Low-calorie packed lunches: 6 filling meals to take to work

Who are these packed lunches for, and who are they not for?

Who they are for. Healthy adults who eat away from home during the week and want to lose fat gradually. They also suit anyone who simply wants to eat better at lunchtime without being left hungry.

Who they are not for. They have not been calculated for pregnancy or breastfeeding, anyone under 18, or people with diabetes treated with insulin or medicines that can lower blood sugar too much. They are also not for people with chronic kidney disease, anyone who has or has had an eating disorder, or anyone who needs to gain weight. If you have a condition with its own dietary plan (coeliac disease, a diagnosed allergy, heart failure or liver disease), follow your own plan. In these cases, the plan must be tailored to you. If food causes you anxiety or guilt, the first step is to speak with a team specialising in eating disorders, before changing your menu.

The recipes do not include a calorie figure. They have not been calculated using a food composition programme, and an approximate figure would give a false sense of precision. They are low in calories because of how they are put together: plenty of vegetable volume, enough protein and a measured amount of carbohydrates.

6 low-calorie packed-lunch recipes

All quantities are approximate and are for one meal serving for an adult. If you are still hungry afterwards, increase the vegetables first. If you exercise or have a physically demanding job, increase the carbohydrates.

1. Potato salad with tuna, egg and tzatziki sauce

Servings 1 · Time 30 minutes · Difficulty easy · Allergens fish, egg, dairy

Ingredients per serving. 150 g potato, 1 medium tomato, ½ green pepper, ¼ onion and 1 handful of fresh spinach (30 g). For protein, 1 small tin of tuna in spring water, drained, and 1 egg. For the sauce, 1 plain unsweetened yoghurt (125 g), ¼ cucumber and ½ garlic clove. For flavour, lemon juice, a few mint leaves, 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt.

1. Boil the potato with its skin on and cook the egg; let them cool and chop them.
2. Chop the tomato, pepper and onion and mix them with the spinach, potato, tuna and egg.
3. Grate the cucumber, crush the garlic and mix them with the yoghurt, lemon, chopped mint, oil and salt. Leave the sauce to rest in the fridge for one hour.
4. Keep the sauce in a separate container and dress everything just before eating.

2. Courgette spaghetti with chickpeas

Servings 1 · Time 15 minutes · Difficulty easy · Allergens none of the fourteen

Ingredients per serving. 1 large courgette (250 g), spiralised, and 150 g drained cooked chickpeas. For the stir-fry, 1 garlic clove, fresh parsley, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. To top, 10 g pumpkin seeds.

1. Fry the chopped garlic and parsley in a pan with the oil.
2. Add the rinsed chickpeas, season with salt and pepper, and stir for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the courgette spirals, cover and cook over a low heat for a few minutes until tender but still holding their shape. If you do not have a spiraliser, cut the courgette into thin strips with a peeler or into dice.
4. Leave to cool, transfer to the lunchbox and add the seeds at the end so they stay crunchy.

3. Pineapple salad and brothy prawn rice

Servings 1 · Time 35 minutes · Difficulty medium · Allergens crustaceans, fish (stock)

Ingredients per serving. For the salad, lettuce and rocket to taste, ½ carrot, ¼ cucumber and 80 g pineapple or melon. For the rice, 50 g round-grain rice, 150 ml fish stock and 100 g peeled prawns. For the sofrito, ¼ onion, ¼ green pepper, ½ garlic clove, ½ large tomato and 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil.

1. Sauté the chopped onion, pepper, garlic and tomato, then blend them.
2. Return the sofrito to the paella pan, add the rice and stock, and cook over a medium heat.
3. When the rice is almost tender, add the prawns, sautéed separately. Add water or stock to make it brothy but not soupy.
4. Cool it quickly in a shallow, wide container and refrigerate it within one hour. Eat it the next day or freeze it.
5. Pack the salad in a separate lunchbox, without dressing.

4. Grilled vegetables with sole en papillote

Servings 1 · Time 30 minutes · Difficulty easy · Allergens fish; gluten if you choose bread

Ingredients per serving. For the papillote, 150 g sole fillet, ¼ onion, ¼ leek and ½ small courgette. For grilling, ½ aubergine, ½ pepper, 4 button mushrooms and 1 tomato, with a few drops of extra virgin olive oil and spices to taste. For carbohydrates, 40 g wholegrain bread or 120 g boiled potatoes.

1. Place the sole on baking paper with the onion, leek and courgette, cut into small pieces. Season with salt and pepper and seal the parcel well.
2. With the oven preheated, bake it for 15 to 20 minutes and let it cool before storing. If you cannot find sole, hake or fresh salt cod work just as well.
3. Grill the aubergine, pepper, mushrooms and tomato, turning them once, with whichever spices you like.
4. Store the bread separately so it does not get soggy.

5. Wholegrain pasta with broccoli and curried turkey

Servings 1 · Time 15 minutes · Difficulty easy · Allergens gluten

Ingredients per serving. 60 g uncooked wholegrain macaroni, 200 g fresh or frozen broccoli and 120 g turkey breast. For flavour, curry or another spice, granulated garlic, chopped parsley and 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil.

1. Cook the broccoli in the microwave in a microwave-safe container with three tablespoons of water, until tender.
2. Boil the macaroni for the time indicated on the packet, drain it and rinse it with cold water.
3. Grill the turkey with the curry, cut it into pieces and sauté it with the garlic and parsley.
4. Mix the broccoli and pasta in the same pan, stir and leave to cool.

6. Mixed vegetables with salmon

Servings 1 · Time 30 minutes · Difficulty easy · Allergens fish

Ingredients per serving. 100 g potato, ½ carrot, ¼ onion, 80 g green beans, 80 g cauliflower and 40 g peas. For protein, 120 g salmon fillet, with lemon, salt and pepper.

1. Peel and chop the potato, carrot and onion; cut the beans and cauliflower.
2. Boil the peas and green beans for a few minutes, add the carrot and onion, and after about 8 minutes add the potato and cauliflower.
3. Drain the vegetables when tender and leave them to cool before transferring them to the lunchbox.
4. Cook the salmon in a pan with salt, pepper and lemon. As an oily fish, it stays juicy in the lunchbox; mackerel does too.

The shopping list for the 6 packed lunches

One serving of each recipe, for one person. If you repeat any during the week, multiply its ingredients.

Vegetables

• 1 bag of fresh spinach, 1 lettuce and 1 bag of rocket
• 2 courgettes (one large) and 1 aubergine
• 3 tomatoes, 1 green pepper and ½ red pepper
• 1 cucumber, 1 carrot and 1 leek
• 2 onions and 1 head of garlic
• 1 broccoli (or 200 g frozen), ¼ cauliflower and 80 g green beans
• 4 button mushrooms and 40 g peas (fresh or frozen)
• 250 g potatoes (370 g if you choose potato instead of bread for the sole lunchbox)

Fruit and herbs

• 80 g pineapple or melon and 2 lemons
• Fresh mint and parsley

Fish, seafood, meat and eggs

• 150 g sole fillet and 120 g salmon fillet
• 100 g peeled prawns and 150 ml fish stock
• 120 g turkey breast
• 1 small tin of tuna in spring water
• 1 egg

Pulses, grains and bread

• 1 jar of cooked chickpeas (150 g drained)
• 50 g round-grain rice and 60 g wholegrain macaroni
• 40 g wholegrain bread (if you do not choose potato)

Dairy and pantry

• 1 plain unsweetened yoghurt
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 10 g pumpkin seeds
• Curry, granulated garlic, salt and pepper

Why do these packed lunches satisfy you with fewer calories?

All six follow the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate adapted for a lunchbox [1]. Half of the container is vegetables, one quarter is protein and the other quarter is wholegrain carbohydrates or potatoes. Putting potatoes and pulses in the carbohydrate quarter is our adaptation. With a compartment lunchbox, you can see the proportions at a glance.

