Collection of 22 Indian inspired Kids Lunch Box Recipes. These recipes are mostly vegetarian, while some are vegan and few have egg in them.
Packing 200 plus kids lunches in a year can be challenging for parents. To make the process easy, I am sharing few recipes which I pack for my kids. Hope you find this post useful.
SOME OF THE THINGS I KEEP IN MIND WHILE PACKING SCHOOL LUNCHES –
- I don’t experiment much for school lunches, its mostly what they like. If I want them to try something new, I only introduce them when they are eating at home.
- I always include fruits or fresh veggies like cherry tomato, cucumber or carrot with their lunch box.
- Occasionally juice, but mostly water.
- Depending on what I give, I love packing the food in steel containers or thermos. Thermos keeps the food warm and kids love it.
- Some days I also include crackers, chips, any homemade savory snacks, or something sweet.
Disclaimer: Please note that I am not a dietician, these are some of the recipes which worked for our family. Use this just as reference and adapt to what works for your child.
Few more Kids inspired Dishes –
Indian Breakfast Recipes for Kids
Indian Kids Lunch Box Recipes
Mess free pulao loaded with vegetables. Kids will love this dish, can be enjoyed plain or with raita.
Indian style grilled potato sandwich, kids will love devouring this for lunch.
Indian style savory waffles made with dosa batter.
Gunta Ponganalu or Kuzhi Paniyaram is a savory dish made with left over dosa batter. Very popular in South India, these little dumplings can be served for breakfast, snack or packed for kids lunch box.
Idli Upma is a simple South Indian dish made with crumbled idli. Tasty and simple dish which is enjoyed by adults as well as kids.
If you like Indi Chinese cuisine, then you will love this Burnt Garlic Fried rice. Kids will ask you to pack this every day.
Tomato Chutney Grilled Cheese is an Indian spin to the ultimate comfort food Grilled Cheese with Tomato.
Pan fried patties or cutlets made with veggies, potato, quinoa and rice. Tasty and filling cutlets which can be eaten for breakfast, snack or pack them for kids lunch.
Soft melt in the mouth sponge dosa - make mini dosa and serve it with your favorite chutney.
Masala Vegetable Quesadillas loaded with veggies, warm Indian spice and Mexican style cheese tucked in a pan fried tortilla. Makes for a tasty kids lunch box dish.
Chapati quesadilla is a nice variation from the regular chapathi and sabji. The stuffing is already inside the chapati,with the melted cheese. Its a mess free lunch box recipe. Cut the quesadilla into triangles, and serve with some salsa.
My go to lunch box dish for my kids is this lemon rice. So simple but so tasty.
Indian spin on a traditional Chinese Style fried rice. This popular street food from India is quick and easy to make and is a great way of using up left over rice. Serve with sweet and spicy tofu.
Brown rice is tossed with veggies and egg.
Pulihora is an Andhra style tamarind rice which has a perfect balance of tang, spice and salt. This traditional South Indian rice dish is so flavorful and easy to make.
A healthy spin to the Mumbai’s street food favorite, is made with spiced potatoes, cilantro chutney, date chutney, chaat masala, cheese and crusty bread.
Kids favorite noodles made with Indian spices.
Oats Paratha is a healthy and nutritious flat bread made with the goodness of oats, whole wheat flour, veggies and spices. Tastes great with a side of pickle and yogurt.
Indian Style Potato Tacos makes for a quick and tasty fusion dish for your kids lunch box.
Vegetable fried rice with the goodness of spinach.
Egg Bhurji Sandwich is an Indian Style Scrambled Egg Sandwich. Also called as Anda Bhurji, this Masala Bhurji Cheese Sandwich can be enjoyed for breakfast, or lunch..
Kids will love this plain biryani and it will definitely be on repeat for school lunches.
South Indian style coconut rice made with fresh coconut, cashew and spices.
Simple rice dish made with basic pantry ingredients.
27 – Mango Rice – When green mangoes are in season, I love to pack mango rice for my kids.
28 – Black Bean Burger – I sauteed onion and red bell pepper and mixed it with Maggi sweet and spicy sauce. Heated a frozen black bean burger and toasted the bread and added the filling on top of the black bean burger with some mayo and lettuce. Lettuce adds like a bed and doesn’t make the bread soggy.
29 – Vermicelli Pulao – easy but very tasty Vermicelli Pulao for kids lunch box.
30 – Vegetable Soup with Pinto Beans – comforting soup to enjoy with garlic bread, especially in winter months.
31- Chapath with Potato Fry – simple and tasty. Used store bought tortillas for those week day mornings.
32- Paneer Roll – Paneer Roll this is one of my kids favorite lunch and after school snacks. So easy to prepare and loved by kids. You can find the recipe in the recipe card below.
30+ Kids Lunch Box Recipes (Indian) : Bread Paneer Roll
Ingredients
- 1 cup cubed paneer
- ½ cup onion, finely diced
- ½ cup bell pepper, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small green chili, finley chopped
- 2 teaspoon maggi sweet and spicy chili sauce or use tomato ketchup
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 5 bread slices
Instructions
Paneer Filling
- Crumble the paneer and set a side.
- Heat a skillet and add oil. Once the oil gets hot, add onion and green chili and saute for 2-3 minutes.
- Add bell pepper, ginger and garlic and cook till onion and pepper turn soft, about 5 -6 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the chili powder, garam masala and cumin powder. Mix it and cook for 30 seconds.
- Now add the crumbled paneer and salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Turn off the stove and add the maggi sauce and coriander leaves.
To make the Bread Paneer Roll
- Remove the crust from the bread, and make the bread flat with the help of a rolling pin.
- Fill 2 teaspoons of filling on one end of the rolled bread. Slowly roll it to the other side. You can dap the bread with some water to close the edges. Repeat with the rest of the bread slices.
- Heat a skillet and add some oil and toast the bread on all sides till light brown.
- Serve the paneer bread roll with ketchup.
Rohini
I love the idea of dosa waffles 🙂
Madhavi
Thank you Rohini!
Deepika
Tasty recepies
Kundana
Each of the recipe has a unique style …thanks for sharing such amazing recipes ….looks colourful and yummy…🥰🥰🥰
Sandhya
Tasty kids recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Madhavi
Thank you!