11 Lunchables, Ranked from Worst to Best

As a child growing up in the suburban United States, having Lunchables to take to school felt like hitting the jackpot. Instead of getting a sad slice of pizza from the lunch ladies or enjoying the healthy, cut vegetables my mom had packed for me, I’d get to inhale the plasticky cheese and questionable deli meat that came housed within a plastic fortress. And although I’m far past my school lunch box days, I still hold a special place in my heart for this rite-of-passage beginner’s charcuterie.

Or, at least, I did until I tasted 11 Lunchables products recently for this ranking. I’m not sure if the quality has declined significantly since I was in school or if I’ve just developed a more sophisticated palate in the interim years, but the Lunchables I tried for this ranking were, on average, not so good. Still, though, I’ve ranked them according to flavor and snack selection from worst to best so you can decide which ones you want to revisit or try.

Sure, Lunchables aren’t exactly gourmet, and you can probably make a better lunch box meal while saving some money in the process if you forgo these products. But who knows? You might discover that they bring you the same joy they brought me in my childhood or trigger some little glimmer of nostalgia you didn’t realize you still had.

This is about the saddest snack I’ve ever seen in my life. Lunchables’ Mozza Sticks with Marinara and Breadcrumbs felt like an afterthought or food waste from the better products in this ranking that the brand was trying to repurpose. You’ll get a few tiny mozzarella “sticks” that are barely long enough to be considered sticks at all. And don’t assume that the cheese will actually taste like mozzarella at all — this stuff barely tastes like anything other than a glob of unrecognizable cheese.

You’re supposed to take those tiny bits of cheese and dip them in a small pool of marinara sauce before dipping them once more into the breadcrumbs. The marinara sauce surprisingly gives the snack a bit of flavor, and the breadcrumbs make it feel like you’re eating something more interesting than plastic-adjacent cheese, but the end result is still sad. There’s really no reason to be paying for a pre-portioned snack like this when you could make a way better version of the same thing with a few ingredients — one that’s guaranteed to taste a lot better than this Lunchables version.

In theory, mozzarella and pepperoni absolutely work well together, even when you’re working with mozzarella that’s as flavorless as the one you get in Lunchables products. Admittedly, the brand’s pepperoni really isn’t all that bad, although you’ve almost certainly had better pepperoni before. The crackers in this snack aren’t particularly tasty since they’re essentially absent of salt, but they’re not that bad when they’re eaten with other ingredients.

So, why does Lunchables’ Mozzarella and Pepperoni rank so low on this list? It’s all about the fact that in this tiny snack pack, you’re barely getting any food at all. The serving is downright laughable. You only get four crackers, four slices of pepperoni, and the tiniest little sliced block of cheese I’ve ever seen. Sure, that may be an appropriate snack for a little kid, but considering the price you’re paying for the amount you get — and the exceptionally low quality of the food you’ll find in the package — it just doesn’t make sense to buy these, even if you are looking for an easy snack on the go.

All of the Lunchables products on this list, apart from the Chicken Dunks, come in plastic packaging that allows you to see what’s inside. The Chicken Dunks, on the other hand, come in a box. That, plus the higher price point, may make you feel like you’re actually getting a substantial meal when you buy this product over the others. However, once you open up that box and look inside, you’ll be met with an exceptionally paltry meal. There’s a plastic tray that contains five small, cold chicken nuggets, some ketchup, and a tiny box of Nerds candy, along with a Capri Sun. If you ask me, I’d assume that most kids would be hungry after eating this “meal.”

You’re not going to be getting particularly tasty nuggets here, either. They taste completely processed, void of a texture that remotely feels like you’re biting into a chunk of meat. The ketchup is too thin and sweet and doesn’t do enough to cover the flavor of the chicken. And since most people are probably going to eat it cold, it makes for an even sadder lunch. The sugar rush from the Capri Sun and the Nerds is about all that’ll get you going, albeit only for a few minutes before your sugar crash. Just buy a big bag of frozen chicken nuggets instead, and you’ll definitely be getting a much better deal than you are with this Lunchables product.

Lunchables’ Cracker Stackers are perhaps the most iconic product the company makes, but if you ask me, the ham and cheddar flavor is just not it. That’s mostly because the ham in this product is not good. It has a sort of faux smoky flavor that just feels wrong and out of place, and the texture is so processed that it doesn’t even really feel like you’re biting into meat. The cheddar cheese doesn’t really taste much like cheddar; it mostly just has a bland creamy flavor to it that isn’t particularly bad but isn’t necessarily pleasant, either.

The crackers, like in all of the other cracker-laden products on this list, are tasteless, seemingly lacking the salt that could make them more appealing, but since all of the Cracker Stacker products contain the same kinds of crackers, that doesn’t necessarily contribute to the position of this product’s ranking. If you do, for whatever reason, want a ham Lunchables, there are better cheese varieties to choose from.

One of those better-tasting cheese varieties is Lunchables’ Swiss cheese. Now, let me start by saying that the Swiss cheese in the Ham and Swiss Cracker Stackers doesn’t taste like Swiss cheese at all and is, rather, quite bland and hard to identify clearly. That being said, it’s still better than the weirdly creamy cheddar in the other ham Cracker Stackers variety in this ranking, which is why this product comes in just a bit higher than its cheddar counterpart. However, since you still have that weird ham and those bland crackers, it still quite clearly belongs in the lower half of this ranking.

Whether you enjoy this product or not really just depends on what kind of deli meat you usually enjoy. If you do like processed ham that has a bit of a smoky flavor to it, then go ahead and give this one a try. Otherwise, though, if you’re just looking for any kind of meat that tastes decent, then there are better Lunchables options from which you can choose.

