Easy, On-the-Go Lunches Your Kids Will Love
Save these simple recipes (and tips) for fuss-free summer lunches
I don’t know about y’all, but when it comes to feeding my family, summertime lunch is the meal I struggle with the most. Filling the kids’ lunchboxes with the right combination of healthy choices, things they’ll actually eat in the bustle of mid-day, offerings that won’t go bad after a few hours rolling around in a backpack, and easy-to-execute options that don’t require a big lift on my part is a constantly moving target. However, after many years of practice, I do feel like I have a good handle on it. But now that it’s summer, we’re out of our usual routine and on the go more than usual with summer camps and trips to the pool often dominating our calendar. Not to mention all the snacks. Lunch feels even harder to get right. Which is why it’s handy to have a few easy, no-fail lunches in your back pocket this time of year. From pre-prepped frozen PB&Js to two-ingredient pinwheels to time-saving products and tips, here are some of my favorite recipes and hacks for on-the-go summer lunches.
Also, if you’ve got a go-to, tried-and-true lunch hero, I would love to hear it!
This post is brought to you by Supergoop! We use and love countless Supergoop products and have for years. The biggest pro I would say is that none of their products feel greasy and all go on easily; I swear they had busy parents with sweaty kids in mind! The Unseen Sunscreen goes on unlike anything else (if you live somewhere humid, you need this!), the Play Stick is larger than any other stick I have found and goes on clear, and the Play Lotion rubs in like a dream. Dare I say it’s just as quick and easy as a spray sunscreen! I packed all three of these for our trip to Maine! USE CODE KATES10 FOR 10% OFF! Thanks for sponsoring this email, Supergoop!
NOW, ON TO THE LUNCHES…
1. Pre-Prep and Freeze Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches.
Work smarter not harder. The beauty of this one is obvious—I do a bunch of work on the front end, but I reap the fruits of my labor for days. Just pull a frozen PB&J from the freezer and pop it in the lunchbox in the morning. By lunchtime, it’s perfectly defrosted. I typically make six or eight at a time, and cut them into a mix of squares and triangles, some with crust and some without because naturally, each of my kids prefers their sammie just a little bit differently. Pro tip: Freezing helps, but I also spread peanut butter on both sides of the bread to keep the sandwich from getting soggy by lunch.
2. King’s Hawaiian Rolls Three Ways
Make lunch for the whole family—fast. Try this genius method for on-the-go bulk lunches for the boat, pool, or beach. Instead of spending the morning making individual sandwiches, save time by making everyone’s lunch at once with a package of pull-apart King’s Hawaiian Rolls. They’re soft and pillowy and just a little bit sweet—a universal crowd pleaser. You can layer them with whatever fillings you like, but here are three of our favorites.
Meatball Subs - My friend Hannah shared this concept with me, and it’s a WINNER! You get all the meatball sub flavor, but in the cutest individual packaging! The cheese on the inside melts like a mozzarella stick, and the marinara on top keeps the meatball from drying out. We made it during March Madness this year, but try and tell me this recipe doesn’t sound just as delicious on the beach this summer. Yes, they take as little more effort, but man is it worth it. You can find the full recipe here in the caption. Note: You can wrap these in tinfoil to keep warm, but they’re just as tasty cold.
Baked Ham & Cheese - There are many versions of this irresistible recipe online. For mine, I increase the Worcestershire, sub ETBT seasoning for poppy seeds, and bake them for 20 minutes, so they are extra melty and piping hot. To save time, you can make these a day or two ahead and store in the refrigerator and when your family is ready to go, simply reheat and wrap in tinfoil to transport to your destination. You can also break them apart and stash them in individual lunchboxes.
Cold Cuts - No cooking required. Just add your family’s favorite cold cuts and condiments, layering them across the entire sheet of rolls. Plain turkey and cheese? That’s cool. Everything tastes good on a Hawaiian roll. If some folks like mayo and mustard but others can’t stand the thought, toss a squeeze bottle of each into the cooler and let everyone dress their own. Once prepped, score the filling before packing them back up, so they’re easy to pull apart upon arrival.
Note: King’s Hawaiian are also a great vehicle for pimento cheese or chicken salad, two Southern summer staples.
Pro Tip: Slip the prepared sandwiches back into the rolls’ original packaging for easy transport.
