Healthy Work From Home Lunch Ideas to Make Your Life Easy

I am a big fan of making my own lunches. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I bought lunch. As a result, I’ve developed an arsenal of work from home lunch recipes.

My favorite thing about making my own lunches is how much money I save. To put it into perspective, buying lunch from a restaurant costs, on average, $15. That was actually in 2021, so it’s more now! If you multiply $15 by 5 workdays and 52 weeks in a year, that’s $3,9000 on lunch for one year! In contrast, making your own lunch generally costs a third of that or less. What would you do with $2,000+ extra dollars a year? That could make a great emergency fund, little vacation, investment, wardrobe refresh, basically a million things that are cooler than a sad salad from Panera.

On top of that, restaurant food (and especially fast food!) is usually way unhealthier than the food we make ourselves. There’s a reason food tastes better at restaurants, and that reason, more often than not, is a whole bunch of butter and salt. In fact, the average restaurant (not fast food) lunch clocks in at 1,000 calories. Nutritionists recommend we eat 500-700 calories at lunch. So it’s not hard to see that those extra calories (and dollars!) quickly add up.

While making our own lunches is a great way to save money and calories (adulting win!), it takes planning and time, something many of us are short on. Indeed, if we have a 5 or 10 minute lunch break between Zoom meetings, the idea of making lunch likely doesn’t sound very appealing. Luckily, I have a number of easy, go to lunch recipes that you can throw together, most in less than 10 minutes. Plus, they’re healthy lunches and generally very inexpensive.

Easy Lunch Ideas That Require No Prep

If you have no time to meal prep on the weekends or in the mornings, these simple lunch ideas will quickly become your best friend. Any of these recipes is a great choice for a healthy, easy midday meal that can come together with just a little bit of time.

Yogurt, Berries, and Granola (a kid-friendly work from home lunch!)

This recipe is packed with nutrients: probiotics, prebiotics (i.e. fiber), Vitamin C, antioxidants, calcium, and more. I use whole milk yogurt because it’s more filling and tends to have less sugar than low fat yogurts. Plus, whole milk yogurt has lots of healthy fats. If you’re active, it’s especially important to ensure you’re getting enough fat in your diet.

I also make my own granola. If you have a little extra time, homemade granola tends to have less sugar and you can control the kinds of ingredients that go in. It’s also way cheaper than the store bought stuff. I use the Molasses Tahini granola recipe from Rise and Run and use oats, walnuts, and pumpkin or sunflower seeds in my recipe.

Serving Size: 1
Ingredients

• ½ cup plain yogurt (I use Stonyfield’s whole milk yogurt)
• 1 teaspoon honey (or to taste)
• ½ cup berries (fresh or frozen, if using frozen, microwave for 1 minute before mixing in the other ingredients, I use Trader Joe’s frozen mixed berries)
• ¼ cup granola

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and enjoy! Additionally, I often add 2 tablespoons of collagen powder for an extra boost of nutrients.

Mashed Avocado and Bean Toast

This lunch is so easy and shockingly delicious. You barely notice the beans at all. Plus, it’s full of healthy fats and fiber, which will keep you full throughout your day. It’s a great idea for those afternoons when you need something quick to sustain you for the rest of the afternoon with no food crash or coma.

Serving Size: 1
Ingredients

• ½ of an avocado
• ½ cup cannellini beans
• 1 tsp lime juice
• ½ tsp Everything Bagel Seasoning (or your preferred seasoning)
• 2 pieces of toast

Mash the avocado and cannellini beans together. Mix in lime juice and seasoning and top on two pieces of toast.

Simple Salad Kit + Protein

I make this lunch all the time. It’s especially handy when I don’t have time to do any meal prep over the weekend or if I’m trying to save money. While the dressing and add-ins for some salad kits are not always the healthiest, you can control the amount of dressing/add-ins you put on your salad or substitute your favorite dressing. Personally, I prefer a “good enough” approach to nutrition and am usually pretty pleased with myself that I ate a big salad for lunch. These salads are also usually much healthier than anything you’d get at a restaurant.

My favorite salad kits are the Southwest Salad kit from Trader Joe’s and the Dill Pickle salad kit from Trader Joe’s. The latter has a fattier dressing, but it’s so delicious I don’t really care. If I’m making a Southwest salad, I usually use black beans. For most salad kits, I use garbanzo or cannellini beans as they tend to be very versatile.

Serving Size: 3
Ingredients

• Your favorite salad kit
• 1 can beans

Divide the salad kit and beans into 3 bowls or Tupperware containers. Mix together and now you have 3 lunches! If the salad kit comes with an add-in like tortilla chips or something crispy, set aside the little bag of add-ins and only add the chips (or other add-in) when you are ready to eat the salad so that the add-ins don’t get soggy.

