Healthy Snacks for Kids' Lunch Boxes: 10 Lip Smacking Options That Won't Bore Them (2020)!

• A balanced breakfast: A balanced breakfast would be an ideal way to start the day for your kid. Although mornings are hectic, try some simple yet easy to make breakfast options that are not only nutritious and packed with protein but also keep them full longer. You can try whole-wheat bread egg sandwich or whole-grain toast with peanut butter, greek yogurt, etc.


• Small shifts towards healthier choices: It would be difficult for kids to adjust if you make changes to their entire meal plan. So, finding alternatives to unhealthy items they eat would be a great start. Gradually, you can make them adopt a healthier choice of food. For example – Try low-fat milk instead of whole milk, whole grain or whole wheat bread instead of white bread, replace ice cream with a homemade smoothie and give them baked nuts and chips instead of deep-fried potato chips.


• Make healthy snacks at home: Kids get hungry between meals, but many packaged snacks are incredibly unhealthy for them. Snack time would be a great way to sneak in some extra nutrients in their diet. Nuts, trail mix, oatmeal, hard-boiled eggs, carrot sticks with hummus, whole-grain crackers would be the best snack options that you can easily make at home.

Ingredients

For Palak Roti

• Whole wheat flour - 1.5 cups
• Spinach - 1.5 cups
• Ginger and Garlic - 1/2 inch and 1-2 cloves
• Green chilli – 1
• Salt
• Cumin - 1/4 Tsp
• Water as required
• Oil
• Ghee

For Stuffing

• Paneer - 1.5 cups
• Oil - 1.5 tbs
• Cumin- 1/4 tsp
• Ginger-garlic paste - 3/4 tsp
• Tomato - 1 large
• Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt
• Shopped coriander
• Sliced onion
• Carrot (optional)

Method

• Rinse Spinach with water and puree it with ginger, garlic, salt, green chilli, cumin and garam masala. Transfer this to a bowl and add whole wheat flour.
• Mix well and knead the dough with a little oil until soft.
• In a pan, sauté cumin in hot oil till they crackle.
• Sauté ginger-garlic paste until the smell goes. Cook tomato puree, salt and other spice powders until the mixture thickens.
• Add crumbled paneer and mix well.
• Cook on low heat for 2-3 min till paneer and tomato blend well.
• Divide the dough into 6-8 balls roll them into rotis.
• Cook each roti until golden brown on a hot griddle with some ghee.
• Add stuffing on half the roti and roll tightly. Use a toothpick to hold the roll in shape. You can also wrap the roti with foil on one side to keep the stuffing inside.

Ingredients

• Bread - 4 slices
• Butter- 1 tbsp
• Potato - 1 large
• Ghee or Oil – 1 tsp
• Ginger (grated) - 1/2 tsp
• Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
• Garam masala - 2 pinches
• Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp
• Salt
• Coriander (finely chopped)
• Green chilli – 1
• Lemon juice

Method

• Boil and peel the potatoes until just done.
• Mash the potatoes and add all the ingredients except butter. Mix well.
• Butter one side of the bread slice and spread the potato mixture on the other side.
• Cover with another buttered slice of bread and grill until done.
• Serve with sauce or green chutney.

Ingredients

• Desiccated coconut - 3 cups
• Dates (pitted) - 2 cups

Method

• Blend 2 cups of the dates and coconut using a food processer or blender.
• Remove from the processor and roll into teaspoon size balls.
• Roll in remaining coconut.

Ingredients

• Raspberries - 2 cups
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Stevia powder - 1/4 cup
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Vanilla bean - 1/2 tsp
• Ground ginger - 1/2 tsp
• Chia seeds - 1/4 cup
• Dried gogi - 1/4 cup
• Berries - optional
• Crumble almond meal - 1 cup
• Brown rice flour - 1 cup
• Apples (pureed) – 2
• Stevia powder - 1/2 cup
• Rolled oats - 1/2 cup
• Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180 C.
• In a pot over low heat, combine berries, water, stevia, vanilla, ginger and lemon juice. Cook until the berries can be mashed with a fork.
• Remove from heat and check the sweetness of the mixture. If not sweet enough, add more stevia.
• Add the goji berries, chia seeds and allow to thicken. Give the seeds some time to absorb excess juice. If still runny, add more chia seeds to thicken the mixture. Ensure that the mixture is not too thick as it tends to dry out in the oven.
• Meanwhile, combine flour, apple puree, stevia and coconut in a large bowl.
• Spoon 2/3 of the mixture in a greased pan and press the mixture to form a crust.
• Bake for 12-15 min or until the edges are slightly brown.
• Add rolled oats to the remaining mixture and mix well. This will be your crumble topping.
• Pour the fruit filling on the crust and spread evenly.
• Add crumble topping.
• Bake for 20-25 min or until the top is browned.
• Cool for an hour in the pan. Cut into squares and serve.

