Eating out every day for work can become exhausting. Changing your habits and learning to prep your meals and take them with you to work saves more time, money and builds more encouragement to stay motivated and live well. Your healthy lunch recipes for work should include protein, good carbohydrates, healthy fats and lots of veggies. Read about some specific healthy and easy lunch ideas for work below.
5 Healthy Lunch Ideas for Work
Check out these five easy, healthy lunches for work that’ll help you take care of your body while staying on top of your busy schedule.
1. Soup or Chili
Make a giant pot of soup or chili over the weekend and portion it into single servings to have healthy lunches all week long. You can pour your soup or chili into a thermos or large mason jars. If you’re not planning on using all of the soup or chili during the week, you can save it in the freezer for later.
Soups and chili can be extremely healthy, too. Depending on the day, you could have a vegetable soup to get your greens or a hearty chili to fill up on protein. Whatever you choose, it’ll be delicious and nutritious meal for any workday.
Check out these healthy soup and chili lunch ideas for work:
- Detox chicken soup opens in a new window
- Broccoli cheddar soup opens in a new window
- Turkey chili opens in a new window
2. Low-Carb Roll-Ups
Low-carb roll-ups are the perfect solution for sticking with a low-carb or keto diet. You can prepare these easy roll-ups a few days in advance with your favorite tasty ingredients so they’re ready to grab and go in the morning.
If you want to meal prep your low-carb roll-ups at the beginning of the week, make a batch up your favorite roll-ups and then wrap the individual portions in plastic wrap. Then, all you have to do is put the packaged roll-ups in sandwich bags and store them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to eat.
Try meal prepping one of these delicious low-carb roll-up recipes for your work lunches this week:
- Italian sub roll-ups opens in a new window
- Keto club lettuce wraps opens in a new window
- Hot ham and cheese roll-ups opens in a new window
3. Make-Ahead Bowls
Make-ahead bowls are one of the best healthy lunches for work. They’re easy to make, brimming with nutrients and filled with flavor. You can add whatever ingredients you’d like to your bowl, including simple ingredients for easy preparation.
Here’s the basic formula of a make-ahead bowl:
- Protein
- Vegetables
- Carbohydrate
- Sauce
For example, you could make a bowl that features chicken, quinoa and broccoli drizzled with a zesty lemon dressing. If you want a little more variety in your bowls, wait to pour on the sauce until the day you’re eating the bowl. You can switch up which type of sauce you use each day.
The idea behind make-ahead bowls is that you prepare one bulk recipe, then portion it out into five containers, giving you one bowl for each day of the week. One of the easiest ways to make a bulk recipe is to cook a sheet pan meal and then split it among your individual containers.
However, you can turn just about any recipe into make-ahead bowls. Just make the recipe ahead of time and place the ingredients in the bowls. You can store the bowls in the refrigerator and heat one up whenever you’re ready to eat.
If you want more specific healthy lunch recipes for work, try one of these make-ahead bowl recipes:
- Chicken and fajita make-ahead bowls opens in a new window
- Greek chicken and veggies make-ahead bowls opens in a new window
- Make-ahead Asian noodle bowls opens in a new window
4. Mason Jar Salads
What’s cuter than a colorful salad in a mason jar? Mason jar salads are the perfect workday lunch because they’re easy to make in advance, loaded with veggies, portion-controlled, portable and delicious. If you struggle to get enough vegetables in your day, making mason jar salads could help you increase your daily veggie intake.
All you have to do to prep is fill five mason jars with tons of your favorite veggies, proteins and whole grains. Every morning throughout the week, you’ll be able to grab a jar from the fridge on the way out the door and have a healthy, satisfying lunch that afternoon.
You can customize the ingredients that go into your mason jar salads. For instance, one week you could stuff your mason jars with kale, brown rice, chopped bell peppers, slivered almonds and turkey, while the next week you could fill them with spinach, barley, edamame, sunflower seeds and salmon. It’s totally up to you!
Check out these recipes for some more mason jar salad inspiration:
- Classic Cobb mason jar salad opens in a new window
- Berry chicken mason jar salad opens in a new window
- Mason jar taco salad opens in a new window
5. Regular Salads
Traditional salads are just as healthy and convenient to eat at work as their mason jar counterparts. If you’re not particularly excited at the thought of bringing a huge leafy green salad to work, you can opt to bring a brown rice, quinoa or whole-grain pasta salad instead. These salads are easy to make ahead of time and pre-portioned out.
Try meal prepping one of these salad recipes over the weekend to have healthy lunches to take to work all week:
- Healthy quinoa salad opens in a new window
- Vegetable and brown rice salad opens in a new window
- Mediterranean pasta salad opens in a new window
What to Avoid When Snacking at the Office
Excessive snacking at the office can ruin the point of bringing healthy lunches to work. Make sure you snack smart and avoid these types of foods throughout the day:
- Empty calories: Many snacks are composed of empty calories that contain few essential nutrients if any. Eating empty calories won’t keep you satisfied and may alter your blood sugar, causing you to feel hungrier and eat more throughout the day.
- Fizzy drinks: What you drink is just as important as what you eat. Fizzy drinks like soda are filled with empty calories and sweeteners your body doesn’t need. Make sure you’re not negating the benefits of bringing low-calorie lunches for work by drinking your calories.
- Processed foods: Highly processed foods, such as a bag of chips or cheese puffs, usually contain unhealthy ingredients like trans fat, extra salt, added sugar, preservatives and food colorings. Try to steer clear of pre-packaged snacks.
- Sugary snacks: Avoid snacks that are high in sugar, especially refined sugar. Sugar doesn’t offer any notable health benefits and just adds more calories to your day.
Instead of reaching for a candy bar the next time you get a late afternoon craving, try choosing a healthier snack, such as mixed nuts or popcorn. Stocking your snack drawer with better options will help you lead a healthier lifestyle overall.
Get Healthy Lunches for the Whole Office From Apple Spice Catering
If you want to bring healthy lunches to your whole office, get Apple Spice to cater your next meeting or event. Order online with Apple Spice for a wide selection of healthy and delicious lunch options. Our catered box lunches are filled with nourishing ingredients and always delivered fresh.
Find the Apple Spice nearest you to get healthier lunches at your office today.
