Lunch Ideas for Toddlers: Quick and Nutritious Meals for Busy Days

Your toddler’s lunchbox should see creativity. A routine lunchbox puts anything but a smile on your toddler’s face. They want to see the same ‘alu ka paratha,’ or ‘dal chawal’ in their lunchbox every day. That’s why you must be resourceful and think of lunch ideas for toddlers.

But what to do when creativity isn’t our strongest suit?

We looked around and prepared a list of lunch ideas just for your little one.

So, if you’re here to explore, let’s not disappoint you.

20 Lunch Ideas for Toddlers: Tips for Busy Parents

Here are the 20 lunch ideas you can try for your toddlers —

1. Corn Palak Sandwich

Ingredients:

• 4 Sliced Breads
• 1 Tbsp Cooking butter
• 1 tbsp Purpose flour
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1 cup spinach
• ½ cup corn
• ½ cup cheese

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 25 mins

Looking for healthy and easy lunch ideas for toddlers? Try a corn palak sandwich. It’s complete with its nutritional values and irresistible taste. This dish is easy to make, and all you need is a minimum list of a few ingredients.

You need balanced spinach, boiled corn kernels, and a flavorsome mix of mayonnaise with herbed seasoning. You can keep smashed almonds and whole fruit as complements to the dish. Don’t make it too often, or your toddler might get hooked on this just one food.

2. Peanut Butter and Banana Snacks

Ingredients

• 1 medium banana mashed
• 10 tbsp natural peanut butter
• ¼ cup honey
• ½ cup course ground flax
• 1 ½ cups quick oats
• 3 to4 tbsp peanut butter
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ cup mini chocolate chips optional

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 5 mins Peanut butter and banana are both healthy and tasty. The roll-ups require no cooking at all. You can make them on the go, and it takes only 15 to 20 minutes to prepare. It might take some time for your toddler to become a fan of this instant lunch. But as they build a habit of eating these foods, you can alter the taste a bit by adding marshmallows, honey, or anything they enjoy in that line.

3. Mini Paneer Uthappam

Ingredients

• 1 cup Rava
• ½ cup yoghurt
• Salt, to taste
• Red chili powder
• Cumin
• 1 tsp fruit salt
• 1 carrot (grated)
• 2 tomatoes (chopped)
• · 2 tbsps. chopped coriander
• Oil, as required

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 10 mins

Here’s a comfort food for all the Indian parents wondering what to give their toddler for lunch. A tasty and savory uthappam with grated cheese, onions, chopped carrots, tomatoes, and coriander makes up for a perfect lunch.

You can serve this delicious lunch to your toddler with fresh carrot sticks. It’s time to give them something yummy and full of flavors. This dish is just right for your little one to start loving healthy food.

4. Carrot Rice

Ingredients:

• Cooked rice (2 cups)
• Carrot grated (1.5 cups)
• Moong dal (2 tablespoons)
• 1 Onion
• Green chili slit – 2
• ⅛ tbsp turmeric
• 1 teaspoon Sambar powder
• 2 teaspoon Ghee
• Salt – according to taste

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 15 mins

Rice, in any form, is a comfort food for most Indian households. Some families choose rice three times a day. Here’s a recipe that doesn’t make rice taste boring – not to your little toddler.

Carrot rice is something you make by adding grated carrots with different spices to the rice. You can add peas for a variety of things, along with carrots.

Try slicing up a cucumber as a side dish for your child to enjoy. It’s just as yummy as it is healthy. Most children find this recipe finger-licking good.

5. Broccoli Pesto Pasta

Ingredients

• Broccoli florets (4 cups)
• Pasta, penne or rigatoni (1 pound)
• Lightly packed basil leaves (2 cups)
• Two garlic cloves- smashed
• Pine nuts (¼ cup), keep a little more for serving
• Extra-virgin olive oil (1 cup)
• Sea salt (½ teaspoon)
• Freshly grated Parmesan (1 cup)
• Red pepper flakes (optional) for serving

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cooking Time: 15 mins

Toddlers won’t always agree on everything, not even their dinner. Most of them say no to broccoli, and we know how healthy broccoli is.

Parents looking for healthy lunch ideas for toddlers can make broccoli sneak into the toddler’s lunchbox. Broccoli pesto pasta makes it possible.

You can add some grilled chicken with this pasta to amp it up with all the protein your toddler might need throughout the day.

6. Vegetable Pasta with Chikki

Ingredients:

• Dried pasta like rigatoni or ziti ( 1 pound (450g)
• Extra virgin olive oil (1 tbsp)
• Medium-sized onion (1/2)
• Two small bell peppers
• Mushrooms, (1 ¼ cups sliced)
• fennel seeds (1/2 teaspoon)
• Homemade pasta sauce (3 cups)
• Basil leaves (torn or coarsely chopped)
• Ricotta cheese (6 tbsp)
• Shredded mozzarella cheese (2 cups)
• Ground black pepper (salt)

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 25 mins

Working parents are always busy doing something. That doesn’t mean you’ll compromise on your toddler’s lunch. If you want to make it instantly, then try healthy pancakes. They take little to no time to make and are full of nutritional value. Potato spinach pancakes served with corn and moong sprout salad, are something to look forward to.

