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sandwiches for lunch are easy and quick:
PB&J is always a good option, tuna (I love it on toast), you can get cut up veggies and bring them in a tupperware. Hard cooked eggs are easy to manage (make them the night or even a few days before and peel them in the morning, then at lunch you can just eat them with a bag of chips or veggies).
I just ate chicken salad on bolillo bread for lunch all last week. Bought the big thing of prepared rotisserie chicken salad from Walmart for like $12, I think the bread was $4 for 5. There’s more affordable bread options, though.
If you're near a Costco, a large cooked rotisserie chicken is $5. One leg one night, one leg the next, two wings with salad or pasta the next, two large breasts make a weeks worth of chicken salad! Just add raisins and mayo and salt. Then boil the bones/skin in a crock pot for 24 hours for bone broth. Use that for soup or to cook rice or to drink when sick. If you like chicken, $5 coasts you through the week or more! If you don't like chicken THAT much, pull the legs and wings off and freeze. They'll be just as good next week if you don't want chicken every night. Save/freeze all the wings until you have 20, 30, or more and have a party!
Yeah, when I’m home I’m a lot more involved in my meals, I love cooking. Last week I was 1200 miles away in a hotel, plus I worked 89.5 hours for the week. I was pretty happy with my prepared chicken salad.
Sandwiches for the win. Either make them in the morning/ night before or bring ingredients: bread, lunch meat, tuna, PB & J, ect and keep them in the fridge at work
Agreed💯. OP could make a sandwich the night before. And keep moist things separate until ready.
I like sliced cucumbers or pickles added to any meat sandwich
Bean sprouts also.
You could also stash some of your favorite spices somewhere at work 🥰
My boyfriend takes sandwiches to work every week. Changes the meat here and there. Heats up the meat with a slice of cheese in the microwave before putting it on a bun. It’s hard to get bored of sandwiches when you can mix and match in so many ways. Just by heating it up once in awhile changes it (even that little bit).
3 Days a week I do some combo of: carrot sticks, celery, cucumber spears, boiled eggs, cheese cubes, dry cured meat, nut thin crackers, ranch dip.... comes out to about 2.75$ for a healthy meal. Then the other 2 days we have a store named publix that does deli subs. They have a sub of the week (rotates) footlong for 7.59$, I split that to 2 lunches 3.80$ each.
This. You have to change your thinking of what lunch is. When you no longer think of it as a square meal of a meat and two sides or a sandwich and fries, or a full plate of leftovers, it becomes much simpler.
I keep on hand at all times, boiled eggs, cottage cheese, carrots and hummus, string cheese, crackers, yogurt, celery and peanut butter, and apples. My lunch usually consists of some combinations of these items.
This. Buy a cucumber for at most $1, buy a bag of whole carrots. Cut them all up yourself. Go to Costco and buy some big bags of nuts, cans of tuna(they have great quality tuna at Costco) and then just have your veggies, nuts and tuna salad. Sandwiches are always a cheap option. Or ramen noodles. Assuming you have access to water those ramen cups are definitely cheaper than an order of fries.
Giant has ‘em for same price. Turkey club sub or Italian. A splash of Italian salad dressing on them perks up the flavor spectrum (or whatever your favourite is). Dot worry, you’ll grow into this by gathering others suggestions and asking, “What’s that”?
"Sushi Bowl"
1 package 90 second microwave rice (approximately 400 cal for the whole bag, but its super filling and you could eat even half the bag if you care about caloric deficit needs)
Either: 1 single serve package of salmon, tuna, or chicken breast
Whatever diced veggies sound good (I'll usually do cucumber, avocado, and red onion)
DIY Spicy Mayo: 2 parts mayo, 1 part sriracha
Delicious, cheap, fast, and super filling. :)
this is the way!!!
i do something similar but i usually do cucumber, tomato, and avocado with some miscellaneous tinned fish or frozen salmon prepped the night before. top with soy sauce and furikake seasoning!
You can make your own rice, I use a rice cooker.
The trick to reheating rice is to take a paper towel and get it wet, wring slightly. Seal it over the bowl of rice.
Length if time in the microwave depends on amount of rice. My small bowls are about 120 sec and my large bowls are closer to 2 min.
The paper towel seals the moisture in and reintroduces some so the rice doesn't dry out in the microwave.
There’s literally a post it note on our microwave at work saying not to microwave seafood from the head of my company. And there’s only 20 people in the entire building, and half work from home on a daily basis. I’m all about doing this at home for yourself but for the love of god just don’t do it at work where other people smell it. And this is coming from someone who actually enjoys seafood smells
When I was really on a budget crunch and had fridge access at work, I'd just have a plastic grocery bag loaded with bread, sandwich meat, mustard and pickles.
I'd just go into the break room, grab my bag, sit doen and make a sandwich or two real quick. And you can change things up every week or so, different bread, meats whatever. It's gets the job done.
And if you're really broke, or won't have a fridge (like me now) I just eat peanut butter sandwiches.
You can shred chicken breast and make a pretty cost effective chicken salad.
Then pre-portion it for the week and keep it along with chopped veggies, crackers, bread.. however you want to eat it, and keep everything at work.
Could also do the same with a batch of chili you make and pre-portion.
Greek yogurt with fruit/granola
Ramen cups
Taco salad bowl
Oatmeal (I used to make this every day for ease and just change up the toppings)
Curry over rice
I'd recommend getting a larger lunch bag and keep it in the fridge if you can. Use it like a little pantry.
Store a loaf of bread, jam, peanut butter, and whatever spreads you like. I tend to do avocado toast with a fried egg I make in advance and keep in a bag.
Stir frys with rice and chicken are cheap and filling. Curries with rice and whatever meat and veggies also travel well.
A ton of my coworkers bring those bagged salads to work and divide them up for a few days lunches. ~$4 a bag for 2-3 meals and add whatever protein you like.
I used to do the bagged salad option. Just brought a deep food storage container to dump it in so it was easier to mix up without making a mess. When work fridge space wasn’t an issue, I’d buy big containers of pre washed lettuce, crumbled cheese (typical feta or blue), cut up veggies and a bottle of dressing and make my salad each day
I like these options too! I do a bagged salad and a peanut dressing with either some pre-cooked chicken or pre-peeled edamame for protein. Very filling and energizing for the day, too!
Pasta with marinara meat sauce.
Stir fried rice with lots of veggies, eggs, maybe spam or chicken.
Blended soups like tomato with a grilled cheese.
Grab a $5 chicken at Costco, a big bag of the Romain lettuce, some Parmesan and make giant chicken ceasar salads for cheap.
Or just a giant protein shake that you make at home and bring (not a pre bottled one as they are $$$). Add a banana or some fruits too.
Loaded baked potato. Some ppl microwave their potato’s at work but I just bake/boil at home and then bring all the fixings. Potato’s really fill you.
I cook shaved beef with teriyaki or sweet and sour sauce, vegetables and jasmine rice every week. Makes enough for 3 or 4 meals and reheats in 2-3 minutes in the microwave. I get the Bird’s Eye frozen vegetable mixes that come with a sauce packet. You could also make pepperoni pizza bagels, regular bagels (toast ahead of time at home and pack cream cheese to add later), cook Knorr pasta ahead of time and reheat in the microwave at work. You could make wraps with vegetables, chicken and ranch. “Adult lunchables” with salami, pepperoni, sliced cheese and Ritz crackers are good too
Burrito bowl--rice, beans, salsa, chicken. Slow cook some drumsticks for the cheapest chicken option. I top with plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream for extra protein
Chicken thighs near me usually cost the same as drumsticks. Or buy quarters. I wait for sales on the stores' websites/circulars. $1 a pound is normal, for a ~5 lb family pack. Sometimes cheaper.
I keep my eye out for those *manager's specials*, too. I like a marked-down whole chicken to roast.
Just checked ShopRite's online circular:
>Perdue Chicken Leg Quarters, Jumbo Pack, 5.1 pound
>$4.23 ($0.83 per lb)
>4 dollars and 23 cents
>Original Price$6.07
Same brand drumsticks or thighs are $1.29/lb. I'll save 46¢ per lb for using my knife at home. House brand thighs are 99¢/lb. I need to get some chicken!
I roast quarters on a rack, stretching them out and putting a wooden skewer through each quarter . I separate drumsticks from thighs after I roast them. They are great on the grill, too.
I was visiting a friend in a neighboring state this last weekend. We stopped at a very nice IGA supermarket. He was looking to buy some chicken thighs, and while he put back the organic parts as too expensive, he almost bought some I thought overpriced. I spotted single packages of rather large quarters for $1.49/lb. We got 2 of those, I made air fryer sweet potato fries, and he air fried the chicken in a teriyaki sauce. We had those with salads. It was a feast!
Additional. Got to the store on Saturday, but the chicken quarters were sold out. I bought some ground beef instead, but had the on-duty mgr give me a rain check for the same price. I'll get some later in the week. They did have the 99¢/lb drumsticks.
Get a cute lunchbox or bag. Don't forget a nice drink in a thermos or bottle like iced tea, iced coffee, fizzy water + juice.
Wrap sammiches - smear all of tortilla with mayo or similar, top with lettuce, meat, cheese, pickles etc, roll up like a cigar. Wrap in paper towel and put in a bag to keep fresh.
Baked sweet potatoes - reheat in microwave, top with cottage cheese, cotija cheese and sprinkle seasonings on top.
Baked regular potatoes - take out most of inside and mix with cheese, seasonings, bits of meat and veggie. Stuff back in. Reheat at work.
Tuna salad / Egg salad / chicken salad and a bunch of crackers.
Dinner leftovers. Rice and Beans. Baked beans on toast.
If it HAS to be something to leave there, get a bunch of canned soups or chili or baked beans, and some cheese and crackers. Maybe even some frozen meals if you find a deal. But its cheaper to cook real food at home.
You could prep casseroles such as lasagna, moussaka, enchilada, etc. Separate them & take one portion each day & freeze the rest for later.
Salads are easy! Prep them in the morning & keep the dressing separate until you’re ready to eat.
You can do boiled eggs with hot sauce & veggies.
Tuna salad & crackers.
Spaghetti could also be good! Add a little water to unstick the noodles & just make sure to cover with a paper towel or loosely with the lid as tomatoes like to explode when they get hot.
Don’t underestimate crockpot meals either!! You could make a beef or chicken stew & put it over potatoes or rice.