All of the Cracker Stackers on this list have the same elements: boring crackers, sliced blocks of cheese, and a stack of small, circular deli meats. Although the Turkey and Cheddar Cracker Stackers isn’t the most amazing meal I’ve tried, it’s significantly better than the ham versions just because of the quality of the meat alone. Sure, you’re not actually getting hunks of fresh turkey breast here, but the smooth, round deli meat discs feel at least slightly less processed than the ham.

Unfortunately, though, this Lunchables option still has the same sad crackers and, even worse, that same strangely creamy cheddar cheese. Personally, I would forgo the cheese completely, just pairing the turkey discs with the included crackers, but you might not mind the strange tastelessness of this cheddar as much as I do. Ultimately, these smaller boxes don’t even feel like a full lunch — it’s more of just a snack and a snack that would be easy to assemble yourself for less money and with less waste.

Although Lunchables’ Pretzel Twists with PB Spread and Choco Chips may not constitute a full meal, it’s a better snack than some of the other products on this list. The honey wheat pretzel sticks have a nice combo of sweet and salty flavors going on, which automatically makes them better than the saltless crackers in some of the other Lunchables varieties I tried for this ranking. The peanut butter spread, on the other hand, is not so good. This tastes like the cheapest peanut butter you’ve ever had, with a grainy consistency that feels more like sugar than actual chunks of peanuts in the mix. The tiny choco chips are a nice touch that adds a sweet touch to the snack — in fact, they may be the best part of the product.

Although the end result of the snack isn’t that pleasurable — largely because of that cheap peanut butter — this is still a more substantial snack than the Mozza Sticks with Marinara and Breadcrumbs. If you or your kid is on the go and need something that’s easy and prepackaged, this isn’t the worst Lunchables to get (although you could also make a similar snack yourself and have it taste much, much better than this stuff does).

Lunchables’ Nachos with Cheese Dip and Salsa is far from a standout meal, but it is one of the better options in this ranking. The strangest part of this product is the fact that the corn chips are so small. You get these tiny, round chips that, yes, fit into the small plastic package, but at what cost? That being said, they’re probably good for little fingers, and you can easily eat them in one bite, which is a plus.

With this Lunchables product, you’ll also get a dippable cheese sauce as well as a particularly thin, somewhat bland red salsa. Although this combo isn’t necessarily exciting, it doesn’t taste bad. Sure, the cheese sauce looks less like traditional queso and more like yellow oil paint, but the flavor is basic yet decent. Despite the fact that you’re not getting much flavor from the salsa, what you actually can taste is rather pleasant. It doesn’t really feel like a full meal, but it could definitely be worse.

This is where we start getting into the Lunchables that make a little more sense. The Turkey and American Cracker Stackers with Chocolate Creme Cookies aren’t significantly more sophisticated than the more snack-sized version of this entree. However, the fact that there’s actually a dessert included in the mix makes it feel like a more complete meal. The combination of crackers, cheese, and some deli meat feels pretty paltry, but for some reason, that little sweet treat at the end of your budget charcuterie is a nice touch.

The American cheese in this product feels less egregious than the others, mostly because I already expect American cheese to be pretty low quality. That’s just what you’re getting here, and it feels right. That turkey isn’t bad, with a nice, mild flavor and firm texture that’s approachable for kids but not too bland for their parents. Again, this Lunchables isn’t the pinnacle of a quality meal — none of them are — but it could work as an easy solution when you just don’t want to have to curate and pack an actual lunch.

The Light Bologna and American Cracker Stackers with Chocolate Chip Cookies is definitely the best of the bunch when it comes to the meat, cheese, and cracker Lunchables. When you hear you’re getting bologna, you probably don’t expect a super high-quality product, and that’s just what you get here. The same goes for the American cheese. Neither is particularly delicious in this product, but they’re no worse than you would expect. Admittedly, the chocolate chip cookies are pretty good and a definite step up from the Oreo-like chocolate creme cookies you’ll find in some of the other Cracker Stackers.

If you’re going to get meat and cheese Lunchables, it should definitely be this one. That smooth, firm bologna is right where it belongs with the rich, very mild American cheese. Sure, the crackers aren’t particularly good, but when you put them with the meat and cheese, they’re not so bad. I wouldn’t go out of my way to get this product, but if I had to eat Lunchables for a meal, this would certainly be one of my top choices.

There’s absolutely no competition for the top Lunchables spot: The brand’s Extra Cheesy Pizza is by far the best option. The little circular discs of soft dough are more reminiscent of wet crackers than actual pizza dough, but there’s something about that chewy softness that I can’t help but love. The pizza sauce that you spread on said dough disc is thin and mostly just tastes like salt — yet, still, I want to make sure that no drop goes to waste. And, sure, the cheese included in the meal isn’t very good, with a plasticky texture that may seem hard to get excited about, but I still stuff as much of it onto every pizza disc as I can.

Maybe I’m biased, and maybe it’s just the nostalgia speaking, but something about Extra Cheesy Pizza Lunchables is still appealing to me many years after I first tasted it. Out of all the products I tasted for this ranking, this is the one that I would still consider seeking out on purpose and not out of the kind of busyness and desperation that might otherwise prompt a Lunchables purchase.

I chose this selection of Lunchables from the available products at my local grocery store, and I tried to compare products that offered similar snack or meal sizes as much as possible. The criteria for this ranking included the quality of the included snack elements, snack selection, and overall flavor of the product’s different ingredients. I tried each product on the same day in their intended form, stacking crackers, meat, and cheese together in one bite when applicable.