Lunch Recipes & Ideas

This is the kind of pasta for those evenings where you find yourself standing in the grocery store without a clue about what to make for dinner that night. Pasta is easy and always a crowd-pleaser, but what kind of sauce are you going to whip up? For that, head straight to the antipasti bar. That display of mixed olives and marinated veggies is an incredible resource when it comes to assembling dinner. Some items are dressed in herb-packed oil, while others are nestled with garlic or onions.

This one-bowl recipe will become a summer favorite.

Bell peppers can be stuffed with just about anything, but this version is protein-packed, gluten-free, and even vegan … if you want to omit the cheese. The filling — made with canned black beans, corn, and quinoa — gets cooked with Southwestern spices, and is right at home inside sweet, slow-roasted summer bell peppers.

This sandwich, a classic of southern France, is perfect picnic fare. It’s a Niçoise salad in a sandwich that wants — nay, needs — to be made in advance, so the bread soaks up the delicious flavors. Since this recipe is practically a salad in a sandwich, try to track down the freshest, most vibrant produce you can. It’s worth the hunt through the farmers market to find onions that make you swoon, leafy parsley, and green beans fresh from the garden.

This recipe epitomizes summer comfort food. With two cups of fresh corn kernels, creamy, salty feta (Bulgarian or French, if we’re getting very specific), and the mix of basil and red pepper flakes, this mac and cheese is rich, cozy, and devastatingly easy to make. Basil, corn, and red pepper flakes are three flavors I try to pair together as often as possible during the summer.

If you’re looking for more ways to enjoy the flavors of caprese salad, make this quiche your next stop. To avoid a watery final product, we’re saving the tomatoes for the every end by topping this mozzarella- and basil-filled quiche with a juicy tomato salad. Rather than relying on pesto, we’re going back to the source and piling this quiche full of fresh basil.

Homemade deep-dish pizza is something of a commitment and hardly one you’re likely to make on a weeknight. But we like the idea of a pizza casserole and have found the muffin tin puts a weeknight-friendly spin on the concept, producing single-serve deep-dish pizzas that are a breeze to put together. Just like the original deep-dish pizza, these mini versions also have a soft, doughy crust piled high with a thick layer of melted cheese, sauce, and your toppings of choice.

What makes this new take on tomato toast different is the magic of chunky slices of ripe tomatoes that sit right on the cusp of sweet and savory, between fruit and vegetable. A pinch of salt brings out their juiciness, honey highlights their sweetness, and the nuttiness of whole-grain bread grounds the sandwich with a hearty foundation. Every ingredient supports those fat slices of tomatoes. And it all comes together in just a minute. We all have our favorite tomatoes sandwiches.

Grilled cheese with fresh tomato always seems like a really satisfying sandwich — until you sit down and eat one, that is. The problem is that melty cheese and wet tomatoes make for a very unstable sandwich. By making an open-faced grilled cheese and adding fresh tomatoes that have been patted dry, we can avoid many of the pitfalls that plague what should be a perfect pair. This sandwich is a little bit more involved than your classic grilled cheese.

While this soup tastes like the balmy days of August, it has the power to instantly warm you up. It’s brothy and light, but a spicy kick from red pepper flakes gives you the heat you need on these cold winter nights. This brothy soup has the power to bring you back to summer — with all the tomato and basil goodness you know you and love — yet it’s fit for cooler days, thanks to tomato paste and a healthy dose of red pepper flakes.

What’s better than a steaming bowl of rice or quinoa, tossed with vegetables and a bit of chicken? Grain bowls are the one-bowl meals that have it all — whole grains, veggies, and protein — and feel both wholesome and satisfying at the same time. But this time of year a hot bowl of quinoa isn’t what you want in your mouth. All this heat and humidity calls for something just as practical, but a lot cooler: the cold noodle bowl.

For the uninitiated, falafel is a simple fritter of ground chickpeas, filled with garlic and herbs and fried into a glorious revelation of inexpensive, filling food. We typically eat falafel wrapped in a pita and topped with the usual suspects of cucumber-yogurt sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, and sometimes olives, but when the falafel itself is this good, you’ll be tempted to eat it straight-up with just a dip of yogurt.

Think vegan quiche isn’t possible? Thanks to the power of chickpeas, it is — and it’s delicious. Without the milk and eggs, this sweet potato- and spinach-flecked quiche still manages to be custardy and rich — and because there is no crust to worry about it, it couldn’t be easier to throw together.

