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Home » Recipes » Best Of

Disposable Sack Lunch Ideas for Field Trips & Camp

By Laura Fuentes Updated Oct 4, 2024

5 from 4 votes

Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.

If school or camp asks to send a sack lunch for your kids, we got you covered! Here's how to pack a healthy but completely disposable brown bag lunch

If you have a school-aged child, chances are you have been asked, at some point, to send your child with a sack lunch. Typically, this is the school’s way of saying to send your child with a completely disposable lunch. 

Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of messages on Instagram about schools requiring disposable lunch daily now, and I knew I had to share these ideas on how to pack a quick and easy disposable sack lunch.

Here’s a quick video where I show you my packing methods and then, I’ll share some of the best non-perishable lunch items that kids will love to find in that brown paper sack!

How to Pack a Disposable Sack Lunch

Whether it’s the annual school field trip, or schools trying to limit reusable items that could get germy – from time to time we all need a disposable lunch that will stay good all day.

Today I am going to share with you some tips on how to pack a completely disposable and recyclable lunch for these occasions.

image: disposable lunch packing items.

Related: Top 5 Lunchboxes We’ve Tested

If you need a fully disposable lunch, this will also mean that you can’t pack an ice pack, so everything you pack will need to be non-perishable, cold lunches.

And if you need more incredible lunch ideas of all sorts, check out the 101 Packed Lunches eBook. You won’t be running out of ideas anytime soon.

101 Packed Lunches eBook

All my best kid-friendly lunches from over a decade of creating meal plans. Add some variety to your child’s lunchbox with these epic lunches, plus receive my Pack Meals Like a Pro ebook, free with purchase!

Grab the Book!

Non-perishable lunch ideas

Main Entree

  • Meat & cheese sandwich w/o mayonnaise
  • Peanut butter sandwich with strawberry or banana slices
  • Peanut butter & jelly sandwich

Vegetable

  • Carrot sticks
  • Celery sticks
  • Grape tomatoes
  • Broccoli florets

Fruit

  • Strawberries
  • Blueberries
  • Banana
  • Apple
  • Grapes
  • Fruit Cups
  • Applesauce cups
  • Fruit Leather

Dairy

  • String cheese (check out this post where I’ll show you how to pack dairy in lunches)
  • Yogurt tube (stick in the freezer overnight and it’ll be thawed by lunchtime)

Drink

  • Bottled Water
  • Juice Boxes
image: disposable lunch packing items.

Then the question comes in of what to pack the lunch in. Some obvious solutions are a brown paper lunch bag, a gallon plastic zip bag, a plastic grocery bag, etc. But what if you want to pack items that you don’t want to be squished or bruised? The best solution I have come up with is saving those plastic clam-shell baskets that fresh fruit comes in.

I use a larger basket (pictured is a 2lb. strawberry basket) to hold everything and I use the smaller ones to hold sides (like blueberry/raspberry baskets).

You could also pack side items in small paper cups that are covered with plastic wrap, or some items could be packed in a paper muffin cup liner. If you’re really feeling adventurous you can decorate the basket with duct tape or let your kids loose to decorate it- just for some added fun.

So when your child gets sent home with a note saying they are going to need a disposable field trip lunch, don’t stress! There’s no need to run out and buy a pre-packaged lunch.

Also, for those of you whose kids are enrolled in summer camps, here are 20 Easy Summer Camp Snack Ideas and 10 Summer Camp Lunch Ideas. 

Sack Lunch Ideas

a woman holding up a paperback lunch in a kitchen
Servings: 1 sandwich
Prep Time: 5 minutes mins
Total Time: 5 minutes mins
If school or camp asks to send a sack lunch for your kids, we got you covered! Here’s how to pack a healthy but completely disposable brown bag lunch
5 from 4 votes
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Watch How It’s Packed:

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ teaspoons honey
  • 2 slices whole-grain bread
  • 1 tablespoon peanut butter
  • ¼ honey-crisp or granny smith apple, thinly sliced

Instructions

  • Place bread on a flat surface and spread peanut butter onto both slices of bread. Place apple slices onto one side, drizzle with honey, and close sandwich.

Equipment

The Best Homemade Kids’ Lunches on the Planet
101 Packed Lunches

Nutrition

Serving: 1sandwich | Calories: 362kcal | Carbohydrates: 58.4g | Protein: 6.6g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 7.6g | Cholesterol: 30.5mg | Sodium: 271.5mg | Fiber: 9.5g | Sugar: 30.3g

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Comments

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  1. Chrissy says

    September 30, 2024 at 5:22 pm

    5 stars
    When I haven’t had a ice pack, I have put ice cubes in a sandwich bag, then put that bag in a quart size bag. That way, leaks are less likely. At times, I have put the item I want to keep cold in the quart bag with the ice bag also. It depends on if this item is tight sealed, like a cheese stick. I always instruct my child to dispose of it quickly so they don’t come home with a water soaked lunchbox.

