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You’ll find recipes in this post and tips to keep these preschool lunch ideas for picky eaters fresh in the lunch box for hours.
Since 2010, parents have come to this website for school lunch ideas for their kids every back-to-school and year-round.
If there’s one thing we all agree on when it comes to making lunches for our kids, it’s that we want them to be nutritious and contain a healthy variety of ingredients.
But what do you do when your child only wants to eat chicken nuggets, PB&J sandwiches, or the same turkey sandwich on repeat? It can be really hard to pack healthy lunches for school when you have a picky eater -I struggled with what to feed my son for nearly ten years!
In this post, you’ll find lots of picky-eater-friendly lunch ideas for younger kids; in preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school that you can pack fast, and the how-to tips on keeping those lunches fresh in a lunch box for hours.
In this video, I also share a visual of some lunches parents have made over the years.
Preschool Lunch Ideas for Picky Eaters
These preschool school lunch ideas are centered around one “main” item kids love to eat. Then, you add their favorite lunch box sides to build the lunch.
Click on any of these packed lunches for the recipe and tips to keep them fresh in a lunch box for hours.
How to Pack Lunches for Picky Eaters
Finding nutritious lunch ideas your picky eater will want to eat can seem impossible, but these ideas prove it’s not. Some tips include:
Adding Protein: this is crucial to keeping kids full until they get home from school. Sometimes, it’s part of the main lunch or in a separate preschool snack box if you have to pack two separate meals.
Keep it familiar: focus on one or two ingredients you know your kid will eat as the centerpiece that keeps your kid full, then add fruit, veggies, or things like fruit leather or banana chips as sides.
Use a thermos: if it’s a winner for dinner, a thermos lunch can be a great lunch! Don’t hesitate to send chicken noodle soup for lunch or macaroni and cheese in a thermos.
When in doubt, bite-sized: one reason kids don’t finish their lunch is that they spend much of the time chatting with their friends so things like pinwheels, skewers, and egg cups are always a great idea!
Download Your FREE Lunchbox Builder Printable
Use this printable PDF to pack easy, nutritious lunches your kids will LOVE!
Each lunchbox will be filled with a variety of healthy carbs, fats, and quality protein to keep them satiated and focused for the entire school day.
As you can see lunchtime is a big deal for me as a mom and I love helping all the other parents in the MOMables community feed their preschoolers and picky eaters.
Picky Preschooler Lunch Ideas
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- 3 tablespoons milk
- ¼ cup pepperoni slices, chopped
- 1 cup shredded cheese, mozzarella or cheddar
- 2 apples, sliced
- 2 cups baby carrots
Instructions
Prep:
- Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 24-count mini muffin pan.
Make the mini quiches:
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and milk. Add the pizza toppings, like pepperoni (and up to ½ cup of additional add-ins), and the shredded cheese to the bowl. Mix to combine all ingredients.
- Fill each mini muffin pan with the egg mixture and an even amount of toppings.
Bake:
- Bake in the preheated oven 15 to 18 minutes, until the tops are puffy and the egg mixture has cooked through. Remove from oven and allow the quiches to cool for about 5 minutes before removing them from the pan with a small knife or spatula.
Pack for school:
- Place 4 to 6 mini quiches inside a lunch container. Add sides like fruit and veggies in separate compartments. You can also enjoy these warm inside a thermos container.
Storage:
- Refrigerate extras in an airtight container for up to 3 days for future lunches or freeze for up to 1 month. Reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Cynthia Yates says
My issue is that I know I would not like a soggy cold grilled cheese sandwhich at lunch time i would not expect my kid to. Do you have tips for keeping it warm until lunch time?
MOMables-Laura says
Yes, you can learn how to do that in this post: https://www.momables.com/how-to-pack-grilled-sandwiches-soup-for-lunch/
Kris says
Looks awesome! Can the mini quiches be frozen?
MOMables-Laura says
Hi Kris, the mini quiches can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 2 months. I recommend defrosting them in the refrigerator before reheating.
Lynn says
If you are able to get your child to eat all of this, they aren’t picky eaters…
Shalea says
Exactly what I was thinking lol
Angel says
I love your website and your videos, but there so many adds and pop ups it’s almost impossible to follow the recipe. I’m sorry, I was trying not to be so negative but it truly got very frustrating
Yasaar says
Hi ,
I am unable to watch the video for picky eaters ( magic -spoon- technique ) from the link above. Can you please direct me to where I can watch this video .
Thnx
MOMables - Laura says
Hi Yasaar, Check out the video here.