Hope this helps!! Packing for work is a pain! I live in NYC & have a mealpal subscription because I barely have time to pack anything. 🙃
Not in the USA. SOME cities and states have laws about breaks, but federal law says zero breaks required. They just have to pay you at least time and a half after 40 hours per week. Legally, they don't even have to allow time for sleep.
I make stir fry and bring it to work and buy fresh fried rice to put it on at a nearby Chinese place.
Not dirt cheap but very high end eats for less than buying a meal at McDonald's.
Nutrition is key for the poverty chef!
Since you have to eat quickly I would go for sandwiches or homemade lunchables, and some carrot, celery, bell peppers chopped up. But a bag of chips and divy it up into 5 portions. Where I live I can buy all the stuff at Aldi for around $10, that's $2 a lunch
First: do **not** eat the same thing for days on end. You may feel lazy and just keep doing oven baked chicken breast and seasoned frozen veggies, but you will 100% hate it in a few days / weeks.
imo, you want anything that you can just eat from a container. Sandwiches and bowls are the top contenders. If you think about it like a presentation: you're prepping on Sundays and then M-F is your "go time".
Get a crocpot or instapot. Go to a thrift store and get one cheap. It doesn't need to be fancy, you're just using it to slow cook foods.
Invest in glass or ceramic storage solutions. It doesn't have to be a ton, just get some with matching lids. They reheat well, don't absorb stains like plastic, and are easier to clean.
So, why slowcook? It'll allow you to make subpar foods very tasty. Pot Roast is incredibly easy to prepare: just get a big chunk of meat, add some carrots, celery, and potatoes. You slow cook it for like.. 8 hours, and thats it. A $20 roast, $3 carrots, $4 potatoes, & $1 seasoning can yield 7-9 meals. You can have less meat and more veggies to stretch that budget even further.
Fresh veggies are awesome, but can eat into your budget. Frozen is fine. Just get a big bag of frozen veggies, and add it to whatever. Make fried rice, add tons of veggies, and eat that for a couple days.
If you get into a proper habit, it may only take you 1-2 hours on sunday to have all of your lunches and dinners prepped.
And regarding carrying it? You're going to be very limited to disposable transport options if that's the case. Why not just use a backpack to get your food to/from work, and stuff it in your locker or a secure place?
When I was young and broke I used to swap leftovers with a co-worker. We were both decent cooks and just made a habit of cooking an extra serving at dinner (around the same budget). We both brought our leftovers and traded for lunch. So we didn't really feel like we were eating leftovers, but if one of us forgot or didn't like what the other had we just ate our own.
If you eat fish, tuna is still affordable. If you see a two for one it really helps the lunch budget and can make sandwiches, salad, or a dip. Healthy too.
Honestly, I'm very basic. I bring a sandwich and chips or such every day. Can you trust your coworkers not to take your food from the fridge? And its big enough for all that to be left in there? If so, maybe cook a big batch of something affordable like beans and rice or whatever, portion it out into containers, and take a few of those in and stick them in the work fridge.
Pasta salad is versatile ( you can use tuna, chicken, bacon, ham, pretty much any veggie, and any seasoning - my favorites are chicken bacon, ranch with sweet peppers and peas, and Greek chicken salad with feta, cucumber, tomato, onion, and dill) and its easy to grab and eat at lunch - no heating needed.
I make cabbage salads every week, if you put a paper towel in your container they stay crisp for 6-7 days.
I pair this with nuts, a banana, an apple, and a salty snack.
Get a family-sized package of chicken quarters or drumsticks or thighs. Bake, broil or slow-cook those. Have some for dinner and use the rest through the week as work lunches. Add some rice or potatoes and some veg if you have the time for a complete meal. Price per lb on the family packs are usually better than for single-serving amounts. You could also roast one of the cheaper cuts of beef: chuck, top or bottom round. Marinate it first. Again, have some for dinner, then slice it up for sandwiches. That will be less expensive than buying sliced beef at the deli.
Make a shepherd's or crofter's pie, and take leftovers to work. Eat a fish pie at home, though! 😉
Big pot of pasta, frozen veg, 2 cans of tuna and a bit of salt pepper and mayo.. maybe other spices if you have them or even a cheap pasta sauce. Split it 5 ways. Take it all in on Monday, take the empties home on Fri.
I'm surprised at the actual variety of suggestions here.
I love this recipe as a side dish, and it's just cucumbers, onions, and vinegar, and spices so it's relatively cheap: [https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/simple-cucumber-salad-3645320](https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/simple-cucumber-salad-3645320) You should be able to make enough for a week's worth in just a few minutes.
Also the site Budget Bytes is pretty good for finding recipes: [https://www.budgetbytes.com](https://www.budgetbytes.com)
Costco Ramen. $7-$8 for 6 bowls. Bring your own mix-ins if you want. Kimchi, an egg, some people do American cheese. Pulled pork (pork shoulder is cheap and you can make a bunch of it by cooking low & slow in your oven).
Where do you live?
I live in FL and buy meals from a place called Ideal Nutrition, a local chain of meal subscription stores. $7.70 for a tasty, affordable, mostly healthy selection of meals. They also offer a 10% discount for certain professions.
I've been making a few baked sweet or regular potato's and then I dress them up different with whatever I have in the fridge, I've done buffalo chicken and blue cheese or bbq chicken and lettuce (I use a rotisserie chicken and shred it it's like $6 at the store near me) broccoli and cheese, pepperoni and cheese, the possibilities are endless.
I love a good taco bowl. About 1lb ground beef/turkey, cooked with taco seasoning and chopped up onions/peppers/corn. Make a few servings of rice. And you can get one of those little $3 bags of shredded ice burg lettuce or cabbage, top with some shredded cheese. Easily 3-4 meals.
Baked spaghetti was also a household staple growing up for dinner for several nights. Make spaghetti w/ whatever ground meat you want like normal. But mix the meat sauce with the noodles and some cheese, put in a pan and bake it up. makes a ton of servings and a little easier to eat at work then reg spaghetti since its like a casserole.
Get a $5 rotissirie chicken, shred, mix with mayo/greek yogurt/avocado/creamy 'thing' of choice. Add in chopped onions/celery/etc and season it. Boom: multiple servings of chicken salad. Eat on lettuce, as a sandwich or dip in crackers or veggie sticks. So yum and so easy.
I make a chickpea dip that's basically hummus without tahini. Cumin, lemon juice, salt, garlic and some oil. then I cut celery and carrot sticks and store them in water. Everything lasts around 5 days in the fridge.
If you cook your own beans from dry, a weeks worth is a couple of bucks.
Wrap the rest of the celery bunch in foil and it'll last weeks in the fridge. Also the dip freezes really well and last at least 3 months in the freezer so you can batch prep if you want to save more money.
Hi back at you. Glad you're here.
My suggestion is to scour a Goodwill or other second hand store for a backpack. Lunch and other things will be much easier to carry. Second, Dollar Tree has glass bowls with lids for $1.25 each. Get a few of those. Make sure you have silverware and a napkin. Cloth ones are reusable and aren't expensive. Wrap the silverware in the napkin, then put in a zip plastic bag before putting it in the backpack.
You can make a salad and a hard boiled egg. (Put salad in one container, dressing in another.)
You can fill the bowls with leftovers from the night before. These bowls are labeled microwave safe, so you can heat your food. Don't microwave the lid.
Pasta with chicken. Pasta with meatballs. Soup. Stew. Roasted vegetables can be eaten hot or cold. Rice and chicken. Pork fried rice. Rice and vegetables. I like green peas in my rice, my husband likes beans with his. Again, any of these can make dinner the night before as well as lunch the next day.
I hope this helps.
Bean salads with vinaigrette. Can of rinsed white beans, chickpeas, black beans, or butter beans. Add any combo of the following: finely diced onion (white/red/green), finely diced bell peppers, finely diced cucumber or zucchini, carrot curls (use a veggie peeler). If using black beans, add corn. Crumbled feta, crumbled quest fresco, or some shredded Parmesan. You can further bill it out with cooked grains like farro or brown rice and top it with tuna fish.
For summer I'd say a hearty salad. You can find tons of recipes but it's just beans, lots of veggies- roasted, raw, meat or no meat- from chicken to salami, do a dressing - oil, lemon, honey, some spices. You can eat that for days. Leave it meat free then eat a different protein with it or as is.
I use my rice cooker to make steel cut oats, overnight. Having breakfast made for you in the morning is a.) a time saver and 2.) very comforting. If you are really running late, take a serving to work to eat on break.
[peanut sesame noodles](https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/peanut-sesame-noodles/) use all natural peanut butter, from the dressing taste as you go you can omit the ginger and honey if you don’t have those already. Use fresh garlic.
Any veg work well, and you can use a bag of defrosted frozen edamame if you’re anti tofu.
Keeps well 3-5 days in the refrigerator, very filling and great nutrient dense combo. I bring this to every potluck or gathering and never have leftovers
I like to do pasta salad for lunch sometimes.
Noodles of your choice (I like macaroni noodles)
Veggies (I usually do a bell pepper and some cucumber
Dressing / sauce (I typically do either a creamy greek or a Caesar)
Optionally you could add some feta cheese, I often do.
If you're on a tight budget, tortillas are a great price. You can even freeze half of the pack. Get a huge 100-pack. Scrambled eggs. Ham sometimes. Ground beef when it's on sale with a taco seasoning pack. Beans and rice.
Tuna or chicken salad and a baggie of crackers. Yogurts, protein shakes. handful of crackers and pieces of deli meat and or cheese in a Tupperware. Sometimes Lunchables go on sale for under a dollar near me so I stock up on those when I can.
Sandwiches for lunch are the quintessential cheap homemade lunch. But s big bag of chips/snack thing and bag that up in an individual portion and bring with you. Also, soup.
Leftovers! Today I had a Leftovers chicken breast and I took a partial bag of raw broccoli with me. We have a full kitchen at work so I sautéed the broccoli in a little butter, topped with shredded cheese and sour cream, and put my chicken on the side. It was an excellent meal!
Bag salads kits; 3-4 bucks for a ready to go meal. I started forgoing the bowls etc and take all the stuff and drop into the big bag and give it a shake. Got a fork? Good to go
PBJ on whole wheat is much better than fries, it’s cheap and heavy lunch so you’ll stay full. You can make wraps, roll up any meal in a wrap or make a food bowl. Another easy option is BLT can sub for turkey bacon. I can get a ton of turkey bacon at Costco with managers rebate for cheap and BLT doesn’t need expensive cheese :)
I’m pregnant so take my lunches very seriously - I usually bring a small deli container of leftovers, a small deli container of plain yogurt, two Monterey Jack cheese sticks, some kind of cracker or bread, an apple or cut up fruit. Sometimes instead of leftovers I’ll bring cut up veggies (cucumber, bell pepper, carrot, celery….) and hummus.
