Back to School Chicken, Olive & Herbed Cream Cheese Sandwich Cups Recipe

I was that kid. You know, the one with the tuna fish or egg salad sandwiches. As many times as my friends held their noses and turned away from me, I adored those brown bag lunches. In those days, cafeteria lunches were not available at my elementary school, except for the highly anticipated bi-weekly “hot dog days”, which were always accompanied by a big cup of orange drink from McDonald’s. Now, my children are provided with a rotating choice of meals in their school cafeteria. Unfortunately, these lunches leave a lot to be desired, nutritionally speaking. Hamburgers, pizza, corn dogs, waffles on a stick – seriously.

Each morning, I pack lunches for my kids in their lunch boxes, trying to provide them with something nutritious enough to fuel the recess soccer game. However, there are only so many peanut butter sandwiches or turkey wraps one kid can take. When Rachael of La Fuji Mama emailed me with a challenge to come up with a lunchbox meal using Lindsay Olives black olives, I jumped at the chance. Rachael’s blog is full of innovative ideas, not to mention photos of her adorable girls enjoying the food she makes. A few days later, a box containing Lindsay Olive’s new resealable containers of black olives, plus several more of their high-quality products arrived at my doorstep and I set to work. These are products that I regularly buy for my family, so I recommend them without hesitation.

Using regular whole-wheat sandwich bread, I made toasted sandwich cups. With my boys’ help, I filled the cups with an herbed cream cheese, chopped rotisserie chicken, grated carrots, and black olives. It was a challenge to make them as quickly as the boys gobbled them up.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut the crusts from 3 pieces of whole-wheat sandwich bread, and cut each piece of bread in quarters.

Brush both sides of each bread piece lightly with olive oil. Firmly press the pieces into a mini-muffin tin.

Bake until the edges of the bread are golden brown. Let the bread cups cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan, and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. The bread cups can be made a couple of days in advance and kept fresh in an airtight container.

In a medium bowl, whip 4 oz. light cream cheese until fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon dried oregano and a pinch of salt. Whip to combine.

Fill each sandwich cup with 1 teaspoon herbed cream cheese, 1 teaspoon grated carrot, 1 teaspoon chopped chicken (I used rotisserie chicken), and 1 teaspoon sliced black olives (such as Lindsay large pitted black ripe olives).

Pack 6 sandwich cups in each of two reusable sandwich containers and put into your childrens’ lunch boxes, with a freezer pack.

Back to School Chicken, Olive & Herbed Cream Cheese Sandwich Cups

3 slices whole-wheat bread
1/4 cup olive oil
4 oz. light cream cheese
1 tsp dried oregano
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup grated carrot
1/4 cup cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken is quick and convenient)
1/4 cup sliced black olives (such as Lindsay large pitted black ripe olives)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut the crusts from bread, and cut each piece of bread in quarters. Brush both sides of each bread piece lightly with olive oil. Firmly press the pieces into a mini-muffin tin. Bake until the edges of the bread are golden brown. Let the bread cups cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan, and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. The bread cups can be made a couple of days in advance and kept fresh in an airtight container.

In a medium bowl, whip cream cheese until fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add oregano and a pinch of salt. Whip to combine.

Fill each sandwich cup with 1 teaspoon herbed cream cheese, 1 teaspoon grated carrot, 1 teaspoon chopped chicken (I used rotisserie chicken), and 1 teaspoon sliced black olives.

Pack 6 sandwich cups in each of two reusable sandwich containers and put into your childrens’ lunch boxes, with a freezer pack.

Makes 12 sandwich cups (enough for 2 lunches).

Printable recipe

(Disclosure: Lindsay Olive sent their product to me, free of charge, plus I am receiving a small monetary compensation.)