These healthy meal prep lunch ideas are perfect for lunch at work or home. Make them ahead of time and enjoy all week long.
*Originally published 2/23. Updated 10/24.*
Hi friends!
Lots of you have been asking for healthy meal prep lunch ideas lately so ask and you shall receive! Last week when I launched my Mastering Food Prep course, I shared a lot about my flexible food prep method for lunches. I’m a big fan of prepping 1-2 proteins, 1-2 bases and 2-3 sauces and then mixing and matching throughout the week to make different lunches. You can find an example of 4 quick and easy meal prep ideas for work in this post.
Weekly Meal Prep Lunch Ideas
While some people enjoy packing a different lunch every day, other people are looking for one recipe they can prep ahead of time and enjoy for lunch all week long. If you want to add some variety to these ideas you can make swaps like using rice as a base instead of lettuce, putting meat in a pita one day instead of on a salad, or making half the batch vegetarian and half with meat.
If you’re looking specifically for cold lunches, check out these Easy Meal Prep Cold Lunches for Work! And here are some Breakfast Meal Prep Ideas.
Best Work Lunch Meal Prep FAQs
What proteins are good for meal prep?
Some of my favorite proteins to meal prep are chicken, steak and ground turkey. Hard boiled eggs also hold up well all week and things like beans and lentils are great for meal prep because they continue to absorb the flavors of the things around them throughout the week.
How long does meal prep last in the fridge?
Most things are good in the fridge for about 4 days. You can make larger batches and freeze half to help avoid things spoiling in the fridge and then they’re ready to just pull out and thaw mid-week or whenever you need them.
How often should you meal prep?
Meal prep is a great addition to your weekly routine. If trying to prep everything for the work week all at once overwhelms you, break it up and do some on Sunday and then a smaller prep session on Wednesday to help you finish out the week.
Can you meal prep all of your meals for the week?
Most people don’t find it effective to prep every single thing you’re going to eat all week ahead of time. Instead, focus on your trouble spots. Pick 1-2 recipes the prep ahead of time and use those to make packing your lunch each day quick and easy. This frees up more time for you to focus on cooking dinner or making a healthy breakfast to start the day!
Easy Healthy Meal Prep Lunch Ideas
Here we go! Remember if you don’t like a specific protein, in most cases, you can easily swap it for another type of meal or a vegetarian protein source to fit your needs.
Meal Prep Lunch Ideas with Chicken
Chicken recipes are by far the most popular request from readers. Chicken easily absorbs the flavors of sauces and marinades and they only deepen throughout the week.
Simple Chicken Marinade for Meal Prep
Prep a batch of this chicken pair it with a quinoa salad, put it in a pita or serve it with veggies.
Marinated Chicken and Noodles
Flavorful marinated chicken. Serve it over noodles with your favorite veggies!
Rotisserie Chicken Cobb Salad
Serve a rotisserie chicken for dinner on Sunday and then use the leftovers to enjoy this salad for lunch during the week.
Spicy Chicken and Sweet Potatoes
Pair it with green veggies for a complete meal. Easy to swap broccolini for asparagus or brussels sprouts or a salad!
Easy Healthy Lunch Ideas For Work – Meal Prep Chicken
If you’re looking for easy lunch ideas for work, chicken is a great option. It tastes great hot or cold so there are plenty of options that can be prepped and packed ahead of time.
Cheesy Broccoli Chicken and Rice Bowls
If you’re not a fan of broccoli, you could easily swap carrots, green beans or asparagus!
Sheet Pan Chicken Shawarma Bowls
Sheet pan makes for easy prep and cleanup and this chicken is packed with flavor.
Chicken Protein Bowl
A chicken protein bowl made with quinoa and packed with roasted vegetables, chicken, toasted almonds and topped with a maple dijon dressing. Perfect for meal prep.
Creamy Chicken Enchiladas
This recipe is perfect for making a double batch, freezing one pan and enjoying the other for lunches all week.
