Meal Prep always seems like one of those things on your “one day” list.
We are all busy and the thought of spending a ton of time prepping food on one of your precious weekend days seems like a drag. Here are meal prep lunch recipes you can make in a flash – 15 minutes or less – so you can spend more time doing what you love (*ahem*, fitting in fitness!)
Since lunches and snacks are the meals that we typically eat out of the home, I’ve decided to share a list of meals that you can put together for the week in record time, store in the fridge, and are highly portable. Most importantly, they are delicious.
For more meal prep ideas see this list of Healthy Crockpot Freezer Meals or these Healthy Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes.
Spicy Egg Salad Meal Prep
Eggs are a super cheap source of high quality protein. One egg contains 75 calories, 7 grams of protein, 5 grams of fat, They are chock full of nutrients and minerals like iron, carotenoids, and hard to get lutein.
However, in order to obtain these benefits, you need to eat at least some yolks. I usually eat at least one full egg and 2-3 extra egg whites at a time in order to get the amount of protein I feel best eating.
Our bodies need high quality nutrition to perform and feel best, so please don’t skip all the yolks!
Turning Spicy Egg Salad into meal prep is super quick! I like to pile it on top of romaine lettuce or baby greens and eat with pita wedges or an english muffin. You can also add chopped bell pepper or green onion on top.
Get the recipe here: Spicy Egg Salad
Tangy Tuna Salad Meal Prep
I’ve been eating tuna for lunch since I was a little kid.
I used to eat tuna, tomato, and cheese sandwiches almost everyday and if I was feeling really ballsy, I’d ask my mom for a “tuna salad” which was just tuna mixed with mayo and huge chunks of cheddar cheese!
I really branched out. But seriously, I ate that every. day.
Now I like to mix it up a little more with my tuna salad but I still love it and enjoy it often! This is one of my favourite versions.
Yup, it’s an english muffin again. I really love the soft pillowy texture of english muffins compared to toast and I like the portion size as well. You can also serve it on top of lettuce or greens, just like the egg salad.
Another way to serve this tuna salad is with crackers! You can even add that cheddar cheese if you like. I highly recommend extra pickles if you like em’. So good!
If you can’t find hot green pickled peppers, pepperoncini peppers or pickled jalapenos will work just as well. Adjust for spiciness!
Find it here: Tangy Tuna Salad
Protein Bistro Box Meal Prep
There are a ton of variations for bistro boxes. This is just one option that is a current fav of mine.
It is very high protein and super speedy to put together. Since I bulk cook my boiled eggs for meal prep before hand, this box comes together in a snap!
You can use roasted almonds here, or just plain. Roasting almonds at home is simple. You can find instructions for dry roasting at It All Started with Paint or for roasting with oil here at Snack Girl.
If you don’t like cottage cheese, vanilla greek yogurt would work very well, or you could use plain and add honey or maple syrup if you’d like it sweeter.
Cottage cheese is a very high protein snack or lunch option. To learn more about the importance of protein, see my Ultimate Guide to Protein.
Any fruit combination will do here. I had pineapple and blueberries, so that’s what I used! I think these two fruits go really well together and offer different nutrients so I get a wider variety.
Other delicious combinations are mango and kiwi, oranges and grapefruit, and strawberry with banana (bananas will brown, so you’ll want to squirt a bit of lemon juice on to prevent this if you’re concerned).
Protein Bistro Box Meal Prep
Ingredients
- 8 boiled eggs
- 2 cups cottage cheese
- 1 cup raspberries fresh or frozen
- 1 tsp cinnamon divided
- 2 cups pineapple, chopped
- 1 cup wild blueberries fresh or frozen
- 1 cup almonds plain or roasted
Instructions
- Add 2 boiled eggs to each box
- Divide cottage cheese into 1/2 cup portions, top with 1/4 cup of raspberries and 1/4 tsp cinnamon each
- Place 1/2 cup each of chopped pineapple and 1/4 cup of blueberries to a small interior container or ziptop bag and place inside the box
- Add 1/4 cup of almonds to each box
Notes
Baja Chicken Taco Bowl Meal Prep
Oh mama, tacos have a very special place in my heart.
