I Microwaved Fish At Work ONCE & Now I'm In Lunch Jail—TFG I've Got These Cold Lunch Options
It's already so much work trying to figure out what to make for lunch every day, but it gets even more complicated when you realize you won't be near a stovetop or microwave come lunchtime (or have been disallowed from using yours after someone microwaved fish in there...). Don’t resign yourself to cold cuts or peanut butter & jelly! If you want a lunch to look forward to and don’t want to rush off to find one on your break, our list of 40 cold lunch ideas is for you. Whether you’re packing lunches for school or for work, these chilled options are just what you need to shake things up (and they taste even better chilled!).
Often when we’ve failed to pack lunch, we find ourselves roaming the grab and go section of our local grocery store. Some of our favorite options include sushi, chilled noodles, and scouring the olive bar. Lucky for you, we’ve included some recipes for those here, and we promise, they’re easy to make at home! Our recipes for rainbow rolls, our summer roll bowls, our sushi bowls, and sesame noodles are all super-adaptable and, dare we say it, SO much better than what you can grab pre-made at the store.
The other best part about these lunch ideas? We’re not reinventing the wheel here. Instead, we’re taking traditionally cold side dishes you already know and love and upgrading them. We’re sure you’re no stranger to chicken salad, tuna salad, or pasta salad right? They’re solid cold lunch choices, but could get old if you bring them too often. Try changing them up instead. You could add different spices and ingredients, or ditch the meat altogether, like we did in our like we did in our curried chickpea salad and chickpea “tuna” salad (we swear, it hits all the same flavor notes, without the fish!). Instead of traditional macaroni or penne, try a different pasta altogether, like we did in our Tuscan tortellini salad or our gnocchi antipasto salad. It's your lunch, so get creative!
We love salad here, and have no shortage of great recipes like our grilled chicken salad, our shrimp & mango salad, or our copycat Panera green goddess Cobb salad, but if those aren't your speed check out our healthy dinner salads (if they’re hearty enough for dinner, they’re good enough for lunch). Want more lunch inspiration? Check out our healthy packed lunch list next!
Best Chicken Salad
When it comes to chicken salad, we'd argue that our balance of add-ins here is the pinnacle, but whatever you add, chicken salad is just as perfect eaten on its own as it is piled on a croissant with a side of pasta salad or dolloped on a bed of leafy greens for a bomb make-ahead lunch.
Get the Best Chicken Salad recipe.
Sushi Sandwich (Onigirazu)
Inspired by the popular Japanese onigirazu, this is like a cross between sushi and a sandwich. We filled ours with spicy salmon, seasoned sushi rice, cucumber, pickled cabbage, carrot, and avocado—then wrapped it in nori to make it extra portable. Serve it with plenty of the sriracha-soy mayo on the side!
Get the Sushi Sandwich (Onigirazu) recipe.
Big Mac Salad
The flavors of a Big Mac can’t be beat. That’s why we’ve created our fair share of dishes that reinvent the classic burger, from Big Mac crunchwraps to Big Mac hotdogs, to Big Mac tacos. To make a salad that was anything but boring, we decided to turn the classic Big Mac flavors into a deliciously hearty salad.
Get the Big Mac Salad recipe.
Pinwheel Sandwiches
Pinwheel sandwiches are here with their totally retro swirls, ready to be packed into lunchboxes or eaten as an afternoon snack. To make them, you'll layer flour tortillas with ranch-flavored mayonnaise, sliced cheese, deli meats, and lettuce. All that's left to do is roll them up tightly and slice. Simple!
Get the Pinwheel Sandwiches recipe.
Grilled Chicken Salad
This grilled chicken salad—filled with cucumbers, tomatoes, and avocado—is the healthy summer lunch we tend to make again and again. If you're vegetarian, try subbing in hard-boiled eggs for the chicken!
Get the Grilled Chicken Salad recipe.
Summer Roll Bowls
Love a Vietnamese summer roll but don’t want to fuss with the wrapper? Meet your new favorite summer dinner. Rice noodles, shrimp, avocado, thinly sliced veggies, and a plethora of greens are tossed together in a tangy nước chấm dressing for a refreshing dinner twist.
Get the Summer Roll Bowls recipe.
Curried Chickpea Salad
With this curried chickpea salad recipe, you have a simple, fast, meatless way to satisfy your "deli" salad itch. Instead of the raisins you might find in a standard curried salad, we added fresh red bell pepper and red onion for some vegetal sweetness and a bit of bite.
Get the Curried Chickpea Salad recipe.
Rainbow Roll
The inside-out roll (or uramaki) is a popular Western style where the rice is on the outside, while the sheet of nori holds the fillings in place. In this case, those fillings are creamy avocado, crunchy cucumber, and crab stick—an imitation crab product made from whitefish that’s very budget-friendly.
Get the Rainbow Roll recipe.
Crab-Stuffed Avocado
If you thought mini crab cakes would make your lunch feel fancy, wait until you see these crab-stuffed avocados. Fresh jumbo lump crab gets tossed with tomato, jalapeño, mango, and cilantro, then dressed with a combo of lime and sour cream before being stuffed into a halved avocado and served with plantain chips.
