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These lunch ideas for teens are filling, easy to pack, and made for bigger appetites. Whether you pack lunch at home or make it yourself, you’ll find wraps, bowls, salads, sandwiches, and hot lunches that hold up well until lunchtime.
Healthy Lunch Ideas for Teens
I’ve packed these lunches for my own teens and teenage exchange students, so the list includes meals that work for real school days and bigger appetites. Add a few filling lunchbox sides when you need more food.
Watch the video to see how I pack several of these lunches, then choose an idea below.
More Healthy Lunch Wraps for Teens
Need something a little smaller? Try these Middle School Lunch Ideas!
Try More Cold Lunches for High Schoolers
Teenage Lunchbox Ideas
A teen lunch needs enough food for a longer school day and a container that doesn’t feel childish. These teen lunchboxes and thermoses hold bigger portions and fit easily inside a backpack, gym bag, or school lunch bag.
Here are a few simple options:
- Swap the character thermos for this simple food jar
- Turn in the cutesy lunchboxes for the Packit Cooler Lunch Box
- Say goodbye to boring tupperware and try these sophisticated containers
Packing Your Own Lunch
Ready to pack your own lunch? Start with one main item, then add fruit, vegetables, and a snack. Keeping sandwich ingredients, wraps, hummus, crackers, cheese, and washed produce on hand makes it easier to build a lunch quickly.
Stop Wondering What to Pack.
Pack lunches your kids will actually eat with 101 lunch ideas, practical packing tips, a complete Thermos Lunch Guide, and my Pack Meals Like a Pro bonus.
How to Pack a Filling Teen Lunch
Build lunch with protein, a filling carbohydrate, and foods with healthy fats. Turkey, chicken, eggs, tuna, cheese, hummus, nuts, rice, wraps, whole-grain bread, and fruit all help make lunch last longer.
For a bigger appetite, add another sandwich, an extra burrito, or one of these filling snacks for teens. If you have practice after school, use this guide to pack more food for active teens.
Treats for High School Lunches
A treat makes lunch more fun, but it doesn’t need to be complicated. Pack fruit, nuts, energy bites, a homemade parfait, or one of these lunchbox desserts.
Healthy Teen Lunch Wrap + 21 Other Ideas
Ingredients
- 1 flour tortilla
- 1 cup chopped lettuce
- ½ cup halved cherry tomato
- 2 ounces sliced deli turkey
- 1 hard-boiled egg, sliced
- 2 tablespoons shredded Cheddar
- cheese
- 2 tablespoons Ranch dressing
Instructions
Make the Wrap
- Place the tortilla onto a flat surface. Top the center of the tortilla with lettuce, tomatoes, chopped deli turkey, chopped hard-boiled eggs, cheese, and a drizzle of Ranch dressing. Fold and roll burrito style and slice in half.
- Tip: Wet ingredients like tomatoes should be placed over lettuce to prevent the tortilla from absorbing moisture and getting soggy.Â
Pack for Lunch
- Pack the wrap in a lunch container. If adding fruits and veggies, keep them separate. Close the container and pack it into a lunch bag with an ice pack.
Erik says
Seriously loving all these ideas. And no shame, I don’t have any teens, but I’m gonna be using these for myself!
hannah barrie says
i am teen and i have had no idea what to pack for lunch. this had made me feel so good and i am so greatfull. thankyou.
Jocelyn says
My teen was able to print out several of these ideas for her lunch. Thanks!
Steph says
I’m a teen and I printed out a few of these ideas for my lunches. I want to eat healthier. thank you
Jana says
I’d been STRUGGLING to find good lunches for my teens that they would actually eat AND that would keep them full all day. (They were always starving when they came home). This is my new goto! Thank you for all the ides, these WORK.
Katie Hearn says
Hello, I have a teen who doesn’t like bread, tortillas, Mac and cheese, pizza, and a lot of things kids usually like. She has gotten made fun of for bringing boiled eggs or tuna because they smell bad. I am at a total loss on what to buy for her. Your recipes look great, I just don’t think she would eat them.
