Need a break from cold sandwiches and wraps? These hot school lunch ideas make it easy to reheat favorite dinners, soups, pasta, rice bowls, and other leftovers so kids can enjoy a warm, filling lunch at school.
Hot School Lunches Make Packing Easier
When I'm wondering what to pack for school, a hot lunch is one of my easiest answers because it doesn't have to mean soup. Pasta, rice bowls, mac and cheese, chicken, and other dinner leftovers all work well in a thermos.
If a meal was a winner at dinner, there's a good chance my kids will happily eat it again for lunch. I just reheat it in the morning, pack it hot, and dinner leftovers become an entirely different school lunch with almost no extra prep.
How to Keep School Lunches Warm
The food needs to be very hot when it goes into the thermos, and the thermos itself should be preheated first. This is the method I use for pasta, rice, soup, and other hot school lunches.
- Boil water.
Heat enough water to fill the thermos. - Preheat the thermos.
Fill it with boiling water, close the lid, and let it sit for about 5 minutes. - Heat the food.
Reheat the lunch until it is steaming hot, stirring as needed so it heats evenly. - Pack immediately.
Pour out the water, add the hot food, and close the thermos right away. - Keep it closed.
Pack the thermos in the lunch bag and leave it sealed until lunchtime.
More Thermos Lunch Ideas
- More thermos lunches for school
- How to use a thermos for hot food
- How long a thermos keeps food hot
- Best thermos containers for school lunches
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