Make your week a bit easier by prepping these delicious lunches ahead of time! With only three steps to prepare them, each dish is simple to make and packed with flavor. From cozy soups to hearty grain bowls to colorful salads, there’s no shortage of tasty dishes that will make a perfect midday meal. Try options like our Stuffed Cabbage Soup and our Walnut Pesto Pasta Salad for a healthy lunch you can grab and go!
Mashed Chickpea Salad with Dill & Capers
This creamy yet light vegan salad is full of bright, herby goodness. On its own, it’s great to serve alongside a sandwich or veggie burger in place of potato salad or coleslaw. You can also make it into a light lunch by adding a handful of arugula to enjoy it as a green salad. Double the recipe and refrigerate to have on hand throughout the week.
Stuffed Cabbage Soup
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster
Like stuffed cabbage? You’ll love this easy cabbage soup. It’s got all of the classic flavors of stuffed cabbage without all the fuss of stuffing.
Broccoli-Cranberry Salad
This easy broccoli salad is tossed in a creamy dressing and spiked with sweet cranberries, Cheddar cheese and toasty walnuts. This easy side is great for lunch—add shredded chicken to make it a main dish.
Walnut Pesto Pasta Salad
Fresh tomatoes and roasted red peppers add a pop of bright color and juiciness here, but any of your favorite pasta-salad veggies, like blanched broccoli and fresh bell peppers, would be delicious too.
Falafel Tabbouleh Bowls with Tzatziki
Meal-prepping a week’s worth of lunches doesn’t need to take hours in the kitchen. These meal-prep bowls can be prepared in just 10 minutes and only require 4 ingredients–greens, falafel, tabbouleh and tzatziki. We love going to our local specialty grocery store for fast shortcut ingredients like these. The high-fiber falafel and tabbouleh will help to keep you feeling satisfied all afternoon.
Teriyaki Tofu Rice Bowls
With a handful of shortcut ingredients from your grocery store, including precooked rice packets and seasoned baked tofu, you can prepare several high-fiber, high-protein meals in about 15 minutes.
Cucumber Pasta Salad
This light and tangy cucumber pasta salad is fresh and bright. The orecchiette pasta holds the dressing for flavor in every bite, but you can use another small pasta shape if you like. This easy salad is perfect for a warm day or to serve as a lunch dish for company! For a fruitier flavor, try apple-cider vinegar in place of white distilled vinegar.
Make-Ahead Chicken Pasta Salad
This make-ahead chicken pasta salad is classic and completely adaptable-you can swap in whatever veggies, herbs or cheese you like.
Grilled Vegetable Salads with Goat Cheese
Prepare a week’s worth of lunches in about 10 minutes using a handful of ingredients from your local grocery store. To save time, we’re using a bag of frozen grilled and marinated vegetables, then adding big flavor with marinated goat cheese. If you want to bump up the protein, leftover chicken breast or salmon pair perfectly with this hearty salad.
Vegan Burrito Bowls with Cauliflower Rice
These meal-prep vegan burrito bowls are healthy and flavorful. Make them early in the week for grab-and-go meals when days are busy. We use frozen cauliflower rice, a low-carb substitute for white or brown rice, to cut down on prep time.
Buffalo-Style Bistro Lunch Box
These tailgate-inspired lunch bowls can be assembled in about 15 minutes using just a handful of ingredients, like pregrilled chicken and spicy Buffalo-flavored hummus. We’re packing these up with crunchy veggie sticks and blue cheese so you can savor all the game-day flavors, but for a fraction of the calories.
Brussels Sprouts Salad with Crunchy Chickpeas
This healthy high-fiber salad comes together in just 10 minutes. Serve it right away or pack it in individual servings for four super-satisfying high-fiber lunches for the week ahead. To cut down on prep time, we’re using preshredded Brussels sprouts from the produce department and store-bought roasted chickpeas. Look for roasted chickpea snacks with the healthy snacks or nuts at your grocery store.
Chopped Salad with Sriracha Tofu & Peanut Dressing
Prep four days’ worth of high-protein vegan lunches using just four easy ingredients, including a veggie-heavy salad mix as a base. Because this salad mix is hearty, you can dress these bowls up to 24 hours before serving to allow the flavors in this healthy chopped salad to marry. If you can’t find a hearty mix, go with broccoli slaw or shredded Brussels sprouts.
Chopped Salad with Chicken & Avocado-Buttermilk Dressing
This herb-loaded green goddess-inspired dressing gets a color boost from creamy avocado. Make a double batch of this healthy salad dressing to keep on hand for salads throughout the week.
Chopped Rainbow Salad Bowls with Peanut Sauce
Make good use of crunchy and colorful seasonal produce in these meal-prep-friendly vegetable bowls. With just 30 minutes of prep, you get four healthy lunches that are ready to grab-and-go. We use bulgur, which cooks faster and is higher in fiber than brown rice, but you could swap in quinoa (or any hearty whole grain). Feel free to add chopped cooked chicken, shrimp or tofu for extra protein.
Quinoa Deli Salad
This healthy version of a deli salad combines hearty quinoa and chickpeas with small amounts of ham and mozzarella, so you get all of the flavor without overdoing it on the sodium. This healthy quinoa salad is great as dinner and doubles as a delicious lunch the next day.
Zucchini Noodle Bowls with Chicken Sausage & Pesto
Cut down on prep time for this meal-prep zoodle recipe by using premade zucchini noodles from the produce section. Canned beans and precooked chicken sausage heat in about 5 minutes and add protein, while store-bought refrigerated pesto serves as a fast and flavorful topping.
