Need an easy vegan school lunch plan for kids, including picky eaters? These simple vegan school lunch ideas give you a mix-and-match list of sandwiches, savoury bites, fruit, vegetables, dips, and snacks, so you can make an easy lunchbox every day.
School lunches aren't always vegan-friendly or very appealing, so I put this plan together for my own picky eater. Rather than one big lunch, I found a lunchbox filled with small bites (and a few familiar bits) worked better. Also, check out my Kids Vegan Lunch page.
🧾 At-a-Glance - Vegan School Lunch Ideas
✅ Best for: Vegan or dairy-free children and picky eaters
✅ Lunch style: Mix and max lunches
✅ Prep: Mostly quick assembly with a few make-ahead options
✅ Includes: Sandwiches, wraps, savoury bites, fruit, vegetables, dips and snacks
✅ Best tip: Choose at least one food your child already enjoys
💭 The Idea: Don't try to make the perfect lunchbox. Give your child a few foods they are happy to eat, then gradually introduce other foods alongside them.
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Jump to:
- 🧾 At-a-Glance - Vegan School Lunch Ideas
- 👪 Fussy Eaters
- ⭐ You're Doing a Great Job
- 🥪 Let's Start with Sandwiches
- 🍔 25 Simple Vegan Sandwich Fillings
- 💭 Make the Sandwiches Interesting
- 🍴 Picky Eaters Meal Plan (Vegan School Lunch)
- ⭐ Example Meal Plan
- 🐇 Make Lunch Fun!
- 🥟 The Main Event
- 🍏 Fruit & Veg
- 🍵 Dips
- 🥨 Snacks
- 💬 Comments
👪 Fussy Eaters
It's important to stay calm around fussy eaters and not to make lunchtime (or any other meal) a battleground.
Most importantly, work with your children to plan their meals and let them help decide what's added with a bit of gentle but firm guidance.
Good days and bad days
Remember, there will be good days where they eat lots and bad days when lunchboxes return with hardly anything touched.
Because let's face it, sometimes kids are just not hungry, or they want to run out to the playground to play with their friends more than they want to eat lunch.
⭐ You're Doing a Great Job
Remember, you are doing a great job just by caring and offering your children different options.
Will it always go as planned? No, but that's ok. Don't make a big fuss about their uneaten lunches, but do remind them that lunch is important when they are working hard at school. Keep it positive.
🥪 Let's Start with Sandwiches
Before I get to the meal plan, let's look at sandwiches.
The thing to remember with kids, particularly picky eaters, is to keep the fillings simple; that usually means skipping the salad & adding crunchy veg on the side instead.
Which bread to use for sandwiches?
| Bread | Wraps | Other Ideas |
|---|---|---|
| Soft brown or white | Flour tortilla wraps | Toast |
| Baguette | Pitta bread | Bagel (toasted first) |
| Ciabatta | Flatbread | Finger roll (sub) |
🍔 25 Simple Vegan Sandwich Fillings
Here is a list of simple vegan sandwich fillings for vegan kids.
- Grated carrot and hummus (try easy homemade hummus)
- Vegan cream cheese and strawberry Jam
- Vegan butter and raspberry jam
- Cream cheese and cucumber
- Peanut butter and strawberry jam (try this easy peanut butter recipe)
- Bangers (cooked vegan sausages) and Hummus
- Bangers and tomato ketchup
- Grated vegan cheddar and tomato
- Chocolate spread and banana
- Lentil pate and cream cheese (try this black bean pate)
- Refried beans and mashed avocado
- Cream cheese and crushed blackberries
- Mushroom pate with cucumber (try this mushroom pate)
- Cheese savoury and cucumber
- Rainbow sandwich (layers of grated or shredded cucumber, carrot and plain beetroot on cream cheese)
- Falafel, hummus and grated carrot
- Chickpea mash and tomato
- Mashed baked beans and vegan cheddar
- Toasted pizza sandwich (tomato puree and vegan mozzarella)
- Vegan butter and jam pinwheels (rolled wraps, but into spiral slices)
- Vegan mayo, tomato slices, salt and pepper
- Cream cheese, tomato and baby spinach
- Cheese and onion sandwich filler
- Biscoff spread and banana
- Cream cheese and apple slices (dip the apple in lemon juice so it won't brown)
For more inspiration, get my ebook 150 Easy Vegan Sandwich Ideas.
