Vegan Lunch Box Ideas / Vegetarian Lunch Box Ideas

If you are raising a vegan or vegetarian child and they go to public school you will likely need to forget about anything being served in the cafeteria. The school cafeteria at most schools in the country are not vegetarian or vegan friendly. At all. The good news is that there are lots of good vegetarian and vegan school lunch ideas that you can use to pack your child's lunch each day. 

Invest in a good lunch box, hot food container, reusable cold pack, reusable drink container (preferable stainless steel that is not lined with plastic), and make a list each week of what you will make. Try to avoid single use plastics, as they are a waste of resources, and have the kids bring home their recyclables whenever possible (i.e., foil, yogurt cups, etc.). Also, send them with real forks and spoons, as opposed to plastic ones. If you fear them losing them, then pick up a few cheap ones at the thrift store that they can use over and over, thus saving on plastic usage. 

Every lunch we make is a chance to be environmentally friendly (or friendlier) and kinder to the animals. Here are some vegetarian and vegan school lunch ideas that you can pack for your child:

Prepare the hot foods and put liquids/wet foods (such as soups and pasta) in the hot food container. Wrap the non-liquid/wet foods in aluminum foil (such as grilled cheese or veggie nuggets). 

In addition to these main ideas, every lunch should include fresh fruit and veggies (and maybe a vegan cookie)! Some kids like to have dips for their foods, including things like veggie corn dogs, nuggets, or veggies. Consider adding a small condiment size reusable container to your collection, and add in things like ketchup, mustard, vegan ranch dressing, or hummus, where appropriate. All things like foil and yogurt containers are brought back home to be reused and recycled. We aim to make our lunches environmentally friendly, as well as animal friendly.

VEGAN SCHOOL LUNCHBOX IDEAS:

Soup (preferably homemade)

Homemade hot pockets (dough baked with veggie ham/cheese inside or other combinations)

Boxed vegan mac and cheese

4-Ingredient mac and cheese

Homemade vegan lunchables (my kids love these)

Tofurky or veggie deli slice sandwich (on bread or sub rolls)

Vegan grilled cheese and soup (cook the grilled cheese, let it cool for a few minutes, then wrap it in foil)

gardein pizza pockets

Vegan yogurt and graham crackers

Vegan yogurt topped with fresh berries and granola

Gardein “chickun” sliders or veggie burger sliders (with tater tots)

Tofurky pockets

Frozen vegan taquitos or rolled tacos

Veggie nuggets

Field Roast mini corn dogs

Morningstar Farms mini corn dogs

Rice and beans

Rice cakes topped with nut butter and jelly

Acai bowls

Quinoa cooked in broth with sauteed veggies

Amazing vegan mac and cheese (to make it faster, skip the baking part, just make the cheese sauce and mix with pasta)

Pasta (with marinara, buttered, with nutrition yeast, homemade vegan spaghetti o’s, cold pasta salad, etc.)

Quesadilla (with beans and vegan cheese, or using pizza ingredients - make it and wrap it in foil)

Pizza / pizza pockets / crescent rolls with pizza ingredients / English muffin pizzas

Homemade muffins, fruit, trail mix

PBJ sandwich or roll up

Vegan cream cheese and jelly roll up (spread vegan cream cheese and jelly on a tortilla and roll it up)

Crescent dogs (crescent rolls with veggie dog and vegan cheese cooked inside)

Frozen burrito (cook and then wrap in foil)

Tofu salad (on bread or with crackers)

Chickpea salad  (on bread or with crackers)

Veggie wheatball sub (vegetarian meatballs, marinara, vegan cheese on a sub roll)

Salad (with kidney beans or chickpeas in it)

Homemade corn dogs (vegan corn muffins made with pieces of veggie dog in them)

Vegan yogurt with trail mix or graham crackers

Chick-un salad sandwich (use vegan chick-un, cut it up and make chick-un salad with it)

Gardein skillet meals (I buy them when BOGO and you get a couple of kid's lunches out of them)

Healthy cereal (pack a container with the cereal and a separate container with the non-dairy milk)

My famous vegan mac and cheese (just make the sauce and mix with noodles, skip the rest of the recipe of putting it in the oven)

Homemade vegan muffins (with fruit, nuts or with salad or yogurt)

Smoothie in a thermos container

Homemade guacamole (or hummus) with chips (along with fruit, fresh cut veggies, maybe a sandwich)

Hummus and fresh veggies (along with fruit and trail mix or a granola bar)

Salad