    Reply
    • Stephanie Nelson says

      May 11, 2025 at 7:58 pm

      I buy the small disposable water bottles and freeze them. Then they serve as an ice pack to keep the lunch cold and water for them to drink when the water melts.

      Reply
      • Kimberly says

        May 13, 2025 at 4:02 pm

        Great Idea!!!

        Reply
  2. Abbey says

    January 27, 2019 at 12:43 pm

    My kids can’t take peanut butter to school or in field trips. Do you have any other ideas for main part of lunch that doesn’t include peanut butter? Thank you.

    Reply
    • MOMables - Laura says

      January 30, 2019 at 8:12 pm

      Hi Abbey, check out all the lunches on our site.

      Reply
      • Ingenuity dad says

        February 21, 2023 at 8:22 pm

        You can also pack perishable items by making disposable ice packs using your vacuum sealer. Fill two 4×4″ (plus margins for sealing) bags with water and seal (don’t use the vacuum feature, just seal it), then freeze. Beware of condensation compromising paper bags, use a plastic shopping bag if in doubt.

        Reply
    • Jennifer says

      May 02, 2024 at 7:54 am

      Check out SunButter – it’s made from sunflower seeds, so it’s safe to have around kids with nut allergies!

      Reply
  3. Elizabeth Pacheco says

    July 19, 2018 at 12:07 pm

    It’s the first time my kids go to camp and I didn’t know what to pack. Thank you for the great lunch ideas.

    Reply
  4. Shannon says

    June 06, 2017 at 10:40 am

    This was incredible helpful for my son’s End of the Year Field Trip!!! And it also gave me great ideas for when he begins summer camp in 2 weeks!!!

    Reply
  5. Angelique says

    October 18, 2016 at 6:35 pm

    Great idea for using the fruit container! I was stressing about how to pack a disposable laptop much that won’t get mashed – and I happen to have s strawberry container in the fridge! Also, the frozen water bottle works great but you have to put it in a plastic bag or it will sweat through the paper bag.

    Reply
    • Emilie Hebert says

      October 22, 2016 at 1:34 pm

      Thanks for that tip! Glad you found this helpful.

      Reply
  6. Katie says

    June 21, 2015 at 3:34 pm

    Thanks for the ideas. I would be very concerned, however, about the safety of the meat and cheese sandwich if no ice pack was included. By lunch time it would no longer be safe to eat.

    Reply
  7. Greer S says

    March 05, 2014 at 9:52 pm

    THIS HELPED SO MUCH

    Reply
  8. Alicia says

    July 12, 2013 at 9:41 am

    I saw you mentioned the fact that you can’t send an icepack in a disposable lunch. Have you tried freezing the water bottle? It acts as an icepack and will usually be drinkable by lunch time. For kids with an earlier lunch time, only fill 3/4 of the bottle to freeze, then add the rest of the water in the morning. We’ve also frozen juice pouches and boxes for the same purpose.

    Reply
    • MOMables says

      July 12, 2013 at 10:03 am

      great idea about freezing the water bottle or juice to act as an ice pack!

      Reply
    • Kendra Peterson says

      July 15, 2013 at 12:53 am

      You can also freeze yogurt cups or tubes, applesauce or fruit cups, and even the meat and cheese sandwich! I’ve had problems with the water bottle (or juice box, the few times I didn’t have a disposable water bottle laying around) not thawing enough by lunch though. But yogurt and applesauce are still nice partially frozen, like slushies!

      Reply
    • Sanaa El Azyz says

      May 11, 2016 at 6:57 am

      my daughter said that her teacher said that

      Reply
  9. Omayra says

    July 11, 2013 at 6:11 pm

    Wow. I have been doing this, this past year. Lol. Did not know I was doing it right. Just wanted her to have a healthy lunch and disposable. Which by the way I have even managed to send her hot food. By the time it was to be eaten it was warm. She was the envy of her classmates and teacher. Lol

    Reply
    • MOMables says

      July 11, 2013 at 8:42 pm

      you are so creative! great job Omayra! the purpose of this lunch is for field trips and summer camps where they require a disposable lunch and they plan on recycling. Otherwise, it’s a lot of waste. During the school year, I recommend re-usable containers.

      Reply
laura fuentes momables holding a lunch bag and lunch boxes

My name is Laura Fuentes
I’m here to help you simplify school lunches with fresh ideas your kids will actually eat.

Mom of 3. Certified in Integrative Nutrition. 5x Cookbook Author.

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