Does planning, cooking, and packing kids’ lunches + snacks feel like your part-time (or full-time) job? We feel you, and we’re here to help. This 20-minute lunch is the perfect make-ahead lunchbox time-saver: a kid-approved BBQ chicken and pineapple pizza-style quesadilla complete with apple and cucumber slices, and waffle sticks for a sweet treat. But that’s not all—it’ll be snack time before you know it! Serve up buttery grilled cheese sticks with a bevy of crowd-pleasing dipping sauces: marinara, ranch, and guac. That’s right: We’re thinking outside the lunchbox (so you don’t have to!).
This recipe is designed to provide lunch and snack components for multiple days. For each lunch and snack meal, 3 servings and 6 servings are provided for a 2 person and 4 person box respectively. Nutrition information under the Nutrition Values section below is for the lunch portion. Nutrition values for 1 serving of the Grilled Cheese Dippers snack is as follows: Calories: 480, Fat: 34g, Saturated Fat: 15g, Cholesterol: 65mg, Sodium: 870mg, Carbohydrates: 41g, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 4g, Protein: 13g.
Download the nutrition labels to see final nutrition information for both lunch and snack components.
The quantities provided above are averages only.
Produced in a facility that processes eggs, milk, fish, peanuts, sesame, shellfish, soy, tree nuts, and wheat.
4 ounce
Pineapple
1 unit
Apple
1 unit
Mini Cucumber
1 unit
Belgian Waffle
(Contains Eggs, Milk, Wheat)
10 ounce
Chicken Breast Strips
4 tablespoon
BBQ Sauce
6 unit
Flour Tortillas
(Contains Soy, Wheat)
1 cup
Mozzarella Cheese
(Contains Milk)
4 slice
Sourdough Bread
(Contains Soy, Wheat)
1 cup
Cheddar Cheese
(Contains Milk)
2.5 ounce
Marinara Cup
1.5 ounce
Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
(Contains Eggs, Milk)
4 tablespoon
Guacamole
Salt
Pepper
2 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
2 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains Milk)
• Wash and dry produce. • Drain pineapple. Halve, core, and thinly slice or dice apple (whichever your kid prefers!). Thinly slice cucumber into rounds. Cut waffle into 1-inch-thick strips.
• Pat chicken* dry with paper towels and season all over with salt and pepper. • Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken in a single layer; cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes. • Turn off heat; transfer to a medium bowl. Wash out pan.
• Add BBQ sauce and pineapple to bowl with chicken; toss to coat. • Arrange tortillas on a clean work surface. Add chicken mixture to bottom half of each tortilla. Top with mozzarella. • Fold tortillas in half to create pizza-dillas.
• Heat a drizzle of oil in pan used for chicken over medium heat. Add pizza-dillas and cook until tortillas are golden brown and cheese melts, 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board. (Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to work in batches, adding a drizzle of oil for each batch.)
• To serve: Halve pizza-dillas. Divide between plates and serve with apple slices, cucumber slices, and waffle sticks. • To stash: Let pizza-dillas cool completely before halving. Refrigerate pizza-dillas, apple slices, cucumber slices, and waffle sticks in separate containers and pack as desired!
• Fill bread slices with cheddar to form sandwiches. • Melt 2 TBSP butter (4 TBSP for 6 servings) in a large, preferably nonstick, pan over medium heat. Once butter has melted, add sandwiches and cook until bread is golden and cheese melts slightly, 2-3 minutes per side. (Work in batches if necessary, adding more butter for each batch.) • Cut sandwiches crosswise into 1-inchthick strips. Divide between plates and serve with marinara, ranch dressing, and guacamole on the side for dipping.
Chicken is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 165°.