Healthy kids' lunchbox ideas

Healthy pizza

“We loved making a healthy roasted beetroot, herb, cauliflower and feta pizza – and just a secret between you and me, they tasted amazing. This is a healthy choice for a healthy lunch because it’s high in fibre and all the fruit and veg helps you stay fit and makes you strong.”

– Nerang State School, QLD

Roasted kale chips

“We used curly kale straight from the garden, pulled and broke into pieces and tossed it in a bowl with a little salt and olive oil. We roasted it until it was dry and crispy. We thought it would be nice in our lunch box because we could eat the crunchy kale chips instead of potato chips.”

– Gunnedah South Public School, NSW

Sushi

“We came up with cauliflower rice sushi with tuna. We had lots of beautiful looking cauliflower ready to harvest in the garden. We also made our own mayonnaise to mix with the tuna to roll in the sushi. It has been so popular we have posted the recipe on the school website and newsletter so everyone can make it at home.”

– Burleigh Heads State School, QLD

Quiche

“We used cherry tomatoes, basil, spinach and zucchini from our garden. As a group, we decided this was a great recipe because it is easy, cheap and very quick to make. It is also packed full of veggies, protein and dairy which will keep us fit and healthy.”

–Hervey Bay Special School, QLD

Savoury muffins

“Spring onion and cheese muffins are a perfect choice for a lunch box treat. These muffins are delicious because they have fresh and organic spring onion that is from our kitchen garden.”

– St Thomas the Apostle Catholic Primary School, VIC

Spring rolls

“We are here to tell you that baked spring rolls are great for lunch boxes. They are very healthy and have some great and yummy ingredients that are fresh from our garden.
They are healthy because they contain spring onion, garlic, wong bok (Chinese cabbage), carrots and bean sprouts. They have hardly any oil at all in them because they are baked.”

–Surfside Primary School, VIC

Pumpkin soup

“We never realised before how good pumpkin can taste! Yummy!”

–Southside Montessori School, NSW

Beetroot dip

“Beetroot is in season at the moment and we have massive ones in our garden. We roasted the beetroot and peeled it. We then whizzed it up in the food processor until it was smooth and added some olive oil, lemon juice and chopped garlic. It was fresh with no preservatives.”

– Gunnedah South Public School, NSW

Rice paper rolls

“Rice paper rolls are fun to make and we love eating them. We use fresh curly lettuce, carrots and snow peas from the garden, and the herbs mint and coriander. You can use just about anything in rice paper rolls, such as chicken, capsicum, cucumber, avocado and zucchini.”

–Seaforth Public School, NSW

Savoury scrolls

“Our spinach & feta scrolls are made with wholemeal pastry using wholemeal flour and extra virgin olive oil. They pastry is then spread with homemade basil pesto, crumbled with low-fat feta cheese and spread with fresh baby spinach from the garden.”

–Hannam Vale Public School, NSW

Bush tucker

“Year 5 made a healthy lunch box snack of kangaroo meatballs, wattle seed damper and a fresh garden salad. We studied various foods and bush tucker in Aboriginal culture and planned our menu together with what we had in our garden.”

–Nemingha Public School, NSW

Okonomiyaki (Japanese savoury pancake)

“We used a traditional Japanese batter recipe and chose our own home-grown vegetables to mix in. Our Environment Club went on a mini adventure in our garden and picked cabbage, spring onion, celery, silverbeet, broccoli and spinach."

–Tooradin Primary School, VIC

Vegetable samosas

“The filling comprised of healthy vegetables - potatoes, carrots (from the garden), peas, garlic and onion - wrapped in spring roll pastry sheets. The samosas were then lightly sprayed with canola oil and baked to cook. The verdict? Delicious, awesome, incredible, we want some more please!”

–Beckenham Primary School, WA

Zucchini slice

“The secret ingredients were some Brazilian spinach and basil from our garden.”

–Barunga Primary School, NT

Find out more about the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program at kitchengardenfoundation.org.au

Medibank is proud to be Principal Partner of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation.