40 Healthy Lunch Ideas
Check out our 40 homemade healthy lunch ideas! The recipes include healthy grains, proteins, vegetables, and more. They're perfect for meal prep and on-the-go lunches.
Healthy Lunch Ideas
Lately, I haven't had enough time to make healthy lunches at home. Instead of turning to take-out or convenience food, however, I decided to invest more time in prepping big batches of healthy lunches on the weekends. This way, I have so much more time during the week, and I don't have to skip out on wholesome, satisfying meals that make me feel my best.
With a little bit of motivation and inspiration from these 40 healthy lunch ideas, I think that we can all stay on track with our meal goals. And most importantly, we'll stay healthy at the same time.
Lunch doesn't get enough love, so I want to dedicate this entire round-up to the midday meal. Whether you're a fan of salads with fresh, raw flavors, or you like treating yourself to something fancy in the middle of your day, we say go for it! This lucky list is all about #LUNCH.
Lunch Meal Prepping Tips
1. It's called "prep" for a reason. PREPARE! Don't put everything together last minute. Browse the 40 healthy lunch recipes below and choose the meals that you really want to eat for the next few days. Eating healthy should be fun and delicious, not a chore.
2. After you've picked out a few favorite lunch meal prep recipes, start your grocery errands (don't forget a list). This makes it so much simpler!
2. Don't prepare for the whole week at once. Especially if you're just starting with this whole meal prep thing. Try it out a few days in advance, and see how well you do! Jumping feet-first into a new habit can be overwhelming, and you might end up not sticking to it. So take things slow, and you might just love the results.
3. If you're a beginner at meal prepping, start with easy recipes with a few ingredients. We've included plenty of quick and easy lunch recipes here, so you have plenty of flavors to choose from!
Why Cook Healthy Lunches?
Although breakfast is called the most important meal of the day, that doesn't make lunch any less important. Prevent a midday lull and sugar cravings by investing in a healthy lunch. The best meals offer protein, vitamins, and nutrients to get you through your day.
Here are our favorite healthy lunch recipes for you to enjoy!
1. Chicken and Mango Salsa Bowl
A delicious chicken and mango salsa bowl, perfect for the summer! Sweet, tangy and creamy flavors paired with delicious Cajun chicken and brown rice-you can't go wrong with this well-rounded lunch!
2.Easy One Pan Beef and Broccoli
This scrumptious Asian-inspired dish is just the thing to bring family and friends together. It's one of our favorite beef recipes for lunch or dinner! We love the rich flavors of meat combined with tangy soy sauce and organic steamed broccoli. The result is a sweet and savory combo that keeps people coming back for more.
3.Salmon Cobb Salad Lunch Bowl
A fresh, delicious salmon Cobb salad with creamy avocado, juicy tomatoes, fresh greens, hard-boiled eggs and sweet red onions. Ultimately, this is the perfect summer salad bowl for lunch on the go!
4.Healthy Chicken Quinoa Vegetable Salad
All of the fillings, none of the guilt. That's what we like best about this colorful salad! This dish is inspired by all of you health enthusiasts who are staying on track with your dietary plans. This dish celebrates our love of flavour and our desire to stay on the healthy side of things.
This broccoli, pea and mint soup is the perfect recipe to warm you up! It has a rich, creamy texture that makes a very filling lunch meal prep option to hold you over until dinner.
6.Quick Chicken and Avocado Salad
A mouthwatering quick chicken and avocado salad bowl with greens, tomatoes, red onions and herbs. And the best part? This dish is ready in just 30 minutes!
7.Cajun Shrimp Fajita Pan Recipe
A mouthwatering shrimp fajita skillet meal with a Cajun twist. This dish includes creamy avocado chunks and tangy lime. What's more, it's ready in under 30 minutes!
8.Mediterranean Meal Prep in Minutes!
What flavours do you think of when you imagine Mediterranean food? Oftentimes, it's about a few specific ingredients. Spices, veggies, and meat combined in a unique way. This meal prep bowl celebrates the best of Mediterranean flavor, in one healthy lunch recipe.