I used to love that boxed taco kit in the 90s that my family used to get on rare occasions. Coming from a house with most meals made from scratch, it always felt like a big treat. Especially compared with the other quick-fix alternative my mother would buy — that boxed hamburger dinner mix…. yuck.
Nowadays, there are many more Mexican and Tex-Mex grocery items available so I can make different delicious tacos at least 4 or 5 times a month. Here in Montreal, we even have large grocery stores dedicated to Latin American and Mexican foods!
I love corn tortillas, but rice works well in taco bowls. Using tortillas for your taco bowl meal prep makes this very quick to assemble.
Baja Taco Bowl Meal Prep
Ingredients
- 8 corn tortillas or 4 if yours are thick enough
For the chicken:
- 680 grams skinless, boneless chicken breast 3 large breasts
- 1 tbsp high heat cooking oil grapeseed, avocado, coconut, etc.
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp oregano
For the slaw:
- 250g bag red cabbage slaw
- 1/2 large red onion, sliced
- 1 cup diced fresh pineapple or mango fresh or frozen and thawed
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
- 1/2 tbsp oil avocado, olive, grapeseed, etc.
For the Baja sauce:
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo
- 2 tbsp adobo sauce, from can
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
Instructions
For the Chicken:
- Slice chicken lengthwise into thin strips
- Season chicken with all ingredients except oil
- Heat oil in pan over medium-high, add chicken when oil is hot and saute for 6-8 minutes until cooked through, set aside.
For the slaw:
- Place all ingredients in a large bowl and toss to coat, set aside
For the sauce:
- Mush chipotle pepper with a fork, or chop if necessary
- Add all ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine
To assemble the boxes:
- Place 1/4 of the chicken in each box, add 1/4 of the slaw and top with sauce! If you are using rice, put it on the bottom, otherwise, add a corn tortilla in a ziptop bag or separate container to prevent it from getting soggy
Happy Prepping!
If you try any of these recipes, or think you will, leave a comment below!
You can also tag me on Instagram with #radicalmealprep
These are great ideas! I should do this for myself because even though I stay home sometimes I don’t make time to make and eat lunch. Having things prepped would help me have something to eat quickly without much thought.
Exactly! I mostly work from home and I always prep my lunches because otherwise I wait until I am ravenous and eat anything in the fridge!
The spicy egg salad looks like a great twist on a classic recipe! I like a lot of flavor in my food, so adding the sriracha, paprika, and cayenne sounds awesome!
Thank you! I’m the same. It is pretty awesome if you ask me. Sriracha and eggs are a match made in heaven.
Love the recipies. You are so right, I am always saying one day in terms of meal prep. I may do it one week then not again for a month or two….or three. I usually bring leftover dinner to work for lunch and never really thought about lunch meal prep. I can’t wait to try some of these!
Leftovers are great but I sometimes get sick of them or they are poached by someone else in the house and I need to have other options. Thanks, I hope you enjoy them!
Yum! I always forget how easy eggs are and they’re pretty versatile. These recipes look super simple and something I’d definitely enjoy. And of course who can deny tacos for lunch?!
Yes! Eggs are a great way to add protein, quickly and cheaply. Tacos are my spirit animal 🙂
Love all the recipes. I pinned this to my account. I especially like the tuna.
Thank you! I hope you try and enjoy. I appreciate your support 🙂
Some tasty looking ideas to make a change from sandwiches. I love muffins too!
Thanks!!
I am clearly very boring when it comes to my egg salad and tuna salad. lol I need to try these recipes! I’m a big english muffin fan as well. I’ll be givng these recipes a try this week 🙂
Yay! Let me know what you think! I love egg and tuna salad so much but I also love to dress it up. I’ve tried a lot of different ways and these are my favourite!
These all look so delicious! I’m pretty good and meal planning for dinner but lunches tend to get overlooked. Thank you for these simple ideas. I can’t wait to try them out!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy them 🙂
Well, this post reaffirms that you’re never too busy to eat healthily! 🙂 I LOVE these ideas!
Thank you!! <3