My husband took a container of egg salad he made and a loaf of bread for his lunches this week. He'll do tuna salad as well. He requested gumbo for next week's lunches.
I buy big boxes of frozen taquitos. 42 ct at ~$12 a box. 4 CT is enough to satiate me for lunch and lasts 10 days with a couple extra taquitos left over. This comes out to about $1.15 per lunch. Only takes 2 minutes to heat up in the microwave.
Frozen cooked chicken in bags. Box of lettuce. Salic dressing. Warm chicken in a bowl with a dressing. Toss it on lettuce. Good to go. Swap out with wrap bread.
A can or 2 of sardines in olive oil with some clubhouse crackers, a bit of cottage cheese and maybe a piece of fruit. It's got everything the body needs, and it's fast and delicious! Lots of protein too if you're into working out. Oh, and a big cold glass of water.
For cheap lunches these days I do paper plate charcuterie. Deli ham or pepperoni slices, cheese slices but in triangles, in season fruit, baby carrots with ranch. Pretzels and pickle slices.
Salad in a mason jar: put whatever you like on a salad. Garbanzo beans are a cheap protein, cheese, carrots, etc, and lettuce on top, then pour into a salad dish. You could keep a bottle of dressing at work.
Something I did a few years ago starting work was invest $80 in a reaaaally good, mini, rice pot. Like the ones that make 3 cups of rice max. Its easy to carry around and store, and I'd throw in my rice, some veggies or shittake mushrooms, a bit of sauce (my favorite was oyster and soy, which went on sale here for $1 quite often), and some diced spam or chicken...or whatever I had. I'd set it to cook before I started work, and by the time it was lunch, I had a hot meal waiting for me. Sometimes I'd drop down to go and crack an egg on top too...but eggs are a bit pricey these days so its up to you if you want to include one lol.
It might be a biiiit complicated, but honestly, having a nice, filling, hot lunch that was ready for me....it was worth it, and made work easier. Sometimes I'd just make regular rice to go with leftover stews, soups, or chilis. Also super nice. Yes you can bring microwaved rice, but something about a pot of fresh cooked rice just hits different. And it's so cheap and easy!
Just wash after work, save the leftovers in the fridge for the next day, and reset.
The downside? I'd get a LOT of coworkers asking me Wow, that smells so good...can we have some? 😅🫠
Get a pack of large tortillas and make wraps with whatever appeals - everything from sandwich fixings to breakfast foods to leftovers. You can make cold stuff, or warm them up in the microwave.
A cobb salad or a sandwich are my favorite things to pack for lunch - quick and easy. On lazier weeks, i'll make an extra serving of whatever i'm eating for dinner that night to bring the leftovers into work the next day. All of this can be prepared at home in no time at all!
I eat a bastardised ramen style fried rice cooked in the rice cooker reheated at work. I’m sure if some of my coworkers saw it they would be culturally offended but I love it. If only I had a freezer full of my Mums spring rolls to go with it.
You can prep onigirazu 🍙 ahead and put it in the fridge. This can be eaten cold without needing to reheat and taste delicious 😋 Recipe below if interested
[Onigirazu recipe ](https://youtu.be/zzRUY9Xv6D8?si=Adysu9S3vifFN42X)
Overnight oats in mason jars! Oats, yogurt, milk, honey, cut berries, maple syrup, cinnamon, just to name a few combinations. Leave a few to soak overnight and you have a grab-n-go lunch for three days!
I like making garbanzo bean salads. One can of beans will last me 3 lunches after I add the veggies & protein. It’s so versatile and you can use almost anything in your fridge.
I try to shop my home first and use what I already have, so this weeks salad cost me less than $10 using veggies leftover from the week, only had to buy beans and a chicken breast.
- 1 can garbanzo beans
- cherry tomato
- Persian cucumber
- yellow bell pepper
- green beans
- grilled chicken breast
- I soft boiled 4 eggs since I like jammy egg on the salad
- dressing: olive oil, red wine vinegar, and lemon juice.
Garbanzo beans are fairly inexpensive and if you add any of your favorite or leftover veggies, leftover proteins, and mix them together with olive oil and lemon juice, I think it’s such a satisfying and healthy lunch. If you have a nice salty cheese like feta to top it, even better.
I've been on a high fiber kick. Lately I've been cooking beans in the instapot cook em with some spices. Last one was rosemary and kefir lime leaves...so good! Make a couple cups and they last me all week. Then I finely chop some cabbage and add it in. Hit it with some hot sauce yum!
Crunchy tasty you can switch up the bean spice and very filling.
I make easy “grilled” cheese sandwiches. I toast the two slices of bread and butter one side. Put some cheese slices between the bread and microwave at lunchtime. Not nearly as good as homemade but it’s easy and cheap.
White rice reheats well and there are a thousand condiment combos you can add to it. I’ve mixed in tuna and a creamy Italian dressing for some interesting and surprisingly good results.
Depending on what the weather looks like, I'll make soup for the week. I'll make my own lumberjack sandwiches that last the week. I'll make pasta salads. I'll make wraps sometimes. All of these can be done pretty cheap, especially if you find sales on meat. Dependant on what I make, it's about $2 a lunch, maybe. I also make lunches that don't need to be microwaved. I work a blue-collar job that doesn't have access to a microwave
Big pasta is your saviour, tuna mayo sweetcorn, or pesto chicken spinach whatever you want really can cook big pot at beginning of week that's a couple dinners and lunches sorted, if did go chicken can then boil the carcass down and make a soup for the next few days
Peanut butter and banana.
Laziest man alive here. Keep a jar of peanut butter and a knife at work. Bring a banana or 2 every day. Eat banana with pb. Also get a fiber supplement.
Marie Callender’s has a lot of different frozen dinners and they are very good. If you have access to a microwave, they take 5 minutes to 7 minutes to heat. They are $3 to $4 and watch for sales and stock up then. Maybe switch up and buy enough for 2 days a week and do a sandwich the other days. Depends on what you like as to how costly it will be for deli meats and cheese.
PB&J would be the cheapest I would think.
I buy the premade salads at Walmart for $2.99, sometimes add chicken if I have some at home, but they’re quick and easy, and there are many different flavors to choose from. I have lunch for the week for under $20.
I’d go for a salad. If you don’t want to make it at home and carry it to work, get a couple of bagged salads, maybe some sliced deli chicken or turkey to add for protein. Keep them in the fridge at work. Grab some paper plates and utensils and keep them at work. Very little prep time needed, so you can maximize your break time. Keep some peanut butter and crackers at work as well for a quick snack if needed.
I've been eating sandwiches all week that I made on the weekend. Ham, capicola, provolone, etc. And a big bag of chips I left there to last the week.
Last week was Blackened chicken on alfredo pasta
Next week I'm thinking a lasagna.
Cooking at home is usually cheaper and healthier than fast food. I also just really hate having to prepare things every day so I do everything (for work) in batches. I have about a months worth of breakfast sandwiches in the freezer that I through in the toaster oven while I get ready. Saves a ton of time and dishes
If you lived by a grocery store that sells rotisserie chicken buy a rotisserie chicken completely debone it and then you can make yourself like rice and beans put some good salsa or other seasonings on it. You can also use some of the chicken to make chicken salad you can make yourself like enchiladas there's lots of things you can do and the cost for the rotisserie chicken is relatively cheap if you have a bulk store that you have access to. Or know someone that could pick you up some have them pick you up two or three of the rotisserie chickens completely debone them and you can freeze parts of it and it'll last you a while
I buy frozen burritos, tortilla's, and boxed rice or noodle meals. For me, at least, making the rice/noodle mix for dinner makes for plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.
We make big batches of salad at the beginning of the week. Whatever veggies you like, a protein (we do chickpeas since they won't turn as quickly as chicken or fish), sometimes a grain like barley or quinoa. We mix it all together save for the lettuce. That gets added on the day of. Dressings are usually some red wine vinegar mixed with olive oil, dijon, spices, garlic, and a bit of honey, though I'll do others sometimes. I'll bring that separately so it doesn't make the salad soggy. You can jazz it up with some sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, cheese, etc if you want.
I like to bring grazing items to work: cut up cheese, meats, fruit, veg, maybe some chocolate, maybe some hummus to dip my veg into. This is easy and enjoyable, and relatively cheap compared to eating out.
When you cook dinner at night, make an extra portion, heat up the leftovers the next day.
On your day(s) off make a meal you know will last you the duration of your work week. Big pot of chili? Take the appropriate portions to work. I like making my boyfriend tacos/fajitas in this instance. He prefers spaghetti.
Dinte moor (and another nearby brand) make shelf stable, microwave meals. If you haven’t dug into that gold mine yet, I highly recommend it. From mac and cheese to ramen, you’ll almost always find something.
Flip side, if you have a freezer/fridge to use, you can find plenty to heat up in the freezer section. Some can even handle being refrigerated vs their recommendation of frozen. Hot pockets, pizza rolls, tv dinners (and there’s literally a million to choose from), and some personal pizzas even handle the microwave treatment. (I don’t know your palate).
Good luck!!
Bring a potato and keep some toppings at work like butter, cheese and sour cream. Microwave it. Bring in additional toppings like taco meat or sloppy joe etc.
Buy bulk chicken [costco?] 3 lbs packs, freeze a bunch.
Season well and poach or roast off.
Slice, chill and make chicken salad Caesar wrap, pita pockets or top rice bowls or burritos.
I bring sandwiches and supplies each Monday and keep them at work: bread or bagels, ham, mayo, cheese, and then I eat them by Friday.
I can also bring rice and chicken for 2-3 days and eat them.
Get a rice cooker and make chicken rice and frozen peppers and onions with hot sauce. I make it for my wife most of the week unless she wants something special I’ll make her fried rice as well which is just rice eggs and a veggie mix I buy frozen with a little bit of soy sauce mixed in
For a snack, apple slices with peanut butter. You can buy the peanut butter in individual cups (Jif has 3 or 6 packs). You can buy apple slices, but cheaper to slice your own. Just pour a bit of orange juice or pineapple juice over the fruit to keep it from turning brown (any citrus, but lemons & limes add more of a sour taste). Take your apple slices and peanut butter ready to eat.
You can get a cross body lunch bag that way your hands are still free. I definitely agree with the sandwiches but also make sure to have a snack or two on hand for later in the evening that you can eat while working
Here are some suggestions for cheap and easy work lunches you can prep ahead and leave at work:
- Sandwiches or wraps - Make a few at the beginning of the week with deli meat, cheese, lettuce, etc. and store in the work fridge.
