Low-Calorie Lunch Recipes

Find healthy, delicious low-calorie lunch recipes including low-calorie sandwiches, wraps, and lunches for work. Healthier recipes, from the food and nutrition experts at EatingWell.

Staff Picks

Easy Italian Wedding Soup

Rating: Unrated
4
Forget the marble-size meatballs you find in many versions of this soup. In this easy recipe, they're full-size, full-flavored and plenty filling.
By Robin Bashinsky

Mediterranean Chickpea Quinoa Bowl

Rating: Unrated
10
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.
By Carolyn Casner

 Spicy Weight-Loss Cabbage Soup

Rating: Unrated
25
Based on a popular weight-loss plan, this healthy cabbage soup recipe gets tons of flavor and a metabolism-boosting kick from spicy chiles.
By Breana Killeen

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup with Kale

Rating: Unrated
7
This healthy, easy soup is loaded with vegetables, protein and fiber to keep you full and fueled. Serve this winter soup topped with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, and a side of garlic toast.
By Breana Killeen

Cabbage Diet Soup

Rating: Unrated
4
Loaded with cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, tomato and plenty of seasoning, this healthy vegetable soup packs in lots of flavor and is ultra-satisfying. This easy recipe makes a big batch for lunches or veggie-packed snacks all week. If you want to bump up the satisfaction factor even more, top with a little cheese or avocado.
By Carolyn Casner

Vegetable Weight-Loss Soup

Rating: Unrated
21
A big bowl of this veggie-packed minestrone will leave you satisfied for hours without consuming a lot of calories--plus it's an easy way to boost your vegetable servings for the day. Top with a dollop of pesto before devouring this delicious skinny vegetable soup.
By Hilary Meyer

Veggie & Hummus Sandwich

Rating: Unrated
11
This mile-high vegetable and hummus sandwich makes the perfect heart-healthy vegetarian lunch to go. Mix it up with different flavors of hummus and different types of vegetables depending on your mood.
By Katie Webster

Middle Eastern Chicken & Chickpea Stew

Rating: Unrated
21
This quick, protein-rich chicken stew recipe gets great flavor from cumin, lemon juice and garlic. Make a double batch and freeze it for a quick healthy dinner. Serve the stew with couscous and steamed broccoli.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Flat-Belly Salad

Rating: Unrated
3
This salad is a helpful tool for weight loss because it provides a good balance of fiber, protein and healthy fats from loads of veggies and beans, all tossed in a tangy apple-cider vinaigrette. To meal-prep these for lunch throughout the week, pack the dressing and the salad separately and make sure your veggies are thoroughly dried before packing them together.
By Hilary Meyer

White Bean & Veggie Salad

Rating: Unrated
5
This meatless main-dish salad combines creamy, satisfying white beans and avocado. Try mixing it up with different seasonal vegetables.
By Katie Webster

Slow-Cooker Braised Beef with Carrots & Turnips

Rating: Unrated
6
The spice blend in this healthy beef stew recipe--cinnamon, allspice and cloves--may conjure images of apple pie, but the combo is a great fit in savory applications too. Serve over creamy polenta or buttered whole-wheat egg noodles.
By Hilary Meyer

Chicken & Cucumber Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce

Rating: Unrated
2
We love the crunch from sliced cucumber and jicama in these savory chicken lettuce wraps. Serve with the simple peanut sauce for an easy dinner recipe that will impress kids and adults alike.
By Lauren Grant

Inspiration and Ideas

350-Calorie Lunch Ideas for Work

350-Calorie Lunch Ideas for Work

We know you're super-busy and rushing out the door in the morning, but don't forget to pack a healthy lunch! It's your #1 secret weapon against fast-food and vending machine temptations. These low-calorie packable lunch recipes are easy to prepare and have 350 calories or fewer per serving.
29 Low-Carb Lunches for 400 Calories or Less