One of the best things about fall is the return of soup season. There are few things more comforting on a chilly evening than a warm bowl of soup (and preferably some crusty bread to go along with it). And soups are the ultimate weeknight meal. Why? Some are ultra-quick for post-work cooking; others simmer all day and wait for you in the slow cooker. But regardless of how long they take to cook, nearly every soup is wonderful made ahead.

If there was ever a surefire way to win Friendsgiving (or make your Thanksgiving leftovers feel more exciting), threading your Thanksgiving dinner onto a stick is the way to do it. It’s quirky, it’s fun, and it’s a total crowd-pleaser.

A combination of cornmeal and flour make a tender crumbed cornbread with a thin, crispy crust from baking in a cast iron skillet.

When what you’re after is the ultimate edible gift that will win hearts (and stomachs), it’s time to go straight to nostalgic comfort food. Assembled in a tall jar, this DIY instant mac and cheese goes way beyond anything you’ll find in a box, and cooks up into an ultra-creamy dinner to feed the whole table. Mac and cheese in a jar is about more than sharing an irresistible comfort food with those you love — it’s about giving the gift of convenience.

It’s wonderful that you decided to host New Year’s Day brunch this year, but maybe you’re starting to resent the thought of having to get up at the crack of dawn (or perhaps never even going to sleep!) on New Year’s Day to pull it off? Well, with a little planning ahead, you can host a crowd and still get your beauty sleep!

If summer is a season full of discovery, color, and unexpected flavors, winter can feel like a parade of nearly identical gnarled roots and fibrous greens. To combat culinary monotony, I rely on two strategies: Buy all the citrus, and splurge on fresh herbs. From grapefruit to mandarins, a vivid tropical fruit is soul-soothing. As for the herbs, I find they’re a nice way to play up otherwise repetitive flavors and make cold weather recipes sing.

Looking for a snack that fills you up and fuels you well? The humble hard-boiled egg is a small powerhouse of nutrition, but easily overlooked. We’re upgrading the boiled egg in 10 sexy, spicy, flavor-jammed ways for better snacking. A sliced hard-boiled egg is the smart, make-ahead ingredient that turns a cheesy quesadilla from simple snack into a more filling lunch or quick weeknight dinner.

Most people know pho as a brothy noodle soup, but it can be more than that. Once you become hooked on making and eating the soup, you may wonder what else you can do to create a pho imprint and pho experience. Vietnamese chicken pho shops often use the broth for cooking a special rice dish. That idea led me to ponder the possibility of a pho fried rice. Sure, the name is fun to say, but could I make the rice pho-ish?

There are many reasons to seek out the tacos at Tacos Oscar, a roving taqueria run by Oscar Michel and Jake Weiss. Any great taco begins with the tortillas, and here they are handmade and pressed to order. The two former line cooks from Oakland’s Boot & Shoe Service also excel at fillings, which run the gamut from more traditional options like carnitas to less conventional combinations like Peruvian bean, nopal salad, roasted tomato salsa, cotija, and queso fresco.

I used to use quesadillas as a vessel for leftover chicken — usually the leftover bits of a whole roasted bird from earlier in the week. This recipe, though, was the impetus for cooking chicken for the sole purpose of making quesadillas, and now I’m dedicated to the concept. The cilantro-lime chicken thighs are excellent in their own right, but they’re even better teamed up with buttery, flaky tortillas and melty Monterey Jack cheese.

When you’re looking to add a little protein to your bowl of mac and cheese, things like shredded chicken or ground beef will do the job well, but so will something that’s a little more surprising — and arguably even more flavorful. Try a new protein on for size in the form of oil-packed tuna and consider your bowl of mac and cheese forever changed. There are a whole lot of cans of tuna out there, but we love oil-packed tins the best.

Roasted broccoli is a dinner staple in our household. It’s one of the easiest ways to get some greens on our plates — especially on those nights when our dinner timeline is particularly tight. I can grab a bag or two of frozen broccoli and we can eat as we normally do, but with a fraction of the prep. Since we eat it so regularly, I’ve tried plenty of variations on roasted broccoli. To date, this sesame-ginger roasted broccoli is my family’s favorite.

