Kid’s BBQ Chicken & Pineapple Pizza-Dillas
+ Snack: Grilled Cheese Dippers with Three Sauces
- Eggs
- Milk
- Wheat
- Soy
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.
Ingredients
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: Wheat, Soy)
1 cup
Mozzarella Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
4 slice
Sourdough Bread
(Contains: Wheat, Soy)
1 cup
Cheddar Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
2.5 ounce
Marinara Cup
1.5 ounce
Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
(Contains: Eggs, Milk)
4 tablespoon
Guacamole
Not included in your delivery
Salt
Pepper
2 teaspoon
Cooking Oil
2 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• 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°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Kids loved the quesadillas, especially the BBQ chicken and pineapple combo. Some adults found it tasty too! 🍕
- Ease of prep: Quick and simple to make, with kids able to participate in the cooking process. Great for teaching kitchen skills!
- Suggestions: Consider adding red onion to the pizza-dillas for extra flavor. Try making cucumber "caterpillars" to encourage veggie eating.
- Portions: Many found it provided ample food, with some noting it was too much for a single meal.
- Versatility: Adults enjoyed it too, finding it perfect for work lunches as a nostalgic, satisfying finger food option.
Reviews from our home cooks
I'm an adult. Maybe I'm just nostalgic for lunchables, but these are the perfect incentive for me to pack lunch to take to work instead of hitting the food court every day. I love that they're finger foods and I can cut down on disposable cutlery, and I appreciate that they include a sweet treat to finish lunch, because that's my other weakness. I will order kids lunches for as long as they are on the menu, because I finished my meal satisfied, not overfull, and with plenty of energy to finish out the day!
Such a great recipe and really was easy for the kids to help with
My daughter is a very picky eater and she loved the quesadillas! I was very surprised and happy she did. They tasted amazing.
Please do more bento boxes! My kids made this for themselves for dinner and were so proud of themselves.
I made the cucumbers caterpillars with bits of the apple for eyes and my granddaughter now loves cucumbers.
Definitely takes longer than stated, but I expected that. Also easy clean up!
I know it is for kids, but as an adult, I think red onion would be a good option to go in the pizza-dillas. This is a great double feature!
The kids loved this!! Where can I buy those delicious waffles?!
Didn't hold up well. Food was cold and no way to reheat in public schools so wasn't for my kid - at least to take to school. Loved the pizza-dillas when they were fresh and hot
This was too much food. It didn't need a hefty snack
