Easy Work Lunch Ideas

Don’t doom yourself to a lifetime of wilted salads and expensive to-go orders. If you and lunchtime have a love-hate relationship, you need some easy work lunch ideas to help inspire you to change up your noon routine.

How To Make A Good Work Lunch

The idea is simple: save money, eat healthier, and make the most of your break by digging into a delicious pre-packed lunch.

The catch?

You’d rather do anything but cook.

Help!

Low-effort meal ideas

You’ve picked up a bunch of healthy groceries for less, extracted your lunchbox from deep inside a cupboard, and set aside some time to prep for the morning.

What next?

Here’s how to pull it all together to create some easy lunch meals.

Sandwiches, pinwheel sandwiches, and wraps

Sandwiches and wraps are lunch at its best: They’re portable, filling, and don’t need to be reheated.

For a sandwich that’s sure to make your coworkers jealous, swap your regular sliced bread for ciabatta, Turkish rolls, or bagels.

These denser breads won’t get as soggy and can be stuffed with goodness, like this tri tip sandwich that’s packed with onions, provolone cheese, lettuce, and steak.

If you’re looking for a lighter option, almost any sandwich recipe can be easily converted to a wrap. 

Try one of these:

• Easy Sandwich Pinwheels With Spinach and Pastrami
• Easy Cheesy Chicken Salad Wrap (Air Fryer and Stove Top)
• Spicy Buffalo Chicken Wrap (Air Fryer and Stove Top)

TIP: To set yourself up for easy lunches, stock your pantry with long-lasting essentials like mayo, mustard, canned fish, and pickles. For your fresh ingredients, look to versatile options like cheese, lettuce, tomato, and avocado that can be used in multiple dishes. To make things easy, grab a rotisserie chicken next time you are at the store.

Satisfying salads and bowls

Salads and bowls are a healthy way to enjoy a bunch of fresh veggies, but how do you make them satisfying without spending hours in the kitchen?

There’s no shame in relying on shortcuts.

For example, most grocery stores offer bagged salads that you can make more satisfying with a few extra ingredients. Purchasing dressing saves a lot of time. Marinated tofu, white beans, chickpeas, and salad toppers can also be a huge help.

If you don’t want to spend that extra money at the grocery store, set aside some time on the weekend to prepare meals for the week ahead. Pre-washing and pre-chopping your veggies and shaking up some homemade salad dressing will make next week’s salads a breeze.

Above all, don’t forget to scour your fridge for leftovers that can be repurposed into tomorrow’s lunch. Last night’s salmon and chicken can power up your leafy greens. Roasted veggies work perfectly in a fall-inspired bowl. Short pasta noodles, quinoa or orzo can all be added to salads and bowls to make them more filling.

Try one of these simple salads that can be made in bulk and used throughout the week for easy work lunches:

• Mediterranean Chickpea Pasta Salad Recipe
• Deli Style Macaroni Pasta Salad With Egg
• Best Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad (Low Carb
• or a simple rice bowl like this Rainbow Brown Rice Bowl

Don’t forget your snacks

Packing a range of sweet and savory snacks that you actually want to eat will keep cravings at bay and prevent you from impulsively purchasing items you’ll later regret.

Kale chips, seaweed snacks, a hard-boiled egg, Greek yogurt, fruits and veggies like red peppers and carrot sticks with dip, rice cakes, granola bars and dried fruit are all balanced options that can keep you satisfied through a long day at work.

Or make up a batch of muffins and keep them in the freezer for the week ahead:

• Ultimate Two Bite Chocolate Brownie Muffins
• Bakery Style Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
• Dark Chocolate Orange Muffins with Orange Glaze

Tips For Packing Your Easy Work Lunch

I know it can be hard to come up with ideas, or to stay inspired when you have to pack something every day and it all seems a bit monotonous, so here are a bunch of habits I try to keep to stay on top.

1. Make it Nutritious and Delicious

Want to avoid that dreaded 4 p.m. slump, but don’t know where to start? The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has got you covered with their Healthy Eating Plate. 

It’s a simple guide for creating balanced lunches, the main ideas being:

• Fruits and vegetables should fill half of your plate (or in our case, your lunchbox): aim for color and variety, aka eat the rainbow by adding in fresh crunchy veggies like cucumber and carrot;
• Whole grains should fill a quarter of your plate: whole wheat, quinoa, barley, oats and brown rice are all great ideas;
• Protein should fill a quarter of your plate: fish, poultry, beans like black beans or chickpeas, and nuts are all great;
• You should pair your dish with a drink of water, and avoid sugary drinks. 

Following a simple guide like Harvard’s Healthy Eating Plate takes away the mental load associated with planning a nutritious lunch.

Soon enough, creating healthy lunches will become second nature.

2. Seek out some lunch inspiration

While there’s nothing wrong with the humble peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the world of lunch has so much more to offer.

So before you go grocery shopping, take a moment to look up some easy cold lunch ideas to make for the week ahead. 

Or, if you can’t get enough of a particular fast-food option, think about recreating a healthy version at home for a fraction of the price, like this buffalo chicken wrap, or this bacon ranch chicken salad.

Personally, I keep a running list of lunch ideas on the fridge to give me some inspiration when it comes to planning the week ahead. I have all sorts of soups, sandwiches, and pasta salads on there.

This is a great way to make sure you never run out of ideas.

3. Set yourself up for a serene morning

If you can take just a few minutes to prepare lunch the night before, your morning self will thank you.

Try packing a couple of the following and going from there:

• Leftovers from dinner the night before: pasta salad (like this deli style macaroni pasta salad with egg), soup, or burritos are all easy to pack up and simply grab from the fridge in the morning;
• Buy a variety of pre-packaged healthy snacks you know you will enjoy;
• Make up a big batch of bliss balls or muffins and keep them in the freezer, these strawberry bliss balls and these banana biscoff muffins are great, and freeze really well;
• Pre-wahsed and cut fruits and veggies like berries and carrot sticks can be easily tossed into containers and popped into the fridge. Things like apples and bananas don't need any prep, and you can simply grab them and go.

4. Choose your containers wisely

Buy some good-quality containers that will keep your food in prime condition, and get you excited to pack lunch. 

Pick the containers that work best for you and your lifestyle.

Glass containers are heavier than plastic and more breakable, so not ideal if you are walking or biking to work, but they are also easier to clean, and safer to microwave, so perfect if you like to pack hot food.

Bento boxes, tiffins, and thermoses are other great options to consider. Especially if you don't have a way of reheating a nice soup, the thermos will keep it nice and warm for you.

Think about finding a cute lunch bag to hold those containers for an extra layer of security.

You might be surprised at how much you start to enjoy preparing food using your new gear.

Make lunch a daily gift to yourself

The Nobel Prize-winning economist Richard Thaler famously said, “If you want people to do something, make it easy.”

He may not have been thinking about lunch when he spoke those words, but his insight holds true nonetheless. 

How do you make lunch easy?

• Start by finding functional, easily accessible lunch gear.
• Embrace store-bought or meal prep shortcuts if you know you don't have the time or desire to make your own food.
• Above all, pack food you are actually excited to eat. There's nothing worse than having a soggy sandwich to look forward to in your break!

So next time the clock strikes noon you will feel ready for yet another brag-worthy, healthy-but-filling, no-effort lunch.

With these easy lunch ideas, you’ve got this one in the bag.

This article originally appeared on Food Drink Life.