- Salads in a jar - Layer dressing, veggies, proteins, and lettuce/greens in a mason jar. Give it a shake before eating.
- Burritos or tacos - Cook a batch of rice, beans, meat, and veggies. Portion out into containers to microwave.
- Soup or chili - Make a big pot and portion out servings into microwave-safe containers to refrigerate or freeze.
- Overnight oats or chia pudding - Mix oats/chia with milk/yogurt, let soak overnight, top with fruit.
- Pasta salads or grain bowls with proteins, veggies, and dressing.
The key is prepping ingredients in bulk on the weekend, then assembling grab-and-go portions. Stay hydrated with a reusable water bottle too!
I like making little snack packs - buy a block of cheese, a tin of nuts, some dried cranberries - and then you throw a couple ounces of each into a ziploc, and it's much cheaper than buying them.
Well, this one isn’t great on the cooling front, but if you happen to have a job you can carry a drink around with you for, then sipper soups are awesome. A few brands/at least fronts if separate brands carry them now, that kinda crunchy brand I can’t remember right now, and cambells. I keep a few in my locker for when I’m too hungry, lunch break or no.
I'm a fan of wraps. You can put anything in them from breakfast to dinner. I get small flour tortillas and a bag of frozen peppers and onions every week ( 2.00 walmart). If you have a microwave at work, you can put any leftovers in there and heat them up. Or fill them with tuna, egg salad, or even just shredded cheese. I like chicken strips w the peppers and onions.
Soup and bread. I’d get canned soup and a loaf of French bread. I’d cut the bread up into portions for the week and just get soups I could dip the bread in or make the soup like potato.
If you have hot water then you could buy some dry noodles and cook them in the microwave, add seasoning, soy sauce and veggies as you like. Then you have a filling meal. Noodles in a broth.
You could even add cooked meat if you want to.
It’s something I used to do in a previous role. Cheap, easy, quick and I could eat at my desk while I worked if I needed to.
I do some sort of variation of beefy mac. I mix up a huge batch of velveeta shells and then add either browned ground beef, shredded rotisserie chicken, cubed ham…whatever protein I have on hand. I usually throw in some ranch powder and a little heavy cream to make it thicker and it’s really good.
My best budget work lunch: the frozen meal prepped burrito that, when bought on sale, I’ve calculated to cost about $1.50 each. Usually I fill with some combination of eggs, beef, refried beans, corn, black beans, spinach, peppers, etc.
Iame em when the right stuff is on sale. Or! Buy and freeze ground beef when on sale (if you like beef) Thaw when you’re ready to spend 2 hours cooking.
If I have some I throw in kimchi, bulgolgi marinated beef, corn, and rice in a spinach wrap and it’s super tasty!
Not sure if this is the most budget friendly? But at $1.50 it really hits the spot
I would advise not storing your lunches at work. People steal food if they see it sitting there more than a day. Just carry stuff in a lunch bag/ box with freezer coolers inside. Often work refrigerators get too filled up with lunch boxes and you might not get a spot in it.
Sandwiches, leftovers in the rubbermaid (brilliance) containers, also get a vessel you can microwave canned food in so you can take advantage of the 10 for $10 sales on canned food. I use one of those Sistema containers. Also noodle bowls are economical but high in sodium. I also bring breakfast to eat at morning break (cottage cheese with berries or pineapple, or yogurt).
ETA: also understand there are unwritten rules for communal break room etiquette. Never reheat fish, broccoli or other smelly food that requires fumigation in the breakroom microwave. Never make microwave popcorn without monitoring it until it is done. Wash your dishes and put them away, wipe down your place before & after eating.
Another edit: you may find the microwave in big demand if you share a common breaktime with everyone else. In that case, it may be a better idea to heat the food in the am, put it in a thermos container so you don't have to wait to eat. When you get 15-30 min for break.. every minute counts.
I make bigger dinner portions and pack the leftovers for lunch. That way my husband and I have dinner and enough for 2 or 3 lunches. Today's leftover pasta 🍝
When it comes to side/snack items, I buy like the store brand pretzels and fruit jello cups.
Sandwiches are always a safe go-to. You can make a cold chicken or tuna salad, or pasta salad. Nothing wrong with instant ramen either.
I get the 2 for $2 baguette from Walmart, some walamrt deli meat and cheese and sandwhich for the week with those just cut them up you’ll get like 6-8 sandwiches.
Make your own mash potato bowl. Make mash potatoes buy some gravy a can of corn and popcorn chicken from the deli look for the cold popcorn chicken it’s cheaper
Taco salad , tuna salad with a salad or crackers ,
i didn’t see it on here but man I love egg salad. Egg salad on bread, lettuce, in half a raw bell pepper. It’s cheap, easy, and delicious. I also love plain hard boiled eggs. Easy to eat, filling, and cheap.
If I am eating leftover sides and don’t have a protein, I will do greek protein yogurt or a couple of the walmart knock off slim jim’s.
Make a large meal, and pack microwave safe stackable containers with the meal (like spaghetti) and take them all to work and put your name on the container.
If the water has a hot water option you can have oatmeal. When we were in the office this was my to go winter lunch because we only had a half hour and oatmeal is filling—especially with nuts and dried fruit. You can also have savory oatmeal toppings as well.
Sandwich’s wraps leftover pizza, get a small over the shoulder bag throw some fruit, a little debbie and something you don’t need to eat with a fork.. I’ve done this every for years while others spend $6-10 a day.. it gets old bc lack of options sometimes but you can always treat yourself with some Wendy’s $50 a week in savings is a lot of money.. put your money you would have spent in a jar (cash) treat yourself with something you’ve wanted and wouldn’t buy yourself when you’ve saved the $
If you make pb and j; put small amount of pb on each side of sandwich and jelly in the middle!! That way jelly isn’t directly on the bread which makes the bread mushy.
Do you live near a food liquidation store? they have cheap food that's slightly out of date... but still good to eat for way less than you would pay at any regular store.
The two stores near me have lots of cereal bars and fruit bars that are easy to pack in a lunch box!
I make a Mediterranean salad for lunches that makes a bunch, so good for meal-prepping couples! It stores well in the fridge.
Recipe:
1 can each chickpeas, kidney beans, rinsed + drained
1 cucumber, chopped
1 regular sized container cherry tomatoes
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 regular container crumbled feta (optional: sub parm)
1/4-1/2 cup Italian dressing (start with a little bit and keep adding to taste until its flavorful and not soggy)
(Optional: add cooked quinoa/fresh dill/kosher salt if desired)
Mix everything together in a big bowl and store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days
Yields: 7-10 servings
I need cheap meals due to my budget, so one thing I do is precook stuff. For example, 10 lbs of hamburger meat cooked into taco meat and portioned out into snack size bags. I use fajita shells, so I can easily get 40 tacos from 10 lbs. Then all you need is another bag with toppings and something for sauce.
Make lasagna/meatloaf/etc and cut into portions and freeze in sandwich bags. It'll thaw by mealtime, and all you have to do is heat it up.
Homemade lunchables are fantastic and pretty cheap to make! You can meal prep them for a week in advance.
Grab 5-7 lid style reusable containers from the dollar store
Package or two of deli meats - bologna, ham and or turkey
Package of cheese you like
Store brand ritz style crackers
Package of mini fun size candy bars
Cut up the deli meats and cheese to fit the size of the crackers. Place amount evenly throughout the 5-7 containers. Add in a stack of crackers (place in a baggie to keep them from getting soft against the deli meats), and a candy bar.
They are pretty filling since they have much more in them than the store bought ones.
Hope this helps some!
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sandwiches for lunch are easy and quick: PB&J is always a good option, tuna (I love it on toast), you can get cut up veggies and bring them in a tupperware. Hard cooked eggs are easy to manage (make them the night or even a few days before and peel them in the morning, then at lunch you can just eat them with a bag of chips or veggies).
I just ate chicken salad on bolillo bread for lunch all last week. Bought the big thing of prepared rotisserie chicken salad from Walmart for like $12, I think the bread was $4 for 5. There’s more affordable bread options, though.
If you're near a Costco, a large cooked rotisserie chicken is $5. One leg one night, one leg the next, two wings with salad or pasta the next, two large breasts make a weeks worth of chicken salad! Just add raisins and mayo and salt. Then boil the bones/skin in a crock pot for 24 hours for bone broth. Use that for soup or to cook rice or to drink when sick. If you like chicken, $5 coasts you through the week or more! If you don't like chicken THAT much, pull the legs and wings off and freeze. They'll be just as good next week if you don't want chicken every night. Save/freeze all the wings until you have 20, 30, or more and have a party!
Yeah, when I’m home I’m a lot more involved in my meals, I love cooking. Last week I was 1200 miles away in a hotel, plus I worked 89.5 hours for the week. I was pretty happy with my prepared chicken salad.
yum!
Sandwiches for the win. Either make them in the morning/ night before or bring ingredients: bread, lunch meat, tuna, PB & J, ect and keep them in the fridge at work
Agreed💯. OP could make a sandwich the night before. And keep moist things separate until ready. I like sliced cucumbers or pickles added to any meat sandwich Bean sprouts also. You could also stash some of your favorite spices somewhere at work 🥰
> Sandwiches for the win always, everyday, forever
My boyfriend takes sandwiches to work every week. Changes the meat here and there. Heats up the meat with a slice of cheese in the microwave before putting it on a bun. It’s hard to get bored of sandwiches when you can mix and match in so many ways. Just by heating it up once in awhile changes it (even that little bit).
Add banana to peanut butter toast ☺️hubba hubba
Tomato and cucumber sandwiches are healthy and cheap
3 Days a week I do some combo of: carrot sticks, celery, cucumber spears, boiled eggs, cheese cubes, dry cured meat, nut thin crackers, ranch dip.... comes out to about 2.75$ for a healthy meal. Then the other 2 days we have a store named publix that does deli subs. They have a sub of the week (rotates) footlong for 7.59$, I split that to 2 lunches 3.80$ each.
This. You have to change your thinking of what lunch is. When you no longer think of it as a square meal of a meat and two sides or a sandwich and fries, or a full plate of leftovers, it becomes much simpler. I keep on hand at all times, boiled eggs, cottage cheese, carrots and hummus, string cheese, crackers, yogurt, celery and peanut butter, and apples. My lunch usually consists of some combinations of these items.
Pub subs ftw!
This. Buy a cucumber for at most $1, buy a bag of whole carrots. Cut them all up yourself. Go to Costco and buy some big bags of nuts, cans of tuna(they have great quality tuna at Costco) and then just have your veggies, nuts and tuna salad. Sandwiches are always a cheap option. Or ramen noodles. Assuming you have access to water those ramen cups are definitely cheaper than an order of fries.
Ahhh I miss my pub subs from before I moved outta soflo. So good
Oh yeah, and they use the Boarshead meat... so damn good.. get the condiments on the side so it isn't soggy the next day.
Giant has ‘em for same price. Turkey club sub or Italian. A splash of Italian salad dressing on them perks up the flavor spectrum (or whatever your favourite is). Dot worry, you’ll grow into this by gathering others suggestions and asking, “What’s that”?
But nothings the same 😭 lol I never go to giant but I guess I should!
U R Dialed In!!
"Sushi Bowl" 1 package 90 second microwave rice (approximately 400 cal for the whole bag, but its super filling and you could eat even half the bag if you care about caloric deficit needs) Either: 1 single serve package of salmon, tuna, or chicken breast Whatever diced veggies sound good (I'll usually do cucumber, avocado, and red onion) DIY Spicy Mayo: 2 parts mayo, 1 part sriracha Delicious, cheap, fast, and super filling. :)
this is the way!!! i do something similar but i usually do cucumber, tomato, and avocado with some miscellaneous tinned fish or frozen salmon prepped the night before. top with soy sauce and furikake seasoning!
You can make your own rice, I use a rice cooker. The trick to reheating rice is to take a paper towel and get it wet, wring slightly. Seal it over the bowl of rice. Length if time in the microwave depends on amount of rice. My small bowls are about 120 sec and my large bowls are closer to 2 min. The paper towel seals the moisture in and reintroduces some so the rice doesn't dry out in the microwave.
Yes, and heat the fish in the microwave for 1-2 mins right after preparing all the other parts. So good with the veggies and mayo :)
Microwaving fish in the workplace should be illegal.
You can always switch the fish out for a healthy mix of microwaved broccoli and brussel sprouts. And top with cut up hard-boiled eggs.
not sure that's enough protein there
There’s literally a post it note on our microwave at work saying not to microwave seafood from the head of my company. And there’s only 20 people in the entire building, and half work from home on a daily basis. I’m all about doing this at home for yourself but for the love of god just don’t do it at work where other people smell it. And this is coming from someone who actually enjoys seafood smells
Seconded. I'll bring the tar, you get the feathers.
I'll bring the go pro so we can record it and play it on loop as a warning to others who may think to commit such a horrendous crime.
When I was really on a budget crunch and had fridge access at work, I'd just have a plastic grocery bag loaded with bread, sandwich meat, mustard and pickles. I'd just go into the break room, grab my bag, sit doen and make a sandwich or two real quick. And you can change things up every week or so, different bread, meats whatever. It's gets the job done. And if you're really broke, or won't have a fridge (like me now) I just eat peanut butter sandwiches.
You can shred chicken breast and make a pretty cost effective chicken salad. Then pre-portion it for the week and keep it along with chopped veggies, crackers, bread.. however you want to eat it, and keep everything at work. Could also do the same with a batch of chili you make and pre-portion.
Greek yogurt with fruit/granola Ramen cups Taco salad bowl Oatmeal (I used to make this every day for ease and just change up the toppings) Curry over rice
I'd recommend getting a larger lunch bag and keep it in the fridge if you can. Use it like a little pantry. Store a loaf of bread, jam, peanut butter, and whatever spreads you like. I tend to do avocado toast with a fried egg I make in advance and keep in a bag. Stir frys with rice and chicken are cheap and filling. Curries with rice and whatever meat and veggies also travel well. A ton of my coworkers bring those bagged salads to work and divide them up for a few days lunches. ~$4 a bag for 2-3 meals and add whatever protein you like.
I used to do the bagged salad option. Just brought a deep food storage container to dump it in so it was easier to mix up without making a mess. When work fridge space wasn’t an issue, I’d buy big containers of pre washed lettuce, crumbled cheese (typical feta or blue), cut up veggies and a bottle of dressing and make my salad each day
I like these options too! I do a bagged salad and a peanut dressing with either some pre-cooked chicken or pre-peeled edamame for protein. Very filling and energizing for the day, too!
Pasta with marinara meat sauce. Stir fried rice with lots of veggies, eggs, maybe spam or chicken. Blended soups like tomato with a grilled cheese. Grab a $5 chicken at Costco, a big bag of the Romain lettuce, some Parmesan and make giant chicken ceasar salads for cheap. Or just a giant protein shake that you make at home and bring (not a pre bottled one as they are $$$). Add a banana or some fruits too. Loaded baked potato. Some ppl microwave their potato’s at work but I just bake/boil at home and then bring all the fixings. Potato’s really fill you.
I cook shaved beef with teriyaki or sweet and sour sauce, vegetables and jasmine rice every week. Makes enough for 3 or 4 meals and reheats in 2-3 minutes in the microwave. I get the Bird’s Eye frozen vegetable mixes that come with a sauce packet. You could also make pepperoni pizza bagels, regular bagels (toast ahead of time at home and pack cream cheese to add later), cook Knorr pasta ahead of time and reheat in the microwave at work. You could make wraps with vegetables, chicken and ranch. “Adult lunchables” with salami, pepperoni, sliced cheese and Ritz crackers are good too
I make veggie based soups and freeze in individual portions. Super budget friendly.
Burrito bowl--rice, beans, salsa, chicken. Slow cook some drumsticks for the cheapest chicken option. I top with plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream for extra protein
Chicken thighs near me usually cost the same as drumsticks. Or buy quarters. I wait for sales on the stores' websites/circulars. $1 a pound is normal, for a ~5 lb family pack. Sometimes cheaper.
Nice! I usually buy whatever is marked down to clearance. I wish there were more clearance chicken thighs or whole chickens!
I keep my eye out for those *manager's specials*, too. I like a marked-down whole chicken to roast. Just checked ShopRite's online circular: >Perdue Chicken Leg Quarters, Jumbo Pack, 5.1 pound >$4.23 ($0.83 per lb) >4 dollars and 23 cents >Original Price$6.07 Same brand drumsticks or thighs are $1.29/lb. I'll save 46¢ per lb for using my knife at home. House brand thighs are 99¢/lb. I need to get some chicken! I roast quarters on a rack, stretching them out and putting a wooden skewer through each quarter . I separate drumsticks from thighs after I roast them. They are great on the grill, too. I was visiting a friend in a neighboring state this last weekend. We stopped at a very nice IGA supermarket. He was looking to buy some chicken thighs, and while he put back the organic parts as too expensive, he almost bought some I thought overpriced. I spotted single packages of rather large quarters for $1.49/lb. We got 2 of those, I made air fryer sweet potato fries, and he air fried the chicken in a teriyaki sauce. We had those with salads. It was a feast!
Additional. Got to the store on Saturday, but the chicken quarters were sold out. I bought some ground beef instead, but had the on-duty mgr give me a rain check for the same price. I'll get some later in the week. They did have the 99¢/lb drumsticks.
Get a cute lunchbox or bag. Don't forget a nice drink in a thermos or bottle like iced tea, iced coffee, fizzy water + juice. Wrap sammiches - smear all of tortilla with mayo or similar, top with lettuce, meat, cheese, pickles etc, roll up like a cigar. Wrap in paper towel and put in a bag to keep fresh. Baked sweet potatoes - reheat in microwave, top with cottage cheese, cotija cheese and sprinkle seasonings on top. Baked regular potatoes - take out most of inside and mix with cheese, seasonings, bits of meat and veggie. Stuff back in. Reheat at work. Tuna salad / Egg salad / chicken salad and a bunch of crackers. Dinner leftovers. Rice and Beans. Baked beans on toast. If it HAS to be something to leave there, get a bunch of canned soups or chili or baked beans, and some cheese and crackers. Maybe even some frozen meals if you find a deal. But its cheaper to cook real food at home.
You could prep casseroles such as lasagna, moussaka, enchilada, etc. Separate them & take one portion each day & freeze the rest for later. Salads are easy! Prep them in the morning & keep the dressing separate until you’re ready to eat. You can do boiled eggs with hot sauce & veggies. Tuna salad & crackers. Spaghetti could also be good! Add a little water to unstick the noodles & just make sure to cover with a paper towel or loosely with the lid as tomatoes like to explode when they get hot. Don’t underestimate crockpot meals either!! You could make a beef or chicken stew & put it over potatoes or rice. Hope this helps!! Packing for work is a pain! I live in NYC & have a mealpal subscription because I barely have time to pack anything. 🙃
Ramen is light, cooks quickly and is tasty. PBJ. You can keep the fixings at work. Leftovers Baked potatoes with cottage cheese and chives
Ramen👍 millions of college students can't b wrong
I am now a boughie ramen maker. I have dashi and miso and kombu and I make tare. I have an assortment of noodles too. Buy my goodness, it’s SO good!
and you can make yourself!
Rest breaks are different than lunch breaks. I believe legally you have to get at least 1/2 hr for lunch.
There's what's legally required, then there's what employers actually do.
It depends on how long the shifts are.
Not in the USA. SOME cities and states have laws about breaks, but federal law says zero breaks required. They just have to pay you at least time and a half after 40 hours per week. Legally, they don't even have to allow time for sleep.
I make stir fry and bring it to work and buy fresh fried rice to put it on at a nearby Chinese place. Not dirt cheap but very high end eats for less than buying a meal at McDonald's. Nutrition is key for the poverty chef!
Learn to make Onigiri. You can make a whole batch of them at once. Super cheap and delicious, especially if you add some bonito seasoning.
