Wondering “What’s for lunch?” day after day can be tough—especially when juggling allergies, dietary restrictions, and picky eaters. To make school lunch packing easier (and maybe even fun!), we asked three local dietitian-nutritionists for their best tips: Erin Winterhalter Caroulis, owner of Eat With Erin; Ashvini Mashru, MA, RD, LDN; and Stefanie Williams of Family Food, LLC.

1. Use a Balanced Formula for Packed Lunches

Keep this simple formula visible when packing lunches: 1 protein + 1 starch + 1 vegetable + 1 fruit + 1 dairy. This ensures a well-rounded meal to fuel your child’s day.

Additionally, Erin Winterhalter Caroulis offers this chart for healthy choice guidelines:

• Protein: chicken, turkey, eggs, beans, nuts, seeds
• Grains: whole grain bread, wraps, pita, crackers, cold pasta, popcorn, pretzels
• Veggies: fresh and raw
• Fruit: fresh or to-go packs, packed in unsweetened juice
• Dairy: milk, yogurt, and string cheese

2. Keep Lunches Cold with Insulated Bags and Ice Packs

Ashvini Mashru uses two products to keep lunches cold: ThermaFreeze Ice Sheets and U-Konserve Recycled Sweat-Free Ice Packs. ThermaFreeze are thin and flexible, store flat, and are reusable. U-Konserve Ice Packs are non-toxic ice packs that slip into a reusable cover made from recycled plastic bottles, perfect for putting at the bottom of a lunch bag.

3. Use Insulated Food Jars for Warm Meals

Pack something warm and delicious in a Thermos or other insulated food jar. For best results, warm the jar before while preparing your hot food inside by filling with hot water (boiling from the stove or just hot from your faucet), seal, and let sit for five minutes. 

4. Use Rotisserie Chicken for Quick Protein

Mashru offers nut-free and a gluten-free menu options for rotisserie chicken.

Nut-free menu:Whole wheat pasta tossed with olive oil or salad dressing + pea pods + rotisserie chicken + grapes.

Gluten-free menu: Cold pasta salad (made with gluten-free noodles) with zucchini, tomatoes, and sweet peppers mixed with gluten-free Italian dressing + rotisserie chicken + strawberries and blackberries.

5. Nut-Free? Try Soy or Sunflower Butter

Stefanie Williams suggests swapping nut butter for soy nut or sunflower butter. Pair it with celery sticks, whole grain crackers, grapes, and yogurt for a balanced nut-free lunch.

6. Dairy-Free? Opt for Milk Alternatives in Portable Sizes

For dairy-free kids, try soymilk or other plant-based milk boxes. Williams recommends a dairy-free lunch with a soymilk drink, apple-nut-butter wrap, and fresh veggie sticks.

7. Freeze Juice Boxes or Sports Drinks

Packing frozen drinks helps keep lunches cold, and by lunchtime, beverages will be perfectly chilled and ready to drink.

8. Shop Gluten-Free at Whole Foods for Easy Options

Many chains offer lists of the gluten-free foods they carry, but Whole Foods takes it one step further. By selecting your local store, you can pull up a list of their gluten-free offerings for that location, so you plan your shopping list accordingly. With gluten-free staples like turkey, crackers, granola, hummus, and applesauce, you can throw together a lunch in no time.

One of Williams’ favorite gluten-free lunches: turkey breast wrapped around reduced fat cheese slices, rice or whole grain crackers, baby carrot sticks, and an unsweetened applesauce cup.

Caroulis suggests a yogurt parfait as a gluten-free options: low fat or nonfat Greek yogurt topped with berries and gluten free granola (e.g. KIND’s Healthy Grain Granola Clusters or Udi’s Natural Artesian Granola), baby carrots with hummus, and Pop Chips.

Those are your tips from the experts themselves, now let’s get lunch packing!

Sarah Heyman and Christine Wolkin contributed to this article.

Feature Photo Courtesy of Shutterstock.