It's back to school time and if you're wondering how to feed your kids and teens a healthy, wholesome meal every day without just packing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, worry no more. Here are 20 vegan school lunch ideas from the blog that you can make ahead and pack the night before, including snacks, main meals and even healthy desserts. Mix and match these with a side of fruit and you can be sure the lunchbox you so lovingly put together does not end up in the cafeteria trash!
With schools reopening, here are some healthy but tasty and easy school lunch ideas to keep your kids -- and you -- happy.
Why you'll love these vegan school lunch recipes
- They're healthy AND yummy. If your kids are anything like mine, you know that instead of that blue-ribbon meal you just cooked for them they would rather stuff their faces with processed snacks and sodas. So packing school lunches they will eat when you are not around, can be a challenge because have you seen how much food ends up in the cafeteria trash at lunchtime? Especially homemade food packed lovingly by moms and dads? So, to make sure my son eats his lunch, I come up with healthy lunch ideas that include elements he loves, like crispy puff pastry and pizza dough.
- They're easy. School opens too darn early, so you want to choose foods that can be packed the night before and will hold up until the next afternoon, when they eat it.
- They're filling. It's crucial that the food you pack is enough to keep their tummies full and their brains ticking through the long school day. Adding a variety of elements into the lunchbox will keep them happy and full.
- Many are make-ahead. Many of the ideas I share here are make-ahead, so you don't have to rush at the last minute.
- They are not messy. Messy meals that will get all over their hands and clothes are a no-no in the lunchbox.
- They are adult-friendly. I don't have time usually to make separate meals for myself and Desi and for Jay, so I love making food that we all can eat or brown-bag. All of the meals shared here are both kid- and adult-friendly, so even if you don't have kids you can definitely enjoy them.
Vegan snacks for school lunch boxes
Air Fryer Chickpeas
You need just 15 minutes from start to end to make these in the air fryer with a few simple seasonings. They are garlicky, spicy, tangy and absolutely delicious. They are also vegan, gluten-free, soy-free and nut-free.
Total time: 15 minutes
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Vegan Harissa Meatballs
These vegan Harissa Meatballs are perfect with a cooling but dashingly flavorful Cilantro Yogurt Sauce and they are healthy too! Vegan, gluten-free, soy-free and nut-free recipe.
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Vegan Falafel
Crispy, delicious and traditional, these vegan falafel make the perfect lunchbox snack, and they can double up as the main meal.
Total time: 30 minutes
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Air Fryer Tofu
This easy air fryer tofu is lightly seasoned with garlic, turmeric and lemon, and it is easy to tweak the flavoring to your child's taste.
Total time: 17 minutes
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Savory Apple Potato Fritters
These savory and delicious apple potato pancakes are crispy and crunchy and flavored with thyme. They are certified kid-friendly!
Total time: 40 minutes
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Air Fryer French Fries
I haven't met a kid who doesn't love French fries.These are not deep-fried but they turn out all crispy and delicious in an air fryer with a minimal quantity of oil. Soy-free, nut-free, gluten-free recipe
Total time: 25 minutes
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Mess-free main meals for the lunchbox
Vegan Pizza Rolls
Packed with veggies nestled in a fluffy pizza dough, these vegan pizza rolls will make you mom or dad of the year in their eyes!
Total time: 1 hour 5 minutes
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Instant Pot Spaghetti with "Meaty" Marinara
This vegan Instant Pot Spaghetti with Marinara goes from scratch to table in 40 minutes tops. You won't find a kid-friendlier--and cook-friendlier--recipe. It's also soy-free and nut-free.
Total time: 40 minutes
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Vegan Chickpea Mushroom Turnovers
Crispy, flaky puff pastry wrapped around a tasty filling, what's not to love? You can safely get mushrooms past picky kids with this savory recipe! And it's soy-free and nut-free.
Total time: 45 minutes
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Vegan Tater Tot Casserole
In this one-pot vegan Tater Tot Casserole, a creamy, savory filling of veggies and vegan sausage is blanketed with a golden, crispy layer of tater tots. A fun and easy and very, very kid-friendly recipe that can also be gluten-free and soy-free.
Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes
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Soya Pulao
Made with protein-rich TVP chunks, this spicy, delicious Soya Pulao comes together quickly with pantry ingredients and is one of my son's favorite meals. It's also nut-free and gluten-free.
Total time: 45 minutes
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Falafel Burger
These falafel burgers will become your kids'--and your--favorite homemade veggie burgers. They are wholesome but most importantly they are crunchy and delicious. The burger patties are soy-free and can be nut-free and gluten-free.
Total time: 30 minutes
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Vegan Baked Chimichangas with Filo
These crispy, crunchy vegan baked chimichangas are made with wrappers of filo pastry instead of tortillas, and they are baked -- not fried -- to golden deliciousness. Inside is a simple but tasty stuffing of lentils. A soy-free, nut-free recipe.
