90 Healthy No-Heat Lunches for Taking to Work
Here are 90 Healthy No-Heat Lunches for taking to work or just for grabbing a super quick lunch when you work at home! And most of these healthy no heat lunch ideas are low-carb and gluten-free.
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When I taught elementary school and also worked on this blog, I was grateful for leftovers to take to school and warm up for lunch. But without a place to heat food at the workplace, healthy lunches are more challenging. Years ago I had a request on the Kalyn’s Kitchen Facebook page to share ideas for healthy brown bag lunches that don’t need to be heated, and I worked hard on this collection of 90 No-Heat Lunches that ended up being a big hit on the blog.
Now fast forward quite a few years and I’m focused more on low-carb eating, and my blog has also changed since this was first posted. So I’m updating this collection of healthy lunches with more low-carb options, although there are still plenty of ideas for readers who follow other diets as well.
How can you tell if the no-heat lunch ideas fit your way of eating?
I am tagging this post with low-carb, Keto, gluten-free, dairy-free, South Beach Diet, and vegetarian because there are ideas here that fit all those diets! My site has diet-type tags above the recipe title on every post, so if a recipe in this round-up sounds good to you but you’re not sure it will fit your diet, just click the link to go to that post and you can see what diets I feel it’s suitable for!
What kinds of no-heat lunches will you find here:
I focused on no-heat lunches I think will keep in the fridge for at least a day or two, but check individual recipes for more information. Some dishes contain ingredients (like fresh tomatoes or avocados) that I’d cut up in the morning and add when I eat the lunch. And some salads might be best if you refrigerate the dressing and salad separately and combine at lunchtime.
There are a few dishes (like the tostadas) would definitely need to be packed separately and then assembled when you eat them. But all these are tasty ideas that I hope can make your brown-bag lunches a lot more interesting!
Historical Information for this post:
90 Healthy No-Heat Lunches for Taking to Work was first posted in 2012. The post was updated in 2020 with new photos and lots more low-carb lunch ideas, and it was updated again with more information in 2022.
Salads with Tomatoes for a No-Heat Lunch:
Tomato-Cucumber Salad with Peperoncini (shown above)
Tomatoes Cucumber Avocado Salad
Heart of Palm Salad with Tomato, and Avocado
Effie’s Cottage Cheese Salad with Za’atar
Tomato, Cucumber, and Radish Salad
Chopped Greek Salad with Peppers
Tomato Salad with Hearts of Palm, Olives, and Feta
Cucumber, Tomato, and Garbanzo Salad with Feta
Tomato, Olive, and Fresh Mozzarella Salad
Pitas, Tostadas, and Wraps for a No-Heat Lunch:
Easy Guacamole Tostadas (shown above)
Spicy Shredded Chicken Lettuce Wrap Tacos (the spicy chicken is good hot or cold)
Egg Salad in Pita with Green Olives, Green Onions and Dijon
Turkey Pita Sandwiches with Cranberry Salsa
Middle Eastern Tostadas with Hummus and Feta
Seven Layer Dip Tostadas (a little more complicated to pack, but delicious)
Salads with Eggs and Cheese for a No-Heat Lunch:
Loaded Cauliflower Mock Potato Salad (shown above)
Marinated Cauliflower Antipasto Salad
Snack Foods and Appetizers, for a No-Heat Lunch:
Tuna-Stuffed Avocado (shown above)
Shrimp with Low Sugar Cocktail Sauce
Air Fryer Shrimp (this is delicious cold)
Salads with Chicken or Fish for a No-Heat Lunch:
Chicken Pesto Salad (shown above)
Chicken and Avocado Salad with Lime and Cilantro
Greek Peperoncini Chicken Salad
Chicken Salad with Green Olives
Chopped Salad with Chicken, Peppers, Olives, and Feta
Chicken Salad with Hearts of Palm
Salads with Beans or Lentils for a No-Heat Lunch:
Black-Eyed Pea Salad (shown above)
Pinto Bean Salad with Tuna, Tomatoes, and Peperoncini
Black Bean Salad with Black-Eyed Peas
Balela Middle Eastern Bean Salad
Salads with Greens for a No-Heat Lunch:
Baby Arugula Salad with Chicken, Mozzarella, and Tomatoes (shown above)
Caesar Salad with Kale, Romaine, and Shaved Parmesan
Mediterranean Salad with Spinach
Salads with Lettuce or Cabbage for a No-Heat Lunch
Perfect Low-Carb Taco Salad (shown above)
Peperoncini Chopped Salad with Romaine, Peppers, and Feta
Red Cabbage and Chicken Asian Salad
Chicken Cabbage Salad with Mustard
Salads with Grain or Quinoa for a No-Heat Lunch:
Brown Rice Salad with Basil Vinaigrette (shown above)
Lentil and Barley Greek-Style Salad
Black Bean, Rice, and Cilantro Salad
Salads with Vegetables or Fruit for a No-Heat Lunch:
Marinated Zucchini Salad (shown above)
Broccoli Salad with Feta and Almonds
Artichoke Antipasto Salad with Basil Vinaigrette
Marinated Cauliflower Antipasto Salad
Dips for a No-Heat Lunch:
Sheila’s Low-Carb Shrimp Dip (shown above)
57 Comments on “90 Healthy No-Heat Lunches for Taking to Work”
The vegetarian taco salad with lentils is one of my favorites. Our church does a big salad luncheon every May. This salad is a must on the list. Thank you for the well organized recipes..
So glad to hear you have enjoyed it Ginny, thanks for taking time to tell me!
The only problem with your site is, it addicting I stay way to long. THANK YOU for all the deliciuos recipes.
Can we agree that’s what my mom used to call “a good problem to have”? Thanks Gina!
How do you do the no heat chicken avocado lime and cilantro salad
The point of this post is that you don't have to heat these lunches up at work, not that there are no cooked foods included in the recipes.
I am so impressed with this collection. I was hunting for ideas for a cold lunch to take on a camping trip. These will also help when my picky little one who loves fruit & veggies (but won't always eat carbs or meat) goes out to school. Thank you!
So glad it is useful for you!
These are awesome. Great variations. Sometimes it's hard to eat healthy because lack of ideas and ordering unhealthy food just seems easier.
Thanks, glad it is useful for you!
Ellen, there are a few things here that would work; look through them and find things that don't have ingredients that need to be refrigerated.
I am trying to find some bag lunches for my husband to take to work. He is a truck driver so it has to be something that does not have to be heated up or kept cold. I know that is a lot to ask but he also has to be able to eat it on the go. He is a truck driver and can not stop to heat any thing and does not have a cooler or microwave to use either. So brown bagging it is all we can do..
That's a new idea for me, but it sounds delish!
Great ideas, thanks! I am new to the idea of grain salads but I'll try them 🙂 I recently tried a steel cut oats waldorf salad that was amazing, I love to take a pint jar of it (with extra extra chopped apple) for my lunch.
Thanks for all the wonderful ideas for healthy lunches! So glad it's not a turkey sandwich!!
Baby spinach, sliced strawberries, almonds or sunflower seeds, feta cheese, and dressing (or just balsamic vinegar if you're really cutting calories). Substitute dried cranberries if you don't have fresh strawberries.
Anita, I'm sure that many of the recipes that use peanut butter could be made with sunbutter if that works for you. That's the only sub that I can think of that doesn't have nuts.