A Month of Healthy Meal-Prep Lunch Ideas for Work

August 26, 2019
These easy meal-prep lunch ideas pack up well and can be made ahead of time. Prep your lunches on Sunday so all you have to do on busy weekday mornings is grab your meal and go.
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Meal-Prep Chili-Lime Chicken Bowls

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Skip takeout and whip up these equally delicious, and easy-to-make burrito bowls at home. They're great for a fast and easy dinner or as meal-prep lunches to pack for work throughout the week.

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Edamame & Veggie Rice Bowl

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The ingredients in this vegan grain bowl recipe can be prepped ahead for an easy lunch to pack for work. The tangy citrus dressing is a refreshing flavor with the sweet caramel of the roasted sheet-pan veggies.

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Spicy Slaw Bowls with Shrimp & Edamame

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The quick 10-minute Spicy Cabbage Slaw serves as the low-carb base in this veggie-packed lunch recipe. Topped with high-protein edamame and shrimp, this satisfying lunch will help you power through the afternoon.

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Spicy Ramen Cup of Noodles

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Make your own cup of instant soup at home with this vegetarian ramen recipe. Pack several jars at once to take to work for easy lunches throughout the week.

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Roasted Veggie Mason Jar Salad

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Layering the creamy cashew sauce into the bottom of the jar ensures that your big, bold power salad won't become wilted by the time you're ready to eat.

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Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl with Cauliflower Rice

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This easy-to-make and meal-prep burrito bowl is even better than takeout! You'll never miss the carbs in this protein-packed, super-flavorful meal that replaces the cilantro-lime rice with cauliflower rice. We love this with chicken but it would be just as delicious with shrimp.

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Roasted Veggie Brown Rice Buddha Bowl

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A healthy and satisfying vegan lunch for one, featuring roasted butternut squash, broccoli, peppers and onions with simple brown rice, lime-marinated tofu and creamy cashew tahini sauce.

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Meal-Prep Curried Chicken Bowls

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Curry doesn't have to take hours to prepare. With the help of our sheet-pan meal-prep chicken (see associated recipe) and some cooked whole grains, you can make these meal-prep bowls in just a few minutes! Keep them in the fridge for an easy dinner on a busy weeknight or for healthy grab-and-go lunches throughout the week.

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Chicken Freezer Burritos

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Transform leftover chicken into a hearty burrito filling! You will be thrilled to have a stash of frozen burritos on hand that you can microwave for an instant healthy lunch or on-the-go dinner for a busy night.

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Rainbow Buddha Bowl with Cashew Tahini Sauce

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This vibrant bowl is packed with nutrients to keep you full for hours. Look for precooked lentils in the refrigerated section of the produce department.

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Crunchy Mexican Salad with Spicy Cilantro Vinaigrette

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A spicy cilantro vinaigrette gives this black bean salad Mexican flair. We used the beans for protein, but if you have cooked chicken on hand, you can use that instead. Also, if you have it, finish the salad with a quarter of an avocado for a boost of healthy fats.

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Classic House Salad with Chicken

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Leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken gets put to good use as a boost of protein in this healthy salad to pack for lunch. The classic chicken salad combines all the basics of a great house salad--greens, tomatoes, cucumbers and croutons--all tossed with a tangy red-wine vinaigrette.

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Meal-Prep Cilantro-Lime Chicken Bowls

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Prep all four servings of this easy recipe at once for ready-to-eat dinners or packable lunches for the rest of the week. If you don't like a lot of heat, try using mild chili powder, and leave out the jalapeño from the rice.

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Mason Jar Power Salad with Chickpeas & Tuna

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This power salad will keep you fueled for hours, thanks to 26 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber. Tossing the dressing and kale, and then letting it stand in the jar, softens it enough so you don't need to massage or cook it to make it tender.

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Buffalo Chicken Grain Bowl

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Get the flavors of spicy Buffalo chicken wings, without frying, in this nutritious couscous bowl loaded with protein and crisp veggies.

