100 Gluten Free School Lunch Ideas!
7 Tips for Gluten Free Lunches
- Buy a fun lunch box for smaller kids
- Invest in sturdy, reusable containers for less waste
- Get a good thermos and lunch size cooler or cooler bag to keep things hot and cold
- Let kids help plan their own lunches to be sure they will enjoy what’s in it
- Substitute Sunbutter (from sunflower seeds) if your child is in a nut free classroom or Barney Butter (Almond Butter) if they can’t have peanuts for peanut butter. They taste just as good, but are allergy friendly.
- Remind small kids not to trade any food with friends and not to try anything from anyone else
- Pack a treat – Even if it’s bite sized or an encouraging note or stickers. It’s hard work being gluten free at school!
100 Gluten Free Lunch Box Ideas
Updated for 2012. Some of these require a thermos to keep them warm, and some require an insulated bag to keep them cool.
- Sandwich breads that work well for PBJ’s – Canyon Bakehouse, Rudi’s, Udi’s
- Use Sunbutter or Barney Butter if you can’t use peanuts – all great substitutes, but your kids won’t really taste a difference.
- Grilled cheese sandwiches – try cutting in half then in 3’s to make finger sandwiches
- Anything on a Panini – cut in half or bite sized
- Mini tea sandwiches on GF bread – cucumber cream cheese, pesto, apple, watercress, etc.
- Waffle-wich – Gluten Free Vans Waffles or homemade, ham, sliced green apples with maple syrup for dipping
- Stick-wich – GF Bread cubes, grape tomatoes, cheese and meat bites, lettuce – all on a stick, mustard for dipping
- Banana Dog – GF Hot Dog Bun with banana, Sunbutter or Barney Butter and honey
- Rudi’s fancier version of the Banana Dog – The Crunchy Monkey (this link downloads a PDF)
- Polka Dot Sandwich – Strawberry cream cheese, raisins, banana slices
- Gluten Free Deli Meats – Hormel, Boar’s Head, Dietz & Watson, etc.
- Rudi’s GF Tortillas, Sandwich Petals, corn or rice tortillas for quesadilla’s
- Rudi’s GF Tortillas or Sandwich Petals for Wraps
- Lettuce Wraps (using Gluten Free Soy Sauce)
- Leftovers from dinner in a thermos
- Frito Pie in a thermos – GF Chili, Fritos, cheese
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Deviled Eggs
- Hot dogs- wrap in foil and slide it in a thermos (Many brands GF. Check labels) Rudi’s and Udi’s both have great GF hot dog buns
- Veggie Burgers, such as Sunshine Burgers
- Ian’s Corn dogs
- Ian’s Fish Sticks
- Chicken Nuggets – Ian’s or homemade, with honey mustard for dipping
- Assemble your own tacos – choose your own ingredients w/hard shell or corn tortillas
- Bean Salads – Here are some options
- Quinoa Salad- Tons of options, here’s one.
- Pasta Salads full of veggies/seeds with Italian Dressing or Pesto (I find Tinkyada GF pasta holds up best)
- Mac and Cheese- homemade or Amy’s or Glutino
- Baked Potato in a thermos – add favorite toppings, wrap in foil, and slide it in a thermos.
- GF soups in a thermos – Here’s a bunch or try Amy’s, Kettle Cuisine, or homemade
- GF Sushi – our Asian friends bring this to school all the time!
- Salads
- Spinach Salad with fruit and fruity dressing
- English Muffin Pizzas – love Joan’s and Food for Life English Muffins
- Leftover gluten free pizza
- Mini Crustless Quiches
- Go Picnic Meals (Similar to Lunchables, but most are gluten free – great for field trips)
- Tuna Salad or chicken salad
- Potato salad – great with Italian dressing instead of mayo
- Delimex taquitos and tamales – click for specifics
- Nachos
- Fried Rice with veggies
- Any Asian style Rice Noodle Stir Fry. Here’s one idea.
- Burritos – GlutenFreeda or Amy’s Kitchen
- GlutenFreeda Pizza Wraps (3 cheese and chicken pesto – in the freezer section)
- Fresh Fruit- Grapes, apples, bananas, cantaloupe, oranges, Clementine’s etc.
- Fruit Kabobs w/ yogurt dipping sauce
- Dried Fruit – Raisins, Cranberries, Pineapple, Apples, Craisins, etc.
- Dried Vegetables – Carrots, snap peas, roasted chickpeas, etc.
- Freeze Dried Fruits – Sensible Foods (available at Costco sometimes)
- General Mills Fruit Roll Ups & Fruit Gushers
- Trader Joe’s Crispy Crunchy Apple Clusters
- Trader Joe’s Sunflower Crepes
- Popcorn or Mini-Pops (Popped sorghum), mix with parmesan or cinnamon for more fun
- Mini popcorn balls (make your own, bite sized version) Here’s some recipes (Confirm all ingredients are gluten free)
- GF Chex Muddy Buddies
- Chex Mix – infinite variations. Here’s one.
- Kinnikinnick S’moreables Graham crackers
- Graham cracker squares – Jules GF Graham Cracker Mix (Roll out, cut in 1″ squares and top with cinnamon/sugar before baking. Great bite size snacks! Addictive!)
- Home Made Trail Mix – Chex cereals, M&Ms, Nuts, pretzels, seeds, dried fruits
- Granola – Bakery on Main, Udi’s, Glutino, EnerG
- Homemade Nut Butter Energy Bars (Use Sunbutter or Barney Butter in place of peanut)
- Cookies – Pamela’s, Kinni-Toos, WOW Baking Co, Glow Gluten Free, Nana’s, Glutino, Lucy’s, EnerG, etc.
