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When it comes to planning your child’s vegan lunch box for school or daycare, many vegan parents like yourself often want ideas. This is especially true if you are required to send your child with a packed lunch as their school or daycare doesn’t offer any vegan options. 

Some of us pack sandwiches because they are convenient and while there is nothing wrong with sending our vegan kids with a variety of different sandwiches in their lunchbox, it can get a bit uninteresting sometimes. 

In this article, I’m sharing six simple vegan school lunchbox ideas to bring inspiration for when you plan and prepare your vegan child’s lunchbox. In addition, I’m sharing three simple tips on ways that you can add variety and help meet your child’s nutritional requirements on a vegan diet. Plus some helpful reminders when packing lunch boxes.

And don’t forget to check out the Chickpea Oat Snack Bites recipe at the end!

Vegan School Lunch Ideas

At the time of packing these lunch boxes, my daughter was four years old. Many of these school lunch options are suitable for older toddlers (ages 2 - 3 years old) and school-aged children (4+ years old). However, always follow your child’s eating skill and food preferences when taking some of these ideas and modify them to their needs. 

Chickpea Pasta

Because my daughter takes a cold lunch due to no access to reheat her meal, a cold chickpea pasta has always been one of my go-to meals. Typically I’ll season with a bit of olive oil, garlic powder, and some nutritional yeast.

Veggie Wrap

Veggie wraps can be an easy school lunch idea to pack for kids. Sometimes I pack a hummus wrap with veggies like cucumbers and peppers on a whole wheat tortilla, sometimes it’s with tofu scramble, and other times it’s hummus with a veggie slaw. Veggie wraps are very versatile and can be cut into pinwheels as well to make it more fun for the vegan kids.

Couscous and Tofu

My daughter loves couscous (and tofu!) which makes it a great grain for school lunches because it holds well as a cold item. I don’t usually season this one when offering it as a lunch item other than add a bit of olive oil to prevent it from sticking. If we have couscous at home, we usually have some sort of dressing to pour over it. In this particular meal, I served Banza Rice to alternate between this and couscous.

Sunflower Seed Butter and Jam

This is a classic item that is really simple to prepare and a favorite for most vegan kids. We use the Organic 21 Whole Grains and Seeds bread from Dave’s Killer Bread food line.

Pesto Pasta

Pesto is a great sauce that can be used in a variety of ways such as in pasta, sandwiches, flatbreads, tortilla wraps, or with other grains. There is a recipe inside the Vegan Kids Cookbook with a recommendation to make it nut-free but it includes chickpeas, which is perfect for meeting protein and iron needs for vegan kids.

Hummus and Pita Bread

If you are low on food inventory or simply need a very quick meal to prepare, this is a great option. My daughter loves hummus and pita bread and again because she takes a cold lunch to school, with an ice pack, this is a perfect lunch idea.

Other Vegan School Lunch Ideas

• Mini Pizzas (made on pita bread or mini bagels) 

• Deconstructed nachos (tortilla chips + refried beans + guacamole/salsa)

• Vegan cheese + whole grain crackers

• Avocado chickpea sandwich

• Vegan veggie rolls (essentially like sushi)

• Asian-inspired noodle salad

Protein Sources for Nut-Free Schools

Your child’s school or daycare may be peanut and/or nut-free, adding to the already challenging task of packing a lunch that provides protein and fat to the meal. While all plant foods provide some amount of protein, here are a few of my favorites that I personally like to pack for my daughter’s lunch: 

• Edamame or Tofu

• Sunflower or pumpkin seed butter

• Sprouted Whole Grain Bread 

• Quinoa

• Green peas 

• Chickpeas or Garbanzo Bean Flour (here’s a recipe to a chickpea cracker)

• Legume-based Pasta

Tips for packing school lunches 

When planning school or daycare lunch and snacks, consider food safety and your own child’s food preferences. Here are a few tips to consider when planning your child’s lunch box:

Food Safety

It’s important to ensure that food is not only safe for them to eat, in terms of chewing ability, but also temperature wise. If you are packing a hot lunch, consider sending that particular item on a thermos to ensure food stays warm. If you’re packing a cold lunch and anything that requires refrigeration, consider sending an ice pack with that meal. Typically when I send tofu, hummus, or other plant foods that may spoil easily, I send an ice pack with my daughter’s lunchbox to prevent any foodborne illness.

Food preferences

Children thrive on familiarity. They enjoy eating meals they’ve seen, tasted, and liked. So, one of the things I ensure when packing my daughter’s school lunches is to include at least one food item that she really loves. Having this familiar food item ensures that she has something to eat and helps you feel a bit of peace of mind that they’ll eat something to meet their nutritional requirements. This is something I teach in more detail inside the Vegan Kids Nutrition Blueprint course so that you feel more confident in feeding your kids a vegan diet. 

The other thing when it comes to food preferences, especially when packing a lunch for a picky eater, is to provide something they’ve already been exposed to. If you would like to send a new plant-based food in their lunchbox, try to offer it a few times at home before sending it to school or daycare. 

This helps your vegan child become more familiar with it so that it’s less overwhelming when they see it at school, and more likely to eat it. The simple act of seeing or touching that food, even if they don’t end up eating it, counts as exposure. And it’s best when introduced at home in an environment that they feel comfortable in. 

Adequate lunchbox

If your child is of age, consider sending them with a lunchbox and other packaging where they are able to open it themselves. I remember when my daughter turned 3 years old, her school required her to take a snack box that she can independently open. I searched for one that was made of sustainable materials and one that she can open by herself. That’s when I discovered the Planet Box products. They are stainless steel and very easy to open for a young toddler. 

I tried to let my daughter practice a few times at home before sending it to make sure she truly was able to open it independently. And since then, we have been fans of the product! We have the Shuttle Stainless Steel Lunchbox (which we primarily use for snacks when on the go) and the Rover Lunchbox (which is the one my daughter takes for her school lunch). 

Chickpea Oat Snack Bites

Makes: 16 - 18 bites
Total Time: 10 - 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats

• 1 - 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

• 3/4 cup dates, pitted

• 2 tablespoons chia seeds

• 1/4 cup tahini

• 1/4 cup shredded coconut flakes (optional)

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. In a food processor, add the oats and blend until it forms into a flour

2. Add remaining ingredients (except for the chocolate chips) and blend until it begins to form into a ball (about 2 minutes)

3. Fold in the chocolate chips

4. Using a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop out some mixture and form into a ball. Continue this step until you make 16 - 18 snack bites

Notes

• If you don’t have tahini, you may use a nut or seed butter. Tahini is simply used in this recipe to be able to pack in school lunch if your child goes to a nut-free school

• Store in an airtight container for about 1 week or freeze any leftovers for 1 month

• Recipe is suitable for kids ages 2+ years old (may be okay for 1 year olds with more advanced chewing by simply omitting the chocolate chips)

I hope that these school lunch ideas help inspire you with meals you can provide to your vegan toddler and/or vegan child. I am always sharing my daughter’s school lunch on Instagram so come join us in that community. 

If there’s a vegan school lunch meal that your child really enjoys, share it with us in the comments. I’m sure other vegan parents can benefit from hearing what other parents pack for lunch!