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Chopped Cobb Salad

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This single-serving recipe for Cobb salad swaps chicken in for bacon, which makes it a great source of protein for lunch. If you prefer another salad dressing, feel free to use that instead of our honey-mustard vinaigrette.

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Spring Green Salad with Hard-Boiled Eggs

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This salad capitalizes on fresh spring produce and gets a simple protein boost from hard-boiled eggs. Meal-prep this healthy lunch salad by mixing the salad base together and simmering a batch of hard-boiled eggs on the weekend. Then you'll be ready to just add one or two eggs with a drizzle of tangy vinaigrette for the simplest spring salad-to-go.

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Meal-Prep Roasted Vegetable Bowls with Pesto

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Your co-workers will be jealous when you pull out this healthy lunch of roasted veggies and brown rice. Put together 4 lunches when you have time and you will have packable lunches (or ready-to-eat dinners) for several days--just grab a container on your way out the door in the morning.

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Rice & Bean Freezer Burritos

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Save money and sodium when you make a batch of homemade frozen burritos. Mashing the beans and mixing them with tomatoes, cheese and jalapeños before filling the healthy burritos means you get all the ingredients in each bite. Serve with your favorite toppings--we like sour cream, salsa and hot sauce.

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Egg Salad Lettuce Wraps

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We love the retro vibe of these egg salad lettuce wraps. Iceberg lettuce makes a perfect low-carb swap for bread to serve the egg salad.

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Classic Cobb Mason Jar Salad

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Pack classic Cobb salad "upside down" in a mason jar for a healthy lunch that won't get soggy while sitting in the fridge all morning. Or pack it up the night before for an easy grab-and-go lunch in the morning.

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Kimchi Shrimp Cup of Noodles

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Make your own cup of instant soup at home with this Korean noodle recipe. Pack several jars at once to take to work for easy lunches throughout the week.

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Mediterranean Chicken Quinoa Bowl

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Olives, cucumber, roasted red peppers and spices come together magically in this healthy chicken quinoa bowl recipe. Serve with a squeeze of lemon and a glass of cold Italian white wine.

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Power Greens Salad with Baked Tofu & Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette

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This plant-based main-dish salad packs a powerful punch of greens, nutrients and flavor. Add healthy protein with convenient baked tofu slices, which have a firm texture that is well suited to salads and sandwiches. Sprinkle on a little crunch with slivered almonds, and just a hint of tropical sweetness with unsweetened coconut. The vinaigrette rounds out the dish with tangy-sweet kick.

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Chickpea & Quinoa Buddha Bowl

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It seems Buddha bowls have as many variations as there are stars in the sky, and there is no wrong way to build one! But we prefer to keep things classic and simple with hummus, quinoa, avocado and loads of veggies!

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Chipotle Chicken Quinoa Burrito Bowl

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This chipotle-flavored burrito bowl recipe is even better than takeout and just as fast. Loading it with vegetables and using quinoa in place of rice adds nutrition for a healthy dinner.

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Chicken Curry Cup of Noodles

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Make your own cup of instant soup at home with this chicken curry zoodle (spiralized zucchini noodles) recipe. Pack several jars at once to take to work for easy lunches throughout the week.

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Freezer Bean & Cheese Burritos

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This copycat version of store-bought frozen burritos is perfect for meal prepping. Make a big batch to store in the freezer for healthy packable lunches or a quick campsite meal.

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Shrimp Cobb Salad

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Cooked peeled shrimp is perfect for quick and healthy meals--here we use it in place of chicken in our simplified Cobb Salad.

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Mediterranean Chickpea Quinoa Bowl

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Quinoa and chickpeas pack this vegetarian grain bowl with plenty of plant-based protein. Whip up a batch of these Mediterranean meals and pack in containers with lids to stash in the fridge for easy, healthy grab & go lunches all week long.

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