Pasta or macaroni and cheese, cold or in a thermos. Chicken tenders, soup in a thermos, cheese and crackers, fried rice in a thermos, mini pancakes or eggo waffles in a thermos. All of these lunches served with some fresh fruit (berries, apples, oranges etc) and vegetables (carrots, cucumbers, peppers etc) and either a small treat or a small pack of chips if you want to. You can give a juice box or just send water.

1) Bento box type lunch. One compartment with a protein: cubed leftover chicken or whatever other meat you eat for dinner (throw and extra pork chop on the grill, etc), cubes of cheese. One compartment with a fruit or veggie (or one of each). Add a carb or snack type thing - mini bagel, chips, muffin, popcorn, crackers, or for some reason my kids love those crispy seaweed snack sheets. Add a dessert if you want: cookie, fruit roll-up, fruit snacks, jello cup. Water bottle or juice box. The key is to prep everything the night before - load room-temp stuff in the lunchbox, and just pull the cold stuff from the fridge in the morning to add it.

2) Something hot, preferably leftovers. Pasta, chili, thicker soups or stews, stir fried meat & veggies all work well. Make extra with dinner. In the morning, pour boiling water into 3 thermoses and let them sit while you reheat the food, that'll keep it warm for a while. Add your side snacks, drink etc in the lunchbox.

I am shocked by how many of the responses include peanut butter! I'm envious.

Lots of good ideas above, here are a few more suggestions.

1) Drinkable yogurt
2) Chomps/ other meat stick
3) Crackers, cheese, pepperoni/ salami
4) Homemade snack mix: sunflower seeds, M&Ms, dried fruit, pretzels, goldfish - any snacky stuff you have on hand
5) Cold pizza
6) Cereal + milk
7) Edamame (good source of protein)

What do you consider "lunch food" if no sandwiches? Just pick the easiest of those items to send in. Include a piece of cheese and fruit and/ or cookies with any item.
Some examples from our household (we're vegetarian)
Homemade (leftover) soup in a thermos + breadsticks
Hummus, crudites, mini pita
Veggie burger
Beans and rice
Cold peanut noodles
Mini naan + leftover chana masala
Veggie fried rice (leftover)
We also do roti wraps, with leftover dry veggie dishes like aloo gobi

Veggies and hummus
Yogurt
String cheese
Egg salad and crackers (my kids' favorite)
Mac and cheese (in thermos)
Pasta with pesto (my kids love pesto and like this cold or warm, I also add chick peas)
Bagel w/ peanut butter or cream cheese
Beans and rice (with or without meat, in thermos)
Sushi (for a treat, like 2x/year)

Only you can know if your kid likes any of these but this is what we pack regularly. I have 2 cold pack bentos meaning that the freezer tray is included in the lunch box. I have 2 thermos omie boxes for hot foods. Lastly, I have regular bento for foods that require neither cool/hot.

Breakfast based:
-Oatmeal
-Baked oatmeal
-French toast with sausage cut up
-Pancakes with sausage cut up

These items are from the morning prior and they always get put as lunch the next day.

Leftovers/Hot:
-Pasta with butter
-Spaghetti with meat sauce
-Chili
-rice and black beans
-chicken thighs and rice
-pork chops and rice

Again leftovers from the night before. It takes 10 minutes for the thermos to heat with hot water. Reheat the leftovers and then add to the hot thermos. I prep the fruit and veggies the night prior.

Easier/Cold:
-Uncrustables/PBJ
-Yogurt and granola (put in Omie thermos that has been in freezer with water for X hours)
-Turkey or ham rollups- use a tortilla or flattened bread
-Charcuterie (any type of cured meat plus crackers)

He usually gets 3-4 fruits and veggies plus some type of nut (pistachio, pecan, etc.)

My kid cant do dairy so there's even more options for kids that can have cheese/yogurt pouches/shelf-stable milks added to meals for protein. Hard boiled eggs arent tolerated but a great option for kids lunches.

Honestly any dinner that you have can be lunch the next day. You just need the right equipment to get it and keep it to temp.

Ugh. I don't really eat sandwiches, and that has translated to the kids. We ended up splitting bringing and buying at school, using shelf stable items, mostly. But I do throw in fresh cut up fruit as my on redeeming item (kept cold in a glass container).

When my kid declines a sandwich I will do a bagel with cream cheese or peanut butter or (if no nuts) sunbutter. Or just butter. Between that and some basic sandwich options, I can usually find something they want.

Then two kinds of fruit (hard enough to get them to eat veggies at home, I don't even bother with lunch). Favorites are blueberries and strawberries, which are pricy but also pack well and I know they will eat them. I also do apples, bananas, mangos (sometimes dried mango, which is a favorite), orange slices, or kiwi. Whatever is on sale, and I try to rotate through so they get variety.

Then a "snack" of some kind, which I know they will eat first. Goldfish, yogurt covered pretzels, a nut-free trail mix, etc.

Then a small dessert, usually like a small cookie or a handful of m&ms.

I use the Bentgo box and it makes all this really easy and forces me to do multiple smaller portions which I have found works great for picky eaters or kids who like one kind of food but not another, because it's a little bit of everything and usually they will finish the whole thing. If I tried putting a whole apple or banana in their lunch, it would go untouched, but if I cube a quarter of an apple and put it in the Bentgo, they'll eat it.

Make sure to get a good insulated lunchbox and include an ice pack so everything stays a bit fresher, it helps.

I can make these lunches in like 5 minutes and they are easy to shop for too.

What lunch food do they normally have for lunch? Do a version of that for packed lunches.

My kid gets a DIY lunchable with:

some kind of deli meat roll-up (salami is his favorite) or a half PBJ
cheese stick or cheese cubes
pickles or olives
raw veg (sugar snap peas, sweet peppers, broccoli florets, and/or baby carrots)
fresh fruit (apple slices, strawberries, clementine)

He won't eat warm food in a thermos or any sandwich except pbj.

Oh and my kid wont eat lunch meat either. But shell eat rolled up salami with a cute pic in it.

Mine get a mini bagel and separate container of cream cheese (little metal one as the single serving cream cheese is$$). Add veg, fruit -blueberries, grapes, clementine. Carrots if you kids eat them. Sometimes a cheese stick. The 6 year old will also have snack time so pack one - we do granola bar

If you send sandwiches for a week or two, they’ll learn to eat them.

Seriously though try getting some of this shape cutters. It’s dumb, but it works.

I like to just wait until the last possible minute and throw something together from what’s in the fridge. That way I’m kind of impressed by it even if it’s bad, and I don’t feel insulted if a lot of it comes home.

I don’t object to packaged guaranteed winners, like string cheese and sweet yogurt. And chicken nuggets.

I pack for three kids. They all take a sandwich: either peanut butter or turkey, a fresh fruit and vegetable, and something crunchy like pretzels, nuts, wasabi peas. Sometimes they will just want crackers and cheese instead or dinner leftovers instead of a sandwich. I don’t find it all that time consuming and they typically eat all I send.

This will be our first year packing lunches for school and I can use all the help I can get.
Packing for a 2.5, 6, and 8 year old. I need SIMPLE (don't we all) and affordable...I don't want to spend $300 at Costco and throw it all way. I know there are several schools of thought...kids pack, make sections in your fridge and the children pick from each bin, premake on Sunday, repeat for a week, etc.


Criteria...
I didn't think my kids were picky eaters, but I guess they are. They won't do sandwiches of any kind, or lunch meat.
Leftovers...maybe. But they like "lunch food" for lunch.

HELP!