Get the Crab-Stuffed Avocado recipe.
Chicken Caesar Wraps
For this version, we kept things pretty straightforward. We wanted to put an end to the debate of whether croutons belong in a chicken Caesar wrap (spoiler: they do), but we encourage you to make your own golden wonders out of white bread. They come together in less than 15 minutes and make a huge difference.
Get the Chicken Caesar Wraps recipe.
Goddess Bowls
One of our favorite ways to pack-in the veggies? Colorful, flavorful bowls loaded with all our favorite things and topped with a homemade dressing to tie it all together, of course. An easy chicken dinner or healthy make-ahead lunch, these bowls combine nutritious powerhouses—brown rice, avocado, roasted asparagus, and sweet cherry tomatoes—with a creamy, herby dressing.
Get the Goddess Bowls recipe.
Roasted Chickpea & Avocado Salad
If you have an air fryer, use it to cook your chickpeas the night before for the ultimate crisp. The tahini ranch is a lightened-up dressing that is better than any bottle you could buy and makes this whole salad meal-worthy. It’s a perfect summer salad for lunch or an outdoor picnic!
Get the Roasted Chickpea & Avocado Salad recipe.
Club Sandwich
With ham, turkey, bacon, and 3 slices of bread, the club sandwich is one of THE best sandwiches of all time. The order everything gets added is important and traditional, so stick to it!
Get the Club Sandwich recipe.
Egg Salad
Try adding briny foods like pickles, capers, olives, or horseradish to this salad for some added brightness. If you'd like to add more vegetables, quartered cherry tomatoes, finely shredded carrots, crisp cucumbers, or sweet chopped bell peppers would be delicious.
Get the Egg Salad recipe.
Copycat Panera Bread Strawberry Poppyseed Salad
As much fruit salad as it was green salad, Panera's beloved salad featured a juicy orange and onion poppyseed dressing and pops of fresh fruit, like strawberries, blueberries, Mandarin oranges, and pineapple. While it may not be on the menu anymore, it's incredibly easy to make at home.
Get the Copycat Panera Bread Strawberry Poppyseed Salad recipe.
Sushi Bowls
Not ready to make your own California roll or shrimp tempura roll at home quite yet but craving all of the classic sushi flavors? A homemade sushi bowl is a great place to start.
Get the Sushi Bowls recipe.
Vegetarian Italian Sub
The king of sandwiches is the Italian Hero. The meats are a huge part of the draw, but so are the veggies: the olives, peppers, ice cold shredded lettuce, and paper thin onions are what really have us craving the sandwich over and over again. With this in mind, we sub the meat for planks of zucchini and eggplant that are just as satisfying.
Get the Vegetarian Italian Sub recipe.
Copycat Panera Bread Green Goddess Cobb Salad With Chicken
Panera’s Cobb salad is like no other, thanks to their creamy and bright green goddess dressing. The rest of the salad has all of your classic Cobb toppings, like hard-boiled eggs and crispy bacon, but feel free to switch things up if you like.
Get the Copycat Panera Bread Green Goddess Cobb Salad With Chicken recipe.
Golden Girl Salad With Sweet Corn Vinaigrette
The star of this cabbage salad is sweet corn. I use the kernels two ways: First, I cut some off the cob and toss them with the cherry tomatoes, carrots, and yellow bell pepper. But the real fun begins when you blend kernels into the dressing.
Get the Golden Girl Salad With Sweet Corn Vinaigrette recipe.
Turkey Lavash Wrap
Lavash—the ultra-thin flatbread that's integral to Armenian cuisine—is great with pretty much everything. Filled with a zingy arugula-dill salad, sliced turkey, roasted red peppers, and crunchy cucumbers, and sealed with a creamy goat cheese spread, it's exactly the kind of colorful lunch we crave to brighten up our weekdays.
Get the Turkey Lavash Wrap recipe.
Greek Chickpea Salad
We’re no strangers to a great chickpea salad, so coming up with a Greek-inspired one was a no-brainer. It’s got all the flavors you love from Greek salad, turned into something more substantial and filling that pairs well with almost anything.
Get the Greek Chickpea Salad recipe.
Chimichurri Chicken Salad
We love relying on rotisserie chicken—our favorite supermarket shortcut—for quick and easy meals. This healthy lunch couldn't be more simple to make. Toss shredded chicken with a good amount of parsley (this is inspired by our favorite condiment, chimichurri sauce, after all), garlic, olive oil, and vinegar and serve with toasted bread.
Get the Chimichurri Chicken Salad recipe.
Philadelphia Roll
As food moves around the world traditional dishes adapt and change to meet new palates. One of the best examples is the Philadelphia roll, a very American POV on Japanese sushi, where the rice is on the outside of the nori. This version takes it a step further by rolling together all the elements of a perfect bagel and lox.
Get the Philadelphia Roll recipe.
Cowboy Pasta Salad
What could possibly make taco salad even better? Pasta, of course! This cowboy pasta salad incorporates all the flavors of your favorite Tex-Mex dinner into the classic pasta salad, resulting in a simple side dish to bring to all your summer cookouts or have for lunch the next day.
Get the Cowboy Pasta Salad recipe.
Blackberry Chicken Salad
This salad has all of the important components: a well seasoned protein, creamy feta, a little crunch from toasted walnuts, and a burst of sweetness from juicy blackberries. It comes together quickly—the majority of your prep can be done while the chicken is marinating.
Get the Blackberry Chicken Salad recipe.
Bruschetta Chicken Stuffed Avocados
Stuffing avocados full of grilled bruschetta chicken was one of easiest decisions we've ever made. You don't need to take off the skin completely—we just think it's super pretty that way. Plus, it make it's easier to to attack with a fork and knife.
Get the Bruschetta Chicken Stuffed Avocados recipe.
Gnocchi Antipasto Salad
Featuring crispy potato gnocchi, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, fresh mozzarella, and salami, this is a medley of everything you love about antipasto layered around pan-seared gnocchi that's crispy on the outside and slightly chewy beneath. 😍
Get the Gnocchi Antipasto Salad recipe.
Gazpacho With Burrata
Creamy burrata on top of a tomato and basil gazpacho is the most refreshing no-cook summer meal we can imagine. Some gazpacho has bread in it for added texture, but for this version, we liked the idea of serving toasted bread alongside to dip into the soup and spread the burrata on.
Get the Gazpacho With Burrata recipe.
Chickpea "Tuna" Salad
A little wary of tunafish? Try this chickpea salad instead! It hits all the same flavor notes, without any fishy smell or taste.
Get the Chickpea "Tuna" Salad recipe.
Tuna Macaroni Salad
If you fancy tuna salad and macaroni salad, the only logical thing to do is bring the two together in a generous serving of spicy tuna mac. This recipe calls for quick-pickling red onion, shredded carrots, and chopped pickles while the pasta cooks so you get nicely tart and crunchy elements in every bite.
Get the Tuna Macaroni Salad recipe.
Ahi Poke Bowls
This is our favorite combo of ingredients, but you can feel free to swap in your favorites or whatever you’ve got in the fridge. The key is to aim for color and variety, but the world really is your oyster... er, tuna!
Get the Ahi Poke Bowls recipe.
Summer Rolls With Peanut Dipping Sauce
These shrimp rolls make the perfect lunch, especially when dipped in a peanut sauce. For our recipe, we rolled shrimp, rice noodles, crunchy vegetables, and herbs into rice paper sheets, but the dish is highly adaptable.
Get the Summer Rolls With Peanut Dipping Sauce recipe.
Tuscan Tortellini Salad
This pasta salad is easily customizable! Feel free to swap the sun-dried tomatoes here for fresh cherry tomatoes, use kale instead of spinach or bacon instead of salami, or replace the Parmesan with Pecorino or mozzarella.
Get the Tuscan Tortellini Salad recipe.
Tuna Salad
Tuna salad is one of our go-to healthy packed lunches. We love it between two pieces of bread, spread on a cracker, scooped over lettuce, or right out of a bowl!
Get the Tuna Salad recipe.
Ultimate Veggie Sandwich
There's something so special and refreshing about a sandwich that is absolutely packed to the gills with veggies. The miso eggplant in here makes this one extra-special.
Get the Ultimate Veggie Sandwich recipe.
Thai Chicken Peanut Pasta Salad
This pasta salad has a creamy peanut dressing and is full of fresh, crunchy veggies with no mayonnaise in sight. It’s super-simple to make and is as delicious hot as it is cold, which means you can easily make it ahead of time (and that leftovers are BOMB).
Get the Thai Chicken Peanut Pasta Salad recipe.
Shrimp & Mango Salad
Pleasantly crunchy and loaded with fresh ingredients, this shrimp and mango salad masters the art of a summer meal that is light and refreshing, but satisfyingly filling. All tied together with a bright, savory dressing inspired by June’s miso ginger dressing, this summer salad is one of the easiest ways to get in our fruits and veggies.
Get the Shrimp & Mango Salad recipe.
Caprese Sandwich
Is there anything more summer-perfect than Caprese salad? We think not, so we decided that a Caprese sandwich should be the official sandwich of summer (or any time you get your hands on some perfect tomatoes).
Get the Caprese Sandwich recipe.
Sesame Noodles
The sauce on these noodles is OUT OF THIS WORLD good. Hot tip: Reserve a cup of your noodle cooking water for your sauce as the starches in that water will be key in creating a smooth, slightly tacky dressing for your peanut-y noodles.
Get the Sesame Noodles recipe.
Cobb Egg Salad
Egg salad is wonderful as is. But add bacon, blue cheese, avocado, and tomatoes, and you've got a cold lunch that you'll be dreaming about for days. The red wine vinegar–yogurt dressing is amazing and works well in regular Cobb salad too.
Get the Cobb Egg Salad recipe.
You Might Also Like
