Many kids love finding new and exciting treats in their lunchboxes. These holiday lunch recipes help you make mealtimes more interesting while getting in the holiday spirit. They taste great, look cool and most are fairly quick and easy to prepare. Plus, most use common ingredients that you’ll likely already have in your pantry. Spread holiday cheer with these terrific holiday-themed lunches.
Gingerbread Man Bento
This delightful holiday-themed lunch idea from Adventures in Bentomaking is brimming with seasonal joy. Get creative molding rice into the shape of a gingerbread man, or use a cookie cutter to help you get the shape. We think it’d be fairly easy to switch the rice gingerbread man for a snowman for even more variation. Tasty and nutritious, the bento box contains everything your kid needs for a balanced meal, including plenty of fresh vegetables. You could also leave the meat out of the original recipe to make it veggie-friendly.
Chanukah Stained Glass Cookies
With a little more time to spare, bake up a batch of these beautiful Chanukah Stained Glass Cookies from Kosher.com for a lovely lunchtime snack. Suitable for vegetarians, the cookies are cute, colorful, and deliciously sweet.
Chocolate Fudge
With minimal preparation and cooking time, this chocolate fudge recipe from Donna Hay is easily customized with a holiday theme. After allowing the fudge to harden in a fridge for a couple of hours, it’s time to get creative with the festive decorating! Cranberries are a terrific festive topping, as are red and green M&Ms. If you’re feeling really arty you could also use icing to create festive images, like gifts, baubles, or tinsel.
Rudolph Bento Box
This Rudolph-inspired holiday-themed lunch recipe from Bentology is sure to bring a smile to any child’s face. Make your child’s favorite sandwich, cut it into a circle and create a Rudolph face using pretzels for antlers and half a cherry tomato for the nose. While the original idea suggests icing for the eyes, we think small pieces of olive would work just as well. Use small festive cookie cutters to create shaped cucumber pieces and add your kid’s favorite savory snacks and a handful of fruit balls or berries.
Pita Trees
Betty Crocker’s Pita Trees are among our favorite holiday food ideas when it comes to visual appeal, great taste, and simplicity. Cut a pita into tree-shaped wedges, use a pretzel stick for the trunk, top with guacamole and create lovely garlands from small pieces of bell pepper or other vegetables that your child likes.
Santa and Snowman Sandwiches
Requiring little more than a sharp knife, it’s easy to create these cute Santa and Snowman sandwiches from Little Food Junction. Use any fillings to make two regular sandwiches before trimming away the edges to create circles. Then, use sliced cheese and vegetables, such as carrot, pepper, and olives, to add faces on the top. How about making a bauble sandwich another day too?
Grinch Quesadilla and Kabobs
While Family Fresh Meals has several great ideas for a holiday-themed lunch, we particularly like the quirky Grinch lunchbox. And, we’re sure your kid will love it too! Add pieces of black olive to a green quesadilla to create the perfect sneering Grinch face and make lovely Grinch-inspired fruity treats using grapes, marshmallows, and strawberries.