Black Bean Tacos

Can you tell I eat a lot of beans? Beans are incredibly healthy (full of fiber, protein, and antioxidants). Plus they’re cheap so they feature heavily in my work from home lunches. This is an easy, flavorful work from home lunch that often feels more luxurious to me than some of the other options.

Serving Size: 1
Ingredients

• ½ cup black beans
• Cheese to taste
• Cilantro to taste
• Salsa to taste
• 2 corn tortillas
• Optional: Plain Greek yogurt

Heat up the corn tortillas in the microwave or in a nonstick skillet until they are soft. Spoon ¼ cup of black beans onto one tortilla and ¼ cup of black beans onto the other. Sprinkle cheese on top and microwave for an additional ~15-30 seconds or heat on the skillet for an additional minute to melt the cheese and lightly heat the beans. Sprinkle cilantro on top and spoon on salsa to taste. I love adding Greek yogurt instead of sour cream as well.

For a less healthy (but very delicious) option, you can swap tortillas for tortilla chips and make black bean nachos.

Protein Packed Nut Butter and Jelly Smoothie (another Kid-Friendly Work From Home Lunch!)

Smoothies are an incredible way of getting lots of vitamins and antioxidants. Additionally, you can customize the smoothie flavor to your preferences. The smoothie below is one of my absolute favorites. My nephew calls it the moustache smoothie because it’s thick and creamy and, if you’re not careful, can leave a bit of a moustache.

Serving Size: 2
Ingredients

• 1 cup frozen berries (I love Trader Joe’s frozen mixed berries)
• 2 tablespoons peanut or almond butter
• Handful spinach
• 1 cup non-dairy milk or water (I use Cashew milk for this recipe)
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (your preferred brand. If making for children, you may want to leave this out as the effects of protein powder on kids are unknown. I leave this out when making it for my nieces and nephews.)

Add all the ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until creamy. Mix in additional milk/water if the consistency is too thick for your preferences.

Meal Prepped Work from Home Lunch Ideas

If you have the time for a weekend meal prep routine, you might consider the following recipes. They are all healthy lunch ideas (or relatively healthy), that come together very quickly despite their need for a bit of meal prep. Plus, these are all big batch recipes that enable you to parcel out your lunches for the work week in one fell swoop.

Caprese Pasta Salad

I make this recipe all the time for lunches and dinners. It’s delicious, refreshing, and has fiber, Vitamin C, lycopene (which helps protect us from the sun), and protein. Additionally, it comes together incredibly easily. While this lunch does require some prep, the prep is very minimal.

Servings: 5
Ingredients

• 0.5 oz basil (chopped)
• 24 oz (or 3 cups) cherry tomatoes (halved)
• 8 oz mozzarella pearls
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• Salt to taste
• Red pepper flakes to taste
• 12 oz rotini pasta, cooked (I know this is a weird amount, but I have to use GF pasta which pretty much only comes in 12 oz or smaller boxes). You can use 8 oz of pasta to make this more “topping” heavy.
• Optional: 16 oz Beyond Burger, cooked

Mix together everything except the pasta and Beyond Burger (if using) and marinate for 1 hour. After 1 hour, mix in the pasta and optional Beyond Burger. Divide into 5 Tupperware containers to last throughout the week! This recipe can be eaten hot or col.

Kale and Wild Rice Grain Bowls with Lemon Miso Dressing

Kale is packed with nutrients, but if we’re being honest, it’s not the tastiest thing ever. Yet, with a little preparation it can become pretty dang delicious… or, you know, bearable. This salad is so good that I’ve had multiple people who don’t like kale say that they love this salad. Moreover, it’s a great low carb recipe if you’re looking for something that tastes indulgent but is still very healthy.

I adapted this recipe from Elyse Kopecky and Shalane Flanagan’s cookbook Run Fast Eat Slow. I can’t recommend this cookbook highly enough. However, the original recipe is not gluten-free, doesn’t have protein, and radicchio is expensive. Consequently, I made some adaptations to make a GF, higher protein, cheaper alternative and it’s still delicious.

Serving Size: 5
Ingredients

• 12 oz. bag kale
• 1 cup wild rice
• 1 cup parmesan cheese (shredded)
• 2 14 oz. cans garbanzo beans
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• 1 recipe lemon miso dressing (this is legitimately my all time favorite dressing! Recipe is in the hyperlink)

Prepare the wild rice. Mix all ingredients together and let sit for 30 minutes before eating. Parcel into 5 mason jars or tupperware containers.

