The Only School Lunch Grocery List You Need

The secret to building a better lunch box doesn't lie in following fussy recipes or even turning to pre-cooked food. Instead, it's about buying basic ingredients that you can combine into well-rounded meals.

We've outlined a list of pantry and fridge staples that you can serve straight out of the packaging (no recipes required!) or get creative with if you're in a cooking mood. Knowing what to shop for, plus a few ways to use each ingredient, will help prevent your school lunch slump before it starts.

Download the full essential school grocery list.

Pantry Essentials for School Lunches

Bread and wraps

No surprise here: bread, tortillas, pita, naan, English muffins, and bagels will be the base of many school lunches. Check out these Tasty School Lunch Ideas for kid-friendly sandwiches, or slice them into wedges to pack alongside dips and spreads.

Pasta

You can incorporate many of the ingredients on this list into pasta salads. Your best bet will be shorter pasta like rotini, penne, farfalle, fusilli, or elbow macaroni, which are easy to eat. Get inspiration from these Kid-Friendly Lunch Box Pasta Salads.

Canned beans

Budget-friendly beans can go a long way for lunch. For example, you can quickly whip up hummus or a black bean dip to coat sandwich wraps. Black beans work well in burritos, corn salad, and Southwest-inspired chicken salad. Meanwhile, you can use chickpeas to make a vegetarian sandwich filling.

Nut butter or seed butter

Peanut butter sandwiches were once classic school fare, yet the prevalence of peanut allergies has led many schools to ban the butter and, in some cases, tree nut butters, too. Stock the pantry with school-safe sunflower butter and pumpkin seed butter instead for sandwiches and spreading over celery, carrots, and apple slices.

Snacks

Keep a mix of sweet and savory snacks in the pantry to round out their meals:

• Crackers, chips, and popcorn
• Bars and cookies
• Dried fruit
• Nuts and seeds
• Olives and pickles
• Jerky and meat sticks

Condiments

For the average kid, just a few condiments will suffice. Think jam or jelly, mayonnaise, and Ranch dressing.

Refrigerator Essentials for School Lunches

Fresh produce

Fruits and veggies are key to a balanced lunch box, and even picky eaters can enjoy them with spreads, dips, or dressing.

Crunchy vegetables like carrots, celery, bell pepper slices, cucumber slices, sugar snap peas, broccoli, and cauliflower hold up well, as do cherry tomatoes. Choosing in-season fruits usually proves most cost effective, while apples and bananas hold up well year round.

Deli meat

Lean on deli meat not only to fill sandwiches but also to wrap around sliced cucumbers, bell peppers, and more.

Rotisserie chicken

Shred rotisserie chicken into small pieces for sandwiches, too, or top it with Ranch dressing for makeshift chicken salad.

Eggs

Boiled eggs, deviled eggs, and egg salad make excellent cold lunches.

Cheese for sandwiches and snacking

In the dairy section, choose from cheese blocks, slices, and shredded cheese for sandwiches and wraps, plus cheese sticks and mini cheese rounds for snacks.

Yogurt and cottage cheese

Plain yogurt and plain Greek yogurt can multitask in parfaits and yogurt bark, and in place of mayonnaise in chicken salad and deviled eggs. You can also jazz up protein-rich cottage cheese with honey and bananas or other fruit.

Spreads

Easily transform those crunchy veggies, chips, and crackers from snacks into a substantial part of their meal by packing them with a mini hummus cup or mini guacamole cup, which often come in packs of six at the supermarket. Cream cheese is also worth keeping in the fridge, as you can can use it as the base for Crazy Good Cream Cheese Dips or spread the plain stuff onto sandwiches and wraps.

Click to download the grocery list.

Related:

• Ridiculously Easy School Lunches
• Homemade Snacks for School
• See our entire collection of Healthy School Lunch Recipes.