I don’t know about you, but there are days I am totally stumped on what to make for my own lunch. I am good about getting the kids out the door with their lunches and my little guy at home has his lunchtime favorites. But often times I am eating on the fly while I am trying to get other things done around the house. This month I am challenging myself to eat healthy lunches in order to get myself on track for the summer! I have rounded up some of my favorites to hopefully inspire me (and you) and to make lunchtime fun again:) Here are some easy lunch ideas for moms on the go!
Easy & Healthy Lunch Ideas for Moms
Quick and Healthy Salad Ideas
Salads are always a go-to option for lunchtime. Lunch is my time to try out new salad recipes, because my family is rarely on board with salads for dinner. However, I do find myself stuck on making simple salads because I don’t have to the time to cut up a ton of ingredients.
This month I am planning to prep ingredients for 1-2 salads over the weekend, so weekday lunch preparations are easy! My favorite salad is the Detoxinista Detox Salad. Whenever I have gotten off track with my eating, I always go back to this salad for a few days and I feel so much better! It is an addicting salad and the homemade salad dressing is SO good!
My favorite salad recipes include:
Arugula, Dried Cherry & Wild Rice Salad
Shredded Brussels Sprout Salad
Kale Salad with Meyer Lemon VinaigretteÂ
I love making my own salad dressings, however, my go to prepared dressings are Tessamae’s. They are Whole 30 approved and even when I am not on a Whole 30 plan, I still buy these regularly.
Other “no recipe required” salads I like include:
Taco Salad: Tortilla chips or Plaintain Chips, Romaine, Veggies, Cheese (optional), Black Beans, Rice, Guacamole, Salsa
Greek Salad: Romaine Lettuce, Olives, Tomatoes, Red Onions, Garbanzo Beans, Feta
Everything Salad (aka fridge clean out): Any Lettuce, Deli Meat, Veggies, Nuts, Cheese, Favorite Dressing
Prepackaged Salad: Perfect when I am short on time, I always have a few salad kits in my fridge each week.
Healthy Soup Recipes
Lunchtime can not get much easier than warming up a soup that you have prepared ahead of time. This is one of my favorite lunch ideas during the winter months. Since I am typically the only one eating the soup, I can make it on Sunday and it lasts all week long.
My favorite soup recipe is a this Butternut Squash Soup recipe from 100 Days of Real Food.
My other soup favorites include:
Crockpot Sweet Potato, Chicken & Quinoa Soup
Grandma’s Chicken Noodle Soup (My whole family will eat this one!)
Roasted Tomato Soup (My daughter loves this one)
Make a snack platter for lunch
There are times that I get tired of salads and a simple ‘snacky’ type lunch is just what I need. It’s nice because I can get a taste of everything and I can use whatever I have on hand.

Snack Platter Ideas include:
Crackers
Olives
Turkey Pepperoni
Deli Meat
Dried Fruit
Sliced Apples
Mandarin Oranges
Rice Cakes
Pretzels
Babybel Cheese
Make your own smoothies
While this might not necessarily be considered a meal on its own, I sometimes make a smoothie along with a snack platter or a salad. Or if I have a smaller lunch, I’ll make a smoothie a few hours later.
I always load my smoothie up with a lot of leafy greens. If you want a more protein packed smoothie, peanut butter or almond butter are great options!
If you are looking for more smoothie recipes, this cookbook from Weelicious is awesome! It is a our go recipe book for smoothies.
Once you have a variety of smoothie ingredients in your freezer and pantry, it is so easy to whip together a drink.
**These festive, REUSABLE STRAWS are perfect for daily smoothies. IÂ got some of these a few months ago and we all love using them!!
Loaded Baked Sweet Potato
Another very easy lunch option for moms is a loaded baked sweet potato. I will just microwave a sweet potato and then warm up any leftover chicken or taco meat I have on hand. You could keep this a vegetarian option by just adding veggies and cheese too!
This Quinoa Stuffed Sweet Potato recipe looks so good!!
Sometimes I’ll serve the potato along with a small side salad. It just depends on what I have on hand. This lunch option is always so filling.
Breakfast for Lunch
Ever since I have completed two rounds of Whole 30, omelets have become a daily staple for me. I typically have them for breakfast, but if I am short on time in the morning, then I usually will have one for lunch.
Omelets are a great way to use up leftover veggies too! Load up on veggies and add a side of fruit and you have a balanced lunch.
Additional quick and easy lunch ideas for moms:
Wraps: The options are endless! Lunch meat, leftover meat, veggies, hummus, guacamole—whatever you have on hand!
Quesadillas: So many ways to go on quesadillas. Spicy and Veggie filled or cheese and sweet filled. This Strawberry, Basil and Goat Cheese Quesadilla recipe looks so yummy!
Rice Bowls: Start with Cooked Rice or Quinoa and top with whatever protein, veggies and nuts you want!
Pizza Bagels: Pizza doesn’t have to just be a kids meal. Dress up your bagel with different varieties of cheeses and veggies.
Pasta Salad: Swap out grain noodles for veggie noodles (zucchini, beet or sweet potato noodles) for a healthy change!

Be sure to follow my NEW HEALTHY LUNCH IDEAS PINTEREST board for healthy lunch ideas!
https://www.pinterest.com/coffeepancakesdreams/healthy-lunch-ideas/
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There are a TON of easy and healthy options for busy moms. Of course it’s easy to grab a bite of whatever the kids are eating instead of spending time making something healthy and tasty for yourself. So, the key to having good lunches is to plan ahead! Pick a couple of lunch ideas for the week and make ahead as much as you can on the weekends!
What are some of your favorite weekday lunch meals?
Oh this is such a great post- thank you for all of the healthy and delicious ideas. I love making salads in a jar. That is a go-to lunch over the summer!
Yes Mason Jar salads are a great idea!! I need to get better at making those!
So many delicious ideas! Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks Brenda!
I am always eating a version of greek salad for lunch. Sweet potatoes are really good with black beans! I eat omelets for breakfast too. 🙂
I love greek salads too:)
Wow…so many ideas and specially for a busy mom……..I too make a lot of smoothies…loved the different types of salads
Thanks Renu! It’s so easy for lunch to be skipped, so I’m trying to get better at healthy make ahead meals.
These are all such good ideas. I try to keep healthy things on hand so I can easily make a salad or a snack tray during the week. It’s quick and easy and lets me eat lunch and still take care of the boys!
Loving these ideas. This week, I mixed it up with fresh squeezed juice and tuna salad. Weird combo, but it was good. 😉
I love all these ideas! Sometimes I get so busy packing my kids lunches that I forget to pack one for myself!
This is an awesome list of healthy and delicious looking lunches. Thank you for sharing, Im going to give that detox salad a try.
These all look great. I am intrigued by the detox salad – it looks super filling and full of good-for-me foods. I will say that the snack platter is my biggest go-to for a quick lunched. I love the nuts with the cheese and charcuterie. It is the perfect idea for low-carb eaters during the week.
Oh gosh I needed these ideas!! I’ve been stuck in a rut!!
So many great ideas – especially to keep Mother’s Day simple. Thank you!
Thanks Shan! Simple and easy is my motto!