Today’s post Lunch Ideas For Home is number 2 of a 4 part series all about meal planning. I’m sharing simple dinner ideas, lunch ideas, breakfast ideas, and simple meal planning tips.
As a homeschooling, work from home mom, I eat at home for lunch almost every single day along with my 2 kids.
It is really easy to get into a lunch rut of sandwiches every single day. But that is boring!
The problem is I want something quick and simple. I don’t have a lot of time to put lunch together since we usually finish school right around lunch time and we are all hungry and ready to eat!Â
So I need lunch ideas that I can put together quickly (under 30 minutes), but are not just sandwiches.
Over the past few years, I’ve come up with some easy lunch ideas that we eat on a regular basis at home. We eat these meals a few times a week and then usually eat leftovers the other days.Â
I keep lunches pretty simple. We have a main dish and two sides. The sides are usually some sort of fresh vegetable and a fruit that is either fresh or canned.Â
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If you are ready to ditch the typical lunch of a ham sandwich and chips, use this list for inspiration! I suggest picking 2-3 ideas that you could rotate with leftovers throughout the week.
All of these ideas take less than 30 minutes to make and many of the lunch ideas are even quicker.Â
Time Saving Lunch Tips:
- Plan ahead each week, so you know what is for lunch each day.
- Cut up fruits or vegetables at the beginning of the week instead of each day.
- Cook rice or pasta at the beginning of the week.
- Use precut produce or canned meat.
Lunch Ideas for Home
Main Dish Ideas
- big salad (add chopped up veggies, fruit, cheese, protein, dried fruit, or nuts)
- wrap (fill with lunch meat, cheese, lettuce, hummus and/or vegetable slices)
- tuscan butter salmon (I use chicken.)
- pita sandwich
- soup (tomato, vegetable, chili, chicken and noodle)
- macaroni and cheese
- grilled cheese or panini
- quesadilla
- spaghetti
- pasta salad
- rice and veggies and protein
- crackers and cheese
- ham and cheese crescent roll ups
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After choosing 2-3 of the main dish lunch ideas, pick 3-4 sides to have throughout the week. You can rotate the side that you have pretty easily based on what you want to eat that day.
Side Dishes for Lunch
Dairy:
- smoothies
- yogurt
- pudding
- cheese sticks or chunks
- cottage cheese
Grains:
- pretzels
- tortilla chips and salsa
- crackers and cheese or peanut butter
- granola bars
- energy balls
- pita chips and salsa or hummus
Fruit:
- apple slices
- pears
- orange slices or mandarin oranges
- banana
- strawberries
- grapes
- melons
- mango
- kiwi
- dried fruit (raisins, pineapple, dates, banana chips)
- Applesauce
- mix diced fruit together for a quick fruit salad and sprinkle with cinnamon or add nuts
- add fresh, canned, or frozen fruit to yogurt or cottage cheese
Veggies:
- celery and peanut butter or other spread
- hummus or ranch dressing with raw vegetables:
- carrots
- sugar snap peas
- cucumbers
- broccoli
- cauliflower
- peppers
- radishes
- zucchini slices
- side salad
- add fresh or frozen vegetables to pasta or rice
- Stuff a pita bread with fresh vegetables and dressing
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After deciding on what to have for lunch based off of the lunch ideas list, I like to make sure a lot of the food is prepared ahead of time so that it is easy to make lunch as soon as we are done homeschooling.
Usually, I like to do this on the day I come home from the grocery store, and I have about an hour to work on the food and then clean up.
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Here’s a week’s worth of typical lunches with both the main idea and sides.
Example Lunch Ideas:
- frozen meal like chicken tenders or a frozen pizza with salad
- turkey wrap, carrot sticks and hummus, grapes
- rice or pasta with corn, cheese, black beans, salsa and sour cream
- big salad: lettuce, tomato, cucumber, shredded chicken, shredded cheese, and dressing
- mac n cheese, apple slices, and cucumber salad
- ham and cheese crescent rollups, canned peaches, and celery sticks with peanut butter
- chicken and cheese quesadilla, strawberry and banana salad, and tortilla chips
Each of these lunch ideas include basic ingredients and don’t require a recipe. They are simple, yet they provide plenty of variety.
Quick and Easy is key when you are a busy mom and getting lunch together at home!
The lunches are all included on my list of lunch ideas that I keep on rotation and many of the components are prepared ahead of time.
If you would like an easy list of meal ideas to refer to, you can purchase my Feeding Your Family instant download. That way you’ll always know what’s for lunch, dinner, and breakfast!
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I hope this has given you lots of lunch ideas you can easily make from home! If you have any additional ideas, leave them in the comments!Â
Overwhelmed at home? Have a clean house, dinner on the table, and family time with the free BALANCED MOM CHECKLIST!
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3 thoughts on “Lunch Ideas You Can Make at Home in Less than 30 Minutes!”
Thanks Emily! I feel like a rut when lunch is involved. My go to is always sandwiches, fruit, and crackers . It gets boring and old fast. Thanks momma!🤗
These are all great ideas! Very well balanced too. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for commenting, Kelly! I’m glad you liked these lunch ideas!