3. Perfect Pinwheels
Cream cheese is a lunch hero at our house. (Millie ate a ham and cream cheese sandwich nearly everyday for an entire school year.) Not only do my kids love it, but subbing cream cheese for mayo solves my biggest sandwich and wrap gripe, which is how easily both fall apart in lunchboxes. By using cream cheese, you’ve got a tasty glue that keeps your sandwiches and pinwheels neat and ready to eat. You can mix ranch powder into your cream cheese for a flavor boost, or add lettuce and/or the veggies of your choice, depending on your child’s preferences. But this 2-ingredient classic—turkey + cream cheese on a tortilla—is a family favorite. It doesn’t get much easier. (Note: Hummus works sandwich like glue too!)
4. The Snack Lunch
The snack tray is one of my all-time favorite mom hacks, and pssst…the snack tray can easily become the snack lunch with a few tweaks and the right container. I love this double stacked set from Amazon because the lid lays flat making for easy storage in a cooler, ensuring nothing combines if it gets tipped over—a must for my picky eater! The best part about the snack lunch concept is it’s completely customizable, and it can be as simple as what’s currently in your refrigerator and pantry (Think: cut and washed fruit, cheese cubes or slices, nuts, pretzels, crackers, and other snacky items like fruit and fig bars) or as creative as a homemade take on the Millennial lunchtime icon, the Lunchable. (Try: A mix of pepperoni, salami, ham, and a variety of cheeses, which can be cut into circles with a small cookie cutter or sharp knife if you’re feeling cute, as well as your cracker vehicle of choice.)
5. Lunch Kabobs Three Ways
What is it about food on a stick that makes it such a crowd pleaser? Fried chicken on a stick, yes please. Caprese salad? You bet. Want your kid to eat their weight in watermelon? Put it on a stick. Lunch kabobs are a fun way to feed your own family, but they’re also easy to execute if the neighborhood crew is headed to the pool en masse.
Chicken nuggets + Apple + Cheddar cubes: The Bare Naked chicken nuggets are one of our family’s favorite Costco buys. Cook a big batch in the air fryer and combine the crispy nuggets with apple chunks and cheddar cubes.
Salami + Mozzarella ball + Cherry tomato: The best part about this kid-friendly take on a cocktail party classic is that it requires zero cooking and almost no prep at all.
Fruit!: Whatever fruit your kids dig, thread it onto cocktail skewers. Berries, melon, fresh peaches in the summer. Watch. I promise they’ll gobble it up.
6. The Pantry Power Play
Requiring nearly zero effort—beyond physically getting the food into the house—this lazy lunch hack is perfect for summer’s busiest days. (During the school year, I rely on it when the kids have field trips.) The idea is simple—raid the pantry for their favorite pre-packaged snacks, toss them in the lunchbox, and go. At our house, the haul might include snacky favorites like Nabs and Sunchips along with “healthier” options like string cheese, fruit pouches, bars, and peel-and-eat mandarin oranges. Even your picky eater will give you props for this lunch.
Other On-the-Go Lunchtime Tips and Tricks:
Sandwich Saver: I always cut sandwiches bound for the beach into fourths. That way, if one wedge or square gets dropped in the sand, the entire sandwich isn’t ruined.
Be the Most Popular Mom at the Pool: All you gotta do is fill an insulated cup with frozen popsicles and they stay cold for hours! While you don’t have to do this step, if you are going on a long adventure, throw the insulated cup into the freezer 5-10 minutes before you leave to get it super cold before you add the popsicles. Enjoy!!
Paper towel perfection: Wet a paper towel and wring it out until no water drips out—it should be lightly damp not wet—and then add it to the tupperware with your sandwiches and it will keep the bread from drying out!
My favorite ice packs: I own multiples of this cute, lay-flat Amazon set.
Some of the items I mentioned to help you be the lunch hero:
slim ice packs in a fun shape
muffin tin tray for a fun snack tray
insulated cup for popsicles at the pool
Popsicles in an insulated cup is genius! Thanks for all the great ideas 😅 one snack we love the day before a grocery run is “friendship mix.” We always have a few bits and bobs of snacks left over that I’m ready to toss to clean out the pantry (think: a handful of crunchy peanuts, some dried fruit, maybe a few Cheezits or dry Cheerios, maybe some fruit snacks). So they each take turns ceremoniously pouring their assigned bag into a bowl and stirring, then we split that evenly and they love it! I think it’s mostly a matter of rebranding “leftover crumbs” into the sparkly and exciting “friendship mix” 😉
My kids love tuna sandwiches. I make a big mix of a simple tuna salad at the beginning of the week. Canned tuna (drained), dollop of mayo, squeeze of yellow mustard, s&p, and a hearty spoonful of the Trader Joe’s sauerkraut and pickle mix found in the deli section. Super easy to make - just do it to the consistency and taste you like. And it gets some fermented foods in my kids diet in a tasty way. I like to serve it on sourdough bread.