Clean Eating Lunch Ideas at work, school & home

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Eating clean on the go can be tricky at the beginning. Especially for lunch, which is an important meal of the day and needs to be filling enough to carry you until the evening. For most of us, lunching doesn’t happen at home, so your meal needs to be portable, easy to prepare and easy to eat. A tall order? Not so much with those few clean eating lunch ideas.

Eating clean at work

Salads

Let’s start with this, as it’s easy to pack, doesn’t need reheating, full of nutrients and easy to prepare. I used to cook a bowl of brown rice, millet or buckwheat at the beginning of the week, and just add leftovers and raw salad veggies on the day. With a little mayonnaise or salad dressing in a small container, bob’s your uncle, lunch is served.

The beauty of them is that you can add really what you want. Back then I was using whole grains as my base, but these days I’m loading them with proteins and healthy fats. Are you a sweet tooth? Add some grapes, apples or any seasonal fruit for a sweet and sour taste.

Salads in a jar

You can even prepare them ahead in canning jars for the whole week. There’s a knack to it to make sure the leaves don’t get soggy, so make sure you layer your ingredients up in the right order:

• Always start with the dressing at the bottom.
• Then add your less absorbent ingredients, like onions, carrots, peppers, sweetcorn.
• In goes the more absorbent stuff, like whole grains and proteins, in layers.
• And finish with your leafy greens.

When it’s time to eat, empty the jar in a bowl, and toss. Ta-da! I also find them particularly appetizing in the jar, especially if you’re going for a good mix of colors in your vegetables.

Another bonus is that the most perishable vegetables will happily keep a few days longer when stored like this in your fridge. No more brown, soggy lettuce!

There are plenty of awesome suggestions out there, in particular on Pinterest, so get some canning jars and start layering.

Left-overs

My old favorite. I always try to over-cater the night before, so I don’t have to worry about lunch the next day. It’s all cooked and ready to go. I try to stay away from having to warm my lunches, so I’ll quite happily turn my leftovers into a wholesome salad. I simply add a few leaves of lettuce and a drizzle of olive oil and vinegar of choice.

If you prefer warm food, just make sure you pack your leftovers in a microwaveable container. Saves you having to transfer it to a glass or ceramic bowl at work.

Takeaways

Convenience food manufacturers have long sussed out that there was a massive market out there at lunch. Luckily, some of them now start to cater for the healthiest folks as well. So it’s possible to find clean sandwiches and wraps. Mind though, not everything labeled “healthy” is clean.

Aim for brown, whole wheat, rye bread or similar. Check the filling and go for a minimal list of recognizable ingredients. These should be perishable foodstuff, so if not kept in the fridge section and to be eaten within 24 hours, it is sure to be loaded with additives.

Sushi is another fairly clean option. It contains a limited list of ingredients, all identifiable, and it’s fresh. Most of the additives will be in the soy sauce though. It’s probably not the best clean food out there (unless you make it yourself, of course), but once in a while, I personally think it’s OK.

Home-made sandwiches…

…are fine of course, and let you be in control of what you put between your slices of bread or in your wrap or pita bread. Start with the whole grain variety for you “outer”, and enjoy whatever clean filler you fancy.

Home-made sushi and other summer rolls are also a good option. Although they take a bit longer to prepare, they can be a welcome change from your traditional sandwich. And are still portable and easy finger-food.

What to put in a clean eating lunch box?

Kids need to eat enough at lunch to keep them sharp all afternoon. Regardless of how healthy and clean that lunch box looked when you prepared it, if it doesn’t get eaten, it’s no good. Here are a few clean eating lunch ideas to get your kids to have a clean lunch box *and* actually eat it.

Involve them

I can’t say it enough. If they’ve chosen their food and prepared their lunch pack, they’re far more likely to eat it. My girls prepare their lunch boxes the night before, with my help. Looks like something like this most days.

I found that a good variety of bite-size food works best for my primary-school kids. And investing in decent, leak-proof and fun Bento boxes was a must. I use silicone cupcake molds too keep the food separate and add a bit of fun.

Go along with their tastes.

