Master List of Toddler Lunchbox Ideas

To help you come up with a steady stream of toddler lunchbox ideas to pack for daycare or preschool, this master list of ideas should help. It’s especially handy when you find yourself staring into the fridge with no ideas for what to pack for a toddler lunch!

Easy Toddler Lunch Ideas

Coming up with lunchbox ideas for toddlers can be incredibly difficult. Their preferences change regularly, they can’t always manage a wide range of food on their own, and daycares and preschools may be limited with how much they can help.

Toddler Lunches That Don’t Require Reheating

I know that many daycares won’t (or can’t!) reheat food and they need to have foods that are easy to serve since they are often feeding many kids at a time. Some of these ideas may seem odd to serve cold or at room temperature, but sometimes, finding more options for toddler daycare food just requires a shift in what you think is normal. Because many foods that we traditionally eat warm are actually fine cold!

Master List of Toddler Lunchbox Ideas

Adjust these lunch ideas for toddlers based on your own little one’s appetite and eating ability. (Some of the toddler lunches here are two snacks and one lunch to cover a whole day.) Adjust how you pack the lunch as needed.

Toddler Lunches with Beans

All sorts of beans are great for toddler lunches. They are already in a perfect finger food package and can be seasoned in all sorts of ways. Rinse and drain any canned beans to remove excess salt and pat dry with a paper towel. Then try:

1. Black beans or pinto beans with mashed, roasted sweet potato
2. Black beans or pinto beans with tahini and lemon juice
3. Black beans or pinto beans with mild salsa
4. Black beans or pinto beans with cumin, chili powder, and lime
5. Garbanzo or white beans with pesto
6. Garbanzo or white beans with crushed rosemary, olive oil, and lemon
7. Garbanzo or white beans with cinnamon, cumin, and/or garam masala plain or with yogurt
8. Deconstructed tacos (shredded chicken, beans, cheese, a little mild salsa)
9. Beans with pasta and pesto
10. Blended into hummus spread on bread or with crackers
11. Bean chili
12. Soft-Baked Cinnamon Chickpeas
13. Edamame (thawed) with rice, soy sauce, and toasted sesame oil
14. Quesadilla with mashed beans and cheese
15. Lentils with Indian spices (like garam masala, cumin, and ginger or just with a touch of salt and olive oil)

Toddler Lunch Ideas with Pasta

Chilled or room temperature pasta is a great toddler lunch option—just think of it like pasta salad. The only issue is that it can sometimes firm up when cold, so be sure that you add enough sauce (or olive oil) to keep it moist and easy to eat. (You can also pack it in an insulated thermos.) Try:

1. Elbows with pesto and zucchini (cook the diced zucchini with the pasta)
2. Leftover pasta with marinara and meatballs
3. Pasta with Italian dressing and thawed peas
4. Pasta with chopped tomatoes, cubed cheese, shredded basil, and olive oil

You can try any of these ideas with couscous and cooked rice or quinoa.

Lunches for Toddlers with Eggs

While hard-cooked eggs are a more common toddler lunch component, there are other ways to serve up eggs—and most you can do way ahead of time.

1. Hard-cooked eggs, diced (just yolks until your toddler can chew the white)
2. Egg Muffins (chop when packing for littler toddlers)
3. 1-egg omelet with cooked veggies and cheese (chop up when packing)
4. Fried rice with scrambled egg
5. Pesto pasta with scrambled egg
6. Freezer burritos with scrambled egg (for toddlers 2 or 3 and up)
7. Deconstructed breakfast tacos with scrambled eggs, beans, cheese, and/or pico de gallo

Toddler Lunchbox Ideas with Chicken, Beef, and Turkey

Some toddlers don’t love the texture of meat and poultry, but often it just needs more moisture. We like shredded meat and poultry best since it tends to be easiest for little ones to chew/gum, though you can move onto diced pieces as your toddler grows. You can moisten any of these with lemon juice, olive oil, toasted sesame oil, mild salsa, marinara, lemon-tahini sauce, roasted mashed sweet potato, or pesto.

1. Shredded poached or grilled chicken
2. Shredded grilled or pan-fried sirloin steak
3. Shredded meat or poultry in mild chili
4. Ground chicken meatballs
5. Ground chicken in marinara sauce or pureed veggie soup
6. Ground beef meatballs
7. Ground beef in marinara sauce or pureed veggie soup
8. Slow Cooker Chicken and Bean Tacos

How to Pack Yogurt for Toddler Lunches

We’re big fans of plain yogurt, but it’s not always easy for a toddler to eat with a spoon. Here are a few ways we like to serve it up for daycare.

1. Overnight Oats, sent with a spoon or in a reusable pouch
2. Stirred into cooked and cooled oatmeal
3. Added to smoothies
4. Mixed with tahini and lemon for a dip or sauce for beans, pasta, or chicken

How to Pack Oatmeal for Toddler Lunchboxes

While oatmeal is traditionally a breakfast food, it’s also a super healthy option for toddler lunches or snacks. For toddlers who prefer to feed themselves, I like to serve it thicker so they can pick it up in chunks.

1. Apple Raisin Oatmeal
2. Cinnamon Raisin Baked Oatmeal Cups

The Best Fresh Fruit for Toddler Lunches

Fruit is of course a great option for mealtime and here are a few of the ways that I like to pack it for daycare or a day out of the house.

1. Apples, shredded with a little lemon juice
2. Applesauce, in a reusable pouch
3. Bananas (send whole and ask the provider to serve in sections, or section and request that it be served at breakfast or the morning snack to reduce browning)
4. Berries, halved (blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries)
5. Clementines, peeled and diced or sectioned
6. Grapes, quartered
7. Kiwi, diced
8. Mango, diced
9. Melon, diced (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon)
10. Peaches or plums, diced
11. Pears, diced with a little lemon juice (make sure they are very ripe and soft)
12. Pineapple, diced
13. Smoothies in either a straw cup or a reusable pouch.
14. Applesauce or fruit puree stirred into oatmeal or overnight oats
15. Watermelon, blended into juice

The Best Veggies for Toddler Lunches

I find that I have to regularly remind myself of other veggie options besides frozen peas. Here are some of my go-tos for packed toddler lunches.

1. Beets, boiled and diced
2. Broccoli, roasted or sautéed and chopped
3. Carrots, roasted or steamed until tender
4. Cauliflower, roasted or sautéed and chopped
5. Cherry tomatoes, quartered or halved
6. Green beans, roasted, steamed, or sautéed and diced
7. Peas, thawed (look for “petite peas” which are usually very tender)
8. Potato, diced and roasted with olive oil (try tossing with pesto!)
9. Snap peas, steamed until soft and diced­
10. Sweet potato, diced and roasted or roasted whole and mashed
11. Broccoli Pea Soup served in a reusable pouch
12. Roasted Carrot Soup served in a reusable pouch
13. Toss with pasta in pesto or marinara
14. Puree kale or spinach into pesto
15. Blend spinach, cauliflower, or sweet potato into smoothies
16. Stir mashed sweet potato into applesauce
17. Snip shreds of kale or spinach into pasta or rice
18. Snip shreds of kale, spinach, or broccoli into cooked grains with cheese
19. Add any diced veggie to an omelet with or without cheese and dice to pack|

The Best Snacks for Toddler Lunchboxes

Check out my Master Toddler Snack List here for a few more easy ideas to round out packed food for a day.

Lunchboxes pictured, from top, with affiliate links:
Lunchbots Trio (also shown in the third image)
Easy Lunchboxes
Colorful dividers are silicone muffin cups

Filder Under:Daycare, Lunch, Lunchbox Ideas