10 Allergy-Free School Lunch Box Ideas for Kids
These 10 Allergy-Free School Lunch Box Ideas for Kids are all nut, dairy and gluten-free! 2 weeks worth of school lunch ideas! Great if your child has food allergies or if your school has food restrictions.
Allergy- Free School Lunch Box Ideas for Kids
Having to pack school lunches e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y for your kids is hard enough, then when you add on food restrictions from allergies or from school rules, it’s easy to see how packing lunches has become the dreaded chore that no one wants to do.
This year, one of my daughters is going to a nut-free school while at the same time my family is currently eliminating diary and gluten to see if that has any effect on my daughter and husband’s eczema (fyi – the elimination is totally working! yay!).
This means that I now have to pack nut, gluten and dairy free school lunches for both of my girls.
While my family doesn’t have any true food allergies, I now totally get how limiting, isolating and worrisome it must be for families with true food allergies. My hat goes off to all of you that have to work so hard to keep your kids safe while also keeping their bullies full.
So over the last 3 months, I have used my girls as non-paid test subjects.
I mean, I pay them in food, so I am pretty sure it works out in their favor:)
I have being experimenting on making allergy-friendly lunches that 1) they find tastes great 2) keeps them full until after school pickup 3) are filled with healthy and wholesome foods 4) are similar to the foods served at their schools so they don’t feel left out on pizza day.
The 10 lunches below are their clear winners!
These are the lunches that they ask for on repeat (okay, the bagel pizza they ask for everyday;)
We now have variations of these 10 lunches on repeat. Which makes packing school lunches somewhat tolerable again!
Why You Will Love These Allergy-Free School Lunch Box Ideas for kids:
- nut-free
- dairy-free
- gluten-free
- nutrient dense with lots of real foods
- easy to make – 10 minutes or less
- similar foods (pizza, chicken nuggets, etc) as what they serve at school
- variety of foods
- easy to adjust based on what foods you have aversions towards
- easy to pack
I want to know, what does your kid like to eat in their Allergy-Friendly lunch box? Let me know below in the comments!
Lunch on Top –
Bagel pizza with pepperoni and olives on gluten-free bagel using dairy-free cheese, snapeas, carrot sticks with dairy-free ranch, blueberries and blackberries and dye-free vegan candy (UNREAL is one of our favorite brands).
Lunch of Bottom –
Avocado Chicken Salad (recipe below) served with gluten-free crackers (could also make into a sandwich with gluten-free bread), raspberries, carrot sticks and dye-free vegan candy.
Lunch on Top –
Gluten-free pasta with a meat sauce (my kids eat cold pasta for lunch but you can use this bento lunch box if yours prefer theirs warm), baby zucchini sticks with dairy-free ranch, pear slices (place face down or squeeze a little lemon juice on them to keep them from browning), Allergy-Friendly Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins and vitamins (2 Vitamin C gummies and a fish oil gummy) for dessert. Christina over at Dessert for Two started adding her daughters vitamins to her school lunch and I thought that was a brilliant idea, especially when they are the gummy kind of vitamins. My kids actually think they are treats.
Lunch on Bottom –
Bean and corn quesadilla on corn tortillas with a side of smashed avocado (we get ours pre-made from Trader Joes and it is not spicy at all), cut grapes, pepper strips, broccoli and cauliflower pieces with dairy-free ranch and allergy friendly chocolate chips (this is our favorite brand).
Lunch on Top –
Bean and diary-free cheese nachos with smashed avocado, kiwi slices, mini pepper slices, fruit salad and dye-free vegan candy. To make the nachos, I microwave the nachos until the cheese is melted (or as melted as it will get for diary-free cheese), let them cool completely for packing in bento box. My daughter told me they were still crunchy at lunch time.
Lunch on Bottom –
Gluten and dairy-free chicken nuggets (this is our favorite brand, not pictured here), apple slices, green beans (served raw or slightly blanched), cuties and allergy-friendly chocolate chips.
Lunch on Top –
Grilled chicken with bbq sauce, kettle chips, snap peas, cut strawberries and dried apricot.
Lunch of Bottom –
Coconut milk yogurt with a dollop of apple cinnamon jam (got the jam from Trader Joes and it is ridiculously amazing), nut and gluten-free granola (homemade or store-bought, this is a great store bought option), cut melon, bacon, blueberries and gummies for dessert (Vitamin C and Fish Oil, I also usually will add in an Elderberry gummy but I was out this week).
