5 Gluten Free School Lunches, That Aren’t Peanut Butter and Jelly!

Gluten free school lunches to get you out of the lunch rut!
Some products were donated for the purpose of this post, all opinions are my own and I was not compensated monetarily in any way.

Back to School

It’s that time of year again. Early morning alarm clocks, the rush out the door, and then the quite after the storm. Back to school time can be rough, but even more so when you have to worry about a gluten free lunch for your little one, or for yourself.

There is good news though! There are so many products that make taking a gluten free lunch to school quick and easy! I whipped up all 5 of these lunches in under 15 minutes (and it would be faster if you were not stopping to take pictures!)

One of my favorite way to make things a bit easier is to use a combination of prepackaged gluten free products and fresh fruits and vegetables. Last year I made a handy printout with lots of ideas (which you can get in my Back to School Lunches Post HERE!), this year I thought it would be nice to give you a few examples.

Now, I didn’t go out and buy anything special for this post, because let’s face it. You don’t have time to go out and by anything special and neither do I. Everything I used can be found in your local grocery store.

5 Gluten Free School Lunches

When it comes to lunch you want a nice variety of protein, whole grains, and veggies that will keep your child going throughout the day. Hopefully these ideas will give you a great start to packing gluten free school lunches this year!

Hot Dog Octopus with Toufayan Pita Chips

I have a little girl who loves Octopuses. She walks around saying “Octopus!” and waving her arms, so she was thrilled with these hot dog octopus. They were so simple to make. Just a few little cuts and voila! The Toufayan pita chips are a family favorite! I also included a yogurt pouch, some broccoli and an Enjoy Life Rice Milk Chocolate Bar. Plenty here for lunch and snack time!

Hummus with Frontier Bites and I Hear Keenwah Puffs

I love individual sized snacks like these Frontier Bites and Hummus, but if I can’t get a snack in an individual size, then I use my Allermates reusable bags. I won a lunch box set during MI Gluten Free Gal’s Celiac Disease Awareness Month contest and I love it. There will be no accidentally eating my I Heart Keenwah Puffs when they are in my reusable Allermates snack bag. I added a bit of broccoli and some crackers to make it a complete lunch.

Mini Pizzas

Confession time- up until the time I was diagnosed with Celiac I loved Lunchable Pizza’s. I know they are awful for you, so much sodium and who knows what that bread was, but for some reason I loved them. I recently discovered that if you toast a Glutino English Muffin, add some pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese, it is amazing! Plus it is perfect for a school lunch. I used one of my reusable squeeze pouches for the pizza sauce (You can find them HERE).  For snacks I added a package of Goodie Girl Chocolate Chip Cookies (LOVE their Go-Bags!) and some apple slices.

Gluten Free Pita Bread Sandwich

It’s not back to school if you don’t have at least one sandwich. BFree bread has a new gluten free pita bread that is amazing! I added some First Fresh Chicken Sausage and it was delicious. Some Frontier Bites for a wholesome snack, a cheese stick,  mini no bake cheesecake (recipe coming next week!) and a tangerine make it a complete lunch.

Cheese with Gluten Free Multi Grain Crackers

As a kid I loved having cheese and crackers for lunch. I was never a huge sandwich fan, so it was a meal I had often. I packed this with nut free trail mix from Enjoy Life, and applesauce pouch and a Goodie Girl Cookies go pack.  Both the Enjoy Life Trail Mix and the Goodie Girl Cookies are nut free, which is so important in many classrooms. These are great snacks because they are tasty, without the worry of allergens.

Snack Time

I find snacks to be a very important part of gluten free lunches. Some of my current favorite snacks are pictured below. Some are healthier than others, but they will all give you that little push you need to make it through the day!

I Heart Keenwah

Enjoy Life

Frontier Bites

Wild Garden Hummus

Stonyfield Yogurt

Goodie Girl Cookies Go Packs

Hopefully these gluten free school lunches give you some fun ideas and help you think outside the box a bit when it comes to preparing lunch for your kiddo. What’s your favorite gluten free lunch? Let us know in the comments!

Happy Gluten Free Eating!