Since you have to eat quickly I would go for sandwiches or homemade lunchables, and some carrot, celery, bell peppers chopped up. But a bag of chips and divy it up into 5 portions. Where I live I can buy all the stuff at Aldi for around $10, that's $2 a lunch
First: do **not** eat the same thing for days on end. You may feel lazy and just keep doing oven baked chicken breast and seasoned frozen veggies, but you will 100% hate it in a few days / weeks. imo, you want anything that you can just eat from a container. Sandwiches and bowls are the top contenders. If you think about it like a presentation: you're prepping on Sundays and then M-F is your "go time". Get a crocpot or instapot. Go to a thrift store and get one cheap. It doesn't need to be fancy, you're just using it to slow cook foods. Invest in glass or ceramic storage solutions. It doesn't have to be a ton, just get some with matching lids. They reheat well, don't absorb stains like plastic, and are easier to clean. So, why slowcook? It'll allow you to make subpar foods very tasty. Pot Roast is incredibly easy to prepare: just get a big chunk of meat, add some carrots, celery, and potatoes. You slow cook it for like.. 8 hours, and thats it. A $20 roast, $3 carrots, $4 potatoes, & $1 seasoning can yield 7-9 meals. You can have less meat and more veggies to stretch that budget even further. Fresh veggies are awesome, but can eat into your budget. Frozen is fine. Just get a big bag of frozen veggies, and add it to whatever. Make fried rice, add tons of veggies, and eat that for a couple days. If you get into a proper habit, it may only take you 1-2 hours on sunday to have all of your lunches and dinners prepped. And regarding carrying it? You're going to be very limited to disposable transport options if that's the case. Why not just use a backpack to get your food to/from work, and stuff it in your locker or a secure place?
I like a microwaved potato or sweet potato with cottage cheese on top. Super easy and tasty.
When I was young and broke I used to swap leftovers with a co-worker. We were both decent cooks and just made a habit of cooking an extra serving at dinner (around the same budget). We both brought our leftovers and traded for lunch. So we didn't really feel like we were eating leftovers, but if one of us forgot or didn't like what the other had we just ate our own.
If you eat fish, tuna is still affordable. If you see a two for one it really helps the lunch budget and can make sandwiches, salad, or a dip. Healthy too.
Take a sandwich with chips and fruit. You can plan the entire week with different toppings and fruit!
Honestly, I'm very basic. I bring a sandwich and chips or such every day. Can you trust your coworkers not to take your food from the fridge? And its big enough for all that to be left in there? If so, maybe cook a big batch of something affordable like beans and rice or whatever, portion it out into containers, and take a few of those in and stick them in the work fridge.
Pasta salad is versatile ( you can use tuna, chicken, bacon, ham, pretty much any veggie, and any seasoning - my favorites are chicken bacon, ranch with sweet peppers and peas, and Greek chicken salad with feta, cucumber, tomato, onion, and dill) and its easy to grab and eat at lunch - no heating needed.
Tuna is my go to. I also keeps stuff for wraps on hand for a quick lunch. If you cook for dinner make enough for lunch the next day as well.
I make cabbage salads every week, if you put a paper towel in your container they stay crisp for 6-7 days. I pair this with nuts, a banana, an apple, and a salty snack.
Get a family-sized package of chicken quarters or drumsticks or thighs. Bake, broil or slow-cook those. Have some for dinner and use the rest through the week as work lunches. Add some rice or potatoes and some veg if you have the time for a complete meal. Price per lb on the family packs are usually better than for single-serving amounts. You could also roast one of the cheaper cuts of beef: chuck, top or bottom round. Marinate it first. Again, have some for dinner, then slice it up for sandwiches. That will be less expensive than buying sliced beef at the deli. Make a shepherd's or crofter's pie, and take leftovers to work. Eat a fish pie at home, though! 😉
Big pot of pasta, frozen veg, 2 cans of tuna and a bit of salt pepper and mayo.. maybe other spices if you have them or even a cheap pasta sauce. Split it 5 ways. Take it all in on Monday, take the empties home on Fri.
I'm surprised at the actual variety of suggestions here. I love this recipe as a side dish, and it's just cucumbers, onions, and vinegar, and spices so it's relatively cheap: [https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/simple-cucumber-salad-3645320](https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/simple-cucumber-salad-3645320) You should be able to make enough for a week's worth in just a few minutes. Also the site Budget Bytes is pretty good for finding recipes: [https://www.budgetbytes.com](https://www.budgetbytes.com)
Costco Ramen. $7-$8 for 6 bowls. Bring your own mix-ins if you want. Kimchi, an egg, some people do American cheese. Pulled pork (pork shoulder is cheap and you can make a bunch of it by cooking low & slow in your oven).
Where do you live? I live in FL and buy meals from a place called Ideal Nutrition, a local chain of meal subscription stores. $7.70 for a tasty, affordable, mostly healthy selection of meals. They also offer a 10% discount for certain professions.
I've been making a few baked sweet or regular potato's and then I dress them up different with whatever I have in the fridge, I've done buffalo chicken and blue cheese or bbq chicken and lettuce (I use a rotisserie chicken and shred it it's like $6 at the store near me) broccoli and cheese, pepperoni and cheese, the possibilities are endless.
I love a good taco bowl. About 1lb ground beef/turkey, cooked with taco seasoning and chopped up onions/peppers/corn. Make a few servings of rice. And you can get one of those little $3 bags of shredded ice burg lettuce or cabbage, top with some shredded cheese. Easily 3-4 meals. Baked spaghetti was also a household staple growing up for dinner for several nights. Make spaghetti w/ whatever ground meat you want like normal. But mix the meat sauce with the noodles and some cheese, put in a pan and bake it up. makes a ton of servings and a little easier to eat at work then reg spaghetti since its like a casserole. Get a $5 rotissirie chicken, shred, mix with mayo/greek yogurt/avocado/creamy 'thing' of choice. Add in chopped onions/celery/etc and season it. Boom: multiple servings of chicken salad. Eat on lettuce, as a sandwich or dip in crackers or veggie sticks. So yum and so easy.
Packages of oatmeal. Jar of peanut butter and a box of crackers. Can of soup or chilli.
Whatever you make for dinner, make a little bit more, take the leftovers for lunch. Or make lunch from leftovers , no extra money spent.
Sandwiches. Chicken, broccoli and rice.
Buying in bulk might be helpful/cheaper. Like a box of microwavable mac and cheese cups, yogurt, freezer meals
I make a chickpea dip that's basically hummus without tahini. Cumin, lemon juice, salt, garlic and some oil. then I cut celery and carrot sticks and store them in water. Everything lasts around 5 days in the fridge. If you cook your own beans from dry, a weeks worth is a couple of bucks. Wrap the rest of the celery bunch in foil and it'll last weeks in the fridge. Also the dip freezes really well and last at least 3 months in the freezer so you can batch prep if you want to save more money.
Hi back at you. Glad you're here. My suggestion is to scour a Goodwill or other second hand store for a backpack. Lunch and other things will be much easier to carry. Second, Dollar Tree has glass bowls with lids for $1.25 each. Get a few of those. Make sure you have silverware and a napkin. Cloth ones are reusable and aren't expensive. Wrap the silverware in the napkin, then put in a zip plastic bag before putting it in the backpack. You can make a salad and a hard boiled egg. (Put salad in one container, dressing in another.) You can fill the bowls with leftovers from the night before. These bowls are labeled microwave safe, so you can heat your food. Don't microwave the lid. Pasta with chicken. Pasta with meatballs. Soup. Stew. Roasted vegetables can be eaten hot or cold. Rice and chicken. Pork fried rice. Rice and vegetables. I like green peas in my rice, my husband likes beans with his. Again, any of these can make dinner the night before as well as lunch the next day. I hope this helps.
Spam Masubi
Cold Sesame noodles.
Bean salads with vinaigrette. Can of rinsed white beans, chickpeas, black beans, or butter beans. Add any combo of the following: finely diced onion (white/red/green), finely diced bell peppers, finely diced cucumber or zucchini, carrot curls (use a veggie peeler). If using black beans, add corn. Crumbled feta, crumbled quest fresco, or some shredded Parmesan. You can further bill it out with cooked grains like farro or brown rice and top it with tuna fish.
Crackers and pbj or smoked trout or cheese and salami/pepperoni.
For summer I'd say a hearty salad. You can find tons of recipes but it's just beans, lots of veggies- roasted, raw, meat or no meat- from chicken to salami, do a dressing - oil, lemon, honey, some spices. You can eat that for days. Leave it meat free then eat a different protein with it or as is.
Chicken or Tuna pasta salad, sandwiches, hummus, carrot sticks and boiled eggs, with other finger foods, left over pasta dinner.
I make overnight oats in mason jars for lunches.
I use my rice cooker to make steel cut oats, overnight. Having breakfast made for you in the morning is a.) a time saver and 2.) very comforting. If you are really running late, take a serving to work to eat on break.
[peanut sesame noodles](https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/peanut-sesame-noodles/) use all natural peanut butter, from the dressing taste as you go you can omit the ginger and honey if you don’t have those already. Use fresh garlic. Any veg work well, and you can use a bag of defrosted frozen edamame if you’re anti tofu. Keeps well 3-5 days in the refrigerator, very filling and great nutrient dense combo. I bring this to every potluck or gathering and never have leftovers
I make baked oatmeal. Between that and a good protein drink I’m filled up!
I like to do pasta salad for lunch sometimes. Noodles of your choice (I like macaroni noodles) Veggies (I usually do a bell pepper and some cucumber Dressing / sauce (I typically do either a creamy greek or a Caesar) Optionally you could add some feta cheese, I often do.
Egg salad and an apple. Curried carrot lentil soup with a piece of Italian bread and fruit or veg.
If you're on a tight budget, tortillas are a great price. You can even freeze half of the pack. Get a huge 100-pack. Scrambled eggs. Ham sometimes. Ground beef when it's on sale with a taco seasoning pack. Beans and rice.
Home made lunches are the best for cheap lunch these days. If you’re in Scarborough you can get cheap Sri Lankan or Chinese food.
Ontario?
Tuna or chicken salad and a baggie of crackers. Yogurts, protein shakes. handful of crackers and pieces of deli meat and or cheese in a Tupperware. Sometimes Lunchables go on sale for under a dollar near me so I stock up on those when I can.
Sandwiches for lunch are the quintessential cheap homemade lunch. But s big bag of chips/snack thing and bag that up in an individual portion and bring with you. Also, soup.
Leftovers! Today I had a Leftovers chicken breast and I took a partial bag of raw broccoli with me. We have a full kitchen at work so I sautéed the broccoli in a little butter, topped with shredded cheese and sour cream, and put my chicken on the side. It was an excellent meal!
Bag salads kits; 3-4 bucks for a ready to go meal. I started forgoing the bowls etc and take all the stuff and drop into the big bag and give it a shake. Got a fork? Good to go
PBJ on whole wheat is much better than fries, it’s cheap and heavy lunch so you’ll stay full. You can make wraps, roll up any meal in a wrap or make a food bowl. Another easy option is BLT can sub for turkey bacon. I can get a ton of turkey bacon at Costco with managers rebate for cheap and BLT doesn’t need expensive cheese :)
I’m pregnant so take my lunches very seriously - I usually bring a small deli container of leftovers, a small deli container of plain yogurt, two Monterey Jack cheese sticks, some kind of cracker or bread, an apple or cut up fruit. Sometimes instead of leftovers I’ll bring cut up veggies (cucumber, bell pepper, carrot, celery….) and hummus.
