Packing cold lunch has its perks: It’s cheap, nutritious and rewarding to eat something homemade. But what do you do when there’s no microwave to reheat your hard work?
But lucky for you, there are several cold lunch ideas that are healthy and packed with the nutrients you need. You can always meal prep these cold lunch foods the night or a week before. Here are 10 delicious lunch meals that can be eaten cold!
PS: Please feel free to leave us a comment at the end so that we can make the tips even better for you.
The following post contains affiliate links to web resources that I would be happy to recommend. With one click on this you support me without incurring any further costs. For that I say THANK YOU!
Remember the Cold Lunch Recipes for later:
10. Buffalo Blue Salad A Cold Lunch Recipes
This protein-packed salad features spicy buffalo chicken, crisp banana peppers, juicy grape tomatoes, and tangy blue cheese crumbles.
I am currently obsessed with this salad. OB-SESSED, I tell you. I am a complete sucker for buffalo chicken anything (my fav? That chili or pizza!) and one of my favorite lunch indulgences is the buffalo blue salad from SaladWorks.
Check one of the best Cold Lunch Recipes here.
9. Chicken Salad with Tarragon
This Tarragon Chicken Salad recipe is healthy and makes an easy lunch! It’s made with a lemon mayo dressing, fresh herbs, and sliced almonds. I was looking for something kind of light and refreshing so I stopped off at a Trader Joe’s and picked up a tarragon chicken salad wrap. As I sat in the parking lot wolfing it down I thought, ‚Where’s this been all my life?‘ Tarragon and chicken are basically made to be together.
I decided that for the rest of the summer I would celebrate this under-utilized herb by creating this Lemon Tarragon Chicken Salad recipe!
Check one of the best Cold Lunch Recipes here.
8. Rainbow Rice Noodle Salad with Shrimp and Sesame
Today’s crunchy vegetable and rice noodle salad is a dish we’ve all been raving over recently at the dinner table.
It might be the umami of the soy sauce or the salty shrimp that we’ve been craving. Or the rainbow of vegetables tossed into the mix. Maybe we just love the cold dinner option after months of soups, stews and winter braises.
Check one of the best Cold Lunch Recipes here.
7. Thai Noodle Salad A Cold Lunch Recipes
Thai Noodle Salad is a fantastic blend of great flavors. This easy to make side dish is great for BBQ’s, you’ll love the crunch of cabbage with the pasta. Mmm, don’t you just love a good pasta salad? I’m a huge pasta salad lover and am always ready to try new versions. What I really love about pasta salads is how incredibly versatile they are.
Think about just the noodles for a minute: you can use rotini, macaroni, seashell, and so on and so forth. Then you add into the equation the dressings options: balsamic vinaigrette, Italian, or mayonnaise-based. And don’t forget the add-ins, you can literally (and I do) change up your favorite pasta salad every single time you make it with just an addition of something different.
Check one of the best Cold Lunch Recipes here.
6. Taiwanese Cold Noodles with Sesame Dressing (Liang Mian)
Taiwanese cold noodles is a dish that’s perfect to make/eat on hot days, as it requires minimal cooking, and tastes refreshing yet satisfying. The magic of this dish is that even though it’s a meal that takes less than 30 minutes to put together, the combination of elements in the peanut-sesame dressing still packs a deep and satisfying flavor.
Taiwanese cold noodles (Liang Mian) is very popular in Taiwan because of the hot and humid weather. If you go to the cold noodle stalls in Taiwan, you will usually get a bowl of noodles with sesame dressing topped with julienned cucumber. Depending on the area in Taiwan, the way they serve cold noodle can also differ by a little. For example, some will add a bit mayonnaise or wasabi in addition to the sesame dressing. You can even find many people who like to eat it for breakfast (I know, that’s a very interesting breakfast) or a late night snack.
Check one of the best Cold Lunch Recipes here.
5. Apple, Quinoa, and Almond Kale Salad
This salad is way easy. You have nothing fancy to do except throw things together. And, if your local grocery store rocks as much as mine does, you can buy shredded kale in a bag so you don’t even have to chop very much. The most you have to do ahead of time is cook up some quinoa and allow it to cool.
Check one of the best Cold Lunch Recipes here.
4. Whole30 Chicken Salad
This Whole30 Chicken Salad is creamy, crunchy, and way better than any chicken salad you’ve ever had! The grapes add a little sweetness, the pecans add the crunch factor, and the chicken adds the heartiness. You will be making this again and again!
This Whole30 Chicken Salad has become my go to lunch. It is incredibly easy, and so good every single time. I make it for my Whole30 meal prep weekly, even when I’m not doing Whole30.
Check one of the best Cold Lunch Recipes here.
3. Skinny Chicken Salad
Traditionally calorie-laden chicken salad gets a healthy upgrade using Greek yogurt and spices. Celery, grapes, and walnuts add the perfect crunch and flavors to insure you won’t miss the “real” thing!
You may even have the perfect chicken salad in your mind right now and you know exactly where to get it, if it’s served at a restaurant/store, or you know exactly which relative makes it the best and are contemplating running to their house right this moment in order to have some. TELL ME, I am not alone in my dear love for chicken salad!
Check one of the best Cold Lunch Recipes here.
2. Mediterranean Lemon Basil Chicken Salad
This Lemon Basil Chicken Salad recipe is perfect for lunch! It’s made with rotisserie chicken and tossed in a homemade zesty herb dressing.
I’m always on the lookout for easy recipes with fresh flavors and simple ingredients that can be served for lunch or a light dinner. This Lemon Basil Chicken Salad checks every one of those boxes.
Check one of the best Cold Lunch Recipes here.
1. Panzanella A Great Cold Lunch Recipes
Traditional Panzanella Salad is a simple celebration of the best tomatoes, basil and olive oil you can bring to the table. Classic ingredients enthusiastically come together to make a sensational salad. My kind of summer eating.
Traditional panzanella salad is born of an Italian thrifty desire to use up stale bread. It is historically a peasant dish and at it’s heart is a firm, rustic loaf able to stand up to soaking and turning in the gutsy tomato dressing. To this end it needs to be on the stale side. I always buy a good freshly baked supermarket ciabatta.
Check one of the best Cold Lunch Recipes here.
Packing cold lunch has its perks: It’s cheap, nutritious and rewarding to eat something homemade. But what do you do when there’s no microwave to reheat your hard work? But lucky for you, there are several cold lunch ideas that are healthy and packed with the nutrients you need. You can always meal prep these cold lunch foods the night or a week before.10 Cold Lunch Recipes – Healthy Recipes
Ingredients
Instructions
0 Comments