DIY Homemade Uncrustables [Freezer Friendly]
How would you like to make the bulk of your child’s school lunches for the month in less than 30 minutes? The trick to the easiest school lunch ever only requires one tool and a few minutes of your time, ONE DAY PER MONTH! In this post I will teach you how to save money and tons of time by making your own homemade uncrustables.
How To Make Healthy Homemade Uncrustables
Let’s start out by agreeing on these three things:
- Kids love uncrustables
- They cost too much
- Making sandwiches every morning is a time-suck
The combination of peanut butter and jelly is a classic kid-pleaser, but you can make your own homemade uncrustable sandwiches for a fraction of the cost.
Not to mention, when you make them at home you can control the quality of ingredients and increase the nutrition factor with:
- High-quality bread
- Natural or Organic Peanut Butter (or Nut Butter Alternative)
- Use organic or low sugar fruit spread
I choose to make them in bulk, which means I only make sandwiches once per month! Just imagine what you can do with all that free time in the morning!
I make enough sandwiches for each of my children to have a sandwich for 20 days of school, plus a few more for weekends or busy weeknights.
This is a total of about 48 sandwiches, and it only takes about 15 minutes!
Simple Steps to Make Your Own Homemade Uncrustables
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1) Start with The Pampered Chef Cut n’ Seal
This thing will change your life!
It creates round, crustless sandwiches just like the ones you find in stores and that your children always want – but for a fraction of the cost and without a lot of the “not-so-healthy-stuff” that comes in frozen food.
2) Bread Selection: The Best Bread to for Homemade Uncrustables
We use a 100% whole wheat bread that’s a store brand and it works very well.
I have tried using breads that I would consider to be upper-end and super healthy and they didn’t work as well (you know the ones in the small packages with seeds).
You will want to choose a bread that is soft and not dry. This will allow for a good seal and for the sandwich to have a good texture when thawed.
You want loaves that have at least 24 slices. This will give you 12 sandwiches per loaf.
I usually grab 4 loaves and make 48 sandwiches at a time.
3) Select Your Ingredients
This is what we use for peanut butter and we just love our squeeze jelly!
We are particularly fond of this jelly; it cuts down the time it takes to make these sandwiches even more!
If your child attends a peanut-free school this nut butter alternative has the best reviews on Amazon.
4) Assemble Your Healthy Homemade Uncrustables
Feel free to get the kids involved in this process. These are super easy to make!
First, line up your bread on the counter.
Next, apply the peanut butter in a circle in the middle of both pieces. You don’t want to spread it on the entire surface because the edges get cut off and that would waste the peanut butter.
I really like this Spreader for spreading the peanut butter, but obviously any old butter knife will do. You can see my technique in the image below.
You want to put a circle of peanut butter on BOTH SIDE OF THE BREAD! Don’t worry about getting it to the edges because they will be cut off in the process.
Next, put a squeeze of jelly (about 1tbsp worth) on one side, then stack your slices of bread to create individual sandwiches.
5. Time to Cut Off the Crust!
Place the Cut n’ Seal in the center of the sandwich and firmly press down.
Now, give the button on the top 2-3 pushes and PRESTO the round, crust-less sandwiches (AKA DIY UNCRUSTABLES) are born!
We feed the crusts to our pet chickens, but you could also eat them, make croutons, or throw them in the compost.
6) How to Freeze your Homemade Uncrustables
I store the sandwiches in a gallon size bag in the freezer.
I can usually fit about 10 sandwiches per bag using a piece of parchment paper between them stacked on top of each other.
The sandwiches just get popped into their lunch bags, straight out of the freezer and they are fully thawed by lunchtime!
The entire process literally takes less than 20 minutes (since I am a professional now), and BAM I have the main course of all the lunches done for the month!
It is seriously the easiest school lunch idea ever. It saves a ton of money (compared to store-bought crustless, round sandwiches), takes minutes, and gives you time to enjoy your coffee in the morning.
More Kid-Friendly Recipes:
Easy Homemade Uncrustable Sandwiches
These homemade Uncrustables are sure to be a hit with the kids. Perfect to make-ahead for school lunches. Just store them in the freezer and toss them in the lunchbox for a health(ier) and affordable homemade version.
Ingredients
- (2) Loaves of Bread
- (1) 19oz Squeezable Smuckers Natural Strawberry Spread
- (1) Jar of your favorite Peanut Butter (or Nut-Free alternative)
Instructions
1. Open the bread and lay down 24 slices (2 rows of 12 pieces of bread each).
2. Spread 1 tbsp of peanut butter in the center of each slice of bread. Don't go all the way to the edge since that will be cut off.
3. Squeeze (or spread) 1 tbsp of jelly into the middle of half the slices of bread.
4. Place the slices of bread together to form sandwiches. The peanut butter sides should face each other with the jelly in the middle.
5. Center the Cut-N-Seal sandwich sealer on the top of each sandwich and press down. I recommend pressing down 3-4 times to make sure the sandwich is sealed well and to cut off the crust cleanly.
6. At this point, they are ready to eat, or place them in a Ziplock bag to store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
- For best results, choose bread that has large, soft slices. Dense, dry bread does not seal as well.
- You can easily make these Uncrustables allergy-friendly by omitting the peanut butter and using a nut-free spread instead.
Recommended Products
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DIY Freezer Uncrustable FAQs
Do you have to keep uncrustables frozen?
You do not have to keep the homemade sandwiches frozen if they will be eaten within 24 hours. You can simply make them and put them in the refrigerator. After a day, if they are not frozen they become soggy.
However, for most of us, this defeats the purpose of making them ahead of time.
How long can you freeze peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?
You can safely save them in the freezer for 4-6 weeks.
I place them in a ziplock bag, separating the sandwiches with a sheet of parchment paper to make sure they do not stick to each other.
More Homemade Uncrustable Recipes
Peanut Butter and Jelly works great for the freezer, but the Cut n’ Seal allows you to quickly make a variety of yummy crustless sandwiches.
Here are a few more ideas (not freezer friendly)
- Place a slice of cheese in the center for a crustless grilled cheese
- Chocolate Hazelnut Spread and Banana
- Hummus and thinly sliced cucumber
There you have it mama! A quick and easy way to make all your kiddos school lunches in just a few minutes each month.
What a great idea! I am sharing this post on facebook so my hubby will buy me one for my birthday! ?
Love this idea, kids do too! Thanks for sharing!
Yay! So glad this tip can help another family! Mrs. Pray at school does this for her kids too!