29 Low-Carb Lunches for 400 Calories or Less

These low-carb lunch recipes are the perfect choice for an easy meal. We lower the carbohydrates by using cauliflower, zucchini and avocado in place of ingredients like rice and bread. These lunches are also low in calories with each serving containing 400 calories or less to help you feel full and satisfied while meeting your nutritional goals. Recipes like Turkey & Cheddar Lettuce Wraps and Salmon-Stuffed Avocados are filling, nutritious and a delicious option for your weekly lunch prep.
High-Protein, Low-Calorie Lunch Recipes

High-Protein, Low-Calorie Lunch Recipes

Light Lunches

Light Lunches

Quick Light Lunches

Quick Light Lunches

Lunch Recipes for a Flat Belly

Lunch Recipes for a Flat Belly

Hearty Chickpea & Spinach Stew

Rating: Unrated
10

This satisfying stew comes together in a snap. Mashed chickpeas add body to the broth, and tomato paste adds a savory note without piling on the sodium. To simplify the prep, look for chopped fresh onion and shredded carrot or a soup starter mix in the produce section.

All Low-Calorie Lunch Recipes

Mediterranean Chicken with Orzo Salad

Rating: Unrated
6
Baked chicken breasts cook in the oven while you mix together a Mediterranean salad--packed with veggies, whole-wheat orzo and an easy homemade Greek vinaigrette--for a weekend-worthy dinner on the table in under an hour. The leftovers from this healthy 400-calorie meal make a delicious packable lunch for the next day.
By Carolyn Casner

Mason Jar Power Salad with Chickpeas & Tuna

Rating: Unrated
1
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.
By Katie Webster

Bean & Barley Soup

Rating: Unrated
9
This hearty bean and barley soup tastes like it has simmered for hours, but actually it's quite quick to throw together. Plus this recipe for healthy bean and barley soup freezes beautifully. If you have cooked barley on hand, omit the quick-cooking barley and stir in 1 1/2 cups cooked barley along with the broth in Step 2.
By David Bonom

Vegan Superfood Buddha Bowls

Rating: Unrated
3
This nutrient-packed vegan Buddha bowl recipe comes together in 15 minutes with the help of a few convenience-food shortcuts like prewashed baby kale, microwavable quinoa and precooked beets. Pack these ahead to keep on hand for easy meal-prep lunches or dinners on busy nights.
By Carolyn A. Hodges, R.D.

Butternut Squash Soup with Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Rating: Unrated
4
Layering apple slices into grilled cheese sandwiches adds a little crunch to a favorite soup dipper. And creamy butternut squash soup with ginger, cumin and turmeric is a nice change of pace from grilled cheese's usual tomato soup partner. Serve the duo for a comforting and easy weeknight dinner for the family. The soup keeps well in the fridge, so save leftovers for lunch or dinner later in the week.
By Breana Killeen

Beef & Bean Sloppy Joes

Rating: Unrated
2
This healthy copycat recipe of the comfort food classic trades beans for some of the meat to bump up fiber by 7 grams. We also cut back on the sugar and ketchup in this Sloppy Joe recipe makeover to save you 12 grams of added sugar.
By Liz Mervosh

Chicken Pho

A classic Vietnamese dish, this Chicken Pho recipe is full of fragrant aromas as well as savory and spicy flavors.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Stuffed Sweet Potato with Hummus Dressing

Rating: Unrated
14
Hearty yet simple to prepare, this stuffed sweet potato with black beans, kale and hummus dressing is a fantastic 5-ingredient lunch for one!
By Katie Webster

Roasted Cauliflower & Potato Curry Soup

Rating: Unrated
38
In this healthy cauliflower soup recipe, roasting the cauliflower first adds depth and prevents the florets from turning to mush. A little tomato sauce and coconut milk give the broth a rich, silky texture. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt, if desired.
By Danielle Centoni

Avocado-Egg Toast

Rating: Unrated
5
Try it once and we think you'll agree: Topping avocado toast with an egg is a near-perfect breakfast.
By Ellen Davis

Salmon-Stuffed Avocados

Rating: Unrated
4
Canned salmon is a valuable pantry staple and a practical way to include heart-healthy omega-3-rich fish in your diet. Here, we combine it with avocados in an easy no-cook meal.
By Abbie Gellman, M.S., RD, CDN

Chipotle-Lime Cauliflower Taco Bowls

Rating: Unrated
2
A bold, smoky marinade elevates roasted cauliflower in this meal-prep version of our popular Chipotle-Lime Cauliflower Tacos (see Associated Recipes). To cut down on prep time, look for precut cauliflower in the produce department. You can also save time by using microwaveable quinoa pouches (you'll need one 8-ounce pouch for this recipe) instead of cooking quinoa.
By Carolyn A. Hodges, R.D.