Jac's Top Tip
💭 Make the Sandwiches Interesting
Cut them into little squares or triangles, or use a sandwich cutter for a shaped sandwich. You could also cut circles of sandwich with a glass (which seals them).
🍴 Picky Eaters Meal Plan (Vegan School Lunch)
Time to make your vegan school lunch meal plan. Write it on paper and pin it on the fridge for easy reference when you are making a shopping list or making up lunch from the fridge.
How to Build a Simple Meal Plan
| The Main Event | Fruit & Veg | Dips | Snacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| This is usually the savoury part of the lunch or a sandwich or wrap. | Add crunchy veg sticks (carrot, cucumber, or red pepper) or fruit. | The dip can be savoury or sweet to make the lunch more interesting. | Doesn't have to be healthy if they also have fruit or veg. |
Get your kids involved. Let them give you suggestions for the plan. Include new things but make sure there are familiar things they like in their lunchbox too.
Small portions
We want to make sure their lunchbox is fun but not daunting; don't pack too much. Packing adult-sized portions is a common mistake. Kids have smaller stomachs and don't need adult-sized portions.
⭐ Example Meal Plan
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Falafel | Cheese sandwich | Pasta salad | Mini pizza bites | Vegan sausages |
| Cucumber | Carrot sticks | Cherry tomatoes | Cubes of vegan cheddar | Mini pittas |
| Hummus | Apple slices | Melon | Cucumber | Hummus |
| Grapes | Yoghurt | Breadsticks | Strawberries | Banana |
| Pretzels | Choc chips | Choc sauce | Oreos | Flapjack |
🐇 Make Lunch Fun!
Make their lunchbox fun with a few of my tips. It doesn't need to cost a lot.
| Colourful lunchboxes | Animal dip pots | A quiz question |
| Patterned paper napkins | Shaped sandwich cutters | A joke |
| Reusable coloured cutlery | Cute animal or star food picks | A little note or inspirational phrase |
And remember to add some napkins or wipes for spills and to wipe their hands.
For drinks, add water, vegan milkshakes or fruit juice.
🥟 The Main Event
Let's start the meal plan with the main event, which is usually a savoury item you build the lunchbox around. Here are my ideas.
- Falafel
- Quesadilla - with tomato puree, vegan cheddar or mozzarella and little dollops on pesto, cut into triangles
- Mini cheese toasties squares - cut a toastie into four bite-sized pieces
- Onion bhajis
- Vegetable spring rolls
- Vegan cheese & pesto swirls
- Cooked vegan sausages - cut into bite-sized pieces
- Mini pizza - you can make these with tomto puree, vegan mozzarella and any toppings you like on puff pastry, pitta bread or flour tortillas (cut into smaller pieces)
- Falafel wrap - a flour torrtilla spread with hummus, topped with falafel, folded and served plain or toasted for a crunchy finish
- Mini tomato bites
- Vegetable fingers - the breaded vegetable fingers found frozen in supermarkets, cook and allow to cool before chilling in the fridge ready for lunchboxes
- Toasted bagel - spread with vegan butter or cream cheese
- Pasta salad - drained and cooled pasta (cool under cold water as soon as it's cooked) with pesto, sweetcorn and cherry tomatoes
- Couscous salad - with grated carrot, sweetcorn and cherry tomatoes
- Mushroom sausage rolls - they won't know they are made with mushrooms; they just taste savoury
- Potato scones or farls - toasted and cooled
- Potato waffle - toasted and cooled
- Mini falafel and onion pies - super easy to make with puff pastry
- Popcorn Tofu - make it less spicy by using tomato puree instead of harissa and skip or cut down on the spices in the breadcrumbs, although my son likes them as they are
- Noodles - cooked and tossed in a little soy sauce
🍏 Fruit & Veg
Make a list of the fruit and veg your children like and experiment with some they haven't tried. Remember tinned fruit is just as good for them as fresh.
