Easy lunch recipes (under 400 calories)

Having a satiating, nutritious lunch is often the key to avoiding snacking throughout the afternoon. Lunch often also falls in the middle of busy days, so it’s easy to opt for a convenient carb-loaded option, like a quick box of sushi or a supermarket meal deal, that will leave your blood sugars soaring. However, these foods often wreak havoc on your blood sugars and leave you hungrier later on. 

If you’re aiming to lose weight or simply improve your overall health, it’s essential to find some easy lunch recipes that are both low in calories and high in nutrition. Here, we’re sharing some of our favourite easy lunch recipes to help get you started.

How to build a healthy lunch

Making a healthy lunch shouldn’t feel overwhelming if you have the right tools and knowledge. To start with, there are a few simple building blocks that should act as the foundations for all of your healthy, easy lunch recipes:

Protein

Often when it comes to lunches, a downfall is not including enough protein. Making sure you eat a good source of protein midday will help keep you full all afternoon, curb cravings later on in the day and keep you well energised until your evening meal. Protein is vitally important for growth and repair, and is the key to healthy weight loss and muscle maintenance. Protein-rich foods to feature in your easy lunch recipes include lean meat, eggs, cottage cheese, or lentils.

Healthy fats

Many of us have wrongly been taught that all fat is the enemy when it comes to weight loss. However, there are plenty of healthy fats that help keep you fuller for longer and can even help with the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins like vitamins E, D, K and A. Healthy fats can be found in extra virgin olive oil, avocados, Greek yoghurt and nuts and seeds which all take minimal prep, so these are all great to add into your easy lunch recipes.

Fibre

We recommend consuming 30g of fibre every day to reap the full health benefits it has to offer, and lunch is a great time of day to prioritise fibrous foods. This essential nutrient is found in the cell walls of fruits, vegetables and wholegrains, and is key to having healthy digestion and a happy gut. Similarly to protein and healthy fats, fibre also helps increase your feelings of fullness, reduce your appetite and ultimately assist with weight loss. Cauliflower, quinoa, beans, carrots and pears are all examples of low calorie fibrous foods to make sure you’re adding into your easy lunch recipes.

Our favourite low-calorie easy lunch recipes

Now you know the building blocks for making a healthy lunch, here are some of our favourite easy lunch recipes that include plenty of those key nutrients:

High Protein Quiche 

10 minutes prep time, 318 calories per serving

This take on a traditional quiche is not only completely delicious, but also keto friendly as it’s low calorie but super high in protein. A whopping 25.9g of protein is provided in each serving while it remains super low in calories as it contains very few carbs. Better still, it’s customisable as you can switch out the spinach for whichever green vegetable takes your fancy.

Low Carb Minestrone Soup

5 minutes prep time, 376 calories per serving

A super easy lunch recipe has got to be a warming soup, as they take just a few minutes to prepare and are ideal for heating up throughout the week. This low carb minestrone is a hearty all-rounder. It provides over half of your daily recommended protein, is keto-friendly and is completely delicious. It might not have the carb-loaded pasta a traditional minestrone has, but it’s topped with melted parmesan which we’d argue is much tastier!

The Fast 800 Shakes

1 minute prep time, 195 calories per serving

We, of course, couldn’t make a list of our favourite easy lunch recipes without including the easiest option of all: supplement shakes. The Fast 800 Shakes are designed to be nutritionally complete meals, packed full of fibre, protein and healthy fats, to fill you up and keep you satisfied. They’re low calorie and, although we always recommend eating real food first, they’re ultra convenient for those busy days when you might otherwise reach for something unhealthy. Simply choose from one of our deliciously sweet flavours, shake with water and enjoy. 

Non-fasting day? Try this Super Greek Salad

10 minutes prep time, 616 calories per serving

You can’t go wrong with a delicious Greek salad for lunch. They’re easy to whip up and full of all the key protein, healthy fats and fibre you need to keep you going all afternoon. Just one portion of this tasty and easy lunch recipe provides 18.4g of protein in just one serving. It’s ideal for pre-preparing ahead of time for a lunch with minimum effort but maximum flavour. 

You really don’t need to spend hours in the kitchen to make a healthy lunch; it can be as simple as throwing together the right ingredients in a matter of minutes if you know how. For the ultimate easy lunch, try our range of Shakes in flavours like chocolate, coffee, banana and salted caramel, here.