I know, it just seems like yesterday that the school holidays started, but it’s time to think about Back-to-School Lunchbox Treats, and recipes!
Recipes & Ideas for Back-to-School Lunchbox Treats – SWEET & SAVOURY
I know, it just seems like yesterday that the school holidays started, but it’s time to think about Back-to-School Lunchbox Treats, and recipes!
So today, I’ve compiled a list of tasty lunchbox treats that will satisfy even the fussiest of eaters, and are easy to bake beforehand, as well as rustle up the night before or in the morning.
From sweet cakes, fruity muffins and scones, to savoury breakfast muffins, salads in a jar, hand pies, and tarts (quiches) there’s something to suit all diets and nutritional requirements.
I nearly always had a packed lunch when I was at school, and my mum was really creative with her ideas when it came to lunch for me and my sister.
I remember having boiled eggs with a twist of salt, as well as tomatoes and cucumber on cocktail sticks, as well as fruit and raisin rice salad and even an orange jelly in a half of an orange!
I also sent my daughter Hannah to school with a packed lunch every day, and I invested in a wide-neck thermos flask, so she could eat hot cottage pie and stew with dumplings in the winter.
I’ve made a list of some of my most popular Back-to-School and lunchbox recipes below, which will suit primary school children all the way up to year nine and beyond.
I hope you will find some recipes that inspire you to make for your your children, or your grandchildren, and PLEASE do let me know if you make any of the recipes too! Karen
Savoury Back-to-School Lunchbox Recipes
We all need bread to make sandwiches with, and if you are a sourdough baker, then this is the sandwich bread for you! Made with the basic recipe for my CLASSIC SOURDOUGH BREAD MADE EASY, it has a drop of milk added, for a softer crumb, and is baked in a traditional loaf tin.
Packed with leeks, shallots and carrots, as well as healthy oats, these savoury muffins make a wonderful alternative to a sandwich, and are perfect when served to accompany soup, and casseroles, as well for the school or office lunch box.
My recipe for Cheese & Lentil Slice is based on something my mum used to bake. It’s a fabulous vegetarian recipe that is also gluten free. It makes NINE generous slices which can be eaten warm, or cold. These Cheese & Lentil Slices are brilliant for the school and office lunch box, and are perfect picnic fodder too.
This is my grandmother’s recipe, and my mum used to make it too. It’s NOT a quiche, a tart or a pie, but very much an old-fashioned flan. It’s perfect for hard times, as it uses very few ingredients, and unlike a quiche, there is no cheese in it. or onions for that matter. It makes a FABULOUS lunchbox addition.
The perfect lunchbox meal, high in protein and easy to pack too! Freshly boiled free-range or home-grown eggs are encased in a herb & spice flavoured sausage & bread crumb “jacket” which are then deep-fried until golden and crisp, freshly made they are utterly delicious, and are perfect packed lunch or picnic food.
This recipe for SPAM® & Eggs Sandwich Filling would make the perfect sarnies for a special party or for a packed lunch. Based on a recipe on the SPAM® UK website, this sandwich filling is made from 100% store cupboard ingredients, and is absolutely delicious. Use it any sliced bread, whether it be commercially made white bread, wholemeal bread or in homemade sourdough bread.
A North Eastern classic sandwich filling from England and one that was made famous by Gregg’s the Bakers of Gosforth in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Traditionally used to fill “stotty cake” sandwiches, this is a fabulous vegetarian spread for the school or office lunch box.
A classic egg and cress sandwich with an extra peppery twist, fresh watercress. Make the filling as soon as the eggs have cooled, and use fresh thick cut brown bread. Perfect lunchbox fodder.
Sweet Back-to-School Lunchbox Recipes
This tray bake “slab” cake is easy to make and even easier to eat, and makes a very generous 15 squares of cake, although I remember our school dinner ladies and cooks serving up giant slabs of this cake from huge trays of 24 portions or more. Do try to use old-fashioned hundreds and thousands, and not posh or glitzy sprinkles for an authentic “school dinners pudding” effect.
This recipe is SO easy to rustle up and they stay crisp and fresh for up to 5 days in an airtight tin. You can roll them in coconut or oats, I prefer coconut – but I am sure they would be just as nice with oats, which is a suggested alternative. Children and “big children” love these, and they really are melting moments, great with a cuppa English tea, or when ticked into the school lunchbox.
These plumptious berry bakes are the star of my early autumn kitchen and would make the perfect lunch box treat. A goodly amount of blackberries are added, and once baked, spiced brown sugar is sprinkled over the top for an added crunch and spiced warmth.
These delightful little Old-Fashioned Coconut Macaroons, remind me of the bakeries from my childhood, as well as afternoon tea with granny. I hope you are inspired to make these old-fashioned cakes/cookies, they would be a fabulous addition to any school lunch box, elevenses, picnic or afternoon tea.
This wonderful recipe for Old-Fashioned Tea Cake Squares is a vintage recipe taken from the Farmers Weekly magazine circa 1920. It’s a really wonderful recipe which is easy to make, and which makes a lovely sweet addition to the school (or office) lunchbox.
Rock Cakes (Rock Buns) – These delicious and easily made little buns, were the mainstay of my childhood tea time table. Mum would bake these every week, not just for Sunday tea, but also for the school and work lunch box.
“Rainbow Jumbles” Biscuits – Cookies: An updated version of the classic British biscuit, Jumbles are an easy one pan biscuit that needs no rolling, and is perfect for the children to bake with you. Also perfect for the school lunchbox.
This recipe for Easy Cornflake Tart is a blast from the past, as I used to love this when I was at school as part of school dinners “afters”, especially when served warm with custard. This recipe is easily made with store cupboard ingredients, and ready-made and ready-rolled pastry. Why not add a slice to a school lunchbox as a sweet treat?
Salad Back-to-School Lunchbox Recipes
A tasty, traditional American style macaroni salad from Pennsylvania Dutch Country, where many Amish people live and work. Great when added to a packed lunch for school, just remember to add a spoon or a fork!
A simple and yet stunning summer salad in a jar, which makes it perfect for the school lunchbox, picnics and BBQ’s; easily made, this salad will keep fresh without the dressing if made the night before.
A fabulous recipe based on what I would LIKE to see in my lunch box now, or what my daughter might like to take to work with her, a tasty and yet LOW CALORIE lunch with lots of flavour, and bags of taste.
Lynne says
Some lovely ideas here, thanks. We also had “FLAN, NOT QUICHE”(!) when I was growing up. My mum made the best cheese and onion flan ever. Solid rather than wobbly. It would be my death row meal of choice!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks Lynne! It’s always a flan here and never a quiche!