7. Tik Tac Toe Sandwich

Ingredients:

• SKIPPY Creamy Peanut Butter – 2 tbsp
• Whole-grain bread – 1 slice
• Banana – 1 medium
• Honey – 1 teaspoon

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: No cooking required

Toddlers love to play with their food. They’ll eat anything if there’s a game involved or if the food looks interesting enough. The Tic Tac Toe Sandwich is something you can pack in your toddler’s lunch box and expect them to return with an empty box from their daycare. This one is one of the best lunch ideas for picky toddlers. But the part is – it’s a no-cook dish.

8. Palak Thepla with Jeera Aloo

Ingredients:

• Atta (wheat flour) – (1 cup )
• Besan (gram flour) – (1/4 cup)
• turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
• 1/2 tsp. Red chilli powder
• Salt
• Ginger-green chilies paste – 1 tbsp
• Asafoetida – 1/4 tsp
• Yogurt – 3 tbsp
• Olive oil for kneading – 2 tbsp
• Roasted coriander powder – 1 tsp
• Spinach leaves, chopped – 1 cup
• Olive oil for shallow frying
• Roasted cumin powder – 1/2 tsp

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 25 mins

It’s plain chapati but with the twisty flavor of spinach to color and spice it up. When served with jeera alu, palak chapati tastes heavenly. This is one of the yummiest lunch ideas for your toddler to savor and cherish. Want to complete the lunch? Add a slice of orange to the plate. Now, your toddler is good to go with this delicacy.

9. Homemade Spaghetti

Ingredients:

• Butter – 2 tbsp
• Oil – ½ tbsp
• Finely chopped – 1 small onion
• Finely chopped – 1 large carrot
• Celery, finely chopped – 2 stalks
• Garlic, crushed – 1–2 cloves
• Chopped tomatoes – 800 grams
• Dried oregano – ½ tsp
• Cut in half or thirds – 20 capers
• Salt and pepper to taste

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 1 hr 5 mins

Well, this can also be one of the best dinner ideas for toddlers. But spaghetti is a good option both during lunch and at dinner. No, it shouldn’t take much time to make spaghetti for your little one. It’s a good option if you are looking for a vegetarian lunch option.

10. Paratha with Pineapple Raita

Ingredients for Pineapple Raita

• Curd
• Chopped pineapple – ½ cup
• Pomegranate – ¼ cup
• Pomegranate arils – ¼ cup
• Red chilli powder – ¼ teaspoon
• Roasted cumin – 1 teaspoon or 2 tablespoon
• Sugar – 1
• Coriander leaves

Prep Time: 15 mins

Here’s a lunch idea that’s rich in fiber, a little bit of protein, and carbohydrates. Dal paratha is a popular dish in India, especially in Rajasthan and Gujrat. You can serve these warm and delicious parathas to your toddler with pineapple raita.

11. Crispy Baked Fish

Ingredients:

• Egg white – 1
• Water – 1 teaspoon
• Cup Progresso – Italian style
• Lemon Pepper Seasoning – ½
• Garlic Salt – ¼ teaspoon
• Catfish or Tilapia fillets – 2 or ¾ fillets

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 30 mins

Does your toddler love fish? Even if they don’t, here’s a way to make them like fish. Crispy baked fish sticks are just what your toddler needs for lunch. High in protein, sticky fish fry is tasty as it is easy to make. Well, you’ll have to spend 40 minutes in the kitchen. But it’s worthwhile if your toddler needs to eat fish.

12. Mixed Vegetable Upma

Ingredients:

• Rava – 1 cup
• Onion – 1
• Peas fresh or frozen – ¼ cup
• Mixed Vegetables – 1 cup
• Green Chillies – 2
• Ginger Grated – 1 Pisces
• Curry leaves – a few
• Urad dal – ½ tsp
• Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
• A few roasted cashew nuts
• Coriander
• Oil – 2 tsp
• Salt – to taste

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 30 mins

Upma serves to your toddler’s definition of the word yummy which is sweet and salty. Mixed with different veggies, peanuts, and healthy spices, mixed veg up is one of the best lunch ideas for toddlers. The cooking takes some time, and there are different variations that you can try. You can make quinoa vegetable upma, oats and apple upma, carrot and broken wheat upma, and many more.

13. Healthy Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

• Dried macaroni – 2 cups
• Cheddar cheese, grated – 5 oz
• Dijon mustard -¼ tsp
• smoked paprika
• Heavy (double) cream – ¾ cups

No, you cannot make everything cheesy. But, if you want to make something smoother in cheese sauce, the healthy mac & cheese is something worth trying out. The highlights of this dish? Well, it’s completely vegetarian and high in protein – just the thing your toddler needs right now. Oh, you’ll have to spend some 50 minutes to cook this.

