5 Lunch Box Ideas For Busy Adults
A packed lunch is a great way to save time and money during your lunch hour, as there’s no need to go queue in a shop or pay city centre prices for soup or a sandwich. With some careful prep in advance, you can cut your total time taken down to a matter of minutes, especially once you have a few favourite healthy lunch recipes memorised.
Here are a few great lunch box ideas for busy adults that are quick and easy to prepare, include good nutritional content, and will keep your body and brain powered up for peak performance throughout the afternoon. Remember the three H’s that add up to a satisfying lunch: Happy, Healthy and Hungry!
Italian salad box
Put together a mixed Italian salad with slices of tomato and mozzarella, green and black olives, grapes, toasted bread and dressings like pesto and balsamic vinegar. Fresh and light, and perfect for the summer months.
Add fresh basil leaves or rocket for some extra greenery, and the Mediterranean aromas will delight your senses when you take off the lid at lunchtime.
Veggie/vegan lunch box
Assemble a veggie-friendly lunch box with chopped cucumber, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, olives and cooked rice. Add an avocado and some hummus to dip things in, and you’ve got an instant vegan lunch salad.
For a super healthy salad dressing, just pack a wedge of lemon and squeeze the juice over your lunch before you tuck in. The zingy citrus flavour will add a delicious sharpness to your meal, without adding to the fat content.
Battery booster lunch box
Boost your mental and physical batteries with an energy-focused lunch box. Sliced apple and fresh berries, combined with fresh yoghurt, a drizzle of Eatlean Zero Calorie Maple Syrup for sweetness, and some walnuts or almonds.
For an even fruitier flavour, substitute Eatlean SKYR pouches for plain yoghurt. They’re packed with protein and will help your body to release the energy from your lunch over a sustained period, to keep you on top form until the end of the day.
High-protein packed lunch
Speaking of protein, why not make it the star of the show with a high-protein packed lunch box? Put together a lunch of sliced roasted chicken breast, hard-boiled eggs, and cherry tomatoes, berries or sliced apple.
Eatlean Sugar Free Sauces are the ideal accompaniment for chicken and other meats, allowing you to dip into a delicious Smoky BBQ, Sweet Chilli, Piri Piri or classic Ketchup without doing any damage to the healthfulness of your protein packed lunch.
Greek-style lunch box
Returning to the Mediterranean, Greece has plenty of flavours to offer and although some are similar to the Italian salad box mentioned above, it’s surprising how much variety you can get when you go Greek.
This time, chop up your favourite salad vegetables and add olives, extra virgin olive oil and cubes of feta cheese or your preferred Eatlean Cheese. For even more flavour, sprinkle with Eatlean Smoked Cheese Shaker, which will also add a crumbly textured topping to bring the whole meal together as one.
Prep time
Any of the above can be prepared quite easily in about 10-15 minutes. Decide in advance what you will have on any given day, and you’ll be ready to grab the necessary ingredients from your fridge or store cupboard in a matter of moments.
If you have a kitchen area at work, you might prefer to take your fruits and vegetables in whole, and slice them just before you eat your lunch, to keep them looking fresh. A splash of lemon juice can also help to lock in their natural colours and brightness, if you have to slice them in the morning before you start your work day.
Don’t forget the cheese!
Cheese is a much misunderstood ingredient, but it can be a delicious comfort food while still working as part of an overall healthy lunch. Eatlean Cheese Shaker and Eatlean Grated Cheese can both be sprinkled over salads to enrich the flavour and add a creamy mouthfeel.
Because Eatlean Cheese is low in fat but high in protein, it will support your body’s metabolism, which in turn affects how you release the energy from your lunch over the rest of the day. Cheese is a great source of protein and by including it in your lunch, you should start to see real benefits in terms of your afternoon performance and productivity.
In the end, your lunch needs to be something that is worth looking forwards to, and which will satisfy your hunger until at least 5pm. With these protein-rich working lunch recipes, you can not only ensure this is the case, but can also keep your mind focused on your evening commute, so you arrive home ready to enjoy an equally delicious evening meal.
