Toddlers need a healthy diet in order to grow and develop into strong and happy children. The food we put into our bodies can affect our energy levels, concentration, mood, and our future health. They need healthy vitamins, nutrients, and protein just like adults do. It is important to create healthy habits when it comes to food early in childhood. So, how do we create healthy toddler lunch box ideas for our toddlers that they will enjoy? To answer this question in brief, we need to MAKE IT FUN!
If you are unsure where to start with fun lunch boxes, then worry no more! Here are 10 super-easy, healthy lunch box ideas that your toddlers will love and some toddler lunch ideas too.
Before we get into it, here is a breakdown of the healthy staple foods that you should include in your toddler’s lunch box…
Essential Staple Foods
1. Fruit: At least 1 serving of fruit.
Have a good range of colourful and exciting fruits for a bitesize boost of vitamins. You can add grapes, raspberries, apple slices, pomegranate seeds, clementines, and more. Get creative using cookie cutters if your toddler isn’t very interested in fresh fruit or even make a smoothie bowl, with pops of colour and sweet goodness, they won’t be able to stop licking their lips!
2. Vegetables: At least 1 serving of veggies.
Baby carrots/carrot sticks, sliced cucumber sticks and hummus are great healthy snacks to pack in your toddler’s lunchbox.
3. Protein: At least 1 serving of protein.
Whether it’s in the form of meat or poultry, nuts, legumes, or dairy. bites are a fun and healthy protein alternative to meat. You can add some raisins and choc chips to them for some extra sweetness.
4. Complex Carbohydrates: Whole grains are essential for long-lasting energy and proper toddler brain development.
Some examples of the best whole grains are oats, brown rice, quinoa, corn, farro, buckwheat, teff and sorghum. You can find whole-grain in foods like cereal, bread and snack bars etc… Some gluten-free whole grains are brown rice, quinoa, corn, and more.
5. Fats: Fats are essential for growth
So, choose dairy products with fat and don’t shy away from plant-based fats like avocado and nuts or seeds. is one of the core macronutrients that your toddler needs for proper growth and development. Here are some different examples of foods that are fatty and healthy:
- Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, chunk light tuna and barramundi.
- Plant foods such as walnuts, chia, flax and hemp seeds, as well as soybean and canola oils.
- Certain brands of whole milk and eggs
Veggie Noodle Pot
This noodle salad with sugar snap peas and baby corn makes for a great toddler lunch box idea and it’s an easy way to get 2 of their 5 a day. The veggie noodle pot also has spring onions, a red pepper, egg, milk, ginger, soy sauce, noodles and olive oil in it, so your toddler’s packed lunch won’t be shy of flavour! It’s a great meal full of goodness that your child can have warm at home or cold in their lunch box at playgroup or nursery.
For the full recipe, click here.
Chicken Guacamole Wrap
Just like something served at a restaurant, this chicken guacamole wrap is gooooooood! Take 1 tortilla wrap and spread 2 tbsp shop-bought guacamole down the middle. Guacamole is made from avocado fruit so, you need only 2-3 tablespoons in order for it to be one of your five a day. Next, we can tick off protein with our ½ shredded chicken breast! Lay the chicken breast in your wrap and add ½ sliced red pepper on top. You can also deli turkey or turkey leftovers from dinner. Sprinkle with 30g grated cheddar and roll up tightly. Wrap in baking parchment and tie with string, or roll tightly in cling film.
Mini Chorizo, Pea & Potato Frittatas
Whether it’s a picnic at the park with the family, or a packed lunch for nursery, these mini chorizo, pea & potato frittatas are fun healthy snacks to add to toddler lunch box ideas. It moves away from the traditional sandwich lunch box. Although it takes a bit more prep than your standard lunch, it is so worth it and you can always cook them the night before! A lunch that is more protein-focused on meat, eggs and cheese, so having other healthy snacks like apple slices, salad and nuts or seeds would make this lunch balanced.
Find the recipe here.
Noughts & Crosses Sandwich
Whoever said don’t play with your food? It’s time to get creative with your toddlers and their lunches! You can use cookie cutters on your vegetables and bread to recreate a game of noughts and crosses! All you have to do is make your sandwiches as usual with a vegetable filling inside. Next, just cut the sandwiches up into lots of squares so it forms a grid. Lastly, cut the X’s and O’s shapes out of your chosen vegetables using free-hand or with a cookie cutter to add on top of the sandwich squares. You can use whole-wheat bread for that extra-healthiness too! Fun right? This is a brilliant idea to add to your toddler lunch box ideas!
