What to Pack in Your Dairy-Free Lunchbox

Packing a lunch without dairy can be daunting, but with a little advance planning and label reading (note that milk and whey are common bread ingredients) you or your child can have a lunchbox to look forward to. Try one of these ideas:

Drinks:

• Individual carton of soy, nut, or hemp milk
• Juice box
• Water

Sandwich ideas:

• Pita bread stuffed with hummus and veggies
• Almond butter and marshmallow fluff for a new twist on a kid classic
• Dairy-free lunch meat and soy cheese on dairy-free bread
• Tortilla wrap with dairy-free lunch meat, tomato, and guacamole

Snacks:

• Soy yogurt
• Homemade trail mix with nuts, seeds, safe granola, and dairy-free chocolate chips
• Dried fruit, such as raisins, dried cranberries, or apricots
• Pumpkin seeds
• Potato or tortilla chips
• Carrot and celery sticks
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Mini rice cakes (make sure they are dairy-free) with almond butter

Dessert:

• Mexican chocolate wacky cupcakes
• Dairy-free pineapple upside down cake
• Dairy-free lemon vanilla cupcakes
• Dairy-free cookies
• Fun gelatin shapes

For more dairy-free school lunch ideas, see Ashley Skabar's recipes for Dairy-Free Lunches for Kids.