We would reach a point where we didn’t know what to pack for lunch. We might know several recipes, but even a wide array of cooking knowledge could sometimes run out. This list may not be much, but you can add these four hot lunch ideas for schools and office meals you can pack for your kids and spouse.
What to Pack for Lunch: BLT Skillet
Everybody loves a good BLT. Still, you can’t make one of these sandwiches fresh every day—plus, the tomato is bound to soak into the bread if you try to pack one to eat for later. To get around those constraints, why not reimagine the recipe?
This BLT packs all the same flavor as your favorite sandwich; all made more portable. Here’s how you do it:
Ingredients:
- 4 ounces of uncooked wheat linguine
- 4 bacon strips, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 plum tomato, cubed
- 1 clove of minced garlic
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
- 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan
- 1 tablespoon of minced parsley
Steps:
1. Cook your linguine according to the package.
2. In a skillet, cook your bacon until it turns crisp before draining it on paper towels and saving one teaspoon of fat.
3. Use the bacon fat to sauté your tomato and garlic for one to two minutes.
4. Stir in the bacon, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
5. Drain your linguine and add to the skillet as well.
6. Sprinkle in cheese and parsley, tossing it all to coat.
Tangy Egg Salad with Onion
Although we’ve all had egg salad, the specifics of the recipe you use can add a lot to the final flavor.
Even though this recipe is so easy to make and tastes delicious, we don’t always think to take the extra time to prepare it.
Regardless, once you try this dish, you’ll want to make it for lunch again and again. Here’s how you do it:
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon of salt
- 1/8 teaspoon of pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon of lemon juice
- 3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
- 1 tablespoon of minced green onion
- diced tomato (optional)
Steps:
1. Mix your mayo, mustard, salt, pepper, and lemon juice in a bowl.
2. Add your chopped eggs and green onions, stirring everything together.
3. Add tomato on top if you wish and serve as a sandwich or on its own!
Buffalo Chicken Sloppy Joe
Sloppy Joes can be a tasty and easy recipe to make when we’re feeling lazy.
Still, their main recipe can get a little bit boring at times. To avoid that, why not mix up the ingredients? This buffalo-style Sloppy Joe dish will surely add a little excitement to this recipe—and it tastes absolutely delicious.
Here’s how you do it:
Ingredients:
- 1 pound of lean ground chicken or turkey
- 1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
- 2 diced carrots
- 2 stalks of celery, diced
- 2 minced cloves of garlic
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1/4 cup of chicken broth
- 1 8-ounce can of tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup of buffalo sauce
- 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
- hamburger buns
Sauce:
- 1 cup of non-fat Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup of crumbled blue cheese
- 3 tablespoons of buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon of parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon of dill
- 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon of onion powder
- salt
- pepper
Steps:
1. Add oil to a skillet and sauté your onion, carrots, and celery for about three minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute.
2. Add your ground chicken or turkey and break it up with a wooden spoon. Add salt and pepper.
3. Cook all the pink out of the meat before adding chicken broth, scraping the bottom of the skillet.
4. Get out a small bowl and mix tomato sauce, buffalo sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and apple cider vinegar.
5. Pour that sauce over the chicken and veggies and stir until it’s evenly coated.
6. Turn the heat down and simmer it for five minutes.
7. To make the sauce, mix your Greek yogurt and blue cheese. Mash it together with a fork.
8. Add your buttermilk and the rest of your ingredients, stirring everything up and pouring it over the sloppy joes.
Soba Noodle Pork Salad
This one is particularly special. Although everything is easy enough to combine, the taste is just as good as something you might get at a high-end Japanese restaurant.
If you’re looking for something more exciting to eat for lunch, this cold soba noodle recipe will do the trick. Here’s how you do it:
Ingredients:
- 6 ounces of soba noodles
- 1 1/2 cups of sliced sugar snap peas
- 2 1/2 tablespoons of lime juice
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons of sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon of sambal oelek
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 cup of sliced radishes
- 1/4 cup of chopped mint
Steps:
1. Start by cooking your soba noodles according to the package instructions.
2. Add your sliced snap peas a minute before the noodles are cooked.
3. Drain the noodles and rinse them in cold water, draining them again.
4. Mix your lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, sambal oelek, and salt in a side bowl.
5. Add your noodles, radishes, mint, and chopped pork, tossing it all to combine.
Takeaway
Now you have four additional ideas on what to pack for lunch. The best thing about these hot lunch ideas is that they are healthy, too, so you wouldn’t think twice about packing them for your kids or spouse, who might be on a strict diet.
Sources: Taste of Home, Brit + Co, My Recipes