Packed lunch ideas to take to work

A BYO lunch can save you money, fill you up and help you hit your health goals – but not all of us have lots of time to spend making something from scratch on busy weekday mornings to take to work. Investing a little bit of time prepping components of your lunches – maybe on the weekend or while you’re prepping dinner – means you’ll have the makings of speedy, nutritious lunches on hand.

Try these ideas:

• Spiced chickpeas, made by tossing drained chickpeas with olive oil and our Shawarma Kebab Seasoning, then air-frying or pan-frying until golden. Toss with salads or use to top soups.

• Piri piri chicken sandwich filler, made by shredding our Piri Piri Chicken Slices and tossing with 2 tbsp yogurt and ½ tbsp mayonnaise. Load into bagels or sandwiches.

• Harissa-roasted root vegetables, made by roasting baby carrots (or use this roots for roasting mix to skip the chopping) until tender, then tossing with 1 tsp Rose Harissa and 1 tsp honey. Use in salads or blitz into soup.

High-protein packed lunches

Prep these healthy high-protein egg bites for a speedy grab-and-go breakfast or to eat with soup for lunch. Swap the veggies for whatever you have in the fridge, and throw in leftover cooked chicken or ham, if you like. Tinned fish is having a moment – try it in this mackerel and crispy rice salad, which will keep for a couple of days in the fridge.

Ingredient shortcut: tinned mackerel for an instant protein and omega boost.

Healthy lunch salads

Choose salads that travel well and can be made ahead. Aim for a balance of salty, sweet and sour flavours and textures. Try this green goddess chickpea salad with halloumi, or prep a double batch of roasted rainbow carrot salad with crumbled feta. Swap the root veg for whatever’s in season or what you have left in the fridge.

Ingredient shortcut: pre-cooked grains to amp up salads.

Protein-packed sandwich fillings

Make a batch of high-protein filling at the start of the week, ready to load into bagels, pitta breads or salads – your future self will thank you. Try these high-protein chicken bagels with tangy sumac, Emily English’s spicy tuna bagels, or these stacked tuna, pesto and avocado sandwiches.

Ingredient shortcut: buy ready-to-eat chicken to make speedy sandwich fillings.

Nourishing soups

Soup is a packed lunch saviour – cheap, healthy and filling. Use up root vegetables with gentle spices in this warming mulligatawny soup recipe, which is ideal to make on the weekend and bring to work (just keep the crispy veg skin topping separate so it doesn’t go soggy). Need a soup you can make on your lunch break? Try this speedy, healthy pea, spinach and coconut soup, which makes use of frozen veg and is topped with hot smoked salmon for extra protein.

Ingredient shortcut: pack Nutrient Dense Super Seeded Crackers to crumble on top of soups for extra texture and a fibre hit.

Take-and-make noodle jars

Noodle jars make an excellent packed lunch. The basic formula is to layer dried uncooked vermicelli rice noodles in a jar with fresh veg (thinly shredded spring onions, carrots and beansprouts all work) protein (try cooked chicken, ham, chickpeas or tofu) and flavouring (a dash of Soy, Ginger and Garlic Paste, Thai Green Curry Paste or Katsu Paste all work) then top up with boiling water. A few minutes later, you’ll have a warming broth to tuck into. Try this chicken noodle jar recipe and be the envy of the office.