An easy to assemble lunchbox that your kids will love! Perfect for picky eaters, for kids who don’t like sandwiches, this box is packed with fruit and protein alongside the mini pancakes and syrup! With the right ingredients stashed in your fridge, this can be a grab and go lunchbox with minimal prep required in the morning.
For easy, kid friendly bento box lunches, mini pancakes are such a winner! Here we have a whole “breakfast for lunch” themed box which takes very little time to assemble, offers lots of protein and fresh fruit, and feels like a nice treat.
If, like me, you have a kid who rejects wraps and sandwiches, you will appreciate how hard it can be to pack a lunch that’s actually filling. These pancakes give us an easy carb!
Mini pancakes for lunch boxes: how to make them or where to find them
- If you want to make mini pancakes from scratch, I highly recommend that you make and freeze a batch of Bakermama’s recipe which will keep you well stocked up.
- If you want to buy a bag of ready made mini pancakes, these are available in both the US and UK. In the US, they are widely available frozen (the De Wafelbakkers brand is common) and tend to be American style / buttermilk pancakes. In the UK, you can buy them in the refrigerator dessert section at M&S or Aldi (probably elsewhere but these are the ones I am familiar with) and they tend to be more Dutch style (more puffy).
If you can’t find mini pancakes, you could try cutting up some waffles into smaller pieces as an alternative. Or if your bento box has a larger compartment, you can use medium sized pancakes, giving you more options.
How to build and customize your pancake bento box…
Note that I am using a Yumbox Original which has 6 compartments. Some popular boxes have less than 6 compartments. Bentgo has 5, and others will have 4 with one being a much larger section. So you may need to cut down on the amount of stuff you include, merge sections together, etc, to make this work.
- Pancakes: Your mini pancakes can go in the largest section.
- Dip: This can be maple syrup, as pictured, or any other topping / dip your kid will enjoy such as nutella (or a nut free chocolate spread) or honey. If your box doesn’t have a dedicated leak proof dip compartment, you can either buy a little pot to place in your box, or you’ll need to get creative. You could for example spread nutella / honey on the pancakes and make them into sandwiches.
- Banana: These are a great fruit to include because they offer some additional carbs and are pretty filling. I like to cut the ends off a banana to get it the right shape to fit into one of the long thin sections of the Yumbox. Some boxes won’t have a section this shape, but you can cut it into a couple of smaller pieces. Either way, I like to keep the peels on so that the banana doesn’t get brown or start to break down.
- Berries: Strawberries and blueberries for us. If you are packing raspberries or chopping your strawberries, it’s a good idea to line the bottom of the section with some paper towel to absorb the liquid which will inevitably bleed out from the fruit if it doesn’t stay perfectly cold.
- Boiled egg: Keeping with the breakfast theme, a boiled egg is a great source of vegetarian protein for lunch, and if you boil a batch ahead, it’s easy to grab and go in the morning. If your kid won’t eat cold eggs, swap in another protein.
- Cheese cubes: Cheese cubes, babybels, Laughing Cow cheese, yogurt, any kind of dairy. Yogurt can be tricky in bento boxes, but many boxes do have a compartment you can smash a pouch or a tube into if you don’t want to put it directly into the compartment.
More Lunchbox Ideas
Mini Pancake Bento Box Lunch
Ingredients
- 6 mini pancakes
- 1-2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 hard boiled egg
- ½ banana
- ¼ cup (25 g) cheese cubes
- ¼ cup (40 g) mixed berries
Instructions
- Add the ingredients to separate compartments within your bento box. Seal and store in the fridge, or alongside an ice pack, if possible.
Equipment