Total time: 45 minutes
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Garlicky Zucchini Quinoa Cakes
Vibrant and crispy these vegan Garlicky Zucchini Quinoa Cakes transport well, are healthy, and make a great lunchtime meal. Recipe is low-fat, gluten-free and nut-free.
Total time: 45 minutes
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Mixed Veg Paratha
The best way to eat your veggies is to stuff them into a flaky wrapper. Kids love parathas in their lunchbox--just cut them into fourths and pack a delicious chutney or ketchup to dip them into. A soy-free and nut-free recipe.
Total time: 1 hour
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Vegan Dirty Rice
An easy vegan Dirty Rice recipe that you can cook up in under 30 minutes. Vegan sausage and Cajun seasoning -- along with a few other carefully chosen ingredients -- add all the flavor you can handle. A soy-free, gluten-free and nut-free recipe.
Total time: 30 minutes
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Yummy sweet bites for the lunchbox
Vegan Banana Cake
This one-bowl vegan banana cake has it all: it is low in fat, you can make it whole wheat, and it has the goodness of five bananas packed into it. Bits of walnuts woven through the cake add a nice little crunchy surprise in every bite. A soy-free recipe.
Total time: 50 minutes
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Vegan Banana Crumb Muffins
Delicious and whole wheat, these Vegan Banana Crumb Muffins are a yummy and healthy snack or dessert for the lunchbox. A vegan, nut-free, soy-free recipe.
Total time: 35 minutes
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Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies
These Nutella-like cookies are wholegrain, have twice the chocolate and the goodness of hazelnuts. Your kids will eat them up in no time, and you can feel good about it! A soy-free recipe.
Total time: 25 minutes
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Vegan Brownies
The perfect vegan brownies! They have no added oil and are wholegrain, making them a healthy treat for dessert or a snack. The brownies are sweet and fudgy and get chewier as they stand. And they are super chocolatey! A soy-free recipe.
Total time: 45 minutes
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Vegan Almond Flour Chia Seed Muffins
These Vegan Almond Flour Chia Seed Muffins are light and fluffy and tender, with the delicious crunch of chia seeds. They are gluten-free and soy-free.
Total time: 45 minutes
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Also check out these 66 Kid Friendly Vegan Recipes: A vegan mom's guide to stress-free, fun and healthy meals for the family.
Olga
Vaishali, these recipes are amazing! I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to post them! There is so much to build on. My mostly vegan 5 year old is quite picky, and besides that, her school doesn't have a dedicated cafeteria, the kids just sit on benches to eat their lunch. (Go figure!) Your abundant lunch ideas are not messy, won't go soggy, and will survive being transported by a young child. They are just what I've been searching for!
Vaishali
Hi Olga, hope you try! I just updated the list with new recipes.
Jacinda Gordon
I love your site. BUT the advertisment they are putting on your page is Ozpig bbq. With two great big slabs of meat on the bbw. ? obviously the media dont care its a vegan page. But its very of putting and distasteful.
I understand you need funds to keep up your great work.
I love your page. But maybe give the marketing manager a hint. No one from a vegan page is going to be clicking that link on purpose.
Vaishali
Thanks for pointing it out, Jacinda. I will mention this to my ad folks. Appreciate the heads up.
Todd
Having recently embraced a vegetarian diet, one of my biggest challenges has been lunch...no fast and easy sandwiches! PB & J gets old. And I don't want to have to heat up a lunch everyday...that is the same as the dinner I'll be eating. Can't wait to try these recipies!
Sneha
This is a great list, Vaishali! My only remaining problem is that the school does not offer a microwave so I don't know how some of these would be at room temp?
Vaishali
Hi Sneha, the rice dishes taste fine at room temperature, if that's what you're thinking about. Or you can always pack them in a thermos container if you absolutely want hot.
Anonymous
Great! Thankyou very much you made my day!
Vaishali
Thanks! 🙂
Namrata
Wow !! This is the most amazing post ever! I'm child-free but pack my own lunches, so these recipes are going to be my saviors. Thanks a lot for putting together this very useful list. You rock Vaishali 🙂
Vaishali
Thanks Namrata!
Jason
Thank you for such a well thought out and helpful article (and plan).
Vaishali
Thanks, Jason. 🙂
Ambica
Thank you Vaishali! I love that these are make ahead. How do you pack these lunches? Are they good at room temperature? ( I am looking at the burger and pita pocket recipes)
Vaishali
Hi Ambica, yes, they are all fine at room temperature, including the burger and pita packets. I just pack them in his regular lunchbox.
chessiepique
Vaishali, will you be my mom forever? 😀 These all look sooooo good!
I'll bet some magazine somewhere would be excited to get this post and the recipes with it.
Vaishali
Catherine, I'll adopt you any day. 🙂
Namrata
Adopt me too 😉
Vaishali
Yes! 🙂 The more people to feed the merrier.
Christina
Thank you, Vaishali! My hubby and I take our lunch to work every day in order to ensure that we have a healthy vegan meal. I'm excited to try these recipes for "us big kids". The pictures look amazing.....
Vaishali
Thanks, Christina. These are loved by the big kids in our home as well. 🙂