5 Real & Simple Toddler Lunches for Preschool
This post is sponsored by Happy Family Yogurt, but as always the content and opinions expressed here are my own.
Making school lunches have become the bane of my existence. 
I have to make 2 every morning for my kids to take to preschool, and sometimes, it’s just plain hard to come up with new things! I try to switch it up here and then but these 5 are the ones I keep in rotation mainly since I know for a fact that the lunchbox will come home empty!
I wanted to give you guys examples that were things that I actually use out of my fridge and pantry. I don’t cut anything into fun shapes like butterflies or flower cucumbers. I envy every Pinterest mother that does, but I just do not have time for that in the mornings. Between making breakfasts, lunches, getting the kids dressed, arguing over who is going to have a blue or green fork, and getting into fights about what shoes to wear, I just don’t have time for “cutesy”.
I love adding things that are simple and nutritious like Happy Tot Whole Milk Yogurt Pouches. Not only are they super tasty, but they are super delicious! Mindfully made with probiotics, non GMO, and no added sweeteners! Plus, to make life even easier for us busy mamas, they are available at your local Target! 
So I’m bringing you guys 5 easy lunches that I put together. Whatever I make for one, I make the same thing for the other. Both of my kids get the same exact lunch because I definitely do not have time to create two separate lunches! #sorrynotsorry
Option 1:
- Rosemary crackers (obviously any crackers will do!)
- Ham or Salami
- Cheese Stick
- Fruit (I’ll rotate berries, oranges, grapes, apples, and bananas)
- Pirate’s Booty (or some sort of salty snack like pretzels, goldfish, etc)
- Happy Tot Yogurt Pouch (or maybe an apple sauce)
Option 2:
- Cheese quesadillas (Sometimes I’ll add in ground beef or beans to get some protein in there!)
- Oranges (or any fruit like I mentioned above)
- Frozen veggies, sauteed in ghee with some salt and garlic powder
- Goldfish (or some sort of salty snack like pretzels, goldfish, etc)
- Happy Tot Yogurt Pouch (or maybe an apple sauce)
Option 3:
- Homemade cheese pizza (I just like to buy the little pizza rounds, and make them different types of pizzas like pepperoni, salami, or just plain cheese!)
- Cucumbers
- Oranges and Grapes
- Pirate’s Booty (or some sort of salty snack like pretzels, goldfish, etc)
- Happy Tot Yogurt Pouch (or maybe an apple sauce)
Option 4:
- Pasta tossed in olive oil and salt (Occasionally, I’ll add in frozen veggies when I’m cooking the pasta too or toss it with some marinara sauce)
- Cucumbers
- Chocolate covered raisins (Sometimes, I’l also add yogurt covered pretzels)
- Banana
- Happy Tot Yogurt Pouch (or maybe an apple sauce)
Option 5:
- Jelly sandwiches (I rotate between jelly sandwiches, ham and cheese sandwiches, and turkey sandwiches. I’ll normally add mayo and mustard as well with maybe a little bit of tomato and lettuce)
- Rice cakes
- Mixed berries and grapes
- Happy Tot Yogurt Pouch (or maybe an apple sauce)
I hope this somewhat made sense! There is no magic behind, I’m aware. They are not super cool and imaginative lunches. Just keepin’ it real you guys. Butttttt, a mama can get stuck in the rut! And it happens to me quite a bit so I wanna help you if you’re scratching your head at 6AM wondering what you’re planning to send! It can be so time consuming to come up with lunches, and I just love to have these written down so I can rotate them weekly! Of course, if we have leftovers I know the kids will eat for lunch, I send those too but that’s pretty rare. Sometimes, I also wait to feed them the veggies at night so I actually see them go into those tummies! 
I will also say that I used to make these lunches when we used to stay at home. Some days, I would go even as far to make them right when I woke up so that if we were out and about, I just had these already or we would come home from running erands (i.e. Target, the library, or the grocery store) , and lunch was ready!
I would love to know what you send your toddlers with to school! I love having new ideas too! Please leave me some in the comments!
Pin this for later so you can reference it!
The Comments
1stopmom
These are some great ideas. I always struggle with ideas for my granddaughter when it comes to meal time. I think she would enjoy these suggestions. Thanks!
Alfa
→ 1stopmomI’m so glad to be of help! Meal times can be tough!
Gail M Akeman
never heard of happy tot. pasta is good idea for food item for toddlers too.
Kelsey @ The Salted Moon
This is so helpful! I STRUGGLE with coming up with new ideas for my daughter’s lunch. Thank you for the inspiration!
Alfa
→ Kelsey @ The Salted MoonOf course! I know that struggle all too well!! Hope this will help a bit!
Alfa
→ Kelsey @ The Salted MoonI totally understand the STRUGGLE!!!!
Meg
“…arguing over who is going to have a blue or green fork”…HA! That’s so my life, too. Question, when you pack these, do you keep the refrigerated till lunch or use ice packs or what? Also, do your kids eat the pizza and quesadillas cold, or do they get warmed up? Just trying to figure out the logistics cuz I’m totally in a rut, too.
Alfa
→ MegOMG RIGHT?? The great fork debate!! LIKE WHYYYY? So yes, I definitely put ice packs in their lunches if they need to be cold. And for the pizza and the quesadillas, I do wrap them in foil, and then add a little sticky note to the teacher to heat it up for them! I wasn’t so lucky before at our old preschool since they wouldn’t heat up the kids’ food, so those two weren’t on my rotation as much. =/
Justine @ Little Dove
These are great suggestions! My son tends to be in a picky stage right now and it’s struggle tryign to get hi mt o eat anything at lunchtime because he just isn’t that hungry.
Emma @ Muddy Boots and Diamonds
We love pouches! They’ve been a great addition to lunches or when we need snacks on the go. My kids are so different when it comes to food. One will eat only noodles while the other wants fruit and crackers 🙂
Holly Lasha
These are great lunch suggestions. I’ll have to give them a try.
Camesha | Mama Motivator
These all just LOOK so cute! I need to step up my game with lunches! Love the little triangle sandwiches.
Joanna Clute
I love all the healthy options you chose! Not to mention, all that color! Lots of great nutrients included with those colors!