- Cookies – homemade (check the dessert section for lots of choices), Jules Mix, French Meadow Bakery Frozen Dough, Betty Crocker Mix
- Brownies – GF Betty Crocker Mix, WOW Baking Co, The GF Cookie Jar, French Meadow Bakery (they even sell an individually wrapped version)
- Krispie Treats made with Gluten Free Rice Krispies, Fruity or Cocoa Pebbles or GF Chex cereal
- Dry cereal – EnviroKids Organic Gorilla Munch, Envirokids Peanut Butter Panda Puffs
- Banana or Zucchini Bread
- Udi’s Muffins (1/4 or 1/2 of an Udi’s muffin may be enough!)
- Muffins – homemade
- Mini cupcakes – use a GF mix or a good recipe
- Chips – Many Frito Lay, Lundberg’s Rice Chips, Rice Works, PopCorners, Kettle Chips, Beanitos, Mediterranean Baked Lentil Chips, Chip’ins, etc
- Ants on a Log – Celery with Sunbutter or Barney Butter and raisins
- Sliced cucumber or jicama
- Cherry or grape tomatoes
- Carrots with dressing
- Dips- Mustard, honey mustard, maple syrup, fruit yogurts, ranch dressing, nut/seed butters, honey, hummus, salsa
- Pickles and olives
- Nuts, Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds
- String Cheese, cheese cubes, sliced cheese
- Buffalo Guys Mild Jerky – No Hormones added, Uncured, Skinless, Fully Cooked, No Preservatives. No MSG, Nitrates, Nitrites, or Fillers added.
- GoGurt (Pack it frozen and it’s thawed by lunchtime)
- Yogurt (Confirm label for ingredients)
- Lara Bars, Glutino Bars, Think Thin Bars, Bakery on Main Bars, Zing, That’s It Bars, etc.
- Rice Cakes – plain, flavored, or spread with peanutbutter, Sunbutter, Barney Butter or cream cheese or pizza toppings (Many rice cake brands/flavors are GF. Check labels)
- GF Pretzels (Plain, or Glutino Chocolate or Yogurt covered)
- Fruit Cups
- Applesauce
- Jell-O cups
- Jell-O Pudding cups- most are GF or Kozy Shack pudding
- GF Crackers – Blue Diamond Nut Thins, Crunchmaster, Mary’s Gone Crackers
- Homemade Copy Cat Cheez-its – these are amazingly addictive!
- Bagel with cream cheese or strawberry cream cheese – Udi’s or Joan’s bagels
- Baked Sweet potato chips – slice thin and bake until crispy. Top with sea salt or cinnamon/sugar
- Kinnikinnick GF Animal Crackers – KinniKritters
- Kinnikinnick Donuts
- M&Ms, or other GF snack-sized candy bars
- Pies in a jar (Make any flavor of pie you like and use any GF pie crust mix)
- Can of V8 or bottle of water
- Note of encouragement from Mom and Dad
Always check labels to confirm gluten free status of products.
Have any other creative lunch ideas? Add them in the comment section below.
Click here for a PDF version of this list for easier printing.
FYI: Barney Butter is still a nut butter and would violate a nut free classroom rule. I am both a teacher and a parent of a nut free child.
#6 sliced apples with maple syrup- the ONLY thing we successfully used to bribe our kid to take his medicine today
How about El’s Medleys and Snaps? Great crunchy snacks for your lunchbox.
Awesome list! I will definitely share this…Thanks for compiling!
I love the the single packs of Wild Garden Hummus Dip [http://www.minimus.biz/Wild%20Garden-Hummus-To-Go-Traditional-F06-0432301-3100.aspx]. It’s great with corn chips or veggies.
Thank you so much – great list. Just wanted you to know that I point people to it today, September 8th, on my daily list of curated content (GottaMinuteMom.com). Hope you get some new hits off of it!
Thanks so much, Laura! I like your site!
Grazie mille! This list is terrific!
I remember bringing my embarrassing gluten-free lunches to school in the 1970′s – when it seemed the rest of the world was eating nothing outside of peanut butter & jam on white bread (with the crusts cut off!). We’ve certainly come a long way since then! Thanks so much!! Claudine
Hi can you tell me how Panini is glutyen free? My understanding is it is made with Ciabatta bread which is traditionally wheeat flour??? Would appreciate your advice as this is not good for gluten free diets!
Hi Sharon – A panini is a toasted sandwich made on any kind of bread. I like mine best on Kinnikinnick personal pizza crusts – cut diagonally and you have a hearty, restaurant-worthy sandwich. If you prefer Cibata bread, Shar has a nice gluten free version.
Take whole date and make a small, lenghtwise cut in it. Stuff with 1/2 pecan and roll in powdered sugar. Old-fashioned, homemade candy. Store in air-tight container.
LOVE THIS LIST! Your tips on the top are RIGHT ON! I want to add beanie weanies to this list. I use Bush’s vegetarian baked beans, and it is a weekly favorite. I try to send hot lunch when I can. GF bread, in my opinion, does not taste good by the time they get to it. I am, however, going to try sending a warm grilled cheese in the thermos thanks to your ideas. THANKS SO MUCH!
This is a great list! It’s always great to have more gluten free lunch ideas
My son loves sliced pepperonis, and carrots with hummus. Staples in his school lunch box
Hello, this weekend is nice designed for me, as this time
i am reading this enormous educational post here at my
house.
Unfortunately, packaged food is still processed food, GF or not. However, I appreciate the non-processed suggestions (lettuce wraps, salads, etc.).
Recreation: Enjoying the Video GameLet us accept that no matter what, sonic kinect a re a very popular form of recreation for children.
However, the true benefit of this characteristic of sonic kinect is
that it will definitely give you the opportunity to learn and explore.
The only question here is whether they can make it a law.