• Vegetables, half. Cooked, in soup or in a salad with the dressing on the side. They fill the container and your stomach with few calories and plenty of water and fibre. At least three servings of vegetables a day are recommended [2], and your midday lunchbox is a good place to get one or two. Green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, courgette, pepper, aubergine and carrot keep well from one day to the next.
• Protein, one quarter. Pulses, eggs, fish, seafood or white meat such as chicken, turkey or rabbit. This is the part that helps most with getting to your afternoon snack without feeling hungry. Pulses are recommended at least four times a week [2], and a lunchbox is an easy way to reach that amount. Fish dries out less when cooked en papillote, in a stew or, if it is oily, as with salmon.
• Carbohydrates, one quarter. Rice, wholegrain pasta, wholegrain bread, potatoes or sweet potato. They are not eliminated, just portioned, so they do not displace the vegetables. If pulses are already in the dish, they count as both protein and carbohydrates.
• A small amount of good fat. A tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and some nuts or seeds for texture. Homemade sauces made with plain yoghurt or crushed tomato are good alternatives to bottled ones.

When you are in a hurry, the same proportions work with what you have at home. Sauté a bag of frozen vegetables with a teaspoon of oil, add two scrambled eggs and serve with a potato cooked in the microwave. Or mix a small cup of cooked brown rice with a tin of tuna in spring water, roasted pepper and a handful of rocket.

If you want to organise the whole week in one afternoon, find the method in how to organise your packed lunches for the week with batch cooking. For the other meal of the day, see seven low-calorie dinners with a shopping list. And our full weight-loss plan is in our guide to losing weight and keeping it off.

How long does a packed lunch keep in the fridge, and how should you reheat it?

Cooked food should go into the fridge within two hours, and should be eaten within the next three or four days, according to the United States Department of Agriculture [3]. Rice has its own rules. To cool food faster, divide it among shallow, wide containers instead of leaving the pot on the counter.

• Reheat until it is very hot all the way through, to about 74 °C [3]. In the microwave, stir it halfway through and leave the lid slightly ajar.
• Take extra care with rice. Cool it as quickly as possible, ideally in less than one hour, keep it in the fridge for no more than one day and reheat it only once [4]. If you cook it for several days, freeze the portions you will not eat tomorrow.
• If you will not eat it within those days, freeze it on the day you cook it. Rice, pulses, soups and stews freeze well; potatoes, pasta and cheese change texture when thawed.
• If there is no fridge at work, carry it in an insulated bag with a cold pack.

For the container, a microwave-safe glass one with an airtight lid is best. If you bring a first and second course, use separate lunchboxes.

What packed-lunch mistakes do we see in consultations?

The phrase we hear most is “I eat well at lunchtime, but then I snack”. Often, the reason is a lunchbox that is too small, which leads to snacking in the afternoon. These are the other mistakes we see repeatedly.

• Making carbohydrates the main event. Pasta with cheese sauce or rice with bottled tomato sauce as a one-dish meal leave vegetables out. They can still be part of the lunchbox, but should take up only a quarter.
• Treating vegetables as decoration. A lettuce leaf or the onion in an omelette does not count as half the lunchbox.
• Repeating the same dish every time. It gets boring and makes the week less varied. Tuna salad can become chickpea or turkey salad, and Bolognese can become pasta with broccoli and lentils.
• Using the wrong-sized lunchbox. A small one leaves you hungry, while a very large one encourages you to serve yourself more.
• Dressing the food the night before or reheating grilled meat or fish. Salad leaves go limp and meat or fish dries out. Carry the dressing in a small container and choose stews, papillote or homemade sauce.
• Bottled sauces, aged cheeses, fried and battered foods. They add saturated fat and salt without making you feel fuller, and fried foods lose their texture when reheated.
• Relying on tinned foods and cured meats as your only protein for the week. They provide a lot of salt. Alternate them with pulses, eggs and fresh fish.

If your goal is to lose weight, a packed lunch is one tool among others, alongside dinner, rest and physical activity. The full plan, including its pace and follow-up, is what we work on in our weight-loss nutrition consultations.