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You are here: Home / In the Kitchen / A Full Month of Nut-Free Lunches

A Full Month of Nut-Free Lunches

August 14 by Natalie

I LOVE this - seriously feel like this one post has equipped me to send healthy, nut-free lunches to school all year!!!

Nut allergies are no joke and both parents and schools take them very seriously. Our family is lucky not to have to deal with any of these allergies but every program the kids have been involved with from toddler group to preschool, and now kindergarten, has been a nut-free zone.

We’ve struggled in the past to come up with original and nutritious nut-free lunches the kids will actually eat. My littles can only stomach so many mayo and cheese sandwiches, no matter what ridiculous shape I try to cut them into. I’m pretty sure I could carve the entire cast of Frozen into there by now and still be met with requests for, “PB and J, please”.

With kindergarten and preschool about to start for the year, I did what I often do when faced with a parenting quandary – farmed it out to one of my contributors. 

Here’s our food contributor, Natalie, with her magical formula for creating an endless amount of nut-free packed school lunches.

Struggling to come up with ideas for your child with nut allergies or your child attending a nut-free school? I’ve got you.

Here’s a mix-and-match guide to putting together nut-free lunches quickly and painlessly. (If you want the handy divided lunch boxes, get them here – they come in lots of happy colors.)

Just keep your favorite picks on your weekly grocery list, keep this list on your fridge for reference, and you’ll be ready to go.

Step 1 – Pick a main dish.

  1. lunchmeat and cheese roll-ups
  2. oatmeal to-go bars
  3. homemade strawberry cream cheese sandwiches
  4. pancake sandwiches with cream cheese and fruit
  5. hard-boiled eggs
  6. pasta salad
  7. “faux kid sushi” sandwich rolls with guacamole and turkey
  8. quesadillas
  9. sunbutter and banana sandwich
  10. soup (in a thermos)
  11. meatballs
  12. hand-pies or empanadas
  13. lettuce or tortilla wrap
  14. egg cups/egg muffins/mini omelette
  15. macaroni and cheese
  16. bean or chickpea salad
  17. cold noodle salad
  18. shrimp and cocktail sauce (or other dipping sauce)

Step 2 – Pick two sides.

  1. carrot sticks
  2. kale chips
  3. popcorn
  4. roasted chick peas (done 4 ways)
  5. cheese cubes/cheese stick/Babybel cheese
  6. nut-free crackers (wheat or rice)
  7. cucumbers
  8. sliced bell peppers
  9. “frushi” (fruit, rice and chia seed sushi)
  10. caprese salad – tomatoes and mozzarella cubes
  11. guacamole or yummy dips for veggies
  12. edamame
  13. ants-on-a-log (celery, sunbutter and raisins)
  14. pretzels
  15. snow peas or snap peas
  16. olives

Step 3 – Pick a treat.

  1. homemade fruit & veggie gummies
  2. apples and sunbutter
  3. energy bites (peanut free – substitute sunflower seed butter and leave out slivered almonds to make nut-free)
  4. apple muffins
  5. yogurt (freeze it and it’ll double as an ice pack!)
  6. a healthy frozen smoothie
  7. berries
  8. frozen grapes
  9. chocolate-vanilla chia seed pudding
  10. apple sauce
  11. healthy homemade nutri-grain style cereal bars
  12. dark chocolate
  13. 2 ingredient fruit chews
  14. dried fruit mix
  15. nut-free granola or granola bar
  16. trans-fat free kettle chips

Step 4 – Pick a drink.

  1. water (best choice, of course!)
  2. water/juice mixture
  3. “spa water” – water with sliced fruit for flavor
  4. milk
  5. caffeine-free/herbal/kid-friendly iced tea (I like to steep Tazo Passion Tea and then chill it)

Pack it all up and you’re good to go. Extra parent points if you do it the night before!

If you need even more lunch ideas, be sure to check out:

MEGA SCHOOL LUNCH ROUNDUP – thousands of ideas to choose from!

*post contains affiliate links.

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Natalie

Blogs at Oven Love
Natalie is lover of all things edible and mom to two sweet babies under 3 years old. She shares her favorite from-scratch recipes, techniques and tips for entertaining on her blog, Oven Love.
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Latest posts by Natalie (see all)

  • MEGA Round Up of School Lunches (for Everyone!) - September 10
  • Homemade Nutri-Grain-Style Cereal Bars (with a gluten-free option!) - August 14
  • Patriotic Pancake Stacks: A Fourth of July Breakfast - July 3
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Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Natalie Tagged With: healthy lunches, kid lunches, no nuts, nut allergy lunches, nut-free lunches, nut-free meals, school lunches

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