55 Cheap and Easy Lunch Ideas to Recharge Your Day

Whether you're eating at your desk at home or the break room at work, a good lunch can change the entire trajectory of your day. If you're looking to keep it cheap, tasty, and healthy, you may want to make your own. 

Short on time? Short on funds? Short on creativity? Here are 55 ideas for quick and easy lunches that can really turn your day around.

Everybody likes a caprese salad, of course, but there's an easy way to level it up into an elite meatless lunch. The secret, as with so many sandwiches, is in the sauce and the bread.

Recipe: Cookie + Kate

These can dry out easily, so make sure you’ve got plenty of acid in there; a squirt of lemon juice never huts.

Recipe: Simple Green Smoothies

Butter and cheese on the outside. Those are the secrets. If you're in this for a "healthy" grilled cheese, I've got bad news: Make a different sandwich. This one isn't for you.

Recipe: Two Peas & Their Pod

Avocado toast is a delicate dance; the more you add, the harder it is to eat. Yet, the less you add, the more boring it is to eat. Here's a great recipe to split the difference.

Recipe:Bon Appétit

The classic lunchtime favorite is incredibly easy to make at home, especially if your grocery store sells Caesar salad kits.

Recipe: Tastes Better From Scratch

Making a tuna sandwich for lunch is one of the easiest things to do, but with only a few extra minutes of oven time, you can melt it into superiority.

Recipe: Foodie Crush

Easy, vegan, and tasty. Don't forget to squeeze your tofu first.

Recipe: Well Plated by Erin

The salad you'll never get sick of scales up in deliciousness in direct proportion with the quality of your feta and the quality of your protein.

Recipe: The Mediterranean Dish

Once you've got the fold down, the possibilities here are endless.

Recipe: Delish

A classic for a reason. Enjoy getting addicted to this one.

Recipe:Tastes Lovely

There are so many directions you can go with this. Marinate some ramen eggs. Sautée some mushrooms. Air fry some tofu. The bowl is your oyster.

Recipe: Tasting Table

A lot of store-bought pita can be weak and crumbly, so make sure you've got quality pita on hand to make this work. 

Recipe: Pinch of Yum

Whether your salmon is baked, smoked, steamed, air-fried, seared, or raw, salmon makes for a great centerpiece to a rice bowl.

Recipe: The Big Man’s World

You can use rice. You can use lettuce. You can even use a gigantic tostada shell, if you want. 

Recipe: Jar of Lemons

We already know turkey and spinach are a great combo, but, duh, don't forget about melty cheese. You mustn't ever forget about melty cheese.

Recipe: Easy Healthy Recipes

Lots of acid and crunchy veggies are the difference-maker, here. The brighter, the better. 

Recipe: Pinch of Yum

Are you a ranch or a blue cheese person? Either way, make sure you choose the right Buffalo sauce.

Recipe: Alida’s Kitchen

You've had it as a sandwich. You've had it as a bowl. Now you can get your classic corned beef-kraut mix on pizza.

Recipe: Sweet and Savory Food 

Healthy, filling and easy. Chickpea salads are really the total package.

Recipe: The Mediterranean Dish

If you can't get raw salmon but still want sushi, give a Philadelphia roll a look. Smoked salmon is the star here.

Recipe: Chef Chris Cho

You don't need to set foot in an Olive Garden to get some Zuppa Toscana. It's easier than you think, and only needs stuff you can find easily at the store.

Recipe: Natasha’s Kitchen

Spoiler alert: Publix sells that good submarine bread. That oughta level up your game.

Recipe: Sip & Feast

It can top a salad, melt in a sandwich, or even go a la carte. Don't forget the green apple.

Recipe: The Real Food Dietitians

You don't need to own a deep fryer to enjoy egg rolls. You just need a bowl.

Recipe: The Seasoned Mom

Frozen falafel works, but for the freshest and tastiest lunch possible, you might want to make 'em from scratch.

