21 Easy Lunch Ideas in 10 Minutes

With just ten minutes or less to prepare, these simple lunch ideas allow you to prepare a quick meal and still have time for a break. With the exception of cupboard essentials like salt and pepper, each of these nutritious meals, which range from fresh salads to veggie-packed sandwiches, only calls for six items or fewer, saving you from having to make a special trip to the grocery store. Lunch will always be just a few easy steps away if you keep the ingredients on hand for recipes like our Shrimp Niçoise Meal-Prep Bowls or Cucumber Sandwich.

You can prepare a lot of these meals the day before. Glass containers or reusable food storage bags can be used to store all the components separately in the refrigerator for sandwich recipes when you wish to preserve the bread’s freshness. This makes for incredibly fast assembling and the best-tasting lunches the next day.

Roasted Veggie & Quinoa Salad

This salad is quick, uncomplicated, and full of fiber and protein for a delicious midday meal or a simple one-dish supper.

Cucumber Sandwich

This recipe for crunchy, creamy cucumber sandwiches is a great compromise between rich and light. The whole-wheat bread’s substantial flavor and texture bind everything together, while the creamy cheese yogurt spread tames the sharp, cool cucumber.

Chopped Salad with Sriracha Tofu & Peanut Dressing

Make enough for four days’ worth of high-protein vegan lunches with just four simple items from your neighborhood specialty grocery store, plus a basic salad mix heavy in veggies. Since this salad mix is substantial, you can dress these bowls up to 24 hours in advance of serving, giving the flavors of the nutritious chopped salad time to meld. If you can’t find a hearty combination, try Brussels sprouts or broccoli slaw.

White Bean & Veggie Salad

This delightful, creamy salad for a main dish made without meat uses avocado and white beans. Try experimenting with other seasonal vegetables.

Caprese Sandwich

With its thick, crusty ciabatta and fresh basil, this caprese sandwich is hearty and refreshing. The flavor is enhanced by the sun-dried tomatoes. If you need to prepare the sandwich a few hours in advance, using toasted bread and a layer of basil leaves on top helps prevent it from becoming soggy.

Avocado Egg Salad

This easy recipe elevates the traditional egg salad by adding creamy avocado. Serve it inside a soft lettuce leaf or on a slice of toasty wholegrain bread. Because avocados brown easily, prepare it no later than two hours before serving.

3-Ingredient Creamy Rotisserie Chicken Salad

We used a lemon-herb mayonnaise to give the traditional chicken salad a flavor variation. For a quick, no-cook lunch, try additional mayo variations like chipotle lime or roasted garlic. Serve whole-grain crackers alongside this dish for rotisserie chicken salad.

3-Ingredient Chicken Tabbouleh Bowls

Make the most of the prepared-foods area of your grocery store with this almost-instantaneous grain bowl. Combine pre-made salad ingredients with proteins to make a nutritious and expedient dinner.

Shrimp Niçoise Meal-Prep Bowls

Pretrimmed green beans and prepared olive tapenade are two shortcut components that help make this low-carb meal prep version of the traditional constructed salad come together in approximately 10 minutes. These bowls, with their massive 41 grams of protein per serving, will stave off hunger all day. Feel free to replace the shrimp with canned tuna or leftover roasted salmon to mix things up. When we need quick shortcut ingredients, we adore visiting Trader Joe’s.

Whole-Wheat Veggie Wrap

To fill this veggie wrap, use whichever veggies you have on hand. In addition to adding heart-healthy fat and fiber, the avocado and hummus hold the wrap together.

White Bean & Avocado Toast

A creamy and high-fiber topping of mashed avocado and white beans is ideal served with a crispy slice of toast. Try it as a quick snack or breakfast.

Couscous & Chickpea Salad

This easy lunch salad combines canned chickpeas with cooked couscous. The flavor is anything but simple thanks to the basil vinaigrette! For a unique take on tabbouleh, we suggest adding freshly chopped tomatoes while they are in season.

Mixed Greens with Lentils & Sliced Apple

For a filling vegetarian lunch, try this salad made with lentils, feta, and apple. Use canned lentils that have been drained to save time; just make sure to use low-sodium varieties and give them a quick rinse before tossing them into the salad.

Avocado, Tomato & Chicken Sandwich

The avocado is mashed in this nutritious chicken sandwich dish to make a creamy, nutritious spread.

Pickle Sub Sandwiches with Turkey & Cheddar

Try these tasty turkey and cheddar sandwiches, but instead of bread, use slices of pickle to cut down on carbohydrates. Although ordinary tomatoes work well for these little sandwiches, Roma tomatoes are the ideal oblong shape; just cut the slices in half to make them fit well on the pickle sandwich. These sandwiches make a simple lunch, but they also look fantastic served on a party tray for a laid-back gathering.

Falafel Tabbouleh Bowls with Tzatziki

It doesn’t have to take hours in the kitchen to prepare enough meals for a week’s worth of lunches. These 10-minute meal prep bowls with a Greek flair just need four ingredients: greens, falafel, tabbouleh, and tzatziki. When we need quick fixes like these, we adore visiting our neighborhood specialized grocery store. The high-fiber tabbouleh and falafel will help you feel full and content all day.

3-Ingredient Farro Bowl with Rotisserie Chicken

To prepare this filling grain bowl, simply purchase a salad kit from the supermarket. Then, for a quick and high-protein lunch or dinner, top the kit with farro and chicken.

Lentil Curry with Cauliflower Rice

For a very quick and flavorful curry, combine precooked lentils (typically found in the produce area of your grocery store) with an Indian-style simmer sauce. You can increase the amount of vegetables and control the amount of carbohydrates by serving it over riced cauliflower. This meal just requires three ingredients—oil, salt, and pepper—and is as simple as it gets. Look for simmer sauces that have less than or close to 350 mg of sodium per 1/4-cup serving if you want to be careful with the salt.

3-Ingredient Green Goddess White Bean Salad

Blends of bagged salad and slaw make excellent shortcut ingredients when you want to add some variation without washing and chopping a bunch of different vegetables. For a quick and crunchy main dish salad, combine a kale and broccoli slaw mix with canned white beans and a yogurt-based green goddess dressing.

Chopped Veggie Grain Bowls with Turmeric Dressing

You can prepare a week’s worth of meals in approximately ten minutes with four basic materials from your neighborhood specialized grocery store. We’re using frozen quinoa (which reheats in the microwave in less than five minutes) and prechopped fresh vegetable mix to cut down on preparation time. These crunchy chopped salad bowls are ideal for anyone on a reduced-calorie diet because they are low in calories and high in fiber.

Mason Jar Power Salad with Chickpeas & Tuna

Thanks to its 26 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber, this power salad will keep you full for hours. You can avoid massaging or cooking the kale by tossing it with the dressing and letting it stand in the jar until it becomes sufficiently tender.