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Want to pack a whole week’s worth of school or office lunches? Check out these easy and fresh school lunches ideas with ham that you can pack for the entire week. Watch me make three of these top ideas in the video below.

https://youtu.be/56l8O2IC6Lg

Using one main ingredient to make a week’s worth of lunches is a trick I’ve been using for years to help myself and our meal plan members pack fresh lunches while cutting down on food waste.

I’ve done this with other lunch favorites such as turkey, hard-boiled eggs, and chicken salad, so it’s about time I shared my 5 favorite lunch recipes using ham.

image: overhead view of three lunch containers packed with various school lunches including sandwiches, ham tacos, fruit, apple roll ups and more.

Packing School Lunches

I’m all about creating lunch ideas for kids that are easy, achievable, and tasty enough that no one will come home with a full lunch box. The easiest way to do this is by using ingredients you know they love.

It’s the simplest things like ham and cheese kids seem to enjoy most, and today, I’m sharing 5 different ways to recreate those same 2 ingredients into lunches everyone can enjoy all week long.

1. Ham Toasty

image: toasted ham sandwich in a divided lunch container with apple slices and snow peas in smaller container slots.

This ham and cheese toasty is an easy way to give your sandwich an upgrade without pulling out any fancy ingredients or gadgets; here’s how to make it:

Lightly toast your sandwich bread in a toaster. Spead a thin layer of mayonnaise on each slice. Top with ham, cheese, lettuce, and assemble the sandwich.

It’s so simple, and by the time lunch rolls around, the sandwich will still have that delicious toasty crunch with slightly melted cheese- that never gets old!

Soggy Sandwich Solution

There’s no bigger letdown than opening a lunchbox to find that perfect sandwich packed that morning a soggy mess.

This tends to happen with hot sandwiches or one with lots of condiments like tomatoes, pickles, etc., due to the excess moisture is trapped in the lunch container and quickly absorbed by the bread. So what can be done to avoid this mess?

First, if you are packing a grilled sandwich, once you remove it from the heat, allow it to cool down to room temperature before packing in a lunch container. This will reduce any condensation from forming and keep the sandwich intact.

If you tend to pack sandwiches with a lot of toppings, I recommend assembling the sandwich in this order:

Bread
Mayonnaise/mustard
Lettuce
Meat
Tomato
Cheese
Bread

The lettuce and cheese act as “barriers” to any moisture from the tomato and help keep your sandwich together.

2. Ham & Cheese Apple Wraps

image: apple slices with sliced cheese and wrapped with slices of ham in a lunch container. blueberries and snow peas are in the small lunch container slots.

Ham and cheese apple wraps are a satisfying combination of savory and sweet you can pack in the lunchbox or serve for a high-protein snack.

I like to pack these at the end of the week with all the leftover crackers, additional fruit, and veggies from previous lunches. It’s an easy way to make a balanced bento-style lunch with what you have on hand and can be prepped the night before.

3. School Lunch Tacos with Ham

image: overhead view of a school lunch container filled with sliced ham tacos, strawberries and peach slices.

We love tacos for dinner and breakfast, so why turn the usual ham and cheese combo into lunch tacos?! So far, these have been a hit, and you can easily accommodate the recipe to fit whatever ingredients you have available.

To make these lunch tacos, simply top a mini flour tortilla with 2 slices deli ham, a slice of cheese, and shredded lettuce. Fold and pack into a lunch container with your choice of fruit and veggies.

How easy was that? You could use any flour tortillas, but I like using the street-size variety from our usual taco nights.

4. Ham & Cheese Mini Quiches

image: lunch container with 9 mini quiches, strawberries and carrot sticks.

Mini quiches are a great protein-packed lunch option and extremely versatile, so you add or subtract add-in’s as you like. To pack these Ham & Cheese Mini Quiches for lunch, place 4 to 6 mini quiches in a lunch container or thermos, if you want them to still be hot by lunch.

5. Ham & Cheese Bento Box

Whether you are looking for stress-free meal prep or need some variety in the lunchbox, bento boxes are the perfect solution.

Creating the perfect bento box requires minimal effort, and you can include any of your favorite ingredients. This one features rolled deli ham and cheese, hard-boiled eggs, fruit, and a veggie cup.

image: three open lunch containers on a counter filled with lunch inspiration for school lunches

More School Lunch Ideas with 1 Ingredient

This isn’t my only collection of school lunches with one ingredient. I also have ideas with deli turkey, chicken salad, hard-boiled eggs, and more!

I’ve found that basing 3 to 4 lunches off one ingredient goes a long way to save time and eliminate waste from unused ingredients.

It’s simple and delicious recipes, ideas, and lunch tips like those I’ve shared in this post that helps parents pull off mealtimes without a glitch. You’ll find them inside the MOMables Classic Meal Plan. Download a sample meal plan here.