Cold Lunches Meal Prep Ideas – Lunch Bowl Meal Prep
Lots of work place lunch rooms don’t have a microwave so I always get lots of requests for meals that can be eaten cold. These lunch bowl recipes are perfect for meal prep!
Summer Roll Noodle Bowls
All the flavors of your favorite spring roll/summer roll without the fuss of a wrapper!
Kale and White Bean Salad
This Kale and White Bean Salad is packed with nutrients and the flavor just gets better as it sits in the fridge. The perfect meal prep lunch recipe.
Steak Cobb Salad
This Steak Cobb Salad Recipe is packed with protein and nutrients, easy to assemble and makes a great lunch or dinner option as the weather gets warmer.
Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad
This Roasted Vegetable Pasta Salad is a simple, healthy side dish recipe. Choose your favorite veggies, then add some bacon, goat cheese and an easy balsamic dressing.
Pesto Chicken Quinoa Bowls
These Pesto Chicken Quinoa Bowls are full of flavor and perfect for a quick lunch or dinner. Pesto-marinated chicken with buttery quinoa and roasted veggies are the perfect match!
Vegetarian Meal Prep Lunch Ideas
If you’re not a fan of chicken you might like these vegetarian meal prep lunch ideas. Swap in your favorite vegetarian protein option like beans, lentils, quinoa etc!
Vegan Red Lentil Curry
This Vegan Red Lentil Curry recipe is the perfect vegetarian lunch. It’s spicy, flavorful and packed with veggies.
Easy White Bean Panzanella Salad
A great way to turn your favorite summer veggies into lunch!
Spicy Peanut Tofu Bowls
You’ll love this peanut sauce, tastes great on a variety of proteins.
Edamame Quinoa Salad
This one packs a protein punch! Try swapping quinoa for wild rice to change things up!
Classic Chickpea Chicken Salad
A vegetarian twist on classic chicken salad.
Cheap Easy Lunch Meal Prep – Affordable Meal Prep Ideas
While packing your lunch does tend to be cheaper than eating out every day, it can still get expensive. But with a little planning and some budget-friendly ingredients, packing your lunch can save you a ton of money each week! Here are some affordable meal prep ideas.
Sweet Potato Black Bean Skillet
Made with just one skillet and budget-friendly ingredients like beans and sweet potatoes, this recipe is easy to make and perfect for meal prep! Make a batch and enjoy all week long.
Rice & Bean Freezer Burritos
Made with cheap ingredients but loaded with flavor, it’s easy to make a big batch of these all at once and pull them out of the freezer for a quick lunch!
Spicy Ramen Noodles
Almost as cheap as the store-bought packets and much healthier. Just add hot water for a quick lunch!
Moroccan Instant Pot Lentils
Packed with protein, fiber and veggies this makes the perfect lunch option at a budget-friendly price! Pair with rice, couscous or your favorite grain.
Easy Lunch Meal Prep – Seafood
Seafood for lunch is often overlooked but there are lots of great recipe options that can be prepped ahead of time from cakes to salads to bowls.
Tuna Quinoa Cakes
These Tuna Quinoa Cakes are a great way to add some extra protein to your day. Eat them plain, put them on a bun, or use them to top your salad for a healthy lunch!
Grilled Salmon Cobb Salad
Packed with flavor and protein, along with heart-healthy omegas!
Garlic Butter Shrimp
Make a big batch of these shrimp and pair with pasta, rice or salad for quick, healthy meal prep lunches.
Spicy Tuna Roll Bowls
Transform a can of tuna into something flavorful and exciting for lunch.
Meal Prep Lunch – Soups
Soup is the perfect meal prep lunch idea. It’s easy to make a big batch or even a double batch and freeze some for later.
Sweet Potato Chicken Chili {Instant Pot or Slow Cooker}
This Sweet Potato Chicken Chili can be made in the Instant Pot or slow cooker for an easy, healthy dinner. And the leftovers make the perfect packable lunch.
