find it helps me enormously when deciding what foods to buy and what foods to pack on any one day.

    Having a list of different food ideas also helps me pack a great variety of foods so that I never get stuck in a rut, packing the same things over and over again.  We have our favourites of course, that we pack very regularly (carrots and cucumber feature a lot, and ham!), but when we fancy a change we always have plenty of ideas for substitutions.  Just changing one of the foods that you pack can make all the difference.

    Here are the complete lists of lunch box food ideas by food group.  If you click on each picture you'll be taken to the original blog post for that food group, where you'll find lots of ideas and suggestions for how to use each individual food in a packed lunch box.

    Starchy Foods (Carbohydrates)

    Crispbreads
    Rice
    Crackers
    Pretzels
    Rice Cakes
    Granola
    Popcorn
    Tortilla Wraps
    Oatcakes
    Couscous
    Potatoes
    Pasta

    Eats Amazing - Lunch Box Food Ideas - 12 different ideas for starchy foods to include in your bento lunch box

    Vegetables

    Sweetcorn
    Cucumber
    Beetroot
    Spinach
    Tomatoes
    Carrots
    Mange Tout
    Pepper
    Sugar Snap Peas
    Peas
    Baby Sweetcorn
    Broccoli

    Eats-Amazing-Lunch-Box-Food-Ideas-12-different-ideas-for-vegetables-to-include-in-your-bento-lunch-box-2

    Non-Dairy Proteins

    Egg
    Prawns
    Roast Beef
    Chicken
    Ham
    Nuts
    Pâté
    Seeds
    Tuna
    Sausages
    Chickpeas
    Houmous

    Eats-Amazing-Lunch-Box-Food-Ideas-12-different-ideas-for-non-dairy-protein-foods-to-include-in-your-bento-lunch-box-2

    Fruits

    Kiwi
    Apricots
    Strawberries
    Banana
    Dried Cranberries
    Grapes
    Raisins
    Blueberries
    Apple
    Citrus Fruits
    Raspberries
    Dried Apple Rings

    Eats Amazing - Lunch Box Food Ideas - 12 differnt ideas for fruits to include in your bento lunch box

    Dairy

    Yoghurt
    Goats Cheese
    Milkshake
    Red Leicester Cheese
    Cream
    Cheddar Cheese
    Roulé cheese
    Mozzarella Cheese
    Cheese Triangles
    Crème fraîche
    Babybel Cheese
    Feta Cheese

    Eats Amazing - Lunch Box Food Ideas - 12 differnt ideas for dairy foods to include in your bento lunch box 2

    So to pack a balanced lunch box you simply choose one item from each of the food groups above (for example crackers, cheddar cheese, rolled ham slices, cucumber and grapes), pop it into a lunch box or bento box and voilà - a yummy, healthy, balanced lunch!

    For example menus covering two weeks of packed lunches see the following blog posts: Menu 1 & Menu 2, which both include free downloadable menus for a whole week of healthy, balanced lunches.

    For even more lunch box food ideas, have a look at my printable list of lunch box food ideas - there's a free sheet to download and stick on your fridge to keep you inspired! Or check out my Ultimate List of Sandwich Fillings for over 140 sandwich filling ideas!

    I hope this resource proves to be useful for new and experienced lunch packers alike.  What combinations would you use from the lists above?

    Grace

    PS Packing lunches? Come join our friendly Facebook community to share your lunches and pick up new ideas from our members!

    Eats Amazing Lunch Packing Community - come join us to share lunch box ideas with other parents

    If you’re a Pinterest user, why not save this post to Pinterest so you can easily find it again! You could also pop over and follow my lunch themed Pinterest boards for lots more fun and healthy lunch box ideas for kids; Kids Lunch Box Ideas & Packed Lunch Ideas.

    60 Lunchbox food ideas to mix and match - easy healthy packed lunch ideas for kids lunch boxes and bento boxes to get you ready for back to school #schoollunch #bento #kidslunch #lunchideas #lunch #lunchtime #lunchboxideas #healthykids #kidsfood #backtoschool

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    25.7K shares
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Kathy says

      August 20, 2014 at 6:04 pm

      Fantastic post!

      Reply
      • Grace says

        August 20, 2014 at 11:01 pm

        Thanks so much Kathy!

        Reply
    2. Donna says

      August 20, 2014 at 10:30 pm

      This is a great post - so many ideas that I wouldn't usually think of x

      Reply
      • Grace says

        August 20, 2014 at 11:01 pm

        Thanks Donna, I enjoyed the process of putting it together, and it made me look at food afresh too 🙂

        Reply
    3. Petit Mom says

      August 22, 2014 at 9:40 pm

      Great ideas! Already planning some lunches 🙂

      Reply
    4. Jen Walshaw says

      August 25, 2014 at 12:06 pm

      This is a fab resource Grace. A great reminder for those of us who only do packed lunches occasionally

      Reply
    5. Nicola says

      September 01, 2014 at 5:25 pm

      Invaluable! This is a perfect 'at-a-glance' resource list. I'm new to the site & it's so useful. Thanks so much for sharing your inspiring ideas.

      Reply
    6. Lillian Ragnarsson says

      September 16, 2014 at 12:27 am

      Fantastic! I have been envious of those colourful and lovely kids lunch boxes. Your idea makes the hard work a lot easier! I think I can start trying. Thank you so much for sharing!

      Reply
    7. Kate Thompson says

      September 26, 2014 at 10:25 pm

      Love your ideas! Very accessible too in such a bright and clear post 🙂 Lots suitable for my readers on my second Blog too http://thereciperesource.blogspot.co.uk #thelist

      Reply
    8. Hannah Mums' Days says

      October 02, 2014 at 11:46 am

      WOW! The thought, care and work you've put into creating this is just incredible, Grace! This baby is getting pinned for all the world to see (and for me to keep popping back to!) - I have a fussy toddler so coming up with ideas can be exhausting, but this is a great place to start and to keep track of what he will eat, has touched or put to his mouth, and won't eat. In fact, screw it, I'm printing this out!

      Thanks for linking in to the #TheList
      hxxx

      Reply
    9. Maria Hughes says

      September 22, 2018 at 11:15 pm

      Such amazing ideas! I am definitely going to try making a Bento box x

      Reply

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