Healthy Lunch Ideas – Food Allergy Parents

If you're looking for dairy-free, gluten-free, peanut-free, tree nut-free, or soy-free lunch ideas, you're in the right place! We use the Planet Box lunchbox and these are kid-approved and allergy-friendly lunch ideas. Watch the video after Lunch #5 to see how you can make each of these lunches and insider tips on making these lunches. Whether your child is managing food allergies or you're in a nut-free school, this list will help make lunch time a little easier for you. Some of these kid lunchbox ideas are vegan and sugar-free too! ALLERGY FREE LUNCH IDEAS FOR KIDS Although these lunch ideas are nut-free, so they are free from tree nuts and peanuts, some of these lunch ideas contain coconut, which is classified as a fruit. This can be confusing as the FDA now recognizes it as a tree nut. As always, please read ingredient labels for packaged foods yourself to ensure it's safe for your allergy needs. 💙 1. TACO PIZZAS WITH CHIPS AND SALSA How about Taco Pizzas on Taco Tuesdays for an allergy-friendly and vegan kids' lunch? Spread refried black beans or avocado on rice cakes then top with sliced cherry tomatoes, peppers, and black beans. Side dishes include blue corn chips and salsa and fresh blueberries. 💚 You can order the refried black beans and tortilla chips we use from Thrive Market. If you're new to Thrive Market, SAVE 25% today on your 1st order with the Food Allergy Parents link below. CLICK TO START FILLING YOUR THRIVE MARKET BOX We hope your family loves the convenience of food and snacks free from the top 8 allergens delivered to your door as much as we do! 📦 💙 To make this dairy, gluten, nut, and soy-free cold lunch, we used: Rice Cakes - order from Amazon or Thrive MarketTortilla Chips - Blue Corn or Grain Free (the grain-free chips contain coconut)Refried Black BeansCherry TomatoesGreen PepperCanned Black BeansSalsaBlueberries ✅ The rice cakes with the refried beans get soft if they are stored longer than a couple of hours. If your lunch needs to be packed ahead of time for school or a picnic, pack the beans and a plastic knife. Your child can spread the beans on the rice cakes at lunchtime, like he's making a lunchable pizza. 2. SUNBUTTER AND JELLY RICE CAKE SANDWICH WITH ANTS ON A LOG The classic cold lunch is a Peanut Butter + Jelly sandwich, which obviously doesn't work for kids with peanut allergies or those attending nut-free schools. An easy way to still enjoy this simple kids' lunch without putting someone who has anaphylactic or contact reactions to peanuts at risk is to swap Peanut Butter for SunButter, which is made from sunflower seeds. Ants on a log are a fun classic and a healthy snack idea for kids. Simply swap peanut butter for a safe alternative like SunButter or WOWBUTTER and top it with dried fruit. To make this vegan, dairy, gluten, nut, and soy-free cold lunch, we used: Rice CakesSunButterJellyFrozen Melon and PineappleChickpeas - from a can, drained and rinsedCeleryGoji Berries ✅ We made these allergy-free sandwich gluten-free by swapping bread for rice cakes. You can use safe bread for your kids for a regular sandwich instead! 3. TURKEY BURGER WITH ROASTED VEGGIES AND FLAX SNAX Turkey Burgers are another popular kid-approved and allergen-free lunch with lots of protein. Add some ketchup, mustard or avocado mayo to a small dish and kids can spread it on or dunk their turkey burger in the cup at lunch time. This lunch has roasted broccoli, which can be eaten warm or cold, and a few easy-to-grab snacks. To make this dairy, gluten, nut, and soy-free cold lunch, we used: Turkey Burger - Kirkwood from Aldi or Jennie-O from WalmartApplesauce Cups or PouchesFlax Snax - Zesty Pizza flavorRoasted BroccoliYellow TomatoesUnsweetened Ketchup or Avocado Mayo ✅ To avoid allergens, the burgers we use are not breaded and they need to be cooked. You can cook one the night before for a cold school lunch or cook it right