- Carrot sticks
- Bell pepper sticks
- Cucumber sticks
- Broccoli florets
- Sweet potato cubes - roasted
- Butternut squash cubes - roasted
- Fresh peas in a pod
- Sweetcorn
- Mini corn on the cob - steamed or boiled and cooled
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Olives
- Chickpeas - tinned are fine
- Strawberries
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Melon chunks
- Watermelon chunks
- Apple slices - dip them in some water with lemon juice to stop them browning
- Pear slices - dip in lemon water too (or tinned pears)
- Banana chunks - same again, lemon water
- Clementine segments - or tangerine, mandarin or easy peeler (or tinned)
- Mango chunks - fresh or tinned mango
- Pineapple chunks - fresh or tinned pineapple
- Grapes - halved
- Dried banana slices
- Dried pineapple slices
- Raisins
- Nuts - if allowed
- Seeds
🍵 Dips
Add some of these dips (savoury and sweet) to dunk their fruit, veg, and snacks into.
- Vegan mayo
- Vegan garlic mayo
- Tomato ketchup
- Vegan cream cheese
- Vegan salad cream
- Russian dressing
- Lemon and chive dip
- Hummus
- Pesto
- Broccoli pesto
- Vegan sour cream - or creme fraiche
- Sweet chilli mayo - stir sweet chilli sauce through mayo, sour cream or plain yogurt
- Vegan plain yoghurt - or Greek yogurt
- Flavoured vegan yoghurt
- Peanut butter - if allowed and no allergy
- Almond butter - as above
- Jam
- Chocolate spread
- Biscoff spread
- Tahini sauce
🥨 Snacks
It's good to add some snacks for a bit of crunch or a sweet treat.
- Pretzels
- Mini breadsticks
- Tortilla chips - homemade tortilla chips or shop-bought
- Rice cakes
- Oatcakes
- Crackers
- Croutons
- Mini pitta bread
- Cubes of vegan cheddar
- Cubes of vegan smoked cheese
- Popcorn
- Flapjacks - try these carrot, banana and chocolate flapjacks or these blueberry flapjacks
- Muffins - these chocolate muffins are super easy and quick to make
- Vegan Pancakes
- Slice of banana bread - this is my favourite banana bread recipe, but I make it with plain flour, you can whizz up gluten free oats to make flour to use in this recipe too.
- Vegan marshmallows
- Square of dark chocolate
- Dark choc chips
- Chocolate Tiffin
- Vegan yoghurt
- Easy Danish pastries - made from ready rolled puff pastry.
- Hazelnut & Raisin Cookies
I hope this has given you lots of ideas and you have fun making your meal plan with the help of your kids.
Once it's written, if they are wee toots, then let them decorate the edges of the plan with drawings or stickers.
For more ideas, check out my vegan lunch guides - Packing Lunch; 45 Backed to School Packed Lunches for Kids or Back to School Vegan Lunches and for tips for packing lunches, check out my Packing Lunch page.
Bethany says
This is exactly what I was looking for, simply brilliant!! Thank you so much!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
I'm so glad it's helpful Bethany.
Tavo says
Wao! Such a healthy post! I love meal prepping for my nephews when I visit! They when I cook, so this will be my guide to follow... sharing it with my sister too!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
I hope it helps you and your sister.
Denay DeGuzman says
What an incredible back-to-school lunch resource! I'm sharing this with my niece whose family adheres to a vegan diet.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Yay! I hope it makes meal planning easier for her.
Katia says
I love this! Being a vegan mom, I always struggle with making lunches in the morning. there is so many choices and options here for having something different every day of the month! Thank you so much for making my life so much easier
Jacqueline Meldrum says
That was exactly what I was hoping to do. I am so glad it helps.
Biana says
Lots of great ideas here! I always like a dip for lunch, makes it more interesting. And fruits and veggies for color and healthy options.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Yes you are so right. I am with you on that.
Jamie says
I love all the options here and it's perfect timing as school is starting up again! Thank you for sharing!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
No problem. Schools go back this week coming here in Scotland.
Gillian James says
Jacqueline, these are brilliant ideas, my daughter wouldn't eat all of the things, but there's lots of ideas here that I would never have thought of.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Oh definitely add your own ideas to the list and use those you think she might like to try. It's a jumping off point.