Healthy lunch ideas for work

Eating well is key to staying healthy, but let’s be real—it’s not always easy. Less than 5% of Aussie adults meet the recommended guidelines for fruit and veg. 

With work taking up 5 days a week for many adults, fitting in healthy meals can feel like a challenge. To help, here are some easy, delicious tips to make healthy lunches (and snacks) a breeze at work.  

What are the benefits of a healthy lunch at work?

A healthy lunch at work can fuel you for the day, particularly if you have a physically demanding job. It's also important for more desk-bound, sedentary jobs for maintaining concentration. Since lunch makes up a big part of your daily food intake, it’s key for getting the nutrients you need—like vitamins, minerals, protein, healthy fats and quality carbohydrates. 

For example, it’s hard to hit the recommended 5 serves of vegetables per day if we didn’t include any veggies in our lunch.  A nutritious lunch that follows the principles of the Australian Dietary Guidelines will help reduce your risk of chronic disease. In fact, research suggests that even one extra serving of vegetables daily can reduce the risk of long-term illness by 14%.

Plus, a healthy lunch that fills you up and fuels you for the afternoon may reduce the chance of reaching for the less nutritious snacks or visiting the vending machine. Preparing your own lunch and bringing it from home is a sure way to know what you will be eating, and set yourself up for nutrition success.

5 healthy lunch ideas to keep you on track

The biggest thing to keep in mind here is to aim for a healthy, tasty lunch that you will look forward to eating, otherwise it might not get eaten. It doesn't need to be picture perfect. Here’s how to easily balance both health and taste for your next work lunch: 

Tip 1: Choose something from each core food group

• Fruit: this might make up a mid morning or afternoon snack, paired with a handful of nuts or a few scoops of yoghurt.  Or it can be part of a dish such as a salad; apples and pears make great additions to salads. Think seasonally, and use frozen or canned when variety is low. 
• Vegetables and legumes: aim for variety and colour with at least two serves. A serve is ½ a cup of cooked vegetables or legumes and a cup of leafy salad leaves. Add fresh sliced vegetables, leftover roast veg and leafy greens like lettuce to sandwiches and wraps, or try making a a pot of soup on the weekend for the week ahead. You can snack on veg such as cherry tomatoes, olives, pickled onions, cucumber or capsicum sticks, legumes like edamame or roasted chickpeas.
• Milk, yoghurt, cheese and alternatives: a great way to add in calcium, phosphorus and protein. These are particularly important for our bone health. Options could include a slice of cheese on a sandwich or on whole grain crackers topped with tomato for a snack. A glass of plant-based milk (with calcium added) or cow’s milk for a smoothie or latte. Another option is yoghurt as a snack or make it into a dressing.
• Lean meat, poultry, eggs, tofu, nuts, seeds and legumes: choose one of these to include a protein. Hard boiled eggs make a great snack, sandwich filling or cut up into a salad. Leftover roast or BBQ meats sliced make a great addition to salads. Cook extra stir fry veg and meat the night before for lunch the next day. An old fashioned can of baked beans with wholegrain toast also makes for a quick and filling lunch. 
• Grain and cereals: think about changing this up: breads with different grains and cereals such as rye, barley, and linseed or using different grains for salad bases such as brown rice, freekeh or wholemeal pasta. 

Tip 2: Cook (or prepare) in bulk 

Save time by simply cooking up extra in one hit, whether it be more roast vegetables or a double recipe of curry, pasta sauce or soup. You can then serve into containers and pop in the freezer ready to take out for lunch. You could also cook up extra and share it at work and take turns for others to do the same. That way you easily have lunch cooked for you some days.

Do you often find old, tired vegetables in the fridge at the end of the week? Don’t throw them out!  If they’re still salvageable, these can easily be cooked up into a frittata or soup. 

Another option to prepare in advance is to set out 5 containers, one for each day of the week. Cook up a grain such as rice and spoon some of that in each container, add vegetables which could be fresh, steamed, stir fried or roasted and then add a variety of protein (you could try some tofu, grilled fish,meat or even canned legumes).Using a different sauce, herbs and other toppings means a different flavour for each day. Each week you could vary the grain and vegetable variety which gives you a variety of different nutrients each week.

Tip 3: Spice it up

You can change the flavour of your basics by using different herbs and spices. A sandwich will come alive when you vary simply by varying what you add in from avocado spread, hummus, chutney or mustard. A sprinkle of chilli in a soup or paprika, coriander or basil will easily give you flavour and variety. Invest in some seasonal fresh herbs and dried ones to keep in the pantry. It’s an easy way to make your lunch taste delicious and to keep things interesting. to add novelty.

Tip 4: Pack it safely

If transporting your lunch to work, keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot. Microbes (bugs) that cause food poisoning thrive in temperatures from around 5-60 degrees. To keep your lunch cool, use insulated lunch boxes and bags, add in frozen water bottles or freezer bricks and pop in the fridge at work rather than sitting on your desk. It is also important to wash and clean lunch containers, bags and water bottles with hot soapy water. If doing any food preparation in the office,  ensure that cutting boards and benches are kept clean. 

Tip 5: When buying lunch

When buying lunch out, look for foods from each of the 5 core food groups, just like when preparing yourself. Seek options with plenty of vegetables and request wholegrains where you can. Avoid deep fried foods as they are often high in poor quality fats. Some of the supermarket pre-prepared fresh meals and salad kits can make a quick, nutritious lunch. Read nutrition labels on any packets you buy, looking for lower sodium, saturated fat and added sugar levels. 

Snack ideas when at work

Snacking can be a great way to take a break. Before reaching for a snack, ask yourself if you’re truly hungry. If not, try stretching, going for a walk, or taking a few minutes to close your eyes and listen to some music. If you are hungry, use snack time to help hit your daily nutrition goals by aiming for: 

• fruit 
• handful of nuts
• roasted chickpeas or fava beans
• cut up vegetables, mug of vegetable based soup, small bowl of salad, celery with nut butter, corn on the cob
• yoghurt, glass of warm or cold milk, cheese
• hard boiled egg, can of salmon or tuna with mixed beans
• whole grain fruit toast with ricotta cheese

Summary:

Having a healthy lunch will fuel you for the rest of your day, help you meet your nutrition needs and most likely save you money. A healthy food shop, the Living Healthy Report 2024 found, is cheaper than the average Australian shop. So, enjoy making, taking and eating your lunch!

Related articles:

• How to build a healthy shopping list
• The perks of a well-stocked pantry
• 10 healthier snacks to keep in your cupboard

Reviewed by the Healthylife Advisory Board September 2024