Evelyn Rayner: Back to Homeschool Lunch Ideas

Have I ever told you how much I dislike lunch? Figuring out what to feed the kids when they are home for lunch drives me crazy! However I’ve been feeding kids for 25+ years and have some some pretty simple homeschool lunch ideas that will work for your family too!

I’ve decided that lunch is the homeschool mom’s nemesis, the required interruption in an otherwise orderly and organized day. I’ve often said I wish we could skip lunch, but I have a few children who would object.

When you child is learning from home, lunch is not the end of their homeschool day. Lunch is the midpoint, if I fill them up with carbs and sugar they aren’t able to learn from 1-3pm. It also makes things like “quiet time” a bit of a struggle.

Since I usually make a hot breakfast and dinner I don’t really want or have time to make a hot lunch, even though I know it would probably be the cheapest option for my family.

lunch time ideas for kids

And if I’m being honest, after spending all morning with the kids helping them with school (and then a good portion of the afternoon) I crave a tiny bit of peace and quiet at lunch.

The reality is, I’m not going to get it because #kids, but I definitely don’t want to be cleaning up one more major mess at lunchtime.

I do remember one friend who would help her kids make lunch and then take her own lunch up to her bedroom to eat in peace. This was probably one of the best parenting hacks I’ve heard in my life.

Homeschool Lunch Ideas for the Busy Mom

I’m always looking for healthy, quick, and simple homeschool lunch ideas that don’t cause too much of an interruption in our homeschool day.

Here are a few lunch ideas for the homeschool families, virtual school families, or anyone who is learning from home right now.

The Lunch List

Last summer I started using the lunch list. This is a list of available lunch options for my children. This list can be posted on or close to the fridge or pantry. This list allows the kids to pick what they want for lunch within limits.

The list removes all questions about whether a piece of cheesecake or cookie is a lunch option.

My sister-in-law had a white board attached to her pantry that listed everything that was available for lunch. She could wipe off foods that weren’t available and add new ones after she went to the store.

The lunch list is my favorite way to make lunch at home easy. The kids know what they can choose for lunch and it takes away a lot of the arguing.

The lunch list works best for younger kids.

Lunch Bins

You know those clear plastic shoe bins you can purchase at the dollar store? The cheap bins are amazing to hold snacks for your kids. (This tip works for kids who have to pack their lunch for school too)

I purchased 12 of these many years ago. I kept them in the pantry with different foods/ snacks. One would contain granola bars, another gummy packs, and another goldfish already packaged in small baggies.

I also kept them in the fridge with pre-made containers of cut up fruit and veggies. This makes the lunch list even easier because I would tell the kids they could pick one snack from certain bins, but more from the bins with healthier options.

This takes some time to set up initially, but it makes lunch so easy for the kids to get themselves.

Make Ahead Ingredients

Another quick and inexpensive homeschool lunch idea is to keep precooked food in the fridge that can be reheated or made into a meal in a few minutes. A few of our staples are:

Taco meat

Taco Salad
Tacos
Tostadas
Burritos

Crock pot shredded beef

Sandwiches
Burritos
Steak Salad
Serve over baked potatoes

Whole cooked chicken

Chicken pasta
Chicken salad
Burritos
Chicken and rice
Chicken tacos

Cooked beans

Beans and rice
Bean burritos
Beans and cheese
Black bean soup
Open tacos

Weekend Prep

Along with keeping ready to go meat in the fridge, cutting up fruit and vegetables on the weekend can make for a quick and healthy addition to lunches.

This is critical for making lunch at home simple. If you’ve already done all the prep work, you’ll have very little to do throughout the week.

Fruits and vegetables, cooked pasta, rice, and the foods I mentioned above can help you bring lunches together in under ten minutes.

Depending on how many kids you have, you may have to prep twice a week. For me, prepped food didn’t last past Wednesday so I needed to do this on Sunday and Wednesdays.

Spending an hour on the weekend prepping for lunches will save time and you’ll have less dishes!

Double Your Dinner

This is similar to freezer cooking except instead of freezing the meal you keep it in the fridge for the next day. It doesn’t take too much work to make a double meal, so if you are making something inexpensive just double the recipe and serve it for lunch.

If you don’t like eating the same thing two days in a row just wait a day or two before serving it.

Crock Pot Lunches

Many crock pot recipes take only 4-6 hours to cook. If you are an early riser you can start lunch in the crock pot before you start your school day. By the time lunch rolls around you’ll have a delicious meal that is ready to eat.

I don’t recommend leaving anything in the crock pot overnight without cooking it. However you can cook food overnight and then reheat it at lunchtime.

You can also use this technique with an Instant Pot if you have one.

Soup

Soups are inexpensive and can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge. I have a few children who prefer to eat soup every day.

You can even freeze soup in individual portions using quart sized freezer bags.

homeschool lunch ideas

Our favorite soup recipes are:

The best part about soup is that most recipes freeze really well. Make a giant batch on the weekend for lunch or dinner and freeze the rest for lunches during the homeschool week.