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8 No Sandwich Lunches Ideas Everyone Will Love

April 1, 2021 By Morgan Last Updated: April 1, 2021

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No sandwich lunches are a must-have when you have kids who don’t enjoy traditional mid-day options. These tips and ideas will make mornings packing meals simple and argument free. From quick pizzas to DIY options, I’m giving you all of my secrets for how to make unique lunches your kids will actually want to eat.

a collage of no sandwich lunch ideas  with text overlay reading 8 fun and easy no sandwich lunch ideas

When I met Alex I thought it was so weird that he hated cold cuts. As a kid who grew up on turkey sandwiches and Italian subs, it just seemed off. I proceeded to (and still do) make fun of him regularly because really – who doesn’t love cold cut sandwiches?

And then like all things in parenting, I had kids and the world gave me kids who don’t care for sandwiches to spite me.

Thankfully, there are so many options for wholesome foods that we can send to school. Today I’m sharing some of my favorite tips and ideas for sending no sandwich lunches to school.

Make sure you bookmark or pin this post so that you can find it easily during your next lunch rut.

My Favorite Tips for No Sandwich Lunches

A photo of a DIY lunchable with salami, swiss, crackers, and a clementine in a green sectioned container

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Try Making DIY Lunchables

Remember lunchables? Make a homemade version for half the cost and with much better ingredients. Place silicone cupcake liners into a square lunch container and add crackers, meat and cheese and snacks into the sections.

Add a bit of fun by cutting the meat and cheese with small cookie cutters. The fun part about this is how versatile they are. Have kids choose crackers, cheese, meats, etc and help you assemble,

Try out a variation

There are a ton of fun takes on sandwiches out there – from DIY uncrustables (you can even make grilled cheeses this way!) to fun sandwich skewers.

Sometimes it’s not that your kids don’t like sandwiches, it’s that they’re bored with how they’re being presented. Try making different versions of the old classic. SOme ideas include a different kind of “bread”, fun shapes, or even hot sandwiches.

My middle is obsessed with cream cheese and jelly sandwiches on bagels!

Image of wraps in green tortillas with a rainbow of veggies in the pinwheels, making for a fun no sandwich lunch.

Make it into a wrap!

In the same vein, wrap a normal sandwich up in a big tortilla and watch kids gobble them up. Wraps feel like “grown up” food, so obviously kids love them. Cut them into pinwheels like I did with these rainbow wraps for another fun twist.

Dips and Snack Lunches

The only sure fire way I know to serve my kids vegetable is to offer a dip with it. Send them to school with crackers and veggies with a container of dip – hummus is great, and my kids love this homemade Greek yogurt ranch dip!

I love sending an array of different snacks to school as a “snack” lunch. It gives them the option of different foods to choose from instead of a traditional sandwich.

a stack of fluffy buttermilk pancakes with syrup dripping down the edges topped with blueberries and bananas

Breakfast for lunch

Sundays are for pancakes in my house, but we always have leftovers. Make a few silver dollar pancakes when making breakfast and send them to school the next day, maybe with some bacon or sausage, fresh fruit, and a small container of maple syrup.  Try my favorite fluffy buttermilk pancakes recipe!

Other pancake recipes for no sandwich lunches:

  • Spinach Pancakes
  • Breakfast Kabobs on the Go
  • Apple Cinnamon Pancakes
  • Eggnog Pancakes

Yogurt

My oldest almost always requests one of three breakfasts – pizza, PB&J, or yogurt. We have an Omie box that I use to send him with yogurt that stays cool until lunch time. It’s such a simple lunch, but when paired with homemade granola and fresh fruit it’s a fun DIY parfait!

image of mini pizza bagels unbaked with mini pepperoni lines up and ready to bake

Pizza

I love sending him to school with my homemade pizza bagels as the most kid-friendly no sandwich lunch.

My kids don’t mind them cold. But if your kids would prefer them warm, pour boiling water into a thermos and let it sit for 10 minutes while getting things ready. Then pour out, dry off, and add the freshly baked pizzas.

Leftovers for no sandwich lunches

Use a hot thermos to send kids to school with last night’s dinner. It’s the easiest way to pack no sandwich lunches AND reduce waste. My boys love my veggie pesto pasta as leftovers.

You also don’t NEED a hot thermos – my boys are typically happy with cold leftovers!

Let them choose

Okay, don’t hate me but I’m not a fan of giving into kids. So if my kids don’t want me to do something the way I’m doing it, I usually let them do it themselves.

This doesn’t always work, but more often than not picky kids are just fighting to find some kind of freedom of choice. Give them a bit of control and you may see them change their minds. At the very least, the lunch question will no longer be solely your problem!

Okay so tell me – which of these no sandwich lunches would your family like best? Let me know in the comments!

Need more tips for back to school lunches? You’ll love these 7 Can’t Miss Lunch Box Hacks for Back to School

Filed Under: Lunch

Comments

  1. Her lives says

    July 31, 2018 at 2:23 am

    Hi Morgan,
    Lovely review on making no sandwich in lunches. From today I am trying to avoid this of my baby lunch item. And I love your choice that pizza as an alternative to sandwiches. Thanks for your informative article.

    Reply

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