Second Breakfast
Perfect for those toddlers who love breakfast so much, they want it twice! A lunch that is designed to fit the compartments of a large lunch box. Buy or make a gluten-free cinnamon-sugar pancake muffin, then add some fresh strawberries and raspberries. In a separate compartment add a pot of yoghurt and granola. Granola bites are also a fun lunchtime snack that is rich in protein and vegan friendly. Next, throw in some kiwi and in a separate compartment, add some avocado and sliced chicken sausage. You can always include some daily vitamins too, but this is not essential.
Gluten Free Pizza Pinwheels
Gluten-free pizza pinwheels are a lot simpler than you think! You can buy pizza mixes from the supermarket which are inexpensive and usually come in packs of two! You will need to buy your standard pizza essentials like tomato puree, cheese and mozzarella, and any additional toppings you choose. Once you have made your pizza in the shape of a rectangle and added the sauce and toppings, roll it up and cut it into 2-inch slices. You should see the pizza pinwheel effect from the swirly patterns of the tomato sauce, cheese and pizza base.
It should take 10 minutes to prep and 20-22 minutes to cook at 180° – 200° (fan oven). When they are cooked they should be puffy, plump and golden. You can eat them warm, refrigerate or freeze them to keep for your kid’s lunches through the week. Also, you can add dips like a marinara sauce to your child’s lunch box too. Throw in some chocolate covered raisins, carrots with ranch sauce, and natural yoghurt to fill up the rest of your toddler’s lunch box. And voila!
The Kid-Adult-Platter
Delicious and classy, the kid-adult-platters are fun toddler lunch box ideas that are made up of salami slices, a small baby pasta salad (with olives), breadsticks, hummus, and some strawberries. This lunch box includes multiple of your child’s five-a-day in the salad and the strawberries. It also includes complex carbohydrates with breadsticks & pasta that should give your child the right fuel for the day! Check out our Lunch For Toddlers blog for the baby pasta recipe.
Homemade Fish Sticks With Yoghurt And Dill Sauce
These fish sticks are so delicious and easy to make. Kids would have lots of fun dipping and eating them into the yoghurt and dill sauce. You can use any white fish, like cod, pollock, tilapia, or barramundi. A fish-based meal is great for your child’s health as white fish is rich in fatty acids and omega-3 which helps boost brain function and the growth of brain cells. Omega-3 also helps with heart health, so it is an all-around great food to incorporate into your toddler’s lunches.
You can find the recipe here.
Crunchy Chicken Pasta Salad
This one isn’t just suitable for toddlers but could work as a meal for your entire family too.
This corkscrew pasta dish, otherwise known as fusilli pasta, is just one of many healthy and energy-boosting foods your toddler will benefit from. Other healthy ingredients like baby tomatoes, spinach, red onion, crumbled feta cheese, and of course chicken breasts, are in this dish too.
You will be tick-tick-ticking your way through your balanced meal checklist with this one! Add a different texture with some salad croutons to give this meal that extra crunch. Which you can make at home by cooking some bread crusts or stale pieces of bread with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Hot or cold this is a lovely meal to share with your family and to pack into your toddler’s lunch box.
You can find the recipe here.
Sandwich Kebabs
Who knew you could jazz up your average sandwich with something as simple as some prawn cocktail sticks? In this fun lunch box recipe, you use all the normal ingredients you would use when making your everyday sandwich. The only difference is cutting your bread, veg, and meat fillings down to a smaller size. Use the cubed pieces of bread, cubed cucumber & thin slices of honey glazed ham. Then you just thread them onto the cocktail sticks in whatever order you wish!
It’s a fun way to reinvent your normal sandwich, perfect for new toddler lunch box ideas and it’s super-quick too!
Spotted something fun to try for your toddler lunch box ideas? We hope you have found some inspiration for turning healthy staples into scrumptious treats that your toddlers will love!
Have a look at some healthy lunch ideas for kids, dinner ideas and some healthy snacks too! You’ll have so many new things to try, your kids will ask for more!
