The Ultimate Guide to Gluten-Free Lunchbox Ideas

All of my go-to easy gluten-free lunchbox ideas, including store-bought snacks, favorite Bento Boxes and more helpful resources to help you feel confident packing lunches this year.

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Packing lunchboxes for 180 days of school truly feels like a whole job, add on to that dietary restrictions and then there’s a whole other layer to the daily task.

But don’t worry.

After reading this article, you’ll feel more than up to the job.

I’ve been packing lunchboxes for the better part of a decade and sharing all of my Bento Box Wisdom here on the site and on my Instagram.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: you gotta have a system.

It’s less about having 180 days of lunchbox ideas and more about having a solid plan that you can execute at 6 AM while the coffee is brewing.

You don’t need an endless list of new and inventive lunchbox ideas.

Trust me.

Consider this your Ultimate Guide to Gluten-Free Lunchbox Ideas (preschool through big kids!)

On Being Gluten-Free

It’s important to note that the tips in this post are not considered medical advice, and this article is for informational purposes only.

While our whole family is not on a GF diet, about a year ago our pediatric dermatologist advised that we try a gluten elimination for one of our kids, and I instantly noticed a difference, so we stuck with it!

After a year of shopping, cooking, packing lunches and dining out, I’ve definitely learned a few things about feeding a young kid on a gluten-free diet.

What to pack in a gluten-free lunchbox?

Sandwiches are typically the go-to for lunchboxes and while there are some gluten-free bread options on the market, we’ve found that none of them are really that *great*.

That being said, if your child really likes sandwiches, out of all the options we’ve tried these were the two favorites:

Whole Foods 365 Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread
Trader Joes Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread or Bagels

GF sandwich lunchbox idea | gluten-free lunchbox ideas

be sure to halve grapes for kids 5 and under

Aside from sandwiches, I try to aim for the same components as if I’m packing a standard lunchbox:

Protein/Main
Fruit and/or Veggie
Crunchy Snack
Sweet Treat

Using the components listed above is how I approach packing a lunchbox, and using a good Bento box makes this process easier as it’s already divided in sections.

Above you can see lunches I packed for my 3 girls. Everyone got turkey & cheese, some on Hawaiian rolls (for my non-gluten-free girls) and a turkey & cheese roll-up for my GF girlie.

Protein/Main Ideas:

Turkey & cheese roll-up
Cheese & crackers “Lunchable”
PB&J
Chicken salad
Beans & rice
Hummus

Fruits & Veggies:

Berries
Apple slices
Halved grapes
Cucumber sticks
Baby carrots (for older kids)

Crunchy Snack:

Simple Mills crackers
Siete tortilla chips (for older kids)
Harvest Snaps Pea Puffs
Good Crisp Co. chips
Quinn pretzels

Sweet Treat:

MadeGood cookies & crispy squares
MadeGood granola bars
Annie’s GF chewy granola bars
Simple Mills Sweet Thins (like graham crackers)
Siete chocolate chip cookies

More Lunchbox Ideas You’ll Love: