Quick Toddler Lunches: 5 Easy Solutions

5 Easy Solutions for Quick Toddler Lunches

One meal that I find the hardest to make for my children is lunch. I don’t know what it is but every time I go to fix lunch my mind draws a blank. So I’ve come up with 5 easy solutions for quick toddler lunches. That means that in less than 10-15 minutes your kids will have a healthy, delicious meal to eat for their mid-day meal.

Frozen Foods and Pasta

Grab a bag of whole grain pasta out of the cupboard. Or let the kids decide what pasta they want. Then go into the freezer and grab a few nitrate free hot dogs and some frozen (or fresh) veggies. Now you’re ready to make lunch in under 10 minutes!

  1. Boil water
  2. Add Pasta and set timer (cook for however long the bag says)
  3. 1/2 way through, add frozen hot dog. 
  4. When 2-3 minutes remain, add a handful of frozen veggies
  5. Drain, cut up hot dog, and serve!  – cutting up is optional for children over 3*

Usually takes less than 10 minutes and the kids love it!

Change it up! Don’t want to use hot dogs? Toss the noodles and veggies in some olive oil or butter and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Toss some pepperonis or deli meat in for a change in flavor or cube up some cheese.

Mmmm!

*If cutting up the hot dog, remember to cut up length wise first, then width wise to reduce the chance of choking.

Roll Ups and Fresh Fruit

Another lunch idea that takes less than 10 minutes. Simply pull out some lunch meats and cheeses and put them on a plate along with a few veggies. When your kids are deciding what to put in their roll ups, wash and cut up some fruit to go on the side!

Once they’ve decided it’s time to start building! Here’s what you do:

  1. Place a slice of meat down
  2. Add some mayo or mustard (or other spread)
  3. Add cheese on top
  4. Sprinkle with veggies (easier to slice up or shred)
  5. Roll up and eat!

Serve with some fruit on the side and enjoy.

Quesadillas 10 Ways

Quesadillas are super easy. The most work spent on them is the time prepping what goes into them. And that can be done in as little as 5 minutes. You just have to know what you want in them! Here are a few suggestions for what to put in your quesadilla:

Now it’s time to make your quesadilla!

  1. Heat up pan and butter one side of tortilla. 
  2. Put tortilla in heated pan, butter side down
  3. Sprinkle with cheese and other ingredients
  4. Fold over into a half moon and cook until golden brown
  5. Flip, cook other side, and serve!

I love serving my quesadillas with some left over rice and some ripe avocado and salsa. The kids love theirs with apple slices and tortilla chips.

Pizza Perfection

What kid doesn’t love pizza? In our home pizza comes in all shapes and sizes. Don’t have pizza dough? That’s ok! Grab one of the following to get started:

1. Base
Tortilla
Whole Wheat Pita
English Muffin

Then move on to the sauces. I love just grabbing whatever jarred pasta sauce we have in the pantry:

2. Sauce
Pesto
Marinara
Meat sauce
Alfredo sauce

And for the fun part!

3. Toppings! Toppings can range anywhere from veggies to meats to cheeses. And variety is key. When you give your kids a few options you’ll be surprised to find what they choose for their pizzas.

Simply go in this order: Base, Sauce, Toppings when creating your pizza pie masterpieces.

Then just use the oven (or a toaster oven) and cook at 400 degrees for a few minutes or until cheese is bubbly and slightly golden brown! Looking for a great pizza dough recipe? Check out this one here.

Salad Bar

Just because your two year old hates lettuce, don’t rule out the power of an awesome salad bar! And as always, get the kids involved. Ask your kids to pick 5 fun toppings to add to their salad. I suggest having fruit, veggies, nuts, and some sort of crunch for them to choose from.

Then give them a few lettuce options. Spinach is a favorite in our house with romaine coming in close second. But they also love the crunch of cabbage and the pretty shapes and colors in micro greens.

Here are a few great ideas for Salad Bar fixings:

Once the kids have chosen their 5 topping choices I give them dressing choices as well. From oil and vinegar to ranch dressing and everything in between, giving them 2-3 options makes our salad bar a success.

What’s your favorite lunch time fast fix?

Pinterest Inspiration

Comments

  1. Great ideas! I’m always trying to think of new ways to keep lunches interesting for Elodie!

  2. LOVE MELISSA:) says

    This is awesome! i have such a tough toddler when it comes to eating! THanks!

  3. Jen + Jeff says

    Pinned it!

  4. The Frugal Greenish Mama says

    Thanks for sharing! My kiddos are not really picky but we always love new ideas for lunch so we don’t fall into eating the same things over and over!

  5. LaVonne @ Long Wait says

    These are such great ideas! Thank you for sharing them. I have a 4 year old and I know I could use some new ideas for her.

  6. Paula Schuck says

    My kids always loved a good pasta salad. They are great about lettuce now too. These are great ideas. Toddlers can be finicky.

  7. royalegacy says

    These are great tips, Danielle. Thanks for sharing them!

    Danielle @ Royalegacy

  8. Sharon Martin Beck Valley Books says

    Great post, liking the pasta with hotdogs!! Pinned aswell x

  9. thank you for sharing this! sometimes i just can’t come up with an idea of what to make for lunch and i end up making my daughter a sandwich too many times, boring! but i made the pasta meal for her today, i didn’t have hot dogs so i tried the pepperonis and she LOVED it!

  10. I thought of rolling up meat but never putting vegetables in the center. Thanks!

  11. I was hoping for something that wasn’t super high in sodium, like most of these are. I would never feed lunch meat or hotdogs to a toddler.

  12. Please change this recipe to cutting up the hotdogs!!! Feeding toddlers circular foods is a HUGE choking hazard.

Trackbacks

  1. […] can find all of my quick, easy toddler lunches here  but I thought I’d share an all-time favorite in our home, English Muffin Pizzas! And the […]

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  3. […] great lunch ideas for the kids? Check out my 5 Easy Toddler Lunch Ideas post for some […]

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