If the only fresh vegetable your child will eat is cherry tomatoes, stick with it. Change the varieties, you can get yellow, green or even purple ones these days. Vary the dressing, give them humus, cocktail sauce, garlic mayonnaise etc. (all home-made or carefully selected, of course).

Make sure to add one source of protein, this will keep them going for longer. Whether it’s loose in the box (a matchbox piece of cheese, a hard-boiled egg or a few pieces of jerky), or layered in their sandwich (brown bread or best-of-both, if possible).

Made-ahead options

I like to prepare batches of savory muffins or crust-less quiches during the weekend and pop one of those in my kids’ lunchboxes. That’s their “main course”. And it saves times compared to preparing fresh sandwiches every day.

Tickle their taste buds

Most children like a bit of crunchiness, so let them have a little crunchy something. Popcorn is a safe option, easily made at home with a little salt or sugar/cinnamon. I sometimes find very plain and basic corn chips, tortilla-style, and this also works for us. You can make your own chips, but I’ll admit I don’t quite have enough hours in the day to make fresh ones during the week.

However, I do make sure there is a little healthy “treat”. It can be cocoa-coated hazelnuts, salted almonds, roasted corn kernels or a home-made cookie. Just something a little bit more indulgent and “snack-like”. (Notice how all of them can be made in batches ahead of time)

How to master clean eating family meals?

Not all lunches are on the go, and you might find yourself having to entertain friends or family at the weekend. While still wanting to stick to your clean eating food. And while not necessarily wanting to sound like a complete health-freak either. Sounds familiar? I think we’ve all been there. But from experience, as daunting as it may sound, it’s actually not that hard. Here are some clean eating lunch ideas that you can adapt to the whole family, the season of the year or the occasion.

Appetizers

Think crudités and dips, maybe with a small bowl of plain tortilla chips for the ones needing some crunch. For the veggies, baby zucchini, carrot, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, mange-tout, and baby corn are my go-to snacks and look great together. For the dips, try a garlic mayonnaise, hummus or a yogurt-based dip like tzatziki.

Starters

Go for a lovely, colorful, hearty salad. The kind of salad with lovely greens at the bottom. Topped up with various chopped veggies like beetroot, sweetcorn, peppers or any other. Covered with some more “meaty” ingredients, whether it be cheese, chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, or avocados.

Feel free to add some seasonal fruits for a zing. I like grapes and apples, for their sweetness and their crunchiness, respectively. But when I get the chance, mangoes and papayas also find their way in. Or pomegranate, for the color.

Main course

Keep it simple. Forget about pastries and fancy fare. A piece of meat, fish or another source of protein, some vegetables, and a starch. Can be all cooked together if your oven is big enough: think cottage or shepherd’s pie, sheet pan, stuffed eggplants, chili con carne etc.

Or cooked separately. A roast is a good option as the side dishes are versatile and let you be as clean as you want. For the starch, forgo bread and offer roast potatoes, rice or any other whole grain. I tend to roast sweet potatoes with onions, quartered, and carrots. Drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with rosemary. It hits the spot with the kids, who like the sweetness of it, and with the grown-ups, who like the traditional feel of roasted vegetables.

Desserts

Clean eating doesn’t mean ditching all the sweet treats. It does mean making sure that only healthy, clean ingredients find their way into your dessert plate. There are loads of lovely clean recipes out there. Cakes are an option, but once the heavily-refined cake flour is out, they tend to use less processed flours like almond or coconut. These lend themselves to more dense and moist cakes. Think brownies rather than sponge cake.

You’ll find more choice in terms of puddings. A lot of them, like chocolate mousse, only need to be refrigerated and can be prepared ahead of time.

Otherwise, make a large, colorful fresh fruit salad, and add a little bit of orange juice. Or bake some cored apples with cinnamon and raisins for a winter warmer.

 

What are your go-to clean eating lunch ideas?

The above might have given you pointers as to what to have for lunch, but feel free to share your own menus with us, please! Let’s make sure that lack of inspiration is *not* an excuse for having some industrial additive-laden food at lunch.

If you’re feeling stuck for breakfast ideas, check my post here. And if at snack time, you feel most inclined to buy processed food, get some ideas here. Need inspiration for clean eating dinners? I’ve got you covered!