Egg Salad Sandwiches with Greek Yogurt

I love egg salad sandwiches. In fact, I’ve requested them on my birthday before. A little weird? Maybe. But eggs are super high in protein and, in spite of inflation, one of the cheapest protein sources around. If you sub Greek yogurt for mayo, you can make this lunch extra protein-packed and healthy. Keep in mind that this lunch doesn’t have much in the way of fruits or vegetables, so adding an apple, banana, cup of berries, or small salad on the side would help boost the nutrition of this lunch.

Serving Size: 3
Ingredients

• 5 hard-boiled eggs (chopped)
• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt (I use full fat, but you can use lower fat if you prefer, it’ll just be a little less creamy)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped dill
• Optional: 1 tablespoon chopped Spring onions
• 3-6 slices bread (depending on if you like open-faced sandwiches like me).

Mash all of the ingredients together except for the dill, green onion, and bread (obviously!) until you have a creamy consistency. You can expect chunks. However, you want the yolks to be well-mashed with the yogurt, lemon juice, and seasonings. Spoon onto bread (I prefer mine toasted) and sprinkle dill and green onions (if using) on top.

Frittata Cups

Again, it’s hard to beat eggs for their protein and nutrient content. Don’t skip the yolks either! While they are higher in cholesterol, they’re more dense with nutrients than egg whites. Indeed, they have Vitamins A, D, E, K, and loads of B Vitamins. Egg whites tend to lack in Vitamins A, D, E, and K relative to the yolks. These frittata cups are an easy, on the go option that are great for breakfast or lunch. After all, as Ron said to Leslie in Parks and Rec, “Why would anyone eat anything other than breakfast food?”

• You can find the recipe at Recipe Tin Eats
• Bonus tips:
  • I often sub the cherry tomatoes and/or bell pepper with some of my other favorite chopped fresh veggies like sweet potatoes and broccoli depending on the season
  • Sometimes I’ll sub goat cheese for feta cheese for some added creaminess

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Tacos

This makes for a delicious meal that feels indulgent but is still simple and (reasonably) healthy. The prep takes about 10 minutes and then the hardest part is waiting to eat it. You can either make it the night before and serve it reheated at lunch time the next day, or start it in the morning to have it ready by lunch.

Serving Size: 8 tacos
Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken breast or chicken tenders
• 1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
• Medium sized red onion, grated
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 8 corn tortillas

Toppings

• Sliced avocado
• Shredded cheese
• Lime juice
• Cilantro

Mix the BBQ sauce, grated red onion, and brown sugar in a slow cooker. Coat the chicken in the sauce (no need to dice the chicken). Cook in the slow cooker on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. When the chicken is done, shred the chicken and mix well with the sauce. Top warmed corn tortillas with the shredded chicken and sauce. Add toppings to taste.

As an even faster alternative, you can a cup of rotisserie chicken with 2 tablespoons of your favorite barbeque sauce (or to taste) and top on a warmed tortilla. To finish, sprinkle on a tablespoon of diced red onion, a tablespoon of chopped cilantro, and cheese to taste. While this won’t be quite as tasty as the slow cooker version, it’s the perfect way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken in a very fast mid-day meal.

Simple Tray Bakes

I love these simple tray bakes from Tone It Up. While they market them as dinners, they make for super easy lunches you can either prep over the weekend or even morning of. My favorite lunch is the Tahini Tray Bake which relies on a few pantry staples along with tahini, broccoli, sweet potato, and garbanzo beans. It’s a simple, cheap meal packed with fiber, antioxidants, protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and more.

You can find the recipes here.

Work From Home Lunch Snacks

Are you looking for a little pick-me-up but don’t need a whole lunch? I love having healthy, easy, and often homemade snacks on hand. My absolute favorites are the following (recipes hyperlinked):

•  Kale Chips (recipe)
• Banana Chips (recipe)
• Nuts and dried fruit
• Granola (my favorite recipe is found in the cookbook Rise and Run)
• Roasted chickpeas (recipe)
• Popcorn with nutritional yeast
• Dates stuffed with peanut butter (or your favorite nut butter) – I just halve and pit 2 Medjool dates and put half a tablespoon of peanut butter in each. This is a rich snack so you generally don’t need a lot to feel full.

Summary: Work From Home Lunch Ideas

I hope you’ve found some easy lunches you are inspired to try! After all, adulting is so much easier if you can eat healthy and save money and time. If you try any of these WFH lunch ideas, let me know what you think in the comments!

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And if you’re interested in related content, check out my articles on pairing foods for maximum nutritional benefit, how to fuel for optimal post-exercise recovery, and how to set boundaries at work and home.