Black Bean-Quinoa Buddha Bowl

Rating: Unrated
4
Treat your Buddha bowl to a vacation south of the border! This black bean and quinoa Buddha bowl has the usual hallmarks of a taco salad, minus the greasy fried bowl. We've loaded it up with pico de gallo, fresh cilantro and avocado plus an easy hummus dressing to drizzle on top.
By Katie Webster

Mediterranean Lettuce Wraps

Rating: Unrated
1
A tangy, nutty tahini dressing brings together no-cook ingredients like canned chickpeas and roasted red peppers for these easy meal-prep lettuce wraps. Make these wraps ahead of time for a grab-and-go lunch or dinner. A few wedges of warm pita finish off the meal perfectly.
By Robin Bashinsky

Mediterranean Tuna-Spinach Salad

Rating: Unrated
7
This tuna salad recipe gets an upgrade with olives, feta and a tahini dressing. Served over baby spinach, this is the perfect easy and light lunch or dinner salad.
By Sara Haas, R.D.N., L.D.N.

Slow-Cooker French Onion Soup

Rating: Unrated
5
In this genius slow-cooker soup recipe, two types of onions are caramelized for hours before adding a sherry-spiked broth. For a bistro-worthy presentation, ladle the soup into ovenproof crocks, top with the bread and cheese and broil.
By EatingWell Test Kitchen

Curried Sweet Potato & Peanut Soup

Rating: Unrated
4
In this flavorful soup recipe, sweet potatoes simmer in a quick coconut curry, resulting in a creamy, thick broth punctuated by notes of garlic and ginger. We love peanuts for their inexpensive price and versatile flavor. They're also a great source of protein--1 ounce has 7 grams.
By Lauren Grant

Chickpea & Quinoa Buddha Bowl

Rating: Unrated
4
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!
By Katie Webster

Whole-Wheat Veggie Wrap

Rating: Unrated
3
Use whichever veggies you have on hand to fill up this veggie wrap. The avocado and hummus help hold the wrap together--and provide heart-healthy fat and fiber.
By Katie Webster

Veggistrone

Rating: Unrated
20
This vegetable-packed minestrone soup recipe is inspired by a popular Weight Watchers vegetable soup recipe. It makes a big pot of soup, so keep some in the refrigerator for up to 5 days and freeze the rest in single-serve portions. That way you always have an easy, delicious vegetable soup to start your meal or to eat for lunch. Think of this vegetable minestrone recipe as a starting point for other healthy soup variations, too: toss in leftover chopped cooked chicken or whole-wheat pasta or brown rice to make it more satisfying.
By Joyce Hendley

Instant Pot Chicken Soup with Root Vegetables & Barley

Be sure to use bone-in chicken here--it enhances the flavor of the broth, and the bones are easy to remove after cooking. This healthy chicken soup can be made in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
By Patsy Jamieson

Slow-Cooker Southwestern Bean Soup

Rating: Unrated
3
Get dinner on the table on a busy day with ease with this load-&-go crock pot recipe. This zesty soup can simmer in the crock pot for an entire workday, making it perfect for a busy weekday meal. Bump up the Southwest flavors with a garnished of chopped fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime, if desired.
By Carolyn Malcoun

Chopped Rainbow Salad Bowls with Peanut Sauce

Rating: Unrated
1
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.
By Carolyn A. Hodges, R.D.

Beef & Barley Soup

There's something so satisfying about a hearty bowl of beef and barley soup--especially when it's one you've made from scratch with reduced-sodium broth and chunks of delicious sirloin steak. This slow-cooker recipe is simple to prepare, serves six, and is a great alternative to canned soup!
By Diabetic Living Magazine
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