before lunch for meals at home.. 4. HOT DOGS AND SAUERKRAUT WITH NUT-FREE TRAIL MIX Is Wiener and Kraut Day a thing where you come from? It was a big day where I'm from and it's the inspiration behind this allergy-friendly lunch. Some hot dogs, sauerkraut, diced cucumbers, golden tomatoes, a clementine, and a nut-free fruit + seed mix make this an easy lunch to pack. To make this dairy, gluten, nut, and soy-free cold lunch, we used: Hot Dogs - Organic, Uncured Beef Dogs from AldiSauerkraut CucumberGolden TomatoesClementineSeed & Fruit Trail Mix - or this similar one on Amazon 5. MINI SHRIMP WITH VEGGIES AND COCONUT CRISPS Mini shrimp for lunch? Oh yeah! As long as you don't have a shellfish allergy, this is a pretty easy cold lunch idea. Just take some Frozen Cooked & Peeled Salad Shrimp out of the bag and they'll unthaw by lunch time. Healthy and allergy-friendly Sides for this lunch are cauliflower and hummus, pickle cucumber, a fruit and vegetable pouch, and some sweet coconut crisps. To make this dairy, gluten, peanut, and soy-free cold lunch, we used: Frozen Salad ShrimpCoconut CrispsFruit & Vegetable PouchCucumberHummusCauliflower HOW TO MAKE THESE ALLERGY-FRIENDLY LUNCHES Watch this video to see how each of these lunches were made and to see more details and ingredients of the products used. 6. GLUTEN AND DAIRY-FREE TUNA SALAD WRAP Wraps are another great lunch idea, the trick is making them safe for your food allergies. Tuna salad wraps are easy to make and frozen peas have become an easy snack to give the kids. They thaw out fairly quickly and it's something different from our routine raw vegetables. A nut-free trail mix can be made with seeds and dried fruit. To make this dairy, gluten, nut, and soy-free cold lunch, we used: Coconut Wraps - Either Thrive Market Brand or NUCO BrandAvocado Mayo - Available on Thrive Market or a larger size on AmazonFrozen PeasTunaCeleryCarrotsHummusPumpkin Seeds - Now Real Food Seeds are processed in a Peanut-Free FacilityMulberries - Navitas Brand on Amazon or Thrive MarketPlum ✅ These coconut wraps will get soggy if stored with the tuna salad for very long. Thicker gluten-free wraps could be used instead or the tuna salad could be packed in a separate section and your child can spread it on her wrap at lunchtime. 💚 If you're not a Thrive Market member yet, you can SAVE 25% today on your 1st order with the Food Allergy Parents link below. As you can tell, we order a lot of our safe food from there.📦 💙 CLICK TO START FILLING YOUR THRIVE MARKET BOX 7. GLUTEN AND NUT-FREE SUNBUTTER + BANANA WRAP Another wrap idea for your allergy-friendly cold lunch is a Sunbutter + Banana wrap. We use the same Coconut Wraps as above, but this one can be a sweeter lunch by spreading SunButter on the wrap and topping it with Banana spears. Snacks for this lunch are carrots, dairy-free ranch dressing, kiwi, seeds, and dried fruit. To make this dairy, gluten, nut, and soy-free cold lunch, we used: Coconut Wraps - Either Thrive Market Brand or NUCO BrandSunButterCarrotsDairy-Free Ranch DressingKiwiSeedsDried Berries - Navitas Brand on Amazon or Thrive Market 8. GLUTEN FREE MUFFINS AND SUPER GREEN SMOOTHIE Muffins and Smoothie for lunch? The kids love it! This allergy-friendly lunch includes homemade Gluten-Free Blueberry, Zucchini & Banana Muffins. a Super Green Smoothie (that I forgot to take a picture of but you can see it in the video up above), a beef stick, bell pepper slices, and frozen pineapple. To make this dairy, gluten, nut, and soy-free cold lunch, we used: Blueberry Zucchini Muffins - Our homemade recipe but if you need a mix, check out Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur FlourGreen Smoothie - with greens, celery, flaxseed, lime juice, avocado, green grapes, and bananaBeef Stick - from Thrive Market or AmazonRed Bell PepperFrozen Pineapple 9. CHICKEN SAUSAGE WITH AVOCADO Here's another simple high protein meal that's