Easy DIY Homemade Uncrustable Sandwiches [Freezer Friendly]

Do your kids go crazy for Uncrustables? Mine too, but they’re expensive and full of junk and preservatives. Today I will teach you how to save money and tons of time by making your own healthier homemade uncrustable sandwiches, that your kids will love.

How To Make Healthy Homemade Uncrustables

Let’s start out by agreeing on these three things:

1. Kids love Uncrustables.
2. They cost too much.
3. 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 uncrustables for a fraction of the cost compared to Smuckers Uncrustables.

This DIY version is a great idea for easy school lunches, road trips, and family picnics.

Not to mention, when you make them at home, you can control the quality of ingredients and increase the nutrition factor with the following:

• High-quality bread
• Natural or Organic Peanut Butter (or Nut Butter Alternative)
• Organic or low-sugar fruit spread
• Completely change the ingredients to please your picky eater

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 a large batch with 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 25 minutes!

Simple Steps to Make Your Own Homemade Uncrustables

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1) Start with a Stainless Steel Sandwich Cutter

This thing will change your life!

It creates round, crustless sandwiches just like the ones you find in the freezer aisle that your children want – but for a fraction of the cost and without a lot of the “not-so-healthy-stuff” that comes in frozen food.

Over the years, I have tried a variety of uncrustable makers, and this one is the absolute best. I’ve been using it for over 10 years, and it’s my trusty sidekick when it comes to easy homemade uncrustables.

You can definitely find cheaper, plastic options, but they don’t work as well.

2) Choosing Bread for Homemade Uncrustables

We use a 100% whole wheat bread that’s a store brand, and it works very well.

You will want to choose 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

The main reason I make homemade uncrustable sandwiches is that I can control the quality of the ingredients.

This is especially important if your child has any food sensitivities or allergies, but I like that these are better than the store-bought version.

We are particularly fond of Smuckers Natural Fruit Spread in the squeezable tube; it cuts down the time it takes to make these sandwiches even more!

This is what we use for peanut butter and we just love our squeeze jelly!

If your child attends a peanut-free school you can use a seed butter, like sunflower butter, or any nut-butter alternative.

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 a thin layer of peanut butter in a circle in the middle of both pieces of bread.

You want to put a circle of peanut butter on BOTH SIDES OF THE BREAD that will form the sandwich! This step is super important because this is what prevents the jelly from leaking through and creating a soggy sandwich.

You don’t want to spread it to the edges of the bread 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.

Next, put a tablespoon of jelly in the center of the peanut butter 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 sandwich cutter in the center of the bread 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 leftover crusts to our pet chickens, but you could also:

• eat them
• make homemade breadcrumbs
• make homemade croutons
• for french toast casserole

6) How to Freeze your Homemade Uncrustables

For frozen uncrustables, I store the sandwiches in a gallon-size ziploc 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.

You could also store them in a freezer-safe container.

The sandwiches just get popped into their lunch box, straight out of the freezer, and they are fully thawed by lunch time!

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 kind of crustless, round sandwiches), takes just 30 minutes, and gives you time to enjoy your coffee in the morning.

DIY Frozen 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 ziploc bag, separating the sandwiches with a sheet of parchment paper to make sure they do not stick to each other.

Can You Use Gluten-Free Bread?

Yes! You can definitely use gluten-free bread to make your DIY uncrustables. Just be sure to choose a bread with a soft crumb to help ensure a successful seal.

Dry breads and really thick beads do not work well.

What if I don’t have an Uncrustable maker?

There a variety of items you could use to cut the crust off of your sandwiches.

Almost anything with a 3.5-4 inch diameter will work.

A few items you might try would be a glass or plastic cup or biscuit cutter.

If you use a glass or cup, you will want to choose one with a thick rim that seals the bread instead of just cutting right through it.

More Homemade Uncrustable Recipes

Peanut Butter and Jelly works great for the freezer, but the Cut n’ Seal also allows you to make a variety of yummy crustless sandwiches quickly.

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
• Nutella Uncrustables with Strawberry
• 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.

How to Make Homemade Uncrustables for Your Child’s School Lunch