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Home » Best Of

Healthy Alternatives to Lunchables

By Laura Fuentes Updated Oct 7, 2024

5 from 1 vote

Pack lunches in a matter of minutes with one of these healthy lunchable alternatives that kids will want to eat at school! That’s right, grab a lunch container with compartments and fill them with the ideas in this post! Make sure to pin them for later, there are many!

an image collage of healthy alternatives to lunchables

Easy Alternatives to Lunchables

It’s hard to beat the kid appeal of a lunchable with kid-favorite ingredients all neatly stacked inside an easy-to-carry container. 

And while parents love the grab-and-go convenience of a lunchable, with more and more off-brand lunchables available for purchase, it’s no longer just about the quality of the ingredients but also the cost of food! Today, I’ll show you how to make your own filling lunchables and pack them for easy school lunches.

Lower-quality lunchables are affordable but they don’t include nutritious ingredients nor enough food to fill hungry bellies at school. And if you want healthier ingredients, you’ll pay more for the single-serve lunch that’s still not enough food for most kids.

The solution? Making your own lunchable at home is just as easy and fast with one of the ideas listed below. Or, click here to download a copy of this lunchbox builder printable below.

3 page lunchbox builder printable PDF

Homemade Lunchable Ideas

Ready to get started? Here are the best alternatives to lunchables, so you can mimic your kid’s favorites in their school lunchbox!

Homemade Lunchables Pizza
5 from 42 votes
A Homemade Lunchables Pizza made with real ingredients that your kid will be excited to assemble and eat.
Make this lunch
homemade version of lunchables nachos
Lunchables Nachos
5 from 29 votes
Learn how to assemble nachos and cheese for a balanced and healthy lunch!
Make this lunch
an image collage of six healthy homemade lunchables
Original Lunchable
5 from 16 votes
A healthy lunchable you can make at home with fresh, better-for-you ingredients. 
Make this lunch
homemade taco lunchable in a school lunch container
Homemade Lunchable Tacos
5 from 34 votes
Learn how to make these homemade Healthy Lunchables Tacos that your kids can assemble and eat at school.  
Make this lunch
turkey, sliced cheese, baby carrots, and banana chips inside a snack box resembling a healthy lunchable
Healthy Lunchable with Banana Chips
5 from 6 votes
Add banana chips to your healthy lunchable made with cheese, turkey or ham, and veggies for an irresistible crunch!
Make This Recipe
a chicken nugget being dipped into a sauce cup of Ranch dressing with a lunch container filled with chicken nuggets, veggies, and strawberries, in the background.
Chicken Nuggets Luncables
4.96 from 24 votes
Made with REAL chicken and fresh ingredients, you’re kids will love Homemade Chicken Nuggets Lunchables. 
Make this lunch
Lunchables Sandwich
5 from 18 votes
Make your own lunchbox sub with this simple lunchable-inspired idea!
Make this lunch

More DIY Lunchable Ideas here!

by Laura Fuentes
onMay 1, 2012

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  1. Laurie says

    October 14, 2014 at 8:27 pm

    5 stars
    I know there are various ways to keep an apple from turning when you cut it… how do you keep an apple, avocado and even a banana from turning brown before lunchtime?

    Reply
    • MOMables says

      October 15, 2014 at 11:05 am

      Laurie, check out this post: https://www.momables.com/how-to-keep-apples-from-browning/- Bananas you can’t help and avocados only with some type of dressing or something acidic. For the most part, you can’t prevent it.

      Reply
  2. Tracey says

    September 07, 2013 at 5:05 pm

    I thought I heard that any lunchmeat was bad for you though….I try to get always get Boar’s Head “All Natural” meats (made without sodium nitrite) but it’s not always available. Anyway, I hope that they meant that only the ones w/sodium nitrite are bad.

    Reply
    • MOMables says

      September 08, 2013 at 1:41 pm

      yes… what we mean by “processed meats” are those very low quality, made with fillers… like store bought packaged lunches.

      Reply
  3. Christine says

    May 02, 2012 at 4:53 pm

    So funny! I hate those lunchables too…but we call them “crap on a cracker!” I rarely get them; I am going to try this!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      May 02, 2012 at 11:25 pm

      A homemade version of any packaged lunch is going to be more nutritious, fresher and your kids won’t be hungry shortly after! Seriously, some packaged lunches are super small!

      Reply
  4. Vanessa says

    May 02, 2012 at 9:49 am

    I love all of these things but it doesn’t matter WHAT you give them if they WON’T EAT IT! My almost 5 year old would gladly eat the Lunchable but when I cut cheese and meat from the deli into pretty shapes, she won’t touch it. I’m about ready to trade her in for a new one. :)

    Reply
    • Laura says

      May 02, 2012 at 12:53 pm

      Vanessa, I used to buy store bought lunches, throw away the contents and use their container to insert my own. I bought a ‘circle’ cutter for the ham, asked the deli dept to slice it a bit thicker, and cut my own cheese in chunks (from real cheese). I then sealed the entire thing with glad’s press and seal… put it in the box and sent it to school.
      I KNOW, RIDICULOUS… RIGHT? After a while I told my daughter that i was buying the ‘insides’ in bulk and that was that.
      keep trying!!

      Reply
      • Cristi says

        May 05, 2012 at 12:32 am

        Hey, not ridiculous if it worked! I’ve done something similar with cereal, buying the generic value size bag and refill the name brand box.

        Don’t give up Vanessa. It can take up to 20 tries before a child will accept a food. I shudder at the amount of food I’ve thrown out because I continued to put it on their plate even though all they did was push it around and make a mess of it. But some of those things they eventually tried and now like, so i guess it was worth it!