14. Palak Idli and Peanut Chutney

Ingredients

• Rava – 1 cup
• Loosely packed chopped spinach
• Salt to taste
• Water – 2 cups
• A pinch of baking soda
• Oil – to grease the idli stand

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 10 to 15 mins

It’s no news to any mother how healthy spinach is for their toddler. But, the struggle to make them eat spinach is real. Thanks to this recipe, you not only have a good lunch idea for your toddler but also a creative way to introduce spinach into their diet. Just add spinach puree to the idli batter and make spinach idli like you make regular idli. Serve it with delicious peanut chutney, and watch your toddler finish it up.

15. Avocado Paratha

Ingredients

• Ripe avocado – 1 large sized
• Whole wheat flour – 1
• Salt – ½ tsp
• Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
• asafoetida hing – ⅛ tsp
• Green chilli finely chopped – 1 Tbsp
• Cilantro – 1 tbsp finely chopped
• Ginger – 1 Tbsp Finely shredded
• Lemon juice – ½ tsp
• Whole wheat flour – ¼ cup
• For cooking parathas – 3 tbsp

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

This recipe requires you to knead the flour (whole wheat), avocado pulp, and spices together. Once done, make round chapatis and bake them in the pan with very little oil. It’s best served with beetroot kurma and a little bit of pretzels.

16. Tomato Rice

Ingredients

• Finely chopped tomato – 1 cup
• Medium-sized onion – ⅓s
• Ginger garlic paste – 1.5
• Chopped green chilli – ½ teaspoon
• Cinnamon – ½ inch
• Cloves – ⅔ pieces
• Medium-sized curry leaves – 6/7
• Turmeric powder, coriander powder, Mint leaves,
• 1.5 to 1.75 cups of water
• Oil – 2 tbsp
• Salt – as per requirement

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cooking Time: 35 mins There’s no way you’re running out of lunch ideas for your toddler when you have some leftover rice from last night. You can just make tasty and healthy tomato rice with the leftover rice you have. It takes a maximum of 30 minutes to prep and cook, and it’s tasty. Just start by pan-frying onions till they are golden brown.

You can add spices of your preference and then throw in the chopped tomato and cook for 7 to 8 minutes. Now, all you have to do is just put the rice in and cook for about 5 minutes.

17. Chicken Noodles for the Win

• Olive oil – 1 tbsp
• Mushrooms – 2
• Green beans – 8
• Yellow bell paper – half
• Broccoli – 4 florates
• Egg noodles – 1 nest
• Chicken breast – 100 grams
• Soy sauce – 1 tbsp
• Honey – 1 tbsp
• Chinese five spices – ¼ pieces
• Lime – 1 piece

This is one of those foods that your toddler expects while opening their lunchbox. As long as you are making soupy noodles for your child, they’re ready to listen to every word you say. While we don’t recommend resorting to packaged instant noodles every day, you can try them often for a change of taste. Plus, there are very few good options out there.

But, if you find something organic, you can go for packaged instant noodles and cook them with solid pieces of chicken. But remember, it’s not an everyday meal.

18. Hard-boiled or Scrambled Egg

Ingredients:

• Eggs – 3 large
• Milk – 1 teaspoon
• Extra virgin oil

Prep Time: 2 mins

Cooking Time: 3 minutes. A fulfilling lunch always doesn’t have to be a heavy one. As long as your child gets the nutrition, even scrambled eggs will do, especially when you serve them with a little bit of beans, apples, or cucumbers. It’s healthy, quick, and yummy, to say the least.

19. Coconut Rice & Masala Corn

Ingredients:

• Uncooked aged rice – 1 cup
• Water – 2 cups
• 1 to 1 ½ grated coconut
• Salt, green, oil, Hing, urad dal, ginger, and cashew nuts

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

This healthy recipe is too easy and simple to make. Only stir-fry cooked rice with dissected coconuts. Throw in raisins and cashews to spice it up a bit, and you are ready to serve them.

20. Spinach Pasta and Caramel Makhana

• Handfuls of fresh spinach – 2 big
• Uncooked mini pasta – 1 cup
• Butter – 1/2 tbsp
• Milk – 2 tbsp
• Cream cheese – 2 tbsp
• Parmesan cheese grated – 4 tbsp

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 10 mins

Cook pasta with spinach puree and cheese and serve it with makhana stirred in caramel. It’s too tasty for your child to forget.

Prep What You Promise

As a parent, you are to make no promises to your children that you cannot keep. There’s no point telling them you’ve put doughnuts in their lunchbox only for them to find out that it’s soya-rice all along. Do try the different lunch ideas shared here and change your options frequently. That way, you would want to have an unhappy toddler returning from daycare like a ‘Pet Cemetery.

Read Also:

• Baby-Led Weaning Recipes
• Does Baby Cereal Cause Constipation?