5 Quick and Healthy Work Lunches for the Week

After you come home from work, eat dinner, and do a few chores, the last thing you want to do is pack your lunch for work the next day. I’ve been there plenty of times, so I know as a fellow busy career woman, you have too.

So, I wanted to share with you 5 quick and healthy work lunches for the week to make your life a bit easier. These lunches will save you time, money, and the frustration of going up a pant size. They include freezable burritos, Mediterranean chickpea salad, fancy nut butter sandwiches, buffalo chickpea wraps, and black bean tacos on lettuce boats. Yum!

Freezable Burritos

If you have a microwave at work, you can easily make a batch of freezable burritos and just grab and go before you head to work.

Burritos are healthy because they have whole foods in them such as beans, chicken, rice, and vegetables. The tortilla or wrap is a processed food, however you can find some that are more healthy than most, such as these Joseph’s Wraps. Or, our favorite, Angelic Bakehouse whole grain sweet potato wraps.

Ingredient List

1 cup of uncooked rice

3 chicken breast or 2 cans of black beans

3 Peppers

1 onion

5 Wraps

Seasoning such as chili powder, cumin, etc.

Salsa (optional)

Hot sauce (optional)

Shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese (optional)

Here’s the Quickest Way to Make Them:

#1 Cook 1 cup of the uncooked rice according to the package instructions. This should make about 2 1/2 cups of cooked rice.

#2 While the rice is cooking, cut up 3 breasts of chicken and the peppers and onions. You can sauté all of that in a skillet together.

#3 Or, if you prefer to go vegetarian, drain and rinse 2 cans of black beans and season with whatever you like. We like chili powder, chipotle red pepper powder, and a bit of garlic powder.

#4 Allow the cooked ingredients to cool. While cooling, tear off 5 pieces of aluminum foil and lay them out on the counter.

#5 Put a wrap on each of the pieces of aluminum foil and start loading each one up with the cooked (and mostly cooled) ingredients.

#6 Add a spoonful of salsa, a dash of hot sauce, or a sprinkle of cheese to each. (Mix it up for each one if you’d like.)

#7 You can either roll them up, burrito-style, or if the wrap is on the smaller side like the Angelic Bakehouse ones, you can just fold it in half.

#8 Stick them in the freezer and you are all set with work lunches for the week!

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Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

If you’re looking for a high protein, high fiber, and low carb lunch, then you’re going to want to make this Mediterranean chickpea salad. You can make a huge batch of this to last you an entire week, which is what I do. It’s filling, super healthy, very flavorful, and doesn’t even need to be warmed up in a microwave.

Ingredient List

4 cans of chickpeas

Small can of sliced black olives

1 can of quartered artichoke

A package of sun-dried tomatoes, julienne cut

1 cucumber

For the dressing:

½ cup Olive oil

½ cup Vinegar (white wine, red wine, or balsamic goes best)

2 tsp. Dried or fresh dill

2 Tbsp. Minced garlic (or substitute garlic powder)

Here’s How to Make it:

#1 Drain and rinse 4 cans of chickpeas, then put them in a large bowl

#2 Drain the olives and add them to the bowl.

#3 Cut up the cucumber and artichoke, then add to the bowl, along with the sun-dried tomatoes.

Now for the dressing:

#4 Add ½ cup of olive oil, ½ cup of the vinegar of your choosing to a separate small bowl

#5 Add 2 Tbsp. of minced garlic and 2 tsp. dried or fresh dill

#6 Stir it up and add it to the large bowl of ingredients slowly, mixing it in with the other ingredients until coated with enough dressing for your liking.

#7 Divide the Mediterranean chickpea salad up into 5 Tupperware containers and you’re all set for the week!

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Fancy Nut Butter Sandwiches

If you want a quick and easy sandwich that’s even more yummy (and a bit more fancy) than your classic PB & J, here’s a dressed-up option for you.

Ingredient List:

10 slices of multigrain (or gluten free) bread

Almond, cashew, or sunflower seed butter

1 package of dried cranberries, cherries, or blueberries

Chia seeds

Cinnamon

How to Make the Quickest Sandwiches Ever:

#1 Place 5 pieces of aluminum foil on your countertop.

#2 Place 2 slices of bread on each piece of foil.

#3 Slather that nut butter on the bread.

#4 Sprinkle the chia sees and dried cranberries, cherries, or blueberries on top of the nut butter.

#5 Sprinkle a dash of cinnamon on each.

Voila! 5 sandwiches in less than 5 minutes!

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Buffalo Chickpea Wraps 

These are our favorite. They are delicious, packed with protein and fiber, and super quick. We usually make these for dinner but make them for lunch too. They’re that good. They can be eaten cold or warmed up.

Ingredient List:

2 cans of chickpeas

1 head of romaine lettuce

5 wraps

Buffalo sauce

Blue cheese (optional)

How to Make the Best Buffalo Wraps:

#1 Drain and rinse the chickpeas and sauté them over medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir roughly every minute.

#2 Add enough buffalo sauce to coat the chickpeas, stir them and sauté for another 2-3 minutes. Stir a few more times.

#3 While they cool, place 5 pieces of aluminum foil on counter and a wrap on each.

#4 Put a piece or two of lettuce in the middle of each wrap.

#5 Put the mostly cooled buffalo chickpeas on top of the lettuce.

#6 Sprinkle with blue cheese if you’d like.

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Black Bean Tacos on Lettuce Boats

If you’re craving tacos and want high protein and fiber without the carb load, check these out. They’re very quick to prepare and will cost you about $1 per taco.

Ingredient List:

2 cans black beans

1 head of romaine lettuce

Shredded cheddar or taco cheese

Salsa

1 packet of taco seasoning

How to Prep These for the Week:

Unlike the other quick and healthy work lunches, I don’t recommend prepping these all completely ahead of time. This is because the lettuce might wilt by the end of the week if it has the beans, salsa and cheese on top of it.

#1 Instead, drain the beans, warm them in the microwave, then mix in some of the taco seasoning.

#2 Let the beans cool and divide the beans up between 5 Tupperware containers.

#3 Then add some salsa and cheese to each Tupperware.

#4 Each morning before work, take a Tupperware of the beans, salsa, and cheese, plus 2-3 pieces of romaine lettuce to work and you’re set. Easy and healthy.

• More tips: 9 Sneaky Sources of Calories Preventing Weight Loss

Final Thoughts

Once you get in the habit of prepping a week’s worth of work lunches ahead of time, it will get even easier. You won’t have to remember to make your lunch the night before or be scrambling to put something together the morning of.

You’ll also know you have something healthy to eat during your work day and won’t have to rely on ordering out for lunch. You might even get creative and develop some of your own variations of quick and healthy work lunches.