Most people simply don’t have the time to spend hours prepping a perfect packed lunch each morning. But grabbing takeout every day could be putting a dent in your budget and possibly even hurting your health. So how do you nail your workday meal prep, without it becoming a complete chore?
1. Containers Are Everything
Put some of the lunch money you’re saving on takeout toward a few stackable containers in different sizes. They’ll not only make packing quicker and easier, but more pleasant, too. Glass is safer for reheating leftovers, and mason jars are handy for sog-resistant salads. If the smelly office fridge is deterring you, invest in an insulated bag and ice pack, to keep your meal fresh and appetizing right beside you.
2. Planning Is Key
Meal planning doesn’t need to take a long time. Sit down once a week to jot down your workday meals and snacks, and help eliminate the stress of decision making each morning. Don’t forget to factor in dinners, so you can leverage leftovers. Then stick the plan on your fridge, to keep you focused all week.
3. Cook Once, Eat Twice
Making rice for dinner? Cook double! Boiling eggs? Boil more! Prep as much as you can while you’re making other meals, to make daily packing as speedy as possible. If you’re super organized, pre-portion mini bags of veggies, like baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, and sugar snap peas, while you’re waiting for the rice to boil.
4. Stock a Mini Pantry at Your Desk
Make life easy by packing once—take the whole bag of apples to work on Monday, so your morning snack is sorted. Stash a small supply of desk-friendly items, like canned fish, whole-grain crackers, and nuts in a drawer. Just don’t be tempted to dive into the stockpile more than once a day, or you’ll blow your calorie budget.
5. Love Your Leftovers
Reinventing leftovers makes lunch prep a snap. If you’re not fussy, simply make extra dinner and reheat for lunch for a couple of days. But if you get bored easily, come up with crafty ways to reuse a couple of the ingredients. Leftover chicken can be shredded into a sandwich, and extra quinoa or sweet potato adds staying power to a salad.
6. Make a Chopped Salad That’ll Last All Week
Chopped salads can be made ahead with veggies that stay crunchy, like peppers, celery, and sugar snap peas. Store them in a big container in the fridge, and each morning, top with your choice of no-cook protein, like rotisserie chicken, and a smart carb, like corn. Add a splash of extra-virgin olive oil and vinegar, and lunch is done.
7. Pack Now, Construct Later
Don’t have time to make a sandwich? Throw all the ingredients into a container and assemble it at lunch time. Or opt for a Mediterranean-style platter with pita quarters, hummus, baby carrots, leftover meatballs, and a few olives. Sometimes deconstructed is just as delicious.
How do you make lunch packing healthy and fast? Share your time-saving tips below.
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or condition. Always check with your doctor before changing your diet, altering your sleep habits, taking supplements, or starting a new fitness routine.
Tracy Morris
Tracy Morris is Fitbit’s Lead Nutritionist. With a master’s degree in nutrition and dietetics from South Africa, she’s also an Australian Accredited Practising Dietitian, and an international member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in the US. Over the past 20 years, Tracy's lived in five different countries, inspiring people around the globe to be healthy. She currently lives in sunny Sydney, Australia where she helps Fitbit fans around the globe live their best lives. When she’s not working, running after her three young kids, or practicing pilates, she can be found sipping pinot noir with her husband watching the sun set.
Thanks. I totally agree that taking my own lunch makes me feel more in control and makes sure I know what I am eating. By actually writing this up you are validating that creating that lunch need strategic thinking but no more than a few minutes of preparation.
Before I read through these helpful ideas to make time savings in lunch preparation, I read an article on things that make people unpopular at work. One was bringing smelly fish for lunch at your desk and distracting other workers. For me that would include filling the room (or breath) with heavy garlic leftovers or humus. Even if those are time savers for you, they aren’t popular in the workplace. Marie
Taking your lunch to work, also takes worrying from what and where you are getting your lunch from.
Personally, I “pack” while I’m at the grocery store. I don’t always have time (or room) to chop up vegetables for work, so I buy frozen vegetables and pick one for every day of the week. Some people may be picky about the taste, but a tip for that is to pop it in the toaster oven before you microwave it at work. It gets rid of the over-microwaved flavor frozen food can get. That’s another great thing about the glass containers mentioned above; they can be used in an oven or microwave so you can cook your food right in its container. I recommend getting containers that already have the portion size on it too so you can have effortless calorie control.
I found that making Bento Boxes help me keep accountable for my intake; plus I realized that making them with plenty of details and color is very relaxing 🙂
Hello all – I work amongst many tempting food outlets so whilst I know we should eat fresh first – I keep a stock of lean cuisine and similar frozen meals in the work freezer so I am not tempted on those days I haven’t packed lunch.
Grated carrot, cheese & chopped celery etc in containers ready, to add to lettuce, make a quick salad sandwich or wrap.