A child eating a healthy plant-based school lunch.

Lunchbox Planning and Recipes

There's no such thing as a perfect lunchbox. There's just a lunchbox that gets eaten. That said, having a loose framework in your head makes throwing one together a lot faster and a lot less stressful.

Illustration of a wrap, cucumber slices, an orange, and a granola bar with a labels

Think of it in five parts: a protein, a grain or carb, a veggie, a fruit, and (most importantly) something fun. That's it. When you've got one thing from each of those categories, you've got a solid lunch. It doesn't have to be fancy. It doesn't have to be Instagram-worthy. It just has to be food your student will actually open and eat. Here are a couple examples of what that can look like in practice: 

  • Hummus and crackers with cucumber slices, a clementine, and some trail mix.
  • A bean and rice wrap with shredded carrots, grapes, and a couple of dark chocolate-covered almonds.

The combinations are endless and once you start thinking in this framework, it becomes almost automatic. You stop staring into the fridge trying to figure out what to pack and you just start grabbing one thing from each category until the box is full.

School Lunch Recipes

If you have time to meal prep, one of the easiest ways to handle plant-based lunches is to make a big batch of something on the weekend and divide it across the week. A pot of vegan chili, a tray of baked tofu, a pan of veggie-loaded muffins, or a batch of pasta salad can stretch into several lunches. Prep once, pack all week. the blogs and resources below are packed with simple, kid-friendly plant-based meals to get you started: