9 of the Best Cheap and Healthy Work Lunchbox Ideas, According to Reddit

It’s easy to start getting sick of the food you pack yourself for work lunches you thought you would want every day. So let’s turn to everyone’s favourite meal planning subreddit, r/EatCheapAndHealthy, to get some ideas for what to put in our work lunchboxes.

Pasta salad

I don’t know why I’ve only ever thought of pasta salad as a dish for picnics and BBQs. It’s perfect for lunchboxes since it keeps well cold (with an ice pack, of course) and there are so many flavours and recipes to try. Perhaps this gnocchi salad recipe can be an inspiration.

Quesadillas

Cheese and tortillas are easy to combine, and a great protein-carb base for whatever else you like to eat. Make a batch of quesadillas with or without other fillings, and they’ll keep well in the fridge or lunchbox. (Bonus: cold cheese holds the fillings together so they won’t fall out.) Or sprinkle cheese on a tortilla, microwave it just until melty, and roll it up into a little cigar.

Simple bento boxes

Bento boxes are often known for being a canvas for cutesy art projects, and I applaud the people who have time to pack those. But several redditors pointed out that bento style lunch containers are also a great way to make cheese, grapes, and other individual foods into a meal — like a charcuterie board where things don’t have to touch.

A smoothie in a jar

Smoothies are far more portable than anybody gives them credit for. Sure, you can drink them fresh out of the blender, and arguably you must if you used ice for texture. But you can also make a smoothie with ingredients that don’t melt: ditch the ice, and add more fruit, perhaps a banana, to thicken it.

Then all you have to do is pack the smoothie in a jar (a pint-sized mason jar is perfect) and then you can just shake it at lunchtime and it’s ready to drink. Include an ice pack to keep it cold.

Trail mix

Trail mix is another criminally overlooked lunch food. It’s nourishing and packs well, hence the name! Peanuts and raisins make the most basic, classic version, and you can swap ingredients or dress it up from there. Add chocolate chips or M&Ms to make it more of a treat, or load up on different types of nuts and dried fruit.

Soup in a Thermos

A Thermos or an insulated “food jar” (same idea) can hold hot soups and stews until lunchtime. Half of you are rolling your eyes right now because everybody knows this, while the other half are smacking your foreheads and going “oh, right, lunch foods can be hot instead of cold!” To those in the second group, welcome.

Redditor txgirlinbda has a few pro tips for packing soup. First, they suggest filling the container with hot or boiling water while you prepare the hot soup. (This helps to keep the food from cooling down as soon as it touches the container. For food safety reasons it’s best to keep the soup hotter than 60 degrees for as long as possible.) The other tip is to make sure you’re packing more of the “stuff” and less broth, both to make the soup more filling and to make it less splash-prone.

Yogurt and toppings

Yogurt parfaits don’t have to be just for breakfast. While you may have packed a yogurt cup as a side dish before, why not elevate it to the main dish? Pack granola and fruit to go with the yogurt, and you can assemble the components just before eating.

Three-bean salad

Another BBQ favourite that goes great in a lunchbox, a three-bean salad is typically green beans, kidney beans, and chickpeas with some onions for crunch and extra flavour. The dressing is traditionally a sweet one, but you can adjust that to taste (and swap out the beans for whatever your favourites happen to be).

Bread and dip

You’ve already considered sandwiches, but have you considered deconstructed sandwiches? littlebopper2015 suggests toasting bread to make it a bit more sturdy, then packing it alongside a hearty dip. Crackers would work here, too. Sunflower seed butter would be a good dip option (or peanut butter, if you don’t have to worry about nut allergies), or appeal to a slightly more grown-up palate with olive or bruschetta dips.