In This ArticleView AllIn This ArticleSunday – Prep DayMonday – Turkey Meatball & Feta LunchboxTuesday – Pasta Salad with Vinaigrette LunchboxWednesday – Turkey Meatball Wrap LunchboxThursday – DIY Taco LunchboxFriday – Egg Salad Lunchbox
In This ArticleView All
View All
In This Article
Sunday – Prep Day
Monday – Turkey Meatball & Feta Lunchbox
Tuesday – Pasta Salad with Vinaigrette Lunchbox
Wednesday – Turkey Meatball Wrap Lunchbox
Thursday – DIY Taco Lunchbox
Friday – Egg Salad Lunchbox
Making lunches for school in the morning is tough, especially if you’re short on time and trying to appease eating habits that seem to change on a dime. But a little prep (and a lot of choices!) can go a long way. With just one hour of prep time on Sunday, you can have lunches ready to go (or almost ready to go) for the weekdays.
The following recipes make one serving, but they’re easily doubled or tripled if you have more mouths to feed. With most of the prep taken care of ahead of time and minimal work to be done the day of, they won’t take more than 10 minutes from fridge to lunchbox. We’ve included lots of choices to please everyone, from the more adventurous to the “food-should-not-touch-other-foods” type.
To get started,use this simple shopping listto help you stay organized.
I’m a Busy Parent & These Make-Ahead, Big-Batch Snacks Get Me Through the Week
Diana Chistruga
Time: 1 hour
Equipment:Lunchbox
A well-rounded lunch starts with a well-rounded lunchbox. We suggest a lunchbox with at least three separate sections for storage. Kids' lunches tend to get jostled around a lot before they reach their final destination—and spillover is bound to happen. We recommend getting a lunchbox (or two) where the spaces are well separated, or a lunchbox that can hold several small, lidded containers (check out thebest food-storage containersfor packing kids' lunchboxes).
Cook
Prep
Storage tips
Time: 10 minutes
Get the recipe:Turkey Meatball & Feta Lunchbox
Your meatballs and yogurt-dill sauce are ready to go, so all that’s left is filling your lunchbox. Pick your “extras” wisely. Like we said, kids can be picky, and you know them best! If they like guacamole instead of hummus, throw that in. Feel free to mix and match the veggies and swap in ranch dressing (or even ketchup) instead of the yogurt-dill sauce if that’s what will make them happy.
In the morning or the night before:
Get the recipe:Pasta Salad with Vinaigrette Lunchbox
Your pasta is cooked, your cheese is prepped and your dressing is in its small container ready to add to your lunchbox. If you know your kid likes everything mixed up, it’s OK to combine the ingredients ahead of time. (But hold on the dressing! The vinegar could discolor the pasta or some of the vegetables.) If you have a skeptic on your hands, separate containers is the way to go. Keeping things separate gives them the liberty to choose how they eat their food, increasing the chances they won’t be coming home with a full lunchbox.
Get the recipe:Turkey Meatball Wrap Lunchbox
Get the recipe:DIY Taco Lunchbox
Here, you’re using up the last of the meatballs. They’re crumbled and combined with chili powder to take their flavor in another direction. Of course, if your child is spice-averse, you can skip the chili powder. To keep prep at a minimum, look for prepackaged guacamole, either single-serve containers or a small tub. If you have a purist (“What are those chunks in my guacamole?!"), look for plain or “mashed avocado” that doesn’t have anything but avocado in the ingredients.
Get the recipe:Egg Salad Lunchbox
It’s Friday! You made it! All you have to do is make a quick egg salad and add some extras. Here, you use up the rest of theCreamy Yogurt-Dill Sauce, but ranch dressing or mayo can act as a stand-in. If your kid isn’t a fan of creamy textures, you can skip the sauce altogether and slice the egg (or leave it whole) instead. Add celery sticks or shredded carrot as a side option instead of mixing them in. Crackers give egg salad a nice crunchy counterpoint, but you can make a sandwich out of it, too.
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