Ingredients

• Poha - 1 1/2 cups
• Rolled oats - 1/2 cup
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Peanuts - 2 tbsp
• Roasted channa dal - 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Chilli powder -1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Curry leaves – 3
• Powdered sugar - 1/2 tbsp
• Salt

Method

• Combine poha and oats in a non-stick pan and roast for 5 - 7 min. Remove and keep aside.
• Heat oil and add peanuts and sauté for 1 - 2 min.
• Add channa dal and cook for 1 min.
• Add turmeric, chilli powder and curry leaves and sauté for a few more seconds.
• Add the poha-oats mixture, sugar and salt, mix well and cook for 2 more minutes.
• Store the oats chivda in an airtight container.

Ingredients

• Potatoes - 3 large
• Paneer - 100 gm
• Green peas - 3/4 cup
• Onion - 1 large (finely chopped)
• Powdered instant oats - 1/2 cup
• Ginger - 1 piece
• Green chillies - 2 (finely chopped)
• Coriander - 2 tbsp
• Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Chat masala - 1 tbsp
• Salt

Method

• Start by preparing your ingredients. Boil and mash potatoes, grate cottage cheese and steam peas.
• Combine all ingredients in a bowl except oil and mix well.
• Mash green peas lightly with your hands as you mix.
• Divide the mixture into even-sized portions and shape them into 1/2-inch-thick discs.
• Heat oil in a large skillet and shallow fry the tikkis for 8-10 min on each side till golden brown and cooked through.
• Remove from pan and drain excess oil on a paper towel.
• Sprinkle more chat masala and chopped coriander on the tikkis. Serve hot with spicy chutney or ketchup.

Ingredients

• Dry chickpeas - 2 cups
• Onion - 1 medium
• Cumin seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
• Garlic - 4 cloves
• Parsley- ¼ - 1/2 cup
• Ground coriander - 1 tsp
• Ground pepper - 1/4 tsp
• Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Chickpea flour/all-purpose flour - 2 tbsp
• Oil for flying

Method

• Soak dry chickpeas overnight or at least for 6 hours.
• Discard the water and rinse well.
• Blend chickpeas, coriander, cumin, chilli powder, salt, pepper, onion, garlic, flour, and parsley into a coarse mixture. Refrigerate for an hour if possible.
• Heat oil in a deep pan such that it is enough to half immerse them. This is to prevent the falafel from breaking.
• Make small balls of the mixture, you may also slightly flatten them if you've added flour.
• Gently slide them into the oil and fry until golden and crisp on both sides.

For serving

Tahini Sauce

• Tahini - 3/4 cup
• Garlic cloves - 2 large
• Warm water - 2 tbsp
• Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
• Chopped Parsley - 2 tsp
• Salt

Process the ingredients until creamy, pale and thick.

Yoghurt Dip

• Greek yoghurt - 3/4 cup
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp
• Garlic - 1 clove
• De-seeded chilli

Blend the ingredients and add parsley to garnish.

Ingredients

• Rolled oats - 1 cup
• Milk - 1 cup
• Eggs - 2 large
• Unsalted butter - 1 tbsp
• Granulated sugar - 1 tbsp
• All-purpose flour - 2/3 cups
• Baking powder - 2 tsp
• Kosher salt - 1/4 tsp
• Ground cinnamon - 1/4 tsp

Method

• Mix oats and milk in a bowl and allow it to stand for 10 min for oats to become soft.
• Add melted butter and sugar to oats and whisk to combine. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Whisk until just combined and do not over mix. Let it sit for 5 more minutes.
• Add 1 tsp butter in a hot pan and swirl to coat. Drop about 2 tbsp batter in the pan and cook 3 at a time. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface and the bottom is golden brown. Flip pancake and cook on the other side for 2 - 3 min.
• Transfer to a plate and pack.

Ingredients

• Bread
• Gram sprouts or soaked green gram - 1/4 cup
• Chopped Onion -2 tbsp
• Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp
• Chopped green chilli – 1
• Chat masala - 1 pinch
• Amchur powder - 1 pinch
• Ghee/butter - 1 tsp

Method

• Butter the bread slices on the outside and toast on a pan.
• Mix the rest of the ingredients and place the mixture on the side that is not buttered.
• Cover with another slice.
• You can also toast in a sandwich maker.

Ingredients

• Apples – 2
• Cinnamon Powder

Method

• Remove apple core.
• Slice the entire apple thinly.
• Line a baking tray with a parchment paper and place the apple slices on it.
• Sprinkle with cinnamon.
• Bake at 275 degrees for 2 hours. Flip them after an hour so that they bake evenly.

• Get Your Kids Involved – Take your kids to grocery shopping and involve them while preparing meals. This will make them understand different types of foods and how to read the labels on food products.


• Set an Example – It is natural for kids to imitate, so be a role model to them. Asking your kid to eat veggies while you eat potato chips will not work.


• Cook Nutritious Meals at Home – Takeout and restaurant meals have unhealthy fat and added sugar in them. So, homemade meals are definitely good for your child's health. Make more of them.