Recipe: Tasty Thrifty Timely

Make a huge quantity. You'll want to keep raiding the fridge all week.

Recipe: Spend With Pennies

Like a charcuterie board, but dumped onto a salad. For health.

Recipe: Bon Appétit

Panera's Frontega Chicken sandwich rules, as you know. What you may not have known is that you can make it at home pretty easily, especially if you've already got some chipotle mayo.

Recipe: White Kitchen Red Wine

The TikTok-beloved salad may be boring to look at, but it's tasty, and that's all that really matters.

Recipe: Feel Good Foodie

"Mini" is open to interpretation, of course.

Recipe: One Sweet Appetite

Cauliflower has really had its moment lately in lots of ways, like rice and pizza crust, but you know how it also shines? As itself. Spice it up like a New York halal cart would, and enjoy.

Recipe: Delish

This hits so hard when blackberries are in season, but if they're not, swap it for any fresh fruit that calls your name.

Recipe: Well Plated by Erin

Egg salad is good. Japanese egg salad is great.

Recipe: The Flavor Bender

Tex-Mex afficionados are incredibly particular about what qualifies as true, legitimate queso dip, so trust this recipe from a Texan.

Recipe: Homesick Texan

Treat yourself like the king of England and pour yourself a spot of tea with some scones and an assortment of finger sandwiches. Or better yet, make the butler do it.

Recipe: NYT Cooking

So easy. So fast. So delicious. Don't skip the egg.

Recipe: Recipe Tin Eats

Mango plays so well with savory proteins that it's hard to screw up, but the spicy mayo is the part that really sends this one home.

Recipe: The Tasty Chilli

If you've got time to get this going in the slow-cooker the night before, even better. If not, Trader Joe's has a pretty decent pre-cooked BBQ pork option.

Recipe: Allrecipes

So homey, so comforting, and most importantly, so filling. A rainy day is beggin' for this one.

Recipe: Two Peas & Their Pod

All you need is peanut butter, people.

Recipe: Half Baked Harvest

Skip the nasty frozen patty and get your own black bean burger going. They caramelize oh so well in the pan.

Recipe: Sally’s Baking Recipes

Lemon, garlic, white wine, and olive oil are a hell of a combo. No pasta shape you've got in the cupboard will argue against them.

Recipe: The Recipe Critic

Whether it's the week after Thanksgiving or not, the turkey-cranberry sandwich always feels like a great choice.  

Recipe: The Hopeless Housewife

This has broccoli, which means it's healthy. Any questions?

Recipe: Love & Lemons

Any great toast starts with great bread. Slice yourself something thick from a fresh loaf for this one.

Recipe: Cook For Your Life

If you can nail the peanut sauce on this classic Thai appetizer, you're in business.

Recipe: Recipe Tin Eats

Why do peppers and eggplants get all the stuffed attention? Zucchini is a great gourd and it's ready to be stuffed.

Recipe: Dinner at the Zoo

Gnocchi works in about a million ways, but with pesto? That just might be the best.

Recipe: Salt & Lavender

This is best eaten hot, so if you work from home, keep this in your rotation.

Recipe: The First Mess

No matter what your feelings on kale are, it can't be argued that kale's cavernous body soaks up the flavors of a soup beautifully. 

Recipe: Wholesome Yum

Fry it. Smoke it. Slow-cook it. As long as you drench it in sauce, you're in line for a great barbecue tofu sandwich.

Recipe: Feasting at Home

You can take this in the direction of a rice bowl or a casserole. Either way, you're gonna love this one.

Recipe: Jo Cooks

An aromatic bowl of soup full of garlicky pot-stickers is comfort food at its finest. Frozen dumplings will do just fine.

Recipe: Gimme Some Oven

You can take this in the all-day slow cooker route, or you can do a quickie on the stove. Serve it with cornbread, if you've got any.

Recipe: The Vegan 8

If cheesy chicken and broccoli are on the brain but you've got no rice, don't fret: The combo works flawlessly in pasta, too.

Recipe: Tastes Lovely

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