nut-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, and sugar-free. Chicken Sausages, ketchup, avocado, ground cherries, and cucumbers. Slice the avocado in half and remove the seed ahead of time so it's easy to scoop at lunchtime. To make this dairy, gluten, nut, and soy-free cold lunch, we used: Chicken Sausages - Simply Nature from AldiUnsweetened KetchupGround CherriesCucumberAvocado 10. HARD BOILED EGGS WITH ANTS ON A BOAT AND NUT-FREE GRANOLA BAR This last peanut-free, tree nut-free, milk-free, soy-free, and gluten free lunch for kids is colorful, easy, and healthy. Hardboiled eggs with salt + pepper, ants on a boat, golden cherry tomatoes, frozen strawberries, and a nut-free granola bar. Granola bars are such an easy food to pack in kids' lunches, but most contain peanuts or tree nuts. Nut-free and soy-free granola bars DO exist, it usually just takes an allergy mom to show you where to find them. To make this dairy, gluten, nut, and soy-free cold lunch, we used: Hard-Boiled EggsSalt and Pepper - for dipping the eggsBell PepperSunButterGoji BerriesFrozen StrawberriesCherry TomatoesPumpkin Seed Granola Bar TOOLS TO MAKE ALLERGY FRIENDLY LUNCHES As an allergy parent, you know the struggle of telling our children NO to food and food-related events a LOT. These two simple tools can help make lunchtime with allergies more joyful and memorable for you and your kids. 1. LUNCHBOX Our lunchboxes are the PlanetBox Launch Stainless Steel Lunchbox. After lots of research, we chose this lunchbox because: the size and compartments are just the right size for our kids' appetiteswe prefer stainless steel over plastickids loved getting to pick out their own magnets to make them uniquethey're dishwasher safe You can get the lunchbox and magnets from the PlanetBox website. That's where you'll find the most magnet options. You can also find the Launch Lunchbox and Carry Bag on Amazon. 2. SILICONE MUFFIN CUPS These colorful silicone cups help contain food inside the lunchbox. Bonus, they make the lunch colorful and look more appealing too. We received our as a gift, but there are many to choose from. This set looks great for packing lunches with both round and rectangle shapes. CHEAPER PLANETBOX ALTERNATIVES The PlanetBox lunchboxes are an investment that should last for many years. However, if you need a cheaper lunchbox, here are three alternatives on Amazon: Bentgo Kids - Plastic leakproof lunchbox with fun kid prints and five compartments for younger kidsBentgo Fresh - Plastic leakproof lunchbox with solid colors and four compartments for adults and kids with larger appetitesLunchBots Large Trio - Stainless steel container with compartments for a main dish and two sides Related: More of our favorite tools for taking allergy-friendly food on the go. TEACHING KIDS WITH FOOD ALLERGIES ABOUT FOOD You'll notice there's a lot of cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers in this lunch. These lunches were created during the summer when our garden was producing lots of these vegetables. Eating seasonally and teaching kids how to grow food can increase their knowledge of food, ingredients, and how they affect their bodies. This is important for everyone, but especially critical for kids with food allergies.💙 SAVE THESE ALLERGY-FRIENDLY LUNCH IDEAS FOR LATER Take two seconds to share these ideas with other food allergy families on social media. Lunches and taking safe food on the go can be so hard. Share this post and make life a little easier on a fellow allergy mom today. 💙 Teal Love, -Val Related: 7 Best Store-Bought Cookies that are Peanut Free ALWAYS CHECK LABELS YOURSELF Ingredients and manufacturing procedures can change over time. Please recheck food labels to make sure they fit your dietary needs before eating. I am a constantly-researching food allergy mom. However, I am not a medical professional and nothing on this blog should take the place of your doctor's recommendations.