Vegetarian school lunch ideas with more protein beyond sandwiches?

[Advice5]

I need some ideas please for kids school lunches.. we are vegetarian can have eggs and dairy, no fish or meat. I usually do sandwiches need some inspiration. I need more protein ideas please. Would an omelette wrap work well? Any tips on ensuring the wrap doesnt go soggy? How would you store it in the lunchbox.. any other ideas please? I can't use peanut butter as it is a nut free school. Sandwich filler ideas also welcome. Tia

Look up how much protein children of their ages actually need. It's nowhere near what an adult needs.

You could always up the protein at breakfast and dinner to take the stress out of lunch.

Thick Greek yoghurt is high in protein - I serve it with fruit eg berries to make it sweet.

I also make higher protein and fibre sweet snacks like flapjacks with hemp and seeds, muffins with Greek yoghurt in etc.

My DC will eat tofu IF prepared in certain ways. Could you consider that?

We typically do egg, cheese, hummus, tofu sandwich / wraps, 5th day might be a repeat of one of those or it could be eg minestrone or lentil soup and crackers, or maybe pasta and sauce. Yes they eat a lot of wheat, but they need the carbs and don't like rice or cold potatoes.

It’s really not a problem @Advice5 . I make my Spanish omelette or egg muffins on a Sunday afternoon, take them out of the fridge each morning and put wrapped in an insulated lunchbox and they are fine all week.

my egg muffins include eggs and egg whites from a packet, a pot of cottage cheese, some porridge oats & baking powder then whatever veg I have on hand sautéed down plus grated cheese then more cheese and halved cherry tomato on top. Cottagw cheese and eggs whites up the protein if your really worried about it but I’ve been veggie since early teens & never had an issue but weight training now so trying to up mine.

As an alternative do tofu deli meat, slice very thinly extra firm tofu (use a peeler) stick in a pan with stock, spices and nooch (more protein) and cook down in a large pan gently til all liquid absorbed and you can in sandwiches. Grated tofu with spices, cornstarch and a bit of oil also roasts up to a nice, crunchy topping for salads.

I don’t think there’s much food hygiene risk with egg being out of the fridge for say 4hrs then eaten. I’ve eaten hard boiled eggs that have been in their shells, after having carried them about for a couple of days!

Fritters of various kinds. Make a pancake batter, add in drained tinned veg, sweetcorn works well and fry on both sides.

Stop panicking over the eggs.

Been burgers or balls. Tinned aduki beans draied. Season, mash half then mix in the unmashed beans. I would fry and eat hot but I think unfried would be fine.

Risotto. Cheese with a couple of crackers, veg chilli, a slice of lentil loaf, flat bread made with greek style yoghurt.

Soup, stew with dumplings, Asian dumplings?

we like chickpea and feta salad. Hummus, salad, take lotta to dip. Fattoush with halloumi. Quiche and salad. Pasta salad.
I’m not a fan of fake meat / quorn type things (also not veggie)

Wraps made from grated carrot & tinned corn, topped with grated mozzerella and baked, then spread with cream cheese and roasted, spiced veggies.

Falafel and giant couscous with humus and flatbread.

A mixed bean, veggie or egg salad with nachos to scoop it up with.

Veggie sushi or a rice bowl with satay sauce.

Daal or a bean curry with chapatis.

Veggie chilli and brown rice with nachos and sour cream.

Baked beans and chunks or veggie sausage with cold toast squares.

My son loved days when he has his chubby food flask of sausage and beans!

A good thermal lunchbag and some of those mini frozen ice packs for lunch boxes are perfect if you're worried about things warming up, OP.

Cranks lentil loaf is delicious cold, especially with pickle. Chickpea salad nutritious and filling.

My favorite veggie wrap which thanks to this thread I'm going to make for lunch this week is hummus, beetroot, sweetcorn and spring onion. Homemade hummus for the win! Black pepper essential.

Insulated bag with an ice block. Realistically, it’s only three hours till lunchtime anyway.

Are you allowed sesame? (Our school is nut and sesame-free).

One of my favourite wraps is tahini with honey and dates or tahini with honey and bananas.

I also like Coronation Chickpeas which is exactly the same as Coronation Chicken but using chickpeas. With lettuce it makes a terrific sandwich IMO.

ETA- i think I'll make this today now. Also delicious in ice berg lettuce cups as a starter or side dish for a BBQ

Mmmmmm....... Yum.

I would check with the school if you're putting tahini in hummus - the sesame can affect some kids with nut allergies too.

Cheesey courgetti spaghetti
bulgar wheat or couscous with Mediterranean veg
lettuce cups filled with pasta salad
tofu sandwiches/ wraps/ pitta
hummus and veg sticks
savoury rice

ypu can buy kids thermal flasks to keep things hot.

when I was at school many a years ago a girl used to bring hot noodles in a flask for lunch too!

The current favourite in our house are pittas with falafel. I toast the pittas, cut them into 2 halves. Open them up. Spread hummus on one side and mango chutney on the other. Then I fill the pittas with spinach, thinly sliced carrot strips and cucumber and falafel.

As for keeping things fresh, an insulated lunch bag with a cold block.

I also do a pasta salad with chickpeas, cherry tomatoes and feta.

I do fritata, quiche, veggie sausage rolls sometimes. But hummus is my go to for added protein.

Just in the lunchbox.

On really hot days we added a small cool pack in the lunch bag (we had small ones shaped like fruit).

Quesadillas with refried beans, tomato puree and cheese.
Burritos with bean chili in.
Popcorn tofu bites with dip.
Crudités and hummus
Lentil and cheese scone
Flapjack packed with seeds.
Soup in a food flask- Any veg soup with beans or chickpeas blitzed in.

You could add quinoa to salads/ pastas etc. That's a protein isn't it?

I always put an ice pack in the lunch box to keep everything fresh.

Wholewheat couscous with actin of mixed salad beans. I quite often have it for lunch in the summer and it does me for two days.

I freeze yoghurt pouches and they double as an ice block and part of lunch. Only usually bother in the summer.

Falafel wraps
Samosa
Spinach and feta parcels
Hummus
Chickpea/bean salad
Pesto pasta with vegetarian "chorizo" and feta mixed through

I air fry things like samosa and falafel. Also try to pick them up when they're reduced and freeze them for future use.

DD (teen) started refusing to take a hard boiled egg because other people thought it was weird.

A hard boiled egg is 'weird' but egg mayo sandwiches aren't.

Don't you love teens!!

I never thought of freezing samosas. I'll try that!

I've often had cooked egg dishes in my lunch (Spanish omelette etc) that have been at room temperature all morning, and they're fine. It takes longer than that for them to go off.

@Keepingthingsinteresting As an alternative do tofu deli meat, slice very thinly extra firm tofu (use a peeler) stick in a pan with stock, spices and nooch (more protein) and cook down in a large pan gently til all liquid absorbed

That sounds good, which spices do you use?

I would toast the wrap and then it won't be soggy even when cold.
You can get a tortilla cut a line half way down to middle, then put four different fillings in each corner and fold it over itself into a triangle. Then cook in pan on both sides.

Would you use one wrap or two?

2 slices of bread is much more protein and fibre than one wrap and I normally see people eat one wrap or 2 slices of bread in they lunch

I love omelette sandwiches! I make them the night before and take them out of the fridge when I leave for work at seven and they are absolutely fine at lunch.