I’m looking for easy and cheap options for lunches on weekdays. I mostly eat deli sandwiches and hot dogs right now and I always feel like shit after eating them. I think I need something healthier but I don’t have time over my lunch hour to cook anything too fancy. What do you all do for reliable healthy easy lunches?
I have a sandwich on whole wheat bread with some cheese, one pickle and a conservative amount of mayonnaise spread on the side that touches the pickle. Its been the same on average 3 times a week for 2 years.
I’m someone who doesn’t mind repetition/eating leftovers.
So I would swap between leftovers, and then my quick lunch would be 2 hardboiled eggs, some babybel or string cheese, and then some kind of fruit.
Minimal cooking, easy clean up, easy to take with you.
2 eggs, 2 cheese, and a banana is surprisingly filling.
I ordinarily don’t eat lunch. Or breakfast. I eat a large dinner. If you eat less carbohydrates your body won’t feel bad when it runs out, which might be why you feel bad after eating, if it’s a while after.
Today, i’m eating lunch, and it’s some pasta with olive oil, dill, and some canned tuna. Most of the time I eat the pasta right out of the fridge without heating it. You don’t even need olive oil if you use tuna packed in olive oil.
Other times, I’ll eat some raw vegetables and a can of some sort of meat, or I’ll eat leftovers. Usually cold.
I’ve been intermittent fasting for quite some time, and it kind of makes you reevaluate your relationship with food. A meal can certainly be a luxurious experience, or it can just be fuel to get you through your day. I actually prefer eating one large meal a day, but it does tend to increase your cortisol levels, so when i’m already very stressed I tend to eat some lunch.
Not really that cheap, but when I have the household to myself during WFH, a typical lunch consists of a wedge of blue cheese with some added apricot marmelade. I can finally stink up the house with my eclectic taste without anyone complaining.
If I’ve had a cooked dinner the night before I’ll have that for lunch the next day.
My partner and I have done meal prep on weekends in the past as well. That can work well if you have the space to keep food frozen for a week or two.
This right here. Because I suck at cooking I usually get 2-3 HelloFresh or other meal prep kits with recipes, then eat on them for dinner that night and lunch the next day. Pretty healthy to boot.
Came here to say hot dogs. 🌭 looks like you’ve got that covered. 😉
If you’re feeling shit after sandwiches and hot dogs, presumably in bread rolls, you could be gluten intolerant.
IANAD.
Or you could be having too large of a meal!
this is what i struggle with.
I make big batches of lentil or chickpea curry, freeze half, eat the unfrozen during the week, then next week do a different recipe, freeze half, eat the unfrozen half, then thaw the first variety I made, and so on, so I have a constant flow of frozen and different curries.
You can also just thaw one if you can’t be assed to cook that week, too.
To make em into a lunch, I usually make rice and a coleslaw or other quick prep veg so you get some nutritional variety up in that batch
Black coffee.
Actually, that’s breakfast. I just drink water at work and eat when I get home. After the first few days, my body adjusted. I don’t get hungry at work anymore.
Coffee is a superb natural appetite suppressant. I usually have a cup of coffee, a glass of milk, and a cup of unsalted peanuts around breakfast time. Keeps me pretty full most of the day.
I just drink coffee and eat nails, it’s good for digestion
Seems to actually work yeah. My girlfriend doesn’t eat dinner, only lunch. She says her body adapted to it almost completely. Only sometimes is she extra hungry and then for a proper reason, like doing physical work for hours or something.
I think it’s very healthy to just eat less. We eat more then we need, almost all of us.
I’ve been drinking a Soylent shake for lunch at work for probably two years now. It’s very convenient, nutritious, and you can have it at room temp or chilled. If you buy it by the case, that amounts to a cheap and healthy lunch. Yes, I find it quite filling.
Edit: Also it comes in different flavors. The ones I remember are strawberry (my favorite), vanilla, chocolate, banana, and mint chocolate. They also have high-protein and caffeinated varieties.
Soylent is terrible for nutrition, as long as you’re eating a balanced diet otherwise and taking a multivitamin it should be OK but it really is not good for long-term
Many end-consumers and dietitians disagree with you.
Dietitians… good one
OP can do their own research, as I have. Or take your word for it.
Leftovers or salami+cheese+almonds. It’s yummy, satisfying, and can survive a few hours out of the fridge.
I’ve been into making adult lunchables. I’ll have some deli meat with crackers and cheese slices, mixed nuts, fruit and hummus. It’s easy to prep, cheap and fun.
Try avocado and hummus sandwiches, nutritious and tasty.
Not sure if you work from home, but if so, canned chicken can go a long way. You can make quick quesadillas, chicken salads, make rice the day or morning before and mix that with some sautéed canned chicken with olive oil and seasonings of your choice.
Another quick go to for me is gluten free nuggets and chicken patties. IMO they’re even tastier than the other common options. A little pricier though but well worth it.
Canned chicken over rice is my favorite poor food. Usually I mix the chicken with mayo and spread it over rice cakes. One can to 3 rice cakes is a full meal.
Canned chicken is a go to, but also whenever I go to Costco in the weekend I get a roasted chicken and debone it for the same purposes.
Rice + microwave frozen stir fry veggies + teriyaki sauce is a halfway decent and quick lunch.
My dirty dirty secret: I get lunch at a McDonald’s near the office where I work once or twice a week. Double quarter pounder with cheese.
I love that and I’m not ashamed to say that. 😅
I have lunch at Burger King almost every Wednesday, also because it’s next to work. Double whopper for me.
The other days I eat more healthy though… But usually indian, Thai food or sushi every week once or twice.
