This is a sponsored post in partnership with Bar-S. All opinions are my own.
Packing school lunches for my kids is very challenging because my oldest doesn’t like sandwiches. She will eat a grilled cheese sandwich, but despises all other food placed between two pieces of sliced bread. But she’ll eat them if they’re served separately. Do you feel my pain?
Because of her dislike of sandwiches, we developed an arsenal of sandwich-free lunches for school. Our non-sandwich options are also popular with my son, who gets bored with sandwiches. I may or may not have made these lunches for myself.
Before we jump into specific lunches, I want talk about Bar-S and No Kid Hungry, whose mission is to feed kids in need during the summer months when they don’t have access to free school lunches. I know school just started for us, but No Kid Hungry works year round to raise awareness about food insecurity.
I’m glad that Bar-S is pledging to provide 1 million meals through No Kid Hungry. Food insecurity is tough on families, especially kids. Nothing is scarier than not knowing when you’ll eat next.
Sandwich-Free Lunches Your Kids Will Love
Full disclosure: my kids’ lunches don’t look this nice everyday. Half of the lunches we pack are leftovers from last night’s dinner. Or items I’ve made in advance and frozen. I just reheat them in the morning before packing into their lunch boxes.
I hope these ideas will help you brainstorm lunch ideas for your kids. For the lunches pictured, I will focus on the main dish. Add whatever sides your kids prefer to eat.
1. Tuna Quinoa Patties, flour tortillas, yogurt sauce, clementines, baby carrots and cucumbers. Make an extra batch of these gluten-free tuna quinoa patties and freeze them for lunch boxes.
2. Octopus hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, cucumber, grapes, and nectarines. I don’t normally make cute lunches, but these octopus hot dogs are super easy to make. Our mac ‘n’ cheese was leftover from takeout diner, but we usually go for the boxed kind. Anything to make life easier, right?
3. Pigs-in-a-blanket, sugar snap peas, clementines, ketchup, and fruit snacks (not pictured). My son helped make these pig-in-a-blankets. He loves helping out in the kitchen. It’s quick and easy to roll Bar-S hot dogs in refrigerated crescent roll dough and bake (according to package instructions).
4. Mini cheese quiche, bacon, sugar snap peas, green grapes, and nectarines. You can buy frozen mini-quiches to simplify. I made these in my muffin baking tin using store bought pie crust.
Tip: Notice how some of the sides show up again? Prep a week’s worth of sides at one time so you can just toss them into the lunch box.
5. Sesame noodles, fried tofu, sugar snap peas, and popcorn. Man, this looks like a lunch I’d pack for myself. Before you ask, yes, my kids will totally eat this lunch. Minus the red bell pepper, carrots, and cilantro in the noodles. Find the sesame noodle recipe here and fried tofu tutorial here.
There you have, it 5 sandwich-free lunches your kids will love. Or maybe not. I don’t know your kids or what they like. But maybe they’ll like one of these lunches or you’ve gotten ideas on how to tailor these for your kids.
Don’t forget to check out Bar-S and their commitment to provide 1 million (!) meals to No Kid Hungry.
What non-sandwich lunches do your kids eat?
