How to keep lunch simple, nutritious and exciting.

Here are some tips for preparing delicious and easy lunchboxes to keep the whole family happy and healthy.

Wraps

These are an ideal alternative to sandwiches and can be easily customized to suit everyone. Try hummus, cucumber and zaatar in a wholegrain wrap, or turkey ham, grated cheese and dill pickles in a spinach wrap.

Tins

A great option at the end of the week when the fridge is empty. Keep a range of tins at hand: sweetcorn, white beans, fool medames, beetroot and tuna and you can quickly mix up salads according to everyone’s tastes by tossing in herbs, mayonnaise or lemon juice to add extra flavor. Kid’s favorite: tuna, sweetcorn and white beans with mayonnaise and lemon juice dressing. Mom’s favorite: kidney beans, white beans, beetroot and mackerel fillets with parsley, olive oil and lemon juice dressing.

Just stir and go!

Leftovers

Plan a meal the day before so that the leftovers work for next day’s lunch. Pasta is perfect: add sauce for dinner and save some pasta to make a salad for the next day. Make homemade pizzas together in the evening and leave some extra to cut up and add to lunchboxes. Even leftover kebabs with some flatbread and pickles can make a fantastic quick lunch.

DIY

Save yourself some of the hard work and send everyone off with ingredients to assemble themselves. Lunchables: crackers, turkey ham, cheese and a tomato dipping sauce. Tacos: mini tortilla wraps, grated cheese and a small container of chili-con-carne.

Buy in!

Not everything needs to be made from scratch. Shop smart and your lunchboxes can still be super nutritious and inexpensive, without any preparation from you. Buy mana’eesh or fatayer with a range of toppings and fillings or pick up savory croissants from the bakery.

Once you have the main part of the lunchbox filled you just need to add healthy snacks and fruit. Keep containers full of chopped fruit in the fridge so you can pack up handfuls as needed (try to pack at least two portions). Mix together a big box of popcorn, raisins, dried cranberries and small crackers to make a trail-mix you can quickly pop into small bags throughout the week. Buy trays of yogurts (preferably plain) to put into the lunchbox last minute.