These Healthy Lunch Ideas Are a Great Way to Spice Up Your Routine Meals (2024)

Packed with vitamin C and beta carotene, antioxidants crucial to good immune function, bell peppers are a great veggie to add to your meal in some way, shape, or form. And these bell pepper nachos put a healthy, delicious spin on a beloved classic.

Get the Bell Pepper Nachos recipe.

Mushrooms are rich in antioxidants and other compounds that have antiviral properties, which makes every spoonful of this soup immune-enhancing. Not to mention, the cannellini beans make it oh-so creamy.

Get the Cream of Mushroom Soup recipe.

Who says granola is reserved for breakfast? Add a little sweetness to your lunch with this cashew granola, loaded with zinc, iron, and vitamin E.

Get the Cashew Granola recipe.

Winner-winner, chicken dinner lunch. Combine earthy chickpeas, sweet peppers, and harissa sauce and give your flavorful lunch a little spicy kick.

Get the Sheet Pan Chickpea Chicken recipe.

Basil and salty feta perfectly complement this fruit salad, which can work as a side dish or a whole meal. (This is also a perfect meal for a warm, summer afternoon.)

Pair juicy lemon chicken with three dynamite veggies for a fun, colorful meal so tasty you'll want to eat all of the kebabs in one sitting.

Get the Chicken Kebabs recipe.

Showcase your tasty and colorful veggies in this pasta salad that's bound to be your new favorite go-to lunch. It's quick (read: only takes 20 minutes), delicious, and easy.

Get the Fresh Corn, Tomato, Herb, and Israeli Couscous Salad recipe.

Rich in carbohydrates, chickpeas are the perfect creamy base for this stew. The chunkiness they bring to the stew is similar to that of potatoes, but chickpeas are higher in fiber and plant-based protein than potatoes, which makes them a great substitute for the starchy root vegetable.

Get the Quick Chickpea and Kale Stew recipe.

Contrary to popular belief, some fried recipes can also be healthy, and this crispy, juicy pork topped with a ginger-lime cabbage salad is an excellent example of that.

Get the Katsu Pork Cutlet recipe.

Forget the mindset that pizza is always bad for you. This simple pie, topped with spicy jalapeño peppers and creamy cheese, will be your new best friend.

Get the Hot Pepper and Onion Pizza recipe

You won't even remember you're having a vegetarian dish when you try these patties. They're loaded with feta, garlic, and jalapeños for the most flavorful dish you've ever had.

Get the Chickpea, Spinach, and Quinoa Patties recipe.

Switch your go-to flour tortilla for Swiss chard in a healthier take on this Thai-style chicken wrap. And don't worry, the leafy green is definitely sturdy enough to hold all of the tasty fillings and multiple dips in the honey-ginger peanut sauce.

Get the Thai-Style Peanut Chicken Wraps recipe.

Boost your immunity with this pasta dish, thanks to the antioxidants in the mushrooms and the vitamin C in the asparagus. Grilling the veggies gives the dish a little bit of a smoky char that perfectly complements the nutty pasta.

Get the Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Grilled Asparagus and Scallions recipe.

Mâche leaves may not be something you have in your kitchen at any time, but next time you go grocery shopping, you may want to grab some to make this delicious salad.

Get the Mâche, Beet, and Orange Salad recipe.

These gluten-free biscuits are everything you could want from a meal: flavorful and healthy, in part because of the secret superfood cauliflower. They do take a bit longer to prep than other dishes, but you can whip up a batch whenever you have the time, freeze it, and then pop one or two in the microwave for a quick and easy lunch.

Get the Low-Carb Quiche Biscuits with Bacon, Cheddar, and Chives recipe.

Jalapeño-infused honey and spicy radishes give this dish a one-two punch you won't get elsewhere. "Salmon is a wonderful protein," Gorin says.

Get the Hot Honey-Roasted Salmon and Radishes recipe.

The lemony hollandaise provides the ideal creamy contrast to the spicy sautéed mustard greens and poached eggs in this healthy dish. "Per one large egg," Gorin says, "you get eight essential nutrients including 6 grams of high-quality protein."

Get the Skillet Eggs With Mustard Greens and Hollandaise recipe.

Chickpeas, with their nutty, buttery flavor and creamy texture, make for a dreamy soup that you'll want on cold and hot days alike. Drizzle it with some paprika oil for a little kick and elegant touch.

Get the Creamy Chickpea Soup recipe.

A touch of hot sauce makes this apricot-lime glaze the perfect combination of sweet, sour, and spicy. The best part? The protein-heavy dish only takes 30 minutes.

Get the Apricot-Glazed Chicken and Corn recipe.

You don't need poultry or red meat to have a flavor-packed lunch. This shrimp pasta is briny, herby, and bathed in fresh lemon juice for a dish that you'll want to have every day.

Get the Green Olive Shrimp Pasta recipe.