As a busy parent constantly running in multiple directions making lunch for your kids can seem like a tremendous challenge, even more so if your child requires a gluten free diet. But don’t despair, there are lots of simple gluten free kids lunch ideas that your kids will love.
When our daughter first began to eat gluten free the struggle to know what to feed her, a picky eater, was daunting! Now that she has been eating gluten free for over five years, we have developed our standard list of simple gluten free kids lunch ideas that we keep going back to.
Simple Gluten Free Kids Lunch Ideas:
Soup and Crackers
One of the staples of our pantry is tomato soup and crackers. This is a classic favorite with kids. Schar gluten free crackers look and taste exactly the same as normal soda crackers and are a wonderful gluten free substitution. One thing to watch for with tomato soup or any other canned soup is they often contain wheat or flour.
Imagine Tomato soup is gluten free and just needs to be heated and served, how simple is that?
Grilled Cheese
This is another timeless classic, what kid doesn’t love a grilled cheese sandwich!
Simply substitute your favorite gluten free bread and you have an amazingly simple gluten free kids lunch idea. Grilled cheese sandwiches are the perfect platform for customization to your child’s preferences. The options are endless, you can use a stringy mozzarella, a gooey gouda, or a creamy Swiss cheese it is really open to whatever your kids like or is on hand.
Another way to customize a simple grilled cheese is by adding other things, thin slices of apple with cheddar is a wonderful twist that is sure to impress. Adding a piece of crispy bacon to a grilled cheese is… well everything is better with bacon. Let your imagination run wild and use what you have on hand it doesn’t need to be hard.
Finding a gluten free bread that your gluten free kid will love can be a bit tricky. We definitely went through a number of brands before we found the favorites in our house. The ones we love are Schar Gluten Free Bread and Little Northern Bakehouse Gluten Free Bread.
Homemade Lunchable or Snack Box
A homemade Lunchable is probably the most common school lunch that we pack. While a pre-made store bought lunchable is a quick and easy lunch idea, they are rarely gluten free. Making them yourself not only allows you to make them gluten free but is usually cheaper than the premade packaged lunches. In some ways, these are a kid-friendly version of a charcuterie board simply put together a few small containers of fruit, cheese, gluten free crackers and some pepperoni sticks.
As with many of the other simple gluten free kids lunch ideas the homemade lunchable is super flexible and easily adapted to your child’s preferences or what you have on hand. Change the type of cheese, fruit, and crackers to keep things interesting and varied.
At times we will also substitute the gluten free crackers for a rice cake. Our daughter loves the little flavored ones that seem like chips. She also loves rice cakes that have chocolate on top. These are such a hit when she finds them in her lunch. You can get the Rice Crisps here and the chocolate rice cakes here.
Classic PB&J or Other Sandwiches
Sandwiches are a simple kids lunch idea that doesn’t need to be difficult just because your child requires a gluten free lunch. By substituting gluten free bread or buns as the base of the sandwich you can still make the classic PB&J sandwich.
In our house, we often use rice cakes to make sandwiches for a quick and easy lunch. Using your favorite sandwich topping helps in making the switch to gluten free less daunting and provides a sense of familiarity for your child through the transition. However, one thing to watch for is that some prepared deli meats contain wheat-based fillers, these meats must be avoided to ensure that the sandwich remains gluten free.
We often find that thinner rice cakes work better when creating a gluten free kids lunch sandwich. We find that Corn Thins tend to be really sturdy and very yummy too!
Veggies and Dip
Simple and healthy what could be better? Veggies and dip are another classic simple kids lunch idea that is easy to make gluten free. Carrot and celery sticks, cucumber, broccoli, pepper slices, snap peas and any other vegetable that your child enjoys are naturally gluten free. A tasty dip can help make boring unappealing vegetables into something fun and exciting. Hummus is a great dip that is a great way to add some protein into the lunch to keep your child fueled up.
One thing to watch for is that many dips and salad dressings will be thickened with some gluten containing ingredients, reading the label is the only sure way to confirm that the dip is gluten free.
Gluten Free Mac & Cheese
Mac and cheese is the stereotypical kids’ comfort food. Thankfully gluten free options for this favorite are available. We have found Annie’s Gluten Free Mac and Cheese to be best gluten free mac and cheese alternative and is an essential item in the pantry of anyone with gluten free children.
While not as quick and easy…. Making mac and cheese made from scratch can be just like a comforting hug from Grandma with the richness of a creamy cheese sauce with the crispy bits of baked cheese on top.
Egg Bites
Egg bites may be the latest keto trend but beyond being trendy are a great option for a simple gluten free kid friendly lunch. Egg bites can be easily made ahead in a large batch that then only requires reheating for a super quick lunch. You might be sensing a theme, we love the ability to customize these simple lunch ideas for our individual tastes, egg bites are another perfect simple lunch idea that can be easily adjusted to match what your child enjoys. Adding cheese, ham, bacon, peppers, are simple modifications that can keep the same lunch idea new and exciting rather than repeating the exact same thing over and over again.
Rice Bowl
Rice bowls are a fun and simple gluten free kids lunch idea. With a bowl of rice as the base, you can travel the world with your kids without ever leaving the kitchen. If your kids are in the mood for a Mexican adventure add black beans, corn, chunks of chicken with taco spices, topping with salsa, sour cream and shredded cheese. Or perhaps they are in the mood for an Asian-inspired lunch; top the rice with stir-fried veggies and a pad Thai sauce. For a more Mediterranean flare add some parmesan cheese, bacon bits, oregano, basil, and some extra virgin olive oil to the base bowl of rice.
Rice is so universal and adaptable, where will you explore with your kids using this simple gluten free lunch idea?
Gluten Free Pasta Leftovers
Leftovers have to be one of the simplest lunch ideas there is, two meals with only the work of one. Left over pasta is a wonderful lunch idea for your kids. A small thermos cooler makes taking warm pasta as a school lunch incredibly easy. This is one of our daughter’s favorite school lunches. We always make extra when we cook a pasta dinner, the next morning making lunch for school is as simple as warming up the leftovers and placing them in her lunch cooler. It doesn’t get much easier than that.
Simple Gluten Free Kids Lunch Ideas – Inspiration
We hope this list of simple gluten free kids lunch ideas has encouraged you that this is something you can do for your child. If this list has inspired you with additional simple gluten free kids lunch ideas, please leave them in the comments to help other parents on the gluten free journey with their children.
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