43 Salads You’ll Actually Want to Eat for Lunch

This vegetarian chopped salad — packed with farro, fresh veggies, and hearty chickpeas — gets even better as it sits.

Is there a more quintessential make-ahead lunch than cold pasta salad? This easy pasta salad is one we think you should know by heart.

This easy make-ahead lunch salad is full of hearty chickpeas, marinated artichoke hearts, and juicy tomatoes.

Grapes shouldn’t work in a chicken salad, but they really, really do. Serve this easy chicken salad on a flaky croissant or on top of greens for a quick and tasty lunch.

Cheesy tortellini pockets are tossed with marinated artichokes, fresh veggies, feta cheese, olives, and a lemon vinaigrette.

This make-ahead-friendly salad is packed with crunchy veggies and hearty chickpeas tossed in a garlicky oregano vinaigrette.

This perfect make-ahead salad is bound to become an instant classic. It’s easy to prepare, lasts for days in the fridge, and makes the perfect light lunch over salad greens or in lettuce wraps.

Pasta, fresh mozzarella pearls, juicy tomatoes, and crunchy cucumber are tossed in a basil pesto sauce for a verdant, vibrant salad that makes great lunches throughout the week.

Cowboy pasta salad combines two potluck favorites into the ultimate make-ahead lunch salad.

This star of this crunchy, veggie-packed salad is a tangy Greek-inspired dressing, which doubles as a marinade for the feta cheese and chickpeas.

Gỏi gà (translated to “chicken salad”) couldn’t be simpler. Shredded cabbage and chicken are mixed up with julienned veggies, and it's all tossed in a vinegary dressing cut with sugar and fish sauce. The dish can be made with rotisserie chicken for an easy make-ahead lunch.

This vibrant, no-wilt nutty farro salad, which is packed with buttery olives, peppadew peppers, fresh mozzarella, and more, gets even better as it sits. It's perfect for lunch!

The homemade dressing and juicy strips of chicken are really what make this a hit. You can always swap in your favorite bottled Caesar dressing in place of homemade. If you have a brand of store-bought croutons you really, really love, go ahead and use those.

An easy orzo pasta salad filled with Mediterranean flavors like roasted red peppers, olives, crunchy cucumbers, and feta cheese.

Grilled skirt steak turns a regular Greek salad into a hearty main salad that's full of crunchy veggies and feta cheese in a lemon-oregano vinaigrette.

Tuna salad meets pasta salad in this light and creamy mash-up that's the perfect make-ahead meal for lunch.

An easy pasta salad with cheese tortellini, sun-dried tomatoes, and baby spinach tossed in a balsamic dressing.

This egg salad is creamy, easy to make, and really lets the flavor of the eggs shine through. If you’re starting with hard-boiled eggs, it takes less than 10 minutes to make! Turn it into a sandwich, eat it with crackers, or wrap it up in lettuce leaves.

Juicy tomatoes, cooling cucumbers, feta cheese, crunchy onions, and briny olives all work together to create this classic Greek salad that's perfect for lunch.

With briny feta cheese crumbles, crunchy toasted walnuts, and zippy herbs, this chopped kale salad tastes just like spanakopita, the iconic Greek savory pie.

If you love chicken Caesar salad, you’re going to fall hard for this recipe. Inspired by the beloved salad, tendrils of spiral pasta are partnered with bite-size pieces of juicy chicken breast, crisp romaine, ruby-red tomatoes, buttery croutons, and shards of salty Parm, all tossed together with creamy Caesar dressing.

This quick, almost no-cook lunch salad features couscous, pesto sauce, cherry tomatoes, and mini mozzarella balls.

This easy 20-minute steak salad gets an umami hit from fish sauce, sherry vinegar, and lime juice tossed through a mix of crunchy veg, and is finished with fresh herbs.

This roasted cauliflower salad is the perfect make-ahead lunch, as the kale and cucumbers, tossed with a roasted lemon vinaigrette, only get better with time. And the extra-special touch? A sprinkle of crunchy seed topping of salty-sweet toasted sesame and sunflower seeds.

It’s fast, flavorful, and easy to make — the trifecta of a staple recipe! What sets this apart from all other salads? A trick for shredding rotisserie chicken that delivers the fastest shawarma.

This version of pasta salad utilizes one of our favorite pantry shortcuts: onion soup mix.

This classic Cobb salad recipe hits that sweet spot of just the right ingredients made in the easiest way possible. Cooked chicken breast, blue cheese, hard-boiled eggs, tomato, avocado, and crisp bacon are cut into bite-size pieces and dressed with a classic red wine vinaigrette.

This light and fresh make-ahead lunch salad is packed with fresh herbs, snappy green beans, and a sunny lemon vinaigrette.

A make-ahead friendly lunch recipe for cheese tortellini pasta salad filled with marinated vegetables, salami, cheese, and herbs.

This pasta salad is laced with tiny succulent shrimp, crunchy celery, colorful red onion, bell pepper, juicy cherry tomatoes, and feta cheese. A short pasta with lots of nooks and crannies like fusilli is perfect for pasta salads because it will hold onto the dressing better.

This club sandwich-turned-salad is incredibly fun to make. Stack all of your ingredients on a cutting board and just chop, chop, chop until everything is bite-size. Then, toss it in a creamy vinaigrette with mayo and Dijon mustard (classic sandwich spreads) and you have an easy lunch in 10 minutes.

This salad is equal parts nourishing and nutty, thanks to juicy tomatoes, orzo pasta, fresh veggies, feta cheese, and tahini.

A few hints of sweetness turn this classic curried chicken salad into a winner that you can stuff into bread or eat as lettuce wraps.

This satisfying lunch salad is packed with all the good things from an Italian antipasto spread like salami, marinated vegetables, fresh mozzarella, and olives.

Craving pasta salad? Make this any-season fregola recipe with kale and fresh herb pesto.

Combine hearty chickpeas with a colorful mix of vegetables and tangy vinaigrette for a simple and satisfying make-ahead salad for lunch.

This hearty make-ahead lunch salad has nutty farro, broccoli, smoked almonds, aged cheddar, golden raisins, and dried cranberries, and is served with a quick pickled shallot viniagrette.

A delicious mayonnaise-based shrimp salad that you can serve over toast, on a bed of salad greens, or on a buttered roll for a quick, satisfying lunch.

A vegetarian recipe for Israeli couscous salad filled with hearty chickpeas, tomatoes, herbs, and feta cheese.

Say what you will about boiled chicken breast, but this cold chicken salad with crisp cucumber, ripe mango, and a toasty sweet mustard dressing is greater than the sum of its parts.

Not a fan of mayonnaise? This is the perfect tuna salad for you. It skips the mayo in favor of creamy avocado. Turn it into a sandwich, eat it with crackers, or wrap it up in lettuce leaves.

This hearty, satisfying lunch salad can be made with rice or whatever grain you have in the pantry: nutty farro, millet, quinoa, etc. Orzo or pearl couscous are also great options.