Tobi says
you could try making a salad with protein in it! that’s one of my favourite lunches, and so long as it has enough chicken, or tuna they’re really filling! And if the tuna’s in a salad she’s less likely to be made fun of xx
Lou-Ellen says
Hi Katie – my daughter is the same. Here’s some success lunches:
– Chicken nuggets & Carrot sticks {with BBQ sauce of course}
– Puff pastry anything – ham & cheese, spinach & feta, zuchini & bacon, strawberries, left over steak with mushroom topping (like a mini beef wellington), sausage rolls, etc. Trick is to make them small and don’t pack while hot, so the pastry stays somewhat crispy, vegemite & cheese scrolls (or PB&J scrolls)
– Cook the tuna in a bit of soy & sugar and make tuna sushi
– sushi anything – roll up her favourite meat/rice combo in a sushi
– chopped salad (you can include the eggs here and they won’t smell)
Basically make her lunch so tasty the kids will be jealous and stop making fun of her no matter how bad it smells. I’ve got some kids “stealing” my daughter’s lunch now so I’ve been sneaking in a little extra haha
Good luck, lovely. School lunches have always been my biggest headache xo
Jackie Kennedy says
How do you keep the food from getting all messy before they eat it? My teenagers school does not have lockers so they have to lug all their belongings from class to class. Those pretty sandwiches and deviled eggs would look like they were in a battle zone by the time lunch arrives.
MOMables-Laura says
Using compartmentalized lunch containers can really help. The smaller compartments help keep food and ingredients intact. This post has a few of my favorite lunch containers: https://www.momables.com/top-5-lunch-containers-for-school-office/
M says
I’m wondering if all of the lunches will stay fresh for at least 3 hours?
Thanks!
MOMables-Laura says
When packed in a lunch bag with a freezer pack, yes.
Neyah says
Hi I am wondering if you have any thing that dosent require cooking or like hummus because my I am really picky but other than that all of these recipes look really delicious to where I would eat them all the time at lunch.
MOMables - Laura says
Hi Neyah, I recommend you check out this playlist on YouTube with lots of lunch ideas. Most don’t require any cooking.
ShaunaSea says
Instead of writing off a particular food, consider trying different preparation methods.
Finding a variation that you or your family like will also develop your and their taste buds to enjoy variations that weren’t previously liked.
Stay optimistic! If you don’t find something you like right away, remember to stay open minded that you will find a variation that you like in the future.
I now enjoy a world of great food that I wouldn’t have touched before embarking on this change in perspective.
I started with using ingredients I didn’t like in a way that they didn’t stand out in taste or texture by using amounts less than what was called for and either chopping them up finely or in chunks large enough to avoid. Eventually I learned to use herbs and spices, to make marinades and sauces, to cook dishes I liked that I would previously only have had if I ate out, and, most importantly, to be brave and take big enough bites to experience the full combination of flavors in a dish as they were intended to be enjoyed.
Lizzy says
Hey, as a teen myself, I mostly don’t have time to make these and am also a vegetarian, I was wondering if you had any ideas of how I can get enough protein etc, in a way that’s quick to make and able to be carried around in a bag for nearly 4 hours ?
MOMables-Laura says
Hi Lizzy, you can try some of the recipes in this post: https://www.momables.com/8-vegetarian-school-lunch-ideas/ and for extra protein, you can always pack your lunches with a cup of Greek yogurt, cheese, or steamed edamame.
Sophie Dufault says
Hi
Great ideas on your website. I was looking at one of your videos a few weeks ago and can’t recall which one but you had advertise a super plastic lunch bag idea for teens! Can you please direct me to where I can find these ? THanks!
Sophie
MOMables - Laura says
Hi Sophie, you can find that bag in our Amazon store here. in the teenage section.