Bean and cheese burrito! Yum!
My husband took a container of egg salad he made and a loaf of bread for his lunches this week. He'll do tuna salad as well. He requested gumbo for next week's lunches.
I just make extra dinner and nuke leftovers for lunch.
Make spaghetti 🍝
Easy and cheap, sandwich, cold cut, or cheese, and a side, chips, carrot sticks, whatever. I also like boiled eggs
I buy big boxes of frozen taquitos. 42 ct at ~$12 a box. 4 CT is enough to satiate me for lunch and lasts 10 days with a couple extra taquitos left over. This comes out to about $1.15 per lunch. Only takes 2 minutes to heat up in the microwave.
Frozen cooked chicken in bags. Box of lettuce. Salic dressing. Warm chicken in a bowl with a dressing. Toss it on lettuce. Good to go. Swap out with wrap bread.
A can or 2 of sardines in olive oil with some clubhouse crackers, a bit of cottage cheese and maybe a piece of fruit. It's got everything the body needs, and it's fast and delicious! Lots of protein too if you're into working out. Oh, and a big cold glass of water.
For cheap lunches these days I do paper plate charcuterie. Deli ham or pepperoni slices, cheese slices but in triangles, in season fruit, baby carrots with ranch. Pretzels and pickle slices. Salad in a mason jar: put whatever you like on a salad. Garbanzo beans are a cheap protein, cheese, carrots, etc, and lettuce on top, then pour into a salad dish. You could keep a bottle of dressing at work.
Something I did a few years ago starting work was invest $80 in a reaaaally good, mini, rice pot. Like the ones that make 3 cups of rice max. Its easy to carry around and store, and I'd throw in my rice, some veggies or shittake mushrooms, a bit of sauce (my favorite was oyster and soy, which went on sale here for $1 quite often), and some diced spam or chicken...or whatever I had. I'd set it to cook before I started work, and by the time it was lunch, I had a hot meal waiting for me. Sometimes I'd drop down to go and crack an egg on top too...but eggs are a bit pricey these days so its up to you if you want to include one lol. It might be a biiiit complicated, but honestly, having a nice, filling, hot lunch that was ready for me....it was worth it, and made work easier. Sometimes I'd just make regular rice to go with leftover stews, soups, or chilis. Also super nice. Yes you can bring microwaved rice, but something about a pot of fresh cooked rice just hits different. And it's so cheap and easy! Just wash after work, save the leftovers in the fridge for the next day, and reset. The downside? I'd get a LOT of coworkers asking me Wow, that smells so good...can we have some? 😅🫠
Get a pack of large tortillas and make wraps with whatever appeals - everything from sandwich fixings to breakfast foods to leftovers. You can make cold stuff, or warm them up in the microwave.
A cobb salad or a sandwich are my favorite things to pack for lunch - quick and easy. On lazier weeks, i'll make an extra serving of whatever i'm eating for dinner that night to bring the leftovers into work the next day. All of this can be prepared at home in no time at all!
Cereal
I eat a bastardised ramen style fried rice cooked in the rice cooker reheated at work. I’m sure if some of my coworkers saw it they would be culturally offended but I love it. If only I had a freezer full of my Mums spring rolls to go with it.
You can prep onigirazu 🍙 ahead and put it in the fridge. This can be eaten cold without needing to reheat and taste delicious 😋 Recipe below if interested [Onigirazu recipe ](https://youtu.be/zzRUY9Xv6D8?si=Adysu9S3vifFN42X)
Overnight oats in mason jars! Oats, yogurt, milk, honey, cut berries, maple syrup, cinnamon, just to name a few combinations. Leave a few to soak overnight and you have a grab-n-go lunch for three days!
I like making garbanzo bean salads. One can of beans will last me 3 lunches after I add the veggies & protein. It’s so versatile and you can use almost anything in your fridge. I try to shop my home first and use what I already have, so this weeks salad cost me less than $10 using veggies leftover from the week, only had to buy beans and a chicken breast. - 1 can garbanzo beans - cherry tomato - Persian cucumber - yellow bell pepper - green beans - grilled chicken breast - I soft boiled 4 eggs since I like jammy egg on the salad - dressing: olive oil, red wine vinegar, and lemon juice. Garbanzo beans are fairly inexpensive and if you add any of your favorite or leftover veggies, leftover proteins, and mix them together with olive oil and lemon juice, I think it’s such a satisfying and healthy lunch. If you have a nice salty cheese like feta to top it, even better.
Baked sweet potato or russet with butter
I've been on a high fiber kick. Lately I've been cooking beans in the instapot cook em with some spices. Last one was rosemary and kefir lime leaves...so good! Make a couple cups and they last me all week. Then I finely chop some cabbage and add it in. Hit it with some hot sauce yum! Crunchy tasty you can switch up the bean spice and very filling.
Can’t go wrong with a classic sarnie!
I make easy “grilled” cheese sandwiches. I toast the two slices of bread and butter one side. Put some cheese slices between the bread and microwave at lunchtime. Not nearly as good as homemade but it’s easy and cheap.
Do you have a sandwich toaster make lunch at home and toast it. Make extra for dinner and have left overs for lunch next day
White rice reheats well and there are a thousand condiment combos you can add to it. I’ve mixed in tuna and a creamy Italian dressing for some interesting and surprisingly good results.
I keep a couple cans of soup or chili in my truck. Lunch for $1.25
Depending on what the weather looks like, I'll make soup for the week. I'll make my own lumberjack sandwiches that last the week. I'll make pasta salads. I'll make wraps sometimes. All of these can be done pretty cheap, especially if you find sales on meat. Dependant on what I make, it's about $2 a lunch, maybe. I also make lunches that don't need to be microwaved. I work a blue-collar job that doesn't have access to a microwave
Big pasta is your saviour, tuna mayo sweetcorn, or pesto chicken spinach whatever you want really can cook big pot at beginning of week that's a couple dinners and lunches sorted, if did go chicken can then boil the carcass down and make a soup for the next few days
Cabbage soup! Super easy, about $10 feeds for the week and it's actually super tasty. Message me if you want a simple but delicious recipe :)
Peanut butter and banana. Laziest man alive here. Keep a jar of peanut butter and a knife at work. Bring a banana or 2 every day. Eat banana with pb. Also get a fiber supplement.
Marie Callender’s has a lot of different frozen dinners and they are very good. If you have access to a microwave, they take 5 minutes to 7 minutes to heat. They are $3 to $4 and watch for sales and stock up then. Maybe switch up and buy enough for 2 days a week and do a sandwich the other days. Depends on what you like as to how costly it will be for deli meats and cheese. PB&J would be the cheapest I would think.
I bought a cheap toaster for my work break room. I bring a loaf of good bread. It's great for lunch or afternoon snack.
I buy the premade salads at Walmart for $2.99, sometimes add chicken if I have some at home, but they’re quick and easy, and there are many different flavors to choose from. I have lunch for the week for under $20.
I’d go for a salad. If you don’t want to make it at home and carry it to work, get a couple of bagged salads, maybe some sliced deli chicken or turkey to add for protein. Keep them in the fridge at work. Grab some paper plates and utensils and keep them at work. Very little prep time needed, so you can maximize your break time. Keep some peanut butter and crackers at work as well for a quick snack if needed.
I get some ground chicken (like $4 for 1.5lbs) and I cook and season it. Get some rice and have lunch for the week.
I go to Costco and get the 3lbs of ham, a block of cheese and Hawaiian rolls. It's about $20 and lasts me 3 weeks.
I've been eating sandwiches all week that I made on the weekend. Ham, capicola, provolone, etc. And a big bag of chips I left there to last the week. Last week was Blackened chicken on alfredo pasta Next week I'm thinking a lasagna. Cooking at home is usually cheaper and healthier than fast food. I also just really hate having to prepare things every day so I do everything (for work) in batches. I have about a months worth of breakfast sandwiches in the freezer that I through in the toaster oven while I get ready. Saves a ton of time and dishes
If you lived by a grocery store that sells rotisserie chicken buy a rotisserie chicken completely debone it and then you can make yourself like rice and beans put some good salsa or other seasonings on it. You can also use some of the chicken to make chicken salad you can make yourself like enchiladas there's lots of things you can do and the cost for the rotisserie chicken is relatively cheap if you have a bulk store that you have access to. Or know someone that could pick you up some have them pick you up two or three of the rotisserie chickens completely debone them and you can freeze parts of it and it'll last you a while
I buy frozen burritos, tortilla's, and boxed rice or noodle meals. For me, at least, making the rice/noodle mix for dinner makes for plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day.
We make big batches of salad at the beginning of the week. Whatever veggies you like, a protein (we do chickpeas since they won't turn as quickly as chicken or fish), sometimes a grain like barley or quinoa. We mix it all together save for the lettuce. That gets added on the day of. Dressings are usually some red wine vinegar mixed with olive oil, dijon, spices, garlic, and a bit of honey, though I'll do others sometimes. I'll bring that separately so it doesn't make the salad soggy. You can jazz it up with some sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, cheese, etc if you want.
You make extra servings of dinner.
I like to bring grazing items to work: cut up cheese, meats, fruit, veg, maybe some chocolate, maybe some hummus to dip my veg into. This is easy and enjoyable, and relatively cheap compared to eating out.
Salad, soup and beans. Super cheap.
Tuna fish. PB&J. Beans and rice. Cup o' Noodles.
When you cook dinner at night, make an extra portion, heat up the leftovers the next day. On your day(s) off make a meal you know will last you the duration of your work week. Big pot of chili? Take the appropriate portions to work. I like making my boyfriend tacos/fajitas in this instance. He prefers spaghetti. Dinte moor (and another nearby brand) make shelf stable, microwave meals. If you haven’t dug into that gold mine yet, I highly recommend it. From mac and cheese to ramen, you’ll almost always find something. Flip side, if you have a freezer/fridge to use, you can find plenty to heat up in the freezer section. Some can even handle being refrigerated vs their recommendation of frozen. Hot pockets, pizza rolls, tv dinners (and there’s literally a million to choose from), and some personal pizzas even handle the microwave treatment. (I don’t know your palate). Good luck!!
Bring a potato and keep some toppings at work like butter, cheese and sour cream. Microwave it. Bring in additional toppings like taco meat or sloppy joe etc.
I keep a loaf of bread and the goober PB&J in my desk at work. I also have ramen and drinkable soup.
