Quick and easy at-home lunch ideas (that aren't sandwiches)
It’s no easy feat to come up with a new meal to have for dinner every evening.
Now, with many people working from home as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, lunches have been thrown into the mix, too.
If you don’t want to fall into the trap of having the same old thing everyday, these much-loved (and easy) lunch recipes are just what you need.
And, there’s not a sandwich in sight.
The Body Coach prawn and chorizo stir fry
The Body Coach shared his prawn and chorizo stir fry recipe with his 3 million followers and it went straight into our working-from-home-lunch-ideas folder.
A stir fry is a notoriously easy dish to whip together and this one contains everything you need to have a productive afternoon.
In the video, Joe Wickes explains how to re-create the dish: “Fry some chorizo, sliced onion, slices of courgette, chilli, sliced peppers, cooked prawns, fresh coriander, splash of soy sauce, little squirt of sriracha sauce, add some noodles, give it a good shake, top with spring onions.”
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Rukmini Iyer’s quick-roasted tenderstem with harissa, goats cheese and toasted almonds
Rukmini Iyer is the genius inventor of The Roasting Tin, a cook book that shares a selection of one-tin recipes.
This easy meal has been described as Iyer herself as “mood-boosting” and “healthy-ish”. We’ll take it.
“Get your Tenderstem and dunk it in a bowl of boiling water for two minutes. Drain well, then dry it off a bit with a tea towel and tip into a roasting tin with 2 heaped teaspoons harissa paste, and a pinch of sea salt.
“Transfer to a preheated oven (180C fan/200C) for 20-25 minutes until done to your preferred level of crispness. When the broccoli has five minutes left, pop a tray of flaked almonds in the oven alongside to toast.
Dress the broccoli with a little lemon juice and olive oil, scatter with thickly crumbled goats cheese, and top with the flaked almonds. Serve with some good bread or couscous.” She explains.
Lala’s Plate salmon and egg nourish bowl
There’s something very satisfying about a nice big, colourful bowl of food, especially if you’re feeling a bit tired.
This recipe from food Instagrammer, Lala’s Plate, is everything we need for the perfect brunch.
“Heat a small non-stick fry pan over medium heat. Crack your egg into the fry pan and cook as desired. Sauté some baby spinach until slightly wilted.
“Roughly chop cucumber and cherry tomatoes and place into your bowl. Add some smashed avocado, fried egg, sautéed spinach and some smoked salmon. Drizzle with coconut aminos and sprinkle over some hemp & sesame seeds.”
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Arla Eats Mushroom Lentil Barley Walnut Soup
There’s nothing better than a nice, warming soup when you’re working from home.
Batch cooking some homemade soup is a great idea, because then you can keep enjoying it throughout the whole week.
This recipe takes a total of 30 minutes and Alra Eats explains exactly how to make it: “1/2 onion, 2-3 garlic cloves, 1 small carrot, diced, 1/2 cup lentils, 1 cup chopped mushrooms, 1 2/3 cup broth (optional) add cooked barley (or your fav grain) (optional) splash of worcestershire.
“Spices: salt + pepper + paprika + harissa + TJs mushroom salt all sprinkled generously. nToppings: green onion + walnuts + yogurt
“1 - Sauteed onion + garlic + carrot + all the spices until cooked through. 2 - Added lentils and broth. Brought to boil, then added mushrooms and simmer for 20 minutes with top on (this will depend on what lentils you have, read the back). 3 - Taste for salt / spices. Blandness = often undersalting. Hard to give salt amounts without knowing what broth you use, salt type, your preference etc.
4 - In the end I added cooked barley because I had it and a little broth to go with it. If uncooked add it with the lentils. 5 - Ate it with bread and topped with yogurt, green onions and WALNUTS! Walnuts are so good in this. Do not skip.”
Sara Haven’s garlic and herb chicken and pasta
We simply couldn’t round up our favourite lunch ideas without including pasta.
Pasta is a staple lunchtime essential and Sara Haven’s delicious recipe not only includes pasta but a herby chicken breast, too. Ideal.
Sara explains how to cook it: “Season chicken breast with garlic powder, dried basil, dried thyme, sea salt & pepper; in a pan, heat 1-2 teaspoons garlic ghee; add chicken and sear for 4-5 minutes, or until slightly brown; flip, cover, and cook an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the center is no longer pink).
“PESTO ZOODLES: toss spiralized zucchini with pesto sauce (I used a homemade walnut-parmesan pesto, but any works) + cherry tomatoes + feta cheese.
“PASTA w/ HERBS & PARMESAN: toss chickpea pasta with olive oil, dried oregano, dried basil, and parmesan.”
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Rational Foodie’s tortilla wraps
We said we wouldn’t mention bread but we made no such promise about wraps.
Wraps are the key to so many cool and exciting lunchtime options, just like this chicken avocado option.
This one is really easy to put together, too. According to the recipe, you’ll need: “wholemeal tortilla wraps, caramelised onion hummus, avocado, spring onions, cucumber, grilled chicken breast and tomato.”
Wraps present a great option to get inventive, too, so why not mix up some of the ingredients and see what you come up with?
