Back to School is a time of the year that brings many challenges for families, one of the biggest ones being packing school lunches! Desi moms, like any other mom, worry about what to pack for their children in their Desi Lunch Box. What makes our concerns unique is that we try to adapt south asian/desi dishes for lunch boxes so that the children are well-fed during the long day at school with familiar food. Sharing ideas and inspirations to make your Desi Lunch Box unique and nutritional.
Desi Lunch Box Essentials
Let’s talk first about essentials for a lunchbox. You don’t need to buy expensive products. Concentrate on functionalities.
- You need one box or bag to contain all the lunch items.
- Smaller boxes and ziplock bags to contain individual items.
- Cutlery like spoon and fork along with a napkin.
- A thermos container for dishes that are best served warm
- Ice pack to keep snacks cool
- Water bottle
- Small note pad and fun stickers to add cute notes
[Read More: Desi Lunch Boxes, Past and Present]
Lunch Box Planning
Some important considerations to pack food for school are:
- Avoid items other children might be allergic to such as nuts etc.
- Try to have a nutritious mix containing proteins, carbs, dairy, fruits and vegetables.
- Adding one treat item can be motivating for children.
- Plan weekly lunch boxes before you do groceries so that you can plan and shop before hand.
Desi Lunch Box Ideas
Most schools require lunch and a snack to be packed for the day. Here are some ideas for 30 days that you can use for inspiration. For additional ideas, you can mix and match items from below.
Day 1:
Shami Kebab Sandwich + Apple Slices + Snap peas + cookie
Cut the apple slices and band together to avoid the apple slices to go brown. You can also sprinkle the slices with lemon or sugar.
Day 2:
Potato Cutlet + green beans + red grapes + cheese slices
Day 3:
Qeema in Pasta + broccoli + green grapes + yogurt tube
Day 4:
Home-made Chicken Nuggets + Baby Carrots + banana + yogurt drink
Chicken Nuggets Recipe (best part this can be made in batches and you can freeze for future use)
Day 5:
Dal (to eat as soup with spoon) + Toast + Celery Sticks + Cheese cubes + Cupcake
Day 6:
Fun shaped Kebab (make shapes like stars, hearts etc) + Croissant + Cubed Capsicum + blueberries + small chocolate bar
Kebab Recipe (keep them small so that they are easy to handle)
Day 7:
Cheese sandwich + cucumber slices + orange + cheese string
Day 8:
Scrambled egg + butter croissant + strawberries + yogurt
Day 9:
Mini Chicken Burger + melon cubes + oven-baked potato fries + milk
Day 10:
Jam sandwich + bell pepper + avocado cubes sprinkled with honey + grapes
Day 11:
Pasta + chocolate muffin + yam fries + red grapes
Day 12:
Shreds of cooked chicken + cherry tomatoes + cubed pear + cheese string
Day 13:
Chicken Yakhni Pulao + cucumbers + yogurt + banana bread
Day 14:
Fun shapes parathas + home-made chicken nuggets + apple slices + gummy bears
Make sure parathas are small for easy handling. The parathas can be made more healthy by adding chia seeds and flax seeds in the dough. Use cookie cutters for fun shapes.
Chicken Nuggets Recipe (best part this can be made in batches and you can freeze for future use)
Day 15:
Home-made mini pizzas + cut tomatoes + chocolate milk
Day 16:
Chicken bread + broccoli + banana + cookie
Day 17:
Chicken vegetable pasta + currents (kishmish), yogurt
Day 18:
Club sandwich + fries + cherry tomatoes + apple juice
Day 19:
Wholewheat pancake + blueberries + celery sticks + strawberry milk
Day 20:
Chicken strips + popcorn + cereal + apple slices
Day 21:
Naan strips with hummus + strawberries + cheese strings
Day 22:
Fish bites + sea weed + raspberries
Day 23:
Fairy sandwiches + popcorn + cucumber + tomato slices
I make butter toast sandwiches and cut them in tiny squares and call those fairy sandwiches!
Day 24:
Roti Rollup + bananas + kettle chips
Add butter on a regular roti and add stuffings like leftover chicken etc. Make sure you wrap nicely to avoid messy spillovers.
Day 25:
Mini pancakes + blueberries + banana
Use the same recipe but make mini pancakes
Day 26:
Vegetable pasta + chips + strawberries in yogurt
Day 27:
Fish kebab + fries + broccoli + popcorn
Day 28:
Chicken seekh kebab + cherry tomatoes + cookie + grapes
Day 29:
Healthy muffin + yogurt melts + banana + cookie
I use the muffin recipe without the topping
Day 30:
Chicken drumstick + fries + broccoli + milk
(do add aluminium to make holding easier and keep the drumsticks on the dry side)
Hope you enjoyed these ideas! Do let me know how your new school year is going!
I enjoyed reading all your ideas, was more impressed I knew what all of them were:) I made potato cutlets for dinner tonight since they are my sons favorite.
Oh nice! I’m super impressed too 🙂 South Asian cooking and terms can be quite intimidating! My kids love potato cutlets too and call them “Aalo cookie”
I admire your culinary adventures and knowledge!
Useful!
I am more impressed by the variety of food that your kids like to eat! For my kids, I can use about half of these ideas. My elder one is choosy enough to reject new things but I can definitely try them for my younger two 😉
Another idea I use:
Spread Pizza sauce on frozen tandoori naan, sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese (add any toppings if kids like, e.g. chicken, qeema, pineapple, olives, capsicum)), or leave it like that for cheese pizza!). Toss in oven and grill for 5 mins or until light brown on top.
Instant pizza lunch is ready! I wrap it in aluminium foil to avoid the slices sticking together.
Oh nice! What a great idea! I gotta try this. Sounds like a winner.
These are great ideas! Thanks for sharing!!
Glad you liked them! Thanks for dropping by 🙂
This lunch box ideas are really good!! Since my son is not going to school yet, I am thinking of packing myself a lunch for work using these!!
Hahah! Ofcourse! Why not 🙂
THNX FOR THE GREAT LUNCH IDEAS, MY KIDZ ALSO LOVE “potato cutlets” TO HAVE IN LUNCH BOXES AND THEY CALLED IT DORA CAKES,
So sweet! You’re most welcome!
Thank you so much Tamania…I loved these great ideas for lunch.
So happy that this helps!
Awesome
This is SUPER helpful!! Thank you!!!
You’ve given such easy lunch plan ideas that now I have a good list of things I can make on a weekly basis (rather than on a daily basis) for not only my kids but for me and my husband as well.
Thank you so much!! You’ve organized my life.