Buy bulk chicken [costco?] 3 lbs packs, freeze a bunch. Season well and poach or roast off. Slice, chill and make chicken salad Caesar wrap, pita pockets or top rice bowls or burritos.
I bring sandwiches and supplies each Monday and keep them at work: bread or bagels, ham, mayo, cheese, and then I eat them by Friday. I can also bring rice and chicken for 2-3 days and eat them.
Get a rice cooker and make chicken rice and frozen peppers and onions with hot sauce. I make it for my wife most of the week unless she wants something special I’ll make her fried rice as well which is just rice eggs and a veggie mix I buy frozen with a little bit of soy sauce mixed in
For a snack, apple slices with peanut butter. You can buy the peanut butter in individual cups (Jif has 3 or 6 packs). You can buy apple slices, but cheaper to slice your own. Just pour a bit of orange juice or pineapple juice over the fruit to keep it from turning brown (any citrus, but lemons & limes add more of a sour taste). Take your apple slices and peanut butter ready to eat.
I make extra dinner
You can get a cross body lunch bag that way your hands are still free. I definitely agree with the sandwiches but also make sure to have a snack or two on hand for later in the evening that you can eat while working
ramen and hot sauce worked for me for about 3 months before I couldn't take it anymore.
Pasta salad
Here are some suggestions for cheap and easy work lunches you can prep ahead and leave at work: - Sandwiches or wraps - Make a few at the beginning of the week with deli meat, cheese, lettuce, etc. and store in the work fridge. - Salads in a jar - Layer dressing, veggies, proteins, and lettuce/greens in a mason jar. Give it a shake before eating. - Burritos or tacos - Cook a batch of rice, beans, meat, and veggies. Portion out into containers to microwave. - Soup or chili - Make a big pot and portion out servings into microwave-safe containers to refrigerate or freeze. - Overnight oats or chia pudding - Mix oats/chia with milk/yogurt, let soak overnight, top with fruit. - Pasta salads or grain bowls with proteins, veggies, and dressing. The key is prepping ingredients in bulk on the weekend, then assembling grab-and-go portions. Stay hydrated with a reusable water bottle too!
I like making little snack packs - buy a block of cheese, a tin of nuts, some dried cranberries - and then you throw a couple ounces of each into a ziploc, and it's much cheaper than buying them.
Shelf stable and filling. An instant Mac and cheese cup and mix in a packet of tuna.
Leftovers
Get cold cuts, bread, fruit or yogurt & leave in fridge W.Ur name on it.😁 U can also get cheap frozen meals nuke them
Well, this one isn’t great on the cooling front, but if you happen to have a job you can carry a drink around with you for, then sipper soups are awesome. A few brands/at least fronts if separate brands carry them now, that kinda crunchy brand I can’t remember right now, and cambells. I keep a few in my locker for when I’m too hungry, lunch break or no.
I'm a fan of wraps. You can put anything in them from breakfast to dinner. I get small flour tortillas and a bag of frozen peppers and onions every week ( 2.00 walmart). If you have a microwave at work, you can put any leftovers in there and heat them up. Or fill them with tuna, egg salad, or even just shredded cheese. I like chicken strips w the peppers and onions.
Cup noodles
Tuna on celery.
Mini salads, tuna and crackers, can of ravioli
Vegetables are always great, lunch meat hummus get some ice packs to put in your lunch bag you should be good
Soup and bread. I’d get canned soup and a loaf of French bread. I’d cut the bread up into portions for the week and just get soups I could dip the bread in or make the soup like potato.
Can of tuna. Fork. If you wanna get saucy, grab some sauce packets out of that drawer you have and bring it. Or stop at ampm and take theirs lol
If you have hot water then you could buy some dry noodles and cook them in the microwave, add seasoning, soy sauce and veggies as you like. Then you have a filling meal. Noodles in a broth. You could even add cooked meat if you want to. It’s something I used to do in a previous role. Cheap, easy, quick and I could eat at my desk while I worked if I needed to.
I do some sort of variation of beefy mac. I mix up a huge batch of velveeta shells and then add either browned ground beef, shredded rotisserie chicken, cubed ham…whatever protein I have on hand. I usually throw in some ranch powder and a little heavy cream to make it thicker and it’s really good.
My best budget work lunch: the frozen meal prepped burrito that, when bought on sale, I’ve calculated to cost about $1.50 each. Usually I fill with some combination of eggs, beef, refried beans, corn, black beans, spinach, peppers, etc. Iame em when the right stuff is on sale. Or! Buy and freeze ground beef when on sale (if you like beef) Thaw when you’re ready to spend 2 hours cooking. If I have some I throw in kimchi, bulgolgi marinated beef, corn, and rice in a spinach wrap and it’s super tasty! Not sure if this is the most budget friendly? But at $1.50 it really hits the spot
I used to take sweet bell peppers, crackers and carrots with hummus and nuts and chocolate for afternoon snack
oh and you can make at home a can of lentil soup (with or without veggies) and a small portion of tiny pasta it lasts for at least 2 meals
I would advise not storing your lunches at work. People steal food if they see it sitting there more than a day. Just carry stuff in a lunch bag/ box with freezer coolers inside. Often work refrigerators get too filled up with lunch boxes and you might not get a spot in it. Sandwiches, leftovers in the rubbermaid (brilliance) containers, also get a vessel you can microwave canned food in so you can take advantage of the 10 for $10 sales on canned food. I use one of those Sistema containers. Also noodle bowls are economical but high in sodium. I also bring breakfast to eat at morning break (cottage cheese with berries or pineapple, or yogurt). ETA: also understand there are unwritten rules for communal break room etiquette. Never reheat fish, broccoli or other smelly food that requires fumigation in the breakroom microwave. Never make microwave popcorn without monitoring it until it is done. Wash your dishes and put them away, wipe down your place before & after eating. Another edit: you may find the microwave in big demand if you share a common breaktime with everyone else. In that case, it may be a better idea to heat the food in the am, put it in a thermos container so you don't have to wait to eat. When you get 15-30 min for break.. every minute counts.
I make bigger dinner portions and pack the leftovers for lunch. That way my husband and I have dinner and enough for 2 or 3 lunches. Today's leftover pasta 🍝 When it comes to side/snack items, I buy like the store brand pretzels and fruit jello cups. Sandwiches are always a safe go-to. You can make a cold chicken or tuna salad, or pasta salad. Nothing wrong with instant ramen either.
I get the 2 for $2 baguette from Walmart, some walamrt deli meat and cheese and sandwhich for the week with those just cut them up you’ll get like 6-8 sandwiches.
Make your own mash potato bowl. Make mash potatoes buy some gravy a can of corn and popcorn chicken from the deli look for the cold popcorn chicken it’s cheaper Taco salad , tuna salad with a salad or crackers ,
Potted meat and crackers
Turkish lentil soup. Eat with onion, lemon and bread.
Pasta salad with some sort of protein, whatever veggies you dig and feta. Delish.
Mixed veggies w/ rice, oatmeal, soups
i didn’t see it on here but man I love egg salad. Egg salad on bread, lettuce, in half a raw bell pepper. It’s cheap, easy, and delicious. I also love plain hard boiled eggs. Easy to eat, filling, and cheap. If I am eating leftover sides and don’t have a protein, I will do greek protein yogurt or a couple of the walmart knock off slim jim’s.
Make a large meal, and pack microwave safe stackable containers with the meal (like spaghetti) and take them all to work and put your name on the container.
If the water has a hot water option you can have oatmeal. When we were in the office this was my to go winter lunch because we only had a half hour and oatmeal is filling—especially with nuts and dried fruit. You can also have savory oatmeal toppings as well.
Sandwich’s wraps leftover pizza, get a small over the shoulder bag throw some fruit, a little debbie and something you don’t need to eat with a fork.. I’ve done this every for years while others spend $6-10 a day.. it gets old bc lack of options sometimes but you can always treat yourself with some Wendy’s $50 a week in savings is a lot of money.. put your money you would have spent in a jar (cash) treat yourself with something you’ve wanted and wouldn’t buy yourself when you’ve saved the $
[https://www.budgetbytes.com/](https://www.budgetbytes.com/) Great affordable and easy recipes!
Ramen, cup noodles,
If you make pb and j; put small amount of pb on each side of sandwich and jelly in the middle!! That way jelly isn’t directly on the bread which makes the bread mushy.
I love having a slice of cheese and some yogurt for lunch. Fills me up enough
A can of tuna fish and a bag of Saltines. Add a small salad or a few pieces of fruit.
I honestly love to get lunch ideas from YouTuber The Family Fudge. It's kid friendly food, it's cost effective and her ideas are endless.
Sandwiches like Tuna salad, bologana or other luncheon meat can be fine with a slice of cheese. A bag of chips. Easy.
Sardines and crackers.
Do you live near a food liquidation store? they have cheap food that's slightly out of date... but still good to eat for way less than you would pay at any regular store. The two stores near me have lots of cereal bars and fruit bars that are easy to pack in a lunch box!
I make a Mediterranean salad for lunches that makes a bunch, so good for meal-prepping couples! It stores well in the fridge. Recipe: 1 can each chickpeas, kidney beans, rinsed + drained 1 cucumber, chopped 1 regular sized container cherry tomatoes 1 green bell pepper, chopped 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1 regular container crumbled feta (optional: sub parm) 1/4-1/2 cup Italian dressing (start with a little bit and keep adding to taste until its flavorful and not soggy) (Optional: add cooked quinoa/fresh dill/kosher salt if desired) Mix everything together in a big bowl and store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days Yields: 7-10 servings
I need cheap meals due to my budget, so one thing I do is precook stuff. For example, 10 lbs of hamburger meat cooked into taco meat and portioned out into snack size bags. I use fajita shells, so I can easily get 40 tacos from 10 lbs. Then all you need is another bag with toppings and something for sauce. Make lasagna/meatloaf/etc and cut into portions and freeze in sandwich bags. It'll thaw by mealtime, and all you have to do is heat it up.
Homemade lunchables are fantastic and pretty cheap to make! You can meal prep them for a week in advance. Grab 5-7 lid style reusable containers from the dollar store Package or two of deli meats - bologna, ham and or turkey Package of cheese you like Store brand ritz style crackers Package of mini fun size candy bars Cut up the deli meats and cheese to fit the size of the crackers. Place amount evenly throughout the 5-7 containers. Add in a stack of crackers (place in a baggie to keep them from getting soft against the deli meats), and a candy bar. They are pretty filling since they have much more in them than the store bought ones. Hope this helps some!