9.Orange Sesame Chicken Recipe
Healthier oven-baked orange chicken tossed in a delicious sticky orange citrusy sauce! For this recipe, I use orange juice (freshly squeezed or shop-bought). Orange chicken is usually served with white rice, broccoli, green beans or noodles.
10.Salmon and Quinoa Salad Meal Prep
Ready for a meal that's full of healthy nutrients from A to Z? Our simple yet totally satisfying salmon and quinoa meal prep recipe keeps on giving. Filled with refreshing flavours and handfuls of the healthiest ingredients around, this is a lunch that's guaranteed to satisfy.
11.Sweet Potatoes Loaded with Minced Beef
You might be surprised that this filling stuffed sweet potato dish is so low in calories! Plus, the high fiber count adds plenty more health benefits as well.
For this Sims Home Kitchen recipe, we decided to go back to the basics, and elevate them. You'll need your oven and stove for this one, but we promise the results are worth it. This is a meal that even the most inexperienced cook can handle, and it will quickly become one of your go-to dishes when you don't have many ingredients around the house!
13.Peri Peri Chicken and Tomato Bulgur
This healthy lunch idea for one-pan Peri Peri Chicken and Tomato Bulgur is a very easy meal that's absolutely brimming with nutrition. You will love how this hearty dish has a hint of zest, sweetness, and a kick of spice! It is perfect to add to your fall and winter lunch meal prep rotation.
14.Shakshuka: The Origin and an Easy, Healthy Recipe
Hearty red sauce, baked with eggs, shakshuka is an under-rated lunch option. The dish is a bit like an Arabic version of the Mexican favourite Huevos Rancheros. I bet that it will soon be your favourite go-to easy weekday meal.
15.Chicken and Avocado Pasta Meal Prep
I love avocados and I eat them whenever I get the chance. They're so versatile. For example, enjoy an avocado as a spread for toast, mashed into a sauce, in a chocolaty dessert, and so much more. For this healthy lunch recipe, make a creamy avocado sauce perfect for pasta!
16.Chilli and Lime Steak Salad Bowl
This delicious homemade chili and lime steak salad bowl is a joy to make and eat! This lunch idea is filled with so many different flavors and textures making the perfect salad to enjoy all week long at the office.
17.Bulgur Wheat, Cucumber, Tomato and Herb Salad
This bulgur wheat, cucumber, tomato and herb salad is very similar to tabouleh. However, I changed the proportion of each ingredient to make a less leafy, heartier grain-based salad! As a result, it's a filling lunch option to keep afternoon hunger at bay.
18.Peppers Stuffed with Mince and Bulgur Wheat
Our minced beef and bulgur wheat-stuffed peppers are a healthy and tasty lunch idea. You can enjoy them on their own or with a salad on the side. If you are on a low-carb kick, you can even replace the bulgur wheat altogether, or add quinoa instead!
19.Fresh Salmon Salad with Avocado
This fresh salmon salad with avocado is a major lunchtime hit! It's incredibly easy-to-make lunch idea that's healthy and comes together in less than 30 minutes.
20.Black Beans, Bulgur, and Plantain Bowl
This hearty black bean bowl has healthy bulgur and deliciously sweet plantains. As a result, this dish is packed with colour, flavour, and protein. You can enjoy the bowl for lunch or for dinner, as it has all the healthy necessities to keep your body strong, without making you sacrifice your love of great food!
21.Chicken-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
These chicken-stuffed sweet potatoes are the perfect healthy lunch idea to keep you going throughout the day. It includes chicken, sweet corn, mayo and more!
22.Pan Fried Salmon with Bulgur Wheat
Delicious pan-fried salmon with bulgur wheat is a heart-healthy combination. This bowl also includes bell peppers, avocado, greens, and more crunchy ingredients.
If you're bored of everyday salad recipes, then try out this hearty Thai beef salad for lunch tomorrow. We add crushed peanuts, red peppers, and more for texture, color and nutrition.
24.Healthy Naked Chicken Burrito Bowl
This healthy naked chicken burrito bowl is filled with flavour and nutrients. It's ideal for lunch or dinner, and lasts all week long in the fridge. Just add the avocado at the last minute.