        Reply
    • Ludicrous Mama says

      May 12, 2012 at 4:03 am

      Maybe take her to the deli counter with you and let her pick which meats and cheeses to try? My daughter is more likely to eat something she chose – even if it’s the EXACT SAME THING I’d been buying anyway. Just a thought.
      My daughter also likes her meat frozen sometimes. Weird, I know. But since deli meat is only good for, like, 5 days after purchase, I store a few days’ worth in sandwich baggies, then put those into a freezer bag and keep it in the freezer. That way I only have a little out at a time and it lasts longer, so I can buy more when the all-natural stuff is on sale. One time I didn’t have any out, since we only had one more lunch until the weekend, so I figured I could do PBJ and not have meat aging in the fridge all weekend. Well, she wanted her ham, but it was still frozen. She loved it! She ate the whole bag. So now I package a few in single-serving sizes for when she has a hankering for frozen ham!

      Reply
    • Elise says

      June 02, 2012 at 7:34 pm

      One of mine was the same way. I Finally mixed whole milk mozzarella with the fake (both are a bit slimy and mild) and weaned off the fake. I never could find 100 % real “American ” cheese. Is there such a thing? Good luck thinly slicing the mozzarella;)

      Reply
      • Laura says

        June 02, 2012 at 10:29 pm

        awesome! nothing like getting creative!

        Reply
  5. Tricia O. says

    May 02, 2012 at 9:37 am

    Ha!! My boys were just asking for these yesterday because” all the other kids have them.” So, I (unknowingly) made them Momables today in my Easy Lunchboxes. Not as pretty as yours, but still hoping they are kid approved. Gonna try the apple slices next time. Did you dip them in anything to keep them from browning?

    Reply
    • Laura says

      May 02, 2012 at 12:46 pm

      I usually clean all my fruit with Eat Cleaner fruit wash. It’s all natural and made from citrus extracts and it keeps the food from browning. Many moms spray the fruit with lemon juice :) Congrats on making your own! they don’t need to be pretty, just healthy.

      Reply
    • Ludicrous Mama says

      May 12, 2012 at 3:58 am

      Instead of lemon juice, you can slosh them around in apple juice. It;s the Vitamin C that helps, so any juice with C will work, but the apple juice doesn’t make them taste funny like the lemon juice can. I just put them in a small Tupperware-style container, splash in some apple juice, put the lid on and shake for a minute, then drain out the juice. Mine keep for a few days that way.

      Reply
      • Laura says

        May 28, 2012 at 1:40 pm

        Great tip!! thank you!

        Reply
  6. Anne says

    May 02, 2012 at 9:36 am

    I cannot stand Lunchables….fake cheese, processed meat, high sodium and sugar. I always try to “recreate” the Lunchable idea in my kids lunches with the healthier alternative. Thank you for your ideas and for being an advocate for healthy lunches. This is such a huge issue in our country. I feel like families have become so busy that buying 5 Lunchables per week per child is easier and quicker then packing them healthy lunches. Teaching our children’s taste buds to like the heathy stuff is one of the best gifts we can give them. I have a 5 year old who still thinks yogurt is ice cream and raisins are gummies :) Thanks again…love your site.

    Reply
    • Laura says

      May 02, 2012 at 12:50 pm

      Anne, thank you for your encouraging words! Keep up with what you are doing!!

      Reply
  7. Keitha says

    May 01, 2012 at 11:48 am

    Love this! Your MOMables lunch looks so much more inviting.

    Reply
    • Laura says

      May 01, 2012 at 5:58 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
    • Cristi says

      May 01, 2012 at 9:38 pm

      Thanks!

      Reply
  8. The Preschool Toolbox says

    May 01, 2012 at 11:30 am

    Which Bento/Lunch box do you prefer: The Easy Lunchboxes or the Lock n Lock? I’m trying to decide which to get my daughter for KDG next year and can’t decide between the two.

    Reply
    • Laura says

      May 01, 2012 at 6:00 pm

      The EasyLunchBoxes gives you more room and options for sure. We are doing a giveaway tomorrow… :)

      Reply
      • The Preschool Toolbox says

        May 01, 2012 at 7:14 pm

        Thanks for the info! And yeah for a giveaway!! (BTW, love this site!)

        Reply
    • Cristi says

      May 01, 2012 at 9:35 pm

      I agree with Laura. The EasyLunchboxes are more versatile. I can use muffin cups in the EasyLunchboxes to make sections like the Lock & Lock if I want to. There is no room for both a sandwich and a side in the Lock & Lock, it’s more useful for small portions of small things.

      Reply
    • Sarah says

      May 01, 2012 at 11:14 pm

      Go with the Easy Lunchboxes for sure! They have been great with my little K and 1st grader!

      Reply
  9. tracie says

    May 01, 2012 at 11:09 am

    My kids used to beg for these too! I tried to make my own version of the pizza lunchable the other day, but I over baked my pizza dough and both kids had trouble biting into it! They really liked the concept though and suggested that we use sandwich thins next time. Oh well… live and learn, right?

    Reply
    • Cristi says

      May 01, 2012 at 9:37 pm

      Pita bread also works well, or bagel thins. Did you make your own sauce?

      Reply
      • tracie says

        May 02, 2012 at 10:34 pm

        I did! It was a really simple recipe I found on pinterest. The link to it is in my post about the pizzas (http://lunchsnackandsninner.blogspot.com/2012/04/lunch-fail.html). It makes a reasonable sized batch. I think I got three pizzas out of it and maybe another 2-3 kid lunch sized portions out of it. It freezes well. Oh… and I’ve tried it with both diced and crushed tomatoes. I liked the crushed better since I didn’t have to run it through the food processor.

        Reply
      • tracie says

        May 02, 2012 at 10:35 pm

        Oh… and thanks for the other crust suggestions!

        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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