White Chicken Chili
This Easy White Chicken Chili is the perfect lunch soup and a nice change from traditional tomato-based chili.
Grab & Go Vegetarian Minestrone in a Jar
Prep several jars ahead of time and enjoy all week long.
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
Light and fresh enough to eat in the summer but also cozy enough for winter.
Lunch Meal Prep Ideas with Ground Meat
Lunch meal prep options with ground meat are endless. Pair with noodles, salads, rice and more for enough combinations that you’ll never get bored.
Potsticker Noodle Bowls
A fun twist on potstickers that’s both light and filling. Great to make for dinner and make extras to enjoy for lunch.
Burger Bowl with Special Sauce
Tired of burgers? Try these burger bowls for lunch. Don’t skip the sauce.
Egg Roll in a Bowl
All the goodness of an egg roll with no wrapper to get soggy during the week! Reheats perfectly for lunch.
Greek Chicken Meatballs
These meatballs would be great in a rice bowl, in a pita or just on their own dipped in sauce.
BBQ Meatloaf Meal Prep Bowls
An easy lunch idea with cajun mashed sweet potatoes, steamed green beans and mini BBQ meatloaves.
Quick Easy Beginner Lunch Meal Prep Ideas
Have a few minutes to actually make lunch at lunchtime? Here are 4 quick ideas that come together in 5 minutes or less!
Ham and Egg Wrap with Herbs
A quick lunch idea that’s easy to make and full of flavor.
Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas
Need a light lunch? Make these quesadillas as a quick lunch option.
Thai Green Curry Chicken Salad
You can whip this up quickly for lunch on the day of or prep it ahead of time. Eat on bread or scoop with veggie slices or crackers.
Italian Sub Salad with Cold Cuts
Cheap, quick and easy to make but still packed with protein and veggies
Protein-Packed Meal Prep Lunch Ideas
If you’re looking for high-protein lunch options, there are plenty of good ones out there! Look for lean proteins plus added protein and fiber from beans, lentils, etc!
Easy Salmon Meal Prep Bowls
This combination of salmon and quinoa gives you lots of protein and the veggies help add fiber to keep you full even longer!
Chicken Salad Wrap
Use a whole wheat or other high-protein tortilla option to add even more protein to this wrap!
Beef and Lentil Stew
Perfect for the colder months. Adding lentils to your beef stew adds even more protein and fiber.
High Protein Mac and Cheese
Want even more protein? Add some leftover chicken or steak to your mac and cheese before packing it for lunch! And be sure to use a high protein pasta.
Beef Meal Prep Lunch Ideas
If you love beef there are plenty of options for beef meal prep lunch ideas! Don’t forget that leftover dinner makes great lunches!
Steak Fajita Bowls with Cilantro Lime Cauli Rice
If you don’t like cauliflower rice, you can easily sub regular rice. Or try swapping beef for chicken.
Korean Beef Bowls
This beef would also be great in lettuce wraps or spring rolls!
Steak Salad with Berries, Avocado and Goddess Dressing
Grill some steak on the weekend and enjoy leftovers on salad all week long.
Quick Beef and Zucchini Skillet
This dinner recipe makes great leftovers for lunch. Great way to use up summer zucchini.
Easy School Lunch Ideas Meal Prep
If you’re looking specifically for school lunch ideas, I have a whole guide called Easy Packed Lunches For Kids. I pack all my kids’ lunches the night before so many of the ideas in there can be prepped ahead of time. And they’re not just for kids! Some of the ideas would qualify as easy lunch for work ideas!
Did you see anything healthy meal prep lunch ideas that caught your eye? I hope you found some new ideas to try. Pin this post for later to remind you.
Healthy Make-Ahead Lunch Ideas
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
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Lindsay, thank you so much for the recipe feature! -Madison from Housewifelike