Lunch Box Meal Prep Tips
Get those lunches prepped!
Have you ever had to make your lunch and just thrown your hands up in the air thinking "I have nothing to put in my lunch!!!"
Well, today I am sharing with you some awesome lunch box meal prep tips so you never have to feel like eating another boring lunch.
These tips are easy, versatile and totally delicious. So pull up a chair, and let's get this lunch time lesson started!
Tip #1: Use Low or No Prep Sides
One of my favorite things to do to save time meal prepping, is to get help from the store, mainly by using what I call, low or no prep sides.
Low or no prep sides are food items that require very little preparation before being eaten. Some examples I like are cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, sugar snap peas and baby carrots. These ingredients are also so versatile because you could eat them raw or cook them in a variety of ways e.g. in recipes, steamed, roasted etc. Cooking these ingredients in different ways also adds some awesome flavors.
BONUS: if you can spare 30 minutes, cook some hard boiled eggs. Once they have cooled, peel the shells off, then store in the refrigerator. These hard boiled eggs can be added to any lunchbox, or used to make other dishes like egg salad, potato salad or just added to any salad!
These low or no prep sides are great for creating a veggies-and-dip lunch, a cheeseboard-style lunch or even a charcuterie board-style lunch.
And, if you add a boiled egg and flatbread, your lunch essentially becomes one of those protein boxes from Starbucks!
Tip #2: Use sauces to add different flavors to the same ingredients
Ever get tired of eating the same old chicken breast and broccoli day in and day out?
Jazz up any meal prep meal, with some delicious sauces!
I love to add different sauces to the same ingredients because it completely changes the flavor profile.
Take, for example, the humble chicken breast. You could add a spicy red salsa to it to give it a Tex Mex flavor. Or you could add some sesame soy sauce to give it a Asian flair. Or add some yummy basil pesto. Delish!
As you can see, different sauces can add so much flavor!
If you're watching what you eat, there are also plenty of low calorie sauces available at the grocery store, or you can even make your own if you want to be certain of the ingredients used.
Need some recipes for quick and easy sauces? Check out these!
- Roasted Red Pepper Dip: you can thin this dip out with water or olive oil to make it more saucey
- Avocado Hummus: if you'd like a thinner hummus, thin in out with water or olive oil.
- Easy Asian Pesto: so full of bold flavor, this pesto is one of my faves!
Tip #3: Reinvent your Leftovers
Too often, we get so stuck in a rut of eating the same old food again and again. So why not find ways to reinvent your leftovers!
What do I mean by reinventing your leftovers?
I mean finding new ways to prep the same ingredients so that they have different flavors.
This is the real key to making sure that you never get bored of your meal prep meals.
It might take a little bit of practice to reinvent your leftovers but I thought I would give you a few ideas to get you started.
How to reinvent..... chicken breast:
Here's some ideas of what you could do with leftover grilled chicken breast
- Chicken Caesar Salad
- Superfood Asian Chicken Soup
- Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry
- BBQ Chicken Wrap
- Chicken Tacos
- Green Curry Chicken
How to reinvent... salads:
Ever get bored of eating salads day after day? Here's a few ideas to help reinvent your salads:
- Wrap it up: Most salads can easily be put into a wrap or between 2 pieces of bread.
- Add it to a soup: a lot of the greens and some other veggies in salads can be used as great additions to any soup.
- Hasta la pasta: Toss your salad with some cooked pasta to create hearty pasta salad. Not eating pasta right now? You can totally do the same thing with zoodles or any other veggie that you want to spiralize.
Tip #4: Lunch Swap
Do you have a friend that is meal prepping too?
Awesome! Suggest that you and a friend do a lunch swap. This is when you bring a meal for lunch and a friend brings a meal for lunch, then you swap lunches. This is such a fun idea because you will likely experience a lunch that you may not have had before, or you may gain some inspiration for new recipes that you want to make for your own meal prep lunches.
Tip #5: Always have a Treat!
I am a huge advocate for having a treat in your lunch. This helps you look forward to your lunch and not feel bored of your meals.
Need some ideas for treats for you lunch?
Here's a few sweet treat ideas:
- Ferrero Rocher Protein Balls
- Cherry Almond Protein Bars
- Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Raspberry and Almond Butter Chocolate Fudge
- Carrot Cake Breakfast Cookies
Here's a few savory treat ideas:
- BBQ Kale Chips
- Cheezy Garlic Herb Popcorn
- Plaintain Chips
- Roasted Nuts with Rosemary, Garlic and Ancho Chili
- Toasted Edamame with Sesame Oil and Garlic
I hope these 5 tips help you jazz up your lunches!
Got a meal prep lunch tip? Add it in the comments below!