Are your kids (or you) getting bored with sandwiches for lunch? Start making DIY lunchables and watch them get excited to eat lunch! They're fun to make, easy to throw together, and you likely have everything you'll need for them.

DIY lunchables, from Shelf Cooking

There is nothing wrong with your kid eating a sandwich for lunch. Heck, it's even really easy to make them ahead and freeze them! But what about when they're tired of eating sandwiches and want to switch it up a little bit?

*Note: When you click the links in this post, we may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Enter DIY lunchables! They're so easy to make and way cheaper than the store-bought ones. You should be able to make all of these with ingredients that you already have on hand and your kids will be excited to eat them at home, at school, at the park, or wherever. Winning! So, you ready to get to it?


DIFFERENT TYPES OF DIY LUNCHABLES

Homemade English muffin pizza, from Shelf Cooking

We've got three different ideas for you to try out today. They are all so delicious and your kids will really love them! But before we get to them, let's go over the best way to package your DIY lunchables real quick.

The cheapest and easiest way to pack them up is by using whatever food storage containers you already have. Silicone baking cups are a great way to keep everything separated so nothing gets soggy. Bento boxes are also a handy way to package them, if you already have some!

You can also prep a lot of these over the weekend so they can easily grab them and go whenever they're packing their lunches. If you want to do this, then grab some condiment cups and fill them up with each individual type of food – they store the perfect amount for those little tummies.


MEAT, CHEESE, & CRACKERS

Cracker, ham, and cheese sandwich, from Shelf Cooking

This is probably one of the most common DIY lunchables there is and for good reason! You can easily switch out the ingredients you use to make it, that way they don't get burnt out on having the same thing all of the time.

  • Meat – Any type of lunch meat will do! Ham, turkey, chicken, bologna, and anything else you may have on hand. You can either roll the meat up and pack it that way or cut it with a medicine cup so it'll fit on a cracker.
  • Cheese – Cheddar, Colby-jack, Swiss, whatever type of cheese your child loves! Cut it up in little rectangles or cube it, whatever is easiest for you.
  • Crackers – Absolutely any type of cracker will work, here! You really can't go wrong with any of 'em.
  • Treat – Lunchables always have a little treat in them, right? Throw in your kids' favorite sweet treat. Dried fruit, cookies, candy, fruit snacks, whatever they love the most!

So easy and so delicious.


PIZZA

Pizza DIY lunchables on a counter, from Shelf Cooking

If your kids love making homemade pizzas for dinner, then they're really going to love getting to create their own DIY lunchable pizzas! They'll definitely be one of the cool kids on the block and feel extra special when they're eating this for lunch.

  • CrustSandwich thins are the perfect size for the crust! If you like to make your own, then make your favorite pizza crust recipe and just make them into mini pizza sizes.
  • Sauce – Pizza sauce, pasta sauce, or homemade will work here! Just store it in a small condiment cup so that it won't make a mess in the lunchbox.
  • Shredded Cheese – It's not pizza without the cheese! Mozzarella and Colby-jack are the two best cheeses to use, but you could really use any type you have.
  • Meat – Pack their favorite pizza meats! Canadian bacon (you could also use ham lunchmeat), pepperoni, or even sausage.
  • Sweet Treat – Once again, feel free to throw in your child's favorite sweet treat!

You just became even cooler in your kids' eyes, bask in the glory while you can. 😉


PROTEIN PACK

Homemade protein pack, from Shelf Cooking

This is probably our favorite DIY lunchable because it's adult-friendly, as well! (Although if you ask us, they're all adult-friendly and welcome on any lunch table that we're sitting at.)

  • Hard-Boiled EggWhip up a bunch on the weekend in your Instant Pot and you've got protein packs for the whole week!
  • Nuts – Throw in their favorite nuts, such as almonds, pecans, or peanuts. Just make sure there's no nut allergies wherever they're taking them!
  • Cheese – Cube up whatever cheese you have in your fridge, you really can't go wrong here.
  • Dried Fruit – Craisins, raisins, dried blueberries, and dried strawberries are great to throw in protein packs as a nice little sweet.

Don't those all sound so delicious? These DIY lunchables are perfect for kids and adults, alike. 😉 Let us know what your favorite combos are in the comments!

Text that reads "DIY lunchables - easy ideas kids can put together," from Shelf Cooking

Looking for more great ideas?

Happy lunching!