DR published advice on August 8, 2026, on how to pack school lunches that children will actually eat. The tips come from Britta Surland, head of Arla’s food inspiration kitchen.
The return to school in Denmark also marks the return of the daily packed lunch, the madpakke. In a piece published on August 8, 2026, DR framed the school start as the start of the lunchbox season. The broadcaster focused on lunches that come home lukewarm, squashed and uneaten.
Britta Surland leads Arla’s food inspiration kitchen and provided the advice in the article. According to DR, her starting point is practical: can the child eat the food in the break it has? At some schools the lunch break is short, and some children would rather go out and play.
For that reason, Surland points to food that can be held in one hand. She names wraps as one example, since they can be filled with chicken, vegetables, eggs or leftovers from the night before. Sausage rolls, pizza swirls and lunch buns are other options, as reported by DR.
Those baked items do not have to be made of white flour alone, Surland told DR. Oats and vegetables can be added to many of them. That way the lunch still works as a proper meal.
For less healthy favorites, she suggests alternative versions of the same dish. Per DR, her own son likes instant cup noodles, which often contain a lot of salt and additives. Instead he gets a box with noodles, chicken and vegetables, plus a small container of bouillon or seasoning, and adds boiling water himself.
Surland also recommends involving children in making the lunch. She notes that children’s preferences shift quickly, and that a hit on Monday can be unacceptable by Thursday. Involvement does not mean free choice of chocolate muffins and biscuits every day, but influence over the menu and help with cutting the cucumber.
The lunchbox that comes home can serve as a daily status report, according to her advice in DR. Parents can look at what was eaten and what was left untouched. If carrot sticks have travelled in the bag for three days without being touched, it may be time to try something else.
Meal prep and leftovers
For many parents, the hardest part is not the preparation itself but deciding what to make. Surland suggests boiling pasta for several days on a Sunday, frying extra chicken and cutting vegetables in advance. Then the lunch does not have to be invented from scratch every morning.
Leftovers are also useful, she told DR. If the child likes yesterday’s dinner cold, or if the school has a microwave or the child has a thermos box, dinner can become the next day’s lunch. She notes that many people want leftovers, which returns to the same meal prep principle: cook a little more dinner, and the next day is covered.
Reducing what ends up in the food waste bin is the stated aim of the advice.
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