In this wholesome take on a Tex-Mex taco salad, shredded kale is tossed with hearty black beans and crisp veggies, and softened by a creamy yogurt and cilantro dressing. And of course, no taco salad would be complete without crunchy tortillas and plenty of shredded cheddar. So if you’re looking for a more exciting way to get your fill of kale, this is it! Kale doesn’t really have time for tepid dressings and hesitant handling.

Remember those sun-dried tomatoes lurking in the back of your pantry? Isn’t there a hunk of goat cheese somewhere in the fridge? Now’s the time to grab both of those ingredients because together they make this creamy, dreamy weeknight pasta that’s proudly all frills and no fuss. The highlight of this recipe is the creamy sauce that comes together almost instantly, thanks to soft goat cheese.

Hearty and vegan? Is it possible? Yes, of course! We pulled recipes from a few vegan cookbooks hitting the market this year and asked one of our food photographers and stylists, Maria Siriano, who happens to be vegan, for her thoughts on the recipes. For this recipe, we turned the tables on Maria and asked her to share her favorite hearty vegan recipe. We love that she opted for tempeh.

If you had any questions about what to make for dinner tonight, consider them answered. This recipe takes sirloin steak, one of the best cuts of meat for your budget, and transforms it into the hearty filling for this dinner-ready sandwich. Stuffed into an onion bun and stacked high with tangy quick-pickled onions, an ultra-luxe spread, and peppery arugula, it’s our new favorite way to serve steak for dinner.

With Easter just behind us, we have eggs on the brain — specifically soy sauce (shoyu) eggs. These delicious, salty, umami-rich soft-cooked eggs are traditionally used as a garnish for ramen, served cut in half so their beautiful, just barely set yolks are revealed. They make all manner of things — including grain bowls and porridge — more delicious. They’re pretty divine on their own, too, as a satisfying high-protein snack. These Japanese eggs are easy.

With tender chickpeas swimming in an earthy oregano- and garlic-spiked tomato sauce and topped with plenty of melty feta cheese, you’ll want plenty of good, crusty bread on hand for this comforting meatless main — it’s one of those swipe-the-bowl-clean affairs. Need more convincing to make this tonight? The recipe is only a notch more involved than cracking open a can of beans from the back of the pantry and calling it dinner.

Imagine, if you will, fresh Gulf shrimp, juicy and aromatic with coriander and lime, combined with all the pickled goodness of a bánh mì sandwich, slathered with a spicy-sweet mayonnaise and enveloped in a po’ boy bun. This is the Vietnamese-inspired po’ boy that we fell in love with in New Orleans’ French Quarter and the one we’re sharing here today.

This noodle bowl has chewy soba noodles, crispy cucumbers, and tender baby kale all tossed in a garlicky, savory sauce built from easy-to-find Asian sauces and condiments.

You know that totally victorious feeling that comes from packing a lunch you actually look forward to eating, not just once, but a few times a week? Of course you do. Well, making it happen regularly can be easier than you think. The secret to success lies in your Sunday meal prep. From a versatile batch of roasted veggies to protein-packed staples like hard-boiled eggs, beans, and more, these are the 10 things to tackle on Sunday for better lunches all week long.

You probably feel like you need a vacation right now — don’t we all? Well, how about Greece? Yes, sure, it’s a Tuesday and you have work tomorrow, but let’s go anyway. A flight tonight is probably out of the question, so escape to Greece via your kitchen instead, for an inspired dinner that will have everyone around the table cheering. Just keep a close eye on the plates. If you think you need a whole pantry of new ingredients to make your escape, you’re mistaken.

The ultimate French sandwich gets the ultimate cheesy makeover.

Who doesn’t love dinner in just one bowl? We have a vegetarian spectacular for you today, one that looks fancy as all get-out, but hello! It only takes 30 minutes to make, and it’s gilded with a sauce of tahini and golden turmeric that’s as easy as open sesame! This bowl is perfect as a weeknight meal because it is endlessly adaptable.

In my never-ending quest to get my children to eat more green vegetables, I discovered the best broccoli sub sandwich that not only works as a quick and easy vegetarian dinner option, but also works as a tasty sub to serve at parties. Garlicky roasted broccoli is already a dinner staple that my kids love. Partnering it with tangy feta cheese, a special sauce (read: doctored-up mayo), and crunchy fried onions, this staple becomes more than just broccoli on a sub roll.