Lunch on the Top –
Allergy-friendly lunchables – diary-free cheese, turkey roll-ups, pepperoni slices and gluten-free crackers (my kids love this or this brand of crackers). Served with cucumber slices, cutie slices, popcorn and dye free vegan candy.
Lunch on the Bottom –
Diary-free cream cheese and jam pancake sandwiches made with frozen dairy-free and gluten-free pancakes, carrot coins, hard boiled egg, pear chunks with pomegranate seeds and a piece of dark chocolate.
Products I Love to Use for School Lunches –
MORE SCHOOL LUNCH BOX INSPIRATION YOU’LL LOVE:
- 9 Best Kids Bento Boxes for School (expert review)
- 100 Healthy School Lunch Box Ideas (FREE Printables!)
- 10 Easy + Healthy School Lunch Ideas
- 5 School Lunch Box Packing Tips (FREE Printables!)
- Complete School Lunch Survival Guide
- 36 Healthy Lunch Box Recipes for Kids (that they will love)
- 68 Preschool and Kindergarten School Lunch Ideas (healthy)
- Little Bento: 32 Irresistible Bento Box Lunches for Kids
Get the recipe: Avocado Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked chicken shredded or cubed
- 3 tbsp avocado smashed
- 1 tbsp vegan mayo
- 1 tsp lemon or lime juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add in all of the ingredients and mix until everything is well incorporated.
- Serve with crackers, as a sandwich, in a rollup or on top of a salad.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @babyfoode on Instagram and hashtag it #babyfoode!
8 Comments on “10 Allergy-Free School Lunch Box Ideas for Kids”
What dairy free cheese do you use ? I find most that are dairy free are either nut or soy based. We eliminated soy and really struggling because school is nut free.
That’s hard! We usually use Daiya or Kitehill. Kitehill usually used nuts in their products. Does Daiya or Goveggie brands work for you?
These are great ideas! Exactly what I am looking for! Can you tell me what Diary-free cream cheese you use and what jam for the pancake sandwiches? What dark chocolate?
Also what BBQ sauce and yogurt do your kids like? Thanks SO much!
Great questions. I rotate what brands we buy depending on the store I go to, but I’ll try to narrow it down for you. DF cream cheese – Miyoko’s or Kite Hill. Jam – is sometimes homemade, lower sugar from Trader Joe’s or Bonne Maman. Dark Chocolate – usually from trader joes but any chocolate bar or chips. BBQ sauce – anything on the mild side. I try to find one that has lower sugar content, which is sometimes hard to do. Yogurt – we have really been into noosa lately, but plain yogurt with honey is always a hit at my house. I usually buy a brand that is on sale or the store brand, and switch between regular and greek style though my kids prefer the regular style more. Hope that helps. Let me know if you want more details.
Hi there! I came across your post as I am preparing for the school year. I do have some questions though…I found that the kite hill cream cheese is almond base and several of the other ingredients are made in facilities that process nuts (ie: Unreal chocolate gems,) Does your school allow foods that are “nut free” but still made in a facility that has nuts? I would love to know which bagel, crackers, and tortillas you have found that are nut-, gluten-, and dairy free. Thanks so much!
My kid’s school doesn’t have any nut or peanut requirements so I can send anything. My daughter has a dairy intolerance so we just try to avoid dairy. If you have to send foods that can’t be made in facilities with nuts and looking for allergy options, it’s a lot harder. Tortillas – I go with Siete or corn. Bagel – canyon or Against the Grain. There’s also a new one called Bedrock that has bagels but I haven’t tried them. Crackers – From the Ground up or good thins. I think all of those products are glute, nut and dairy-free but please make sure you read the label before serving. You can also go to Thrive market and they have a filter you can click each allergen you need to avoid and then they list the products. Hope that helps.
So all these items are eaten cold? Including the pizza bagel? Do you let it cool before putting it in the bento box?
Yes, these items are cold. My kids are okay with cold foods for lunch, but all kids are different. If your child wants warm foods, then I recommend the OmieBox for serving hot foods. Yes, I let them cool before packing them in a lunch box.