Packing your own lunch is one of the easiest ways to take control of your well-being. Instead of relying on cafeteria options or takeout, bringing your own brown-bag meals lets you cut back on excess fat, sodium, and empty calories—making it a simple, effective strategy to help you feel your best and maintain a healthy weight.
To move lunch and snack time in a healthier direction:
An easy way to accomplish both goals is to include more whole foods and less processed foods, junk food, and fast food in meals and snacks.
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Make your own “Lunchables” (because the brand-name ones are high in sodium and other stuff) by filling a reusable container with assorted cheese slices, easy-to-eat fruit like apple slices and grapes, and whole-wheat crackers.
Purchase ready-to-bake falafels in the vegetarian refrigerator section of some supermarkets. Bake them ahead of time, then insert them into a whole-wheat pita pocket, spread with hummus (homemade or store-bought).
Work a fish serving into your week by adding tuna or salmon to your green salad, pasta salad, or sandwich. For a satisfying snack, toss some tuna or salmon with balsamic vinaigrette and enjoy with whole-grain crackers.
One of the easiest ways for corporate nutritionist Maggie Moon, MS, RD, to ensure she has a healthy lunch tomorrow is to start with dinner tonight. Before serving dinner, she packs some of it away in portable containers, stores them in the refrigerator, and then takes one to work the next day.
Make cold pasta salad with leftover pasta shapes from last night. Toss chilled whole-grain pasta with cheese cubes, lots of bite-sized vegetables, and a homemade or bottled vinaigrette dressing made with olive or canola oil.
Bake a mini pizza in 5 minutes by spreading pizza sauce or pesto on whole-wheat bagel halves or a whole-wheat pita pocket (use the whole pita as the crust). Top with shredded cheese and your favorite veggie toppings (green onions, tomatoes, chopped red peppers, onions, olives, minced garlic, sliced mushrooms), then broil in a toaster oven until the cheese is bubbling. If using a pita, fold one half over to make a calzone! Wrap it up for your bag lunch or, if your office has a toaster oven, bring it to work unbaked and bake it there.
To make it easier to enjoy salads at the office, Moon keeps her favorite salad dressing in the work refrigerator. Look for salad dressing with the least amount of sodium and made with canola or olive oil.
Toss some drained canned black beans with salsa, avocado, red onions, shredded romaine lettuce, and cheese, then wrap in a softened whole-wheat tortilla. This is a favorite five-minute grab-and-go lunch for Karen Ansel, MS, RD, American Dietetic Association spokesperson and co-author of The Baby & Toddler Cookbook.
Pick up a tray of premade vegetable sushi at your supermarket or favorite Japanese restaurant. It makes a great grab-and-go lunch the next day. Because it features veggies and avocado, there’s no chance the sushi will smell “fishy” the next day.
Make your sandwich wrap the night before, using a whole-grain flour tortilla and spreads such as green or sun-dried tomato pesto, olive tapenade, or honey mustard. Layer it with slices of lean meat or cheese, assorted vegetables, tomato, onion, and lettuce. Because it’s a whole grain, the tortilla won’t get soggy overnight.
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Reusable containers can hold the makings of a delicious lunch salad. The salad will stay fresh if you add the dressing at lunchtime, so pack a small container or packet of your desired dressing (look for those made with canola or olive oil).
Toss together spinach leaves or chopped romaine with a hard-boiled egg, crumbled blue cheese (or similar), diced avocado and tomato, and lean ham cubes or strips.
Toss together salad greens, shredded chicken, shredded carrots, sliced green onion, and toasted sliced almonds.
Toss together romaine lettuce, chopped tomato, chicken strips, any other vegetable desired, and croutons.
Toss together dark green lettuce, fresh or frozen berries, blue cheese (if desired), and toasted walnuts (add chicken or salmon if desired). This salad is best with a raspberry or balsamic vinaigrette.
You’ll find bags of edamame (in pods) in the freezer section of most supermarkets. Keep a bag in the freezer, add some to your brown bag in the morning, and by lunch, they will be thawed. Open the pods and snack on the high-protein, high-fiber green soybeans inside.
When you have leftover whole-grain pancakes from breakfast, wrap each of them around a soy or chicken sausage and freeze a serving in a reusable container or zip-lock bag. If you are making healthful egg entrees over the weekend (egg and cheese sandwich on toasted wheat English muffin, quiche, frittata, French toast) and have a couple of servings left, wrap them up and freeze them for a fast grab-and-go lunch or snack. Just warm in the microwave for 2 minutes!
Homemade muffins can be a healthful alternative to processed snacks and junk food when made with mostly whole wheat flour, moderate amounts of canola oil (2 to 3 tablespoons per 12 muffins), and minimal added sugar. Just pop a serving of mini muffins into each zip-lock bag and store in the freezer. Pack them in the brown bag, and they’ll be soft and ready to eat by lunch or snack time.
Spanakopita Triangles: These spinach-and-cheese-filled phyllo dough triangles are available in the freezer section of some supermarkets, such as Trader Joe’s. Brown them in your toaster oven ahead of time, then wrap them for tomorrow’s lunch or snack.
The following foods double as satisfying snacks or fun treats in a bag lunch because they provide some protein and fat (and some have fiber).
Nuts offer a satisfying combination of fiber, protein, and smart fats. Trail mix pumps up the carbohydrate calories by adding dried fruit to the nuts. A 1-ounce snack-size serving of mixed nuts (e.g., Planters NUTrition Heart Healthy Mix) contains about 170 calories, 6 grams of protein, 5 grams of carbohydrate, 3 grams of fiber, and 8 grams of monounsaturated fat.
Individually wrapped cheese sticks are available in part-skim mozzarella and 2% sharp cheddar, and even pepper jack.Two part-skim mozzarella cheese sticks contain about 160 calories, 14 grams of protein, 2 grams of carbohydrate, 0 grams of fiber, 6 grams of saturated fat, and 40% of the Daily Value for calcium.
For something a little sweet but crunchy, pop up some Orville Redenbacher’s Smart Pop Kettle Korn (or similar) and pack half of the 2.9-ounce bag of popcorn for a brown-bag treat or snack. Each serving satisfies 140 calories, 4 grams of protein, 29 grams of carbohydrate, 6 grams of fiber, and 1 gram of saturated fat.
Stir 1/2 cup fresh or frozen berries into 8 ounces of low-fat plain yogurt to make your own naturally sweetened yogurt cup. It has a nice balance of nutrients—185 calories, 12 grams of protein, 24 grams of carbohydrate, 3 grams of fiber, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, and about 40% Daily Value for calcium and 30% for vitamin C.
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