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:

Detox Salad

Arugula, Dried Cherry & Wild Rice Salad

Shredded Brussels Sprout Salad

Kale Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette 

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. I  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?