Written By Soleina Karamali, RD

Back-to-school season comes with excitement, new routines…and the daily challenge of packing school lunches. If you’ve ever stood in front of your fridge at 7am wondering “what do I pack today?” you’re not alone.

Lunchboxes don’t have to be complicated to be healthy, fun and kid-approved. With this simple formula and a little planning, you can make morning smoother and ensure that your child is offered a variety of foods to fuel their learning and play.

Formula for a Balanced Lunchbox

You can think of foods in the following categories to provide a balanced lunch box:

• Iron-Rich: Iron is crucial for brain development and supports energy, growth and immune function (especially with cold & flu season is right around the corner!).

• High Energy (aka high calorie foods): Kids have high energy needs but small bellies. Including higher energy foods in their lunch ensures that they are able to satisfy their hunger, despite how long their lunch break may be.

• Fruit/Veggie: Adding a fruit or vegetable helps kids meet their fibre requirement and micronutrient needs.

• Preferred food (optional): When kids are distracted, over-stimulated or excited it can be hard to calm the body to focus on eating. Having a familiar food can help ease this transition from play to eating.

Iron-Rich Foods

Aim to include 1-2 of the following foods:

• meat (e.g. chicken, beef, pork, lamb, etc.)
• beans and pulses
• cooked seafood (e.g. salmon, crab, scallops, etc.)
• fortified grains (e.g. oatmeal, rice, cheerios, bread, tortilla, pasta, etc.)
• ground nuts/seeds or nut/seed butters
• tofu or other fortified meat alternatives (e.g. veggie patties)
• edamame
• legume-based pastas
• leafy greens
• eggs
• dried fruit

High Energy Foods

Aim to include 1-2 of the following foods:

• avocado
• high fat dairy (e.g. cheese, 10% MF greek yogurt, >2% mf cottage cheese, whipping cream, heavy cream, sour cream, etc)
• butter/ghee/lard/plant-based oils
• dips (e.g. hummus, guacamole, ranch, babaganoush, tzatziki)
• spreads (e.g. cream cheese, Nutella, peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, Wow butter)
• edamame (soy beans)
• baked goods (e.g. muffins, cookies, waffles, loaves)
• higher carbohydrate foods (e.g. rice, pasta, potatoes, breads)
• ground nuts/seeds or nut/seed butters
• starchy vegetables (e.g. potato, sweet potato)

10 Examples of lunchbox ideas:

Remember we’re looking for iron rich food + high energy food + fruit/veggie + preferred food

Examples of lunch box ideas:

1. Turkey (high iron) and cheese (high energy) roll-ups with carrot sticks (fruit/veggie), hummus (high energy), and apple slices (fruit/veggie)
2. Banana pancakes (high energy) with nut butter (high energy + high iron), berries (fruit/veggie), granola (high iron) and yogurt (high energy).
3. Egg, cheese and spinach muffins (high iron + high energy), grapes (fruit/veggie), croissant (high energy), and pretzels (preferred?)
4. Macaroni and cheese (high energy), strawberries (fruit/veggie), yogurt drink (high energy), pumpkin seeds (high iron)
5. “Starbucks Bistro Box”: Whole-grain pita (high iron), hummus (high energy), apples (fruit/veggie, cheese (high energy), nut butter (high iron + high energy)
6. Whole wheat waffles with sunflower seed butter & jam (high iron + high energy), hard-boiled egg (high iron), watermelon (fruit/veggie), and trail mix (high iron + high energy)
7. Tortilla chips with black bean dip (high iron), cheese string (high energy), cherry tomatoes (fruit/veggie), granola bar
8. Sushi-inspire roll-ups: nori sheets with rice (high energy), cucumber (fruit/veggie), avocado (high energy), and edamame (high iron), orange slices (fruit/veggie),
9. Pasta with mini beef meatballs in tomato sauce (high iron + high energy), blueberries (fruit/veggie), chocolate milk (high energy)
10. Banana and nut butter quesadilla (high energy + high iron), raisins (high iron), snap pea crisps, guacamole (high energy)

Time-Saving Tips:

Mornings can be busy, even when you have a plan! Try these helpful tips to make packing lunch a breeze:

• Prep lunches the night before
• Batch cook proteins – boil eggs on Sunday, roast chicken, or cook extra pasta
• Use freezer-friendly items e.g. muffins, waffles, pancakes, energy bites. All of these items can be defrosted overnight!
• Try different variations of fruit for variety e.g. freeze dried, dehydrated, pouches, fresh, frozen, etc.

Back-to-school lunches don’t have to be fancy—just balanced, simple, and something your child is likely to eat. By following the lunchbox formula and leaning on these easy ideas, you’ll save yourself stress while keeping mealtimes positive.

Struggling to pack lunches your kids actually eat? I can help! Book a FREE 15-minute Discovery Call to create a lunch plan that works for your family!