25.Noodle Bowl with Salmon and Veggies
For this #SundayFunday dish, make a heart-healthy pasta dish that the whole family is sure to enjoy.
26.Fried Bulgur with Shrimps and Veggies
At Sims Home Kitchen, we love replacing rice with whole-grain bulgur wheat. Fewer calories, less fat, fewer carbs, and tons more fiber. Sounds like a win-win to us!
27.Great Big Chicken Salad Bowl
Brighten up lunchtime with this great big chicken salad bowl. Featuring tomatoes, sweetcorn, lettuce, carrots, and more. Salads are better with protein, and this one has a lot of it. Our great big chicken salad bowl is enough for you and your friends to share. Of course, you can always eat it all for yourself, we won't judge.
29.Vegan Quinoa Chickpea Salad
Our mouthwatering vegan quinoa chickpea salad recipe will have you drooling by lunchtime. This salad includes cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions and chickpeas. It keeps it the fridge well, so make a big batch on the weekend and enjoy a healthy lunch all week long.
30.Cajun Carb-Free Prawn Salad
How's this for a healthy lunch idea: Sometimes the most delicious meal is something healthy, refreshing, and a tad bit spicy. This spicy prawn bowl is one of our favorite lunch recipes because it has absolutely zero carbs!
31.Quick and Healthy Chicken Fajitas
Our chicken fajita recipe might look overwhelming at first glance because of all the ingredients. However, we promise it's surprisingly easy! In fact, it only takes 5 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to cook. Truly, this is a hassle-free meal with plenty of healthy and delicious ingredients.
32.Minced Beef Sauce and Pasta Meal Prep
Minced Beef sauce and pasta meal prep is the perfect nutritious lunch recipe to power you through the day. Add vibrant pan-fried broccoli for extra vitamins.
33.Easy Low-Carb Lettuce Shrimp Tacos
Seafood tacos are one of the tastiest lunch recipes you can try! At least, that's how we feel. This healthy lunch meal prep recipe also happens to be carb-free. We replace tortillas with lettuce wraps. Different wrapper, same crunchy satisfaction!
34.Healthy Wholemeal Chicken Tacos
These tacos are a seriously delicious and healthy lunch idea. We add all of our favorite nutritious ingredients and spices for a healthy rendition of tacos that really packs a punch. We're all about powerful flavours at lunchtime!
35.How to Make Jollof Bulgur Wheat
Again, our favorite rice substitute with fewer carbs is a win-win for everyone when it comes to eating a healthy lunch. Jollof is a traditional West African rice dish, and I think you'll love it as much as I do.
Whip up this delicious crunchy kale and egg salad in 20 minutes. This healthy lunch idea is easy to customize, so experiment with your favorite crunchy veggies, tender proteins, and herby dressings. Our take on the kale salad is jam-packed full of vitamins and healthy ingredients to give you all the energy you'll need for the day.
37.Chicken and Broccoli with Bulgur
This chicken and broccoli with bulgur recipe is the perfect easy, nutritional lunch to serve family and friends. It's one of the best meal prep recipes for a big family.
38.Hasselback Potatoes Served with Prawns and Veggies
Feel like taking a break from grains? Then try hasselback potatoes for a healthy lunch idea! I love making hasselback potatoes for a great side dish. They go well with a variety of ingredients, including tender prawns and veggies in this meal prep recipe.
39.Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers With Lentils
This is a great vegan, plant-based, vegetarian and low-carb lunch meal prep option. We use organic beluga lentils and quinoa from Or-ways. Both ingredients taste amazing and are so easy to prepare.
40.Beetroot Pesto Spaghetti Recipe
A delicious beetroot pesto spaghetti recipe filled with nutrients. This homemade beetroot pesto includes walnuts, beets and more. Beetroots are low in calories, rich in nutrients, and may help lower blood pressure. Sounds like more than enough reasons to add this recipe to your meal prep menu.
40 Healthy Lunch ideas
https://www.nhs.uk/change4life/recipes/lunch
