The “Mom New Year” is in full swing, and with it has come a torrent of questions about how to handle school lunches. Exacerbated mothers the world over are staring at brown paper bags and plastic boxes asking themselves yet again, “What do I pack TODAY for lunch?” It can be overwhelming, can’t it? With so many schools going to nut free lunch rooms the old stand by of peanut butter and jelly just won’t cut it. So what is a mom to do?
Did you know that you can pack school lunches with freezer meals? Come learn how!
Supplies to Pack School Lunches with Freezer Meals
Fancy lunch boxes and containers can make meals inviting and exciting, but they certainly aren’t a must. You really don’t need much other than the usual lunch box and some plastic baggies in order to pack school lunches with freezer meals.
Here are a few simple items that we have found helpful for packaging freezer meals for lunch:
Out of the Box Meal Ideas
First, you want to choose a “main dish” that is going to keep your child full throughout the day. Forget sandwiches! You can make lots of other handheld foods that are easy to freeze and pack in a lunch. If the meal is best enjoyed hot, you will want to warm up the meal in the morning and then pack it in a thermos or another type of warming container. If it is going to be enjoyed at room temperature, then you can pack it frozen and let it thaw (depending on your child’s lunch hour).
- Homemade Spaghetti O’s and Meatballs
- Black Bean Salsa Quesadillas
- Corn and Chile Quesadillas
- Buffalo Chicken Wraps
- Chicken Curry Wraps with Cashews, Raisins and Pineapple
- Bacon Hashbrown Breakfast Wraps
- Chicken Burritos
What is wrong with breakfast for lunch? What about pizza? Every kid loves pizza. Instead of reaching for a prepackaged, expensive meal in the grocery aisle (you know the ones), make your own! If your child has access to a microwave, even better.
Simple Side Items
Next, you need to complete the meal with some sides or snacks to round it out. These do not have to be junky, sugary, or prepackaged. You can make homemade treats on your cooking day and simply throw them into the lunch box in the morning. Hint: these can also double as after-school snacks!
- Homemade Yogurt Tubes (these are great frozen or thawed!)
- Homemade Applesauce
- Gluten Free and Dairy Free Blueberry Breakfast Cookies or the traditional Breakfast Cookies (Kid Friendly)
- No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars
- Frozen Fruit Cups
- Frozen Yogurt Fruit Cups
- Pear Pineapple Mini Gelatin Cups
- Ginger Yogurt Parfait with Cinnamon Pears
Additional Resources
This is just a “taste” of the freezer meals that work well in school lunches. Members can find more in MenuBuilder under the kid-friendly tag and create their own lunch meal plans. Here are some more posts and meal plans to get your creative juices flowing when it comes to packing school lunches.
- Freezer Friendly Back To School Recipes
- Summer Lunch Mini Meal Plan Vol. 1
- 25 Lunch Box Freezer Recipes
Make a Meal Plan With These Recipes!
With membership*, you have access to all our recipes (including these!) and ALL our meal plans! You can customize one of our already curated meal plans, or create your own from scratch using our blank meal plan, My Freezer Meal Plan!
You’re not locked into any one meal plan type. You can save up to 12 customized meal plans at a time, and there is no limit to how many you can customize in a month.
LEARN MORE CREATE A CUSTOM MEal Plan
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**Disclosure: This is not a paid post; however, it does contain Amazon Affiliate links.
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You’ll be able to:
- search the 13,500+ freezer recipe database with hundreds of filters available.
- build and save for later use up to 3 meal plans of 5 recipes each.
- favorite recipes you find and want to try later or have cooked and love.
- view nutritional data of each recipe.
*For more information on paid vs free membership check this out.
More Back-to-School resources:
