This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure here.
Skipping lunch isn’t a great idea if you want to avoid the afternoon slump, but if you’re already thinking about breakfast and dinner, sometimes lunch doesn’t seem that important. Or maybe you’re a stay-at-home parent who finds themselves just eating scraps off the kids’ plates…
A simple way to remedy this situation is to plan some easy lunches! I like to pick one lunch that I’ll eat all week and eat the same thing every day. This keeps things simple and reduces waste, but if I plan ahead, and I can look forward to eating something good for lunch! These 12 easy lunches should provide some inspiration if you find yourself in a slump at lunchtime.
12 Easy Lunches for Grownups
Egg Salad | Southern Savers
Make Instant Pot hardboiled eggs (link) to make this an easy lunch!
Leftovers
This may seem like a no brainer, but consider making extras for dinner the night before depending on how often you have leftovers. If I make an extra pound of meat, that’s enough for 2-3 leftover meals for lunches.
Curry Chicken Salad | Budget Bytes
I am in love with this chicken salad. I make it at least once a month, and then hide it in the fridge so no one else eats it! I use rotisserie chicken and it makes it even easier.
Grilled Cheese + Tomato Soup | Southern Savers
It takes a few minutes to make grilled cheese, but you can keep single servings of tomato soup in the freezer!
BBQ Chicken Quesadilla | Skinnytaste
This delicious grown-up quesadilla is another way to use up rotisserie chicken.
Sandwiches
You may not be up for having peanut butter and jelly for lunch, but you can make regular deli meat sandwiches more exciting. Add hummus, hot sauce, pesto, or other yummy condiments to dress them up!
Poor Man’s Burrito Bowls | Budget Bytes
There’s nothing more frugal than beans and rice, and if you make the components of these over the weekend, you can eat easy lunches all week long.
Pizza Pasta Salad | Gimme Some Oven
This pasta salad includes meat and vegetables, meaning it’s hearty enough to fill you up for a meal all by itself!
Mason Jar Salads | Hurry the Food Up
These take some prep ahead of time, but you can make a whole week’s worth and have super quick lunches every day! They are also totally customizable depending on what you like.
Canned soup
You can usually get Progresso or Campbell’s soup on sale at the store for less than $1 per can. If you get a hearty one with lots of protein, that’s usually a meal in itself, and it only takes a few minutes to heat up in the microwave.
Adult Bento Boxes | Sweet Peas and Saffron
Everyone in the family loves Bento-style lunch box meals. You don’t have to have a compartmentalized lunch box; if you’re eating at home, just put different things on different areas of a plate.
Things from the freezer
When different frozen meal components are on sale at the store, like turkey burgers, grilled chicken, or frozen veggies, I like to keep some in the freezer for easy lunches. You could also do a make ahead freezer recipe, cook it early in the week, and eat off that all week long.
Do you have any ideas for easy lunches? Let us know in the comments!