Take this as advice from someone who dares to bring salad to a pizza and ice cream party: Your next party needs this stunning salad, because it satisfies everyone’s craving for something green on their plate while being darn delicious too. It includes everything you expect from a spring salad, like tender baby kale and arugula, fresh blueberries, salty pistachios, briny feta cheese, and hello, edible flowers!

If you’re looking to take your macaroni salad game up just a notch, look no further than one of my favorite ready-to-eat ingredients: smoked trout. When smoke is added to this mild-mannered fish, exciting things happen to everything it’s served with, including good ol’ fashioned creamy macaroni salad. Throw in a few handfuls of crunchy celery, tart apple, and some chives for good measure, and you’ve got the next backyard potluck, barbecue, or picnic covered.

I have to be honest — I never quite understood what all the fuss was about when it came to classic chopped salad. It doesn’t excite me. This version, however, is in a league all its own with tender chunks of BBQ chicken, crisp fresh corn, crunchy cabbage, and a tangy ranch dressing that ties it all together. It’s packed with flavor, makes enough to serve a crowd, and is definitely worth making a fuss about.

Take this salad to a potluck and it will be the talk of the table. It has the familiarity of a classic Cobb salad, balancing the leafy greens and tomatoes with can’t-miss ingredients like crispy bacon, hard-boiled eggs, blue cheese, and a zippy red wine vinaigrette, along with a fun twist that keeps it feeling fresh. I like to consider it the trifle of the salad world.

Even though my husband is totally on board with including “salad night” in our meal plan, he still approaches it with a very skeptical eye. His worry is that salad for dinner isn’t going to be filling enough — even though it always is! To convince him once and for all, I combined a super-fresh panzanella with strips of seared, juicy flank steak.

Don't be surprised if this breakfast salad changes your life.

When summer is in full swing, it can be hard to even think about turning on the oven or stove. This is especially true at noon, when the sun is at its hottest and, let’s be honest, you’d rather be outside with an ice-cold beverage or inside feeling thankful for air conditioning. Luckily, there’s no reason to sweat it out and cook. There are a slew of tasty and easy recipes that forgo appliances.

Minimal cooking, big reward.

Now that the summer farmers market season is in full swing, I know I can count on a steady stream of ripe seasonal produce and fresh herbs to make a roster of salads that are anything but boring. Full of a robust assortment of the freshest veggies, strips of juicy chicken, and tossed with a bright, herby pesto, this no-lettuce summer salad comes together with a single trip to the farmers market.

During the summer, the best time for pizza night is whatever day you hit the farmers market. Whether you shop with a plan or simply buy whatever looks good in the moment, this template teaches you how to transform your haul of fresh veggies and herbs into an irresistible pizza that tastes like summer. It will be cheesy and indulgent, thanks to a layer of herby ricotta and stringy mozzarella, and balanced with a mess of fresh toppings.

If you’re a fan of tuna melts, you’ll love this fun twist on the classic sandwich. Instead of building the melt on bread, this recipe subs in roasted sweet potato rounds! It’s still the same protein-packed lunch you love, just with a little extra veggie power. First you’ll need to roast the sweet potato rounds on a parchment-lined baking sheet. While that’s happening, you can make your tuna salad and get all the toppings prepped.

Why is it that salads almost always taste better at restaurants? Among other reasons, there’s a level of complexity to them that we don’t typically get at home. This cauliflower salad is proof. It comes to us from Chef Christopher Gould at Central Provisions, a James Beard Award Best New Restaurant finalist in Portland, Maine, with inventive small plates and craft cocktails.

For me, a trip to Maine is never complete without eating a lobster roll. I typically prefer the classic Maine style — big chunks of meat tossed with just a touch of mayo, piled into a squishy hot dog bun — but I’m always game to try a spin on the traditional roll. That’s where Eventide Oyster Co. in Portland, Maine, comes in. They toss the lobster meat in brown butter, which entirely changes the game.

Chia seeds are packed with protein, fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids and, with just liquid and time to sit, they turn the consistency of pudding. It’s pretty magical and very versatile — and excellent for lunch. Making chia pudding can be as easy as combining seeds and some liquid, usually a plant-based milk.

Seattle isn’t known as a pizza town. But Delancey, the Seattle pizza mecca owned by Brandon Pettit and Molly Wizenberg (of Orangette fame), is simultaneously a regular neighborhood pizza joint and a top destination for the world’s fooderati. Go for the thin-crust pies wood-fired to a bubbly crisp, but don’t forget the rest of the menu.