Lunch

It gets even better with time.

Here's how to stay full while sticking to your goals.

You've got this!

Welcome to Snapshot Cooking, the home of Kitchn’s easiest recipes. These mini recipes are so simple you can practically cook from the before-and-after snapshot itself.My kids are more likely to eat their packed lunches if there’s some sort of DIY component involved — and frankly I am too. It’s much more fun to get to assemble a pepperoni pizza or a shredded chicken taco than open up a lunch box to find a sad and soggy sandwich.

The easiest, tastiest way to eat a bunch of snacks for lunch.

We asked some of our favorite foodie parents what school lunch looks like for their kids from first grade through high school.

We'll help you stay organized, save time, and keep lunches delicious — and safe.

I think we all need to hear this.

Despite good intentions, planning ahead for lunch has always been the biggest pain in my meal planning routine. And while there is no magic solution that makes this task happen on its own, there are some smart and practical tips that make packing lunch feel easier and more manageable. Your cutting board and knife are already out, and you’re already dirtying some dishes, so why not make the most of your efforts?

I’ve never been great at the whole lunch thing. I rarely have the foresight to prep things in advance, and buying lunch every day can really add up. So more often than not, I snack. A little bit of this and little bit of that becomes my surprisingly satisfying midday meal, with bonus points that I can assemble everything quickly — with little-to-no actual cooking. Here’s how I build my snack-box lunch.

Got a little eater? Fill 'em up with these smart and delicious lunch box ideas.

Spoiler alert: The perfect school lunch doesn’t actually exist. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to making sure our kids are well-fed at school. What works for one kindergartener doesn’t also work for a preschooler and a third-grader. I’ve been packing school lunch for my now first-grader for six years, ever since she started preschool as a toddler.

If you’re looking for a packable snack that’s actually going to keep you full throughout the morning or afternoon, can be made in advance, and travels well, one of the best options is a hard-boiled egg. If you’re not already doing it, add a batch of hard-boiled eggs to your meal prep routine. When stored properly, they can easily last for the whole week ahead. Here’s how to do it.

Packing my daughter’s lunch is certainly a chore, and sometimes a straight-up struggle. Trying to keep that lunch bag filled with nutritious foods that she will actually eat — especially for a girl who doesn’t want to eat the same thing every day — is a continuing challenge. Then beyond that, I worry about food safety.

Getting into our back-to-school routine also means packing school lunches once again. And being a busy parent means that we each have to find little pockets of time for chores like laundry and, yes, lunch packing. We asked 10 multitasking mamas for their best tips to make lunch-packing faster, easier, and maybe a little bit more enjoyable. I always make it a point to pack the night before.

Packing 180 school lunch boxes every year can get old, fast. The easier the better, am I right? If you’re looking to fill kids’ lunch boxes with more nutritious and filling foods, you’ve landed in just the right place. These lunch boxes are geared towards elementary and middle school kiddos who eat pretty independently but still need plenty of protein to fuel their school days. The best part? Most of these ideas would satisfy hungry adults, too.

Make-ahead Whole30 meals that are anything but boring.

If you don't have access to a fridge for your lunch and aren't quite sure what to pack, this is the place to start!

Get ready, fellow lunch packers! Your bento boxes are about to be bursting with vibrant veggies and creative meat-free mains. Whether you follow a vegetarian diet full-time or are simply interested in cutting meat from your midday meal, these veg-heavy boxes are sure to satisfy.

High-fat, low-carb meals you'll love.

Unlike dinner, making my work lunch isn’t a task that’s always prioritized. The result? I cobble something together at the last minute, and while it’s passable when noon rolls around it leaves a whole lot to be desired. I’m on a mission to change that, and I’d like to think I’m off to a good start. The most important thing I’ve learned is that perking up your work lunch doesn’t have to take a whole lot of time, effort, or extra money.

When it comes to packing a quick and easy work lunch in advance, I find sandwiches are one of the best options. Sure, there’s an art to choosing the right ingredient combo, but the real key is knowing how to make a sandwich that’s just as good at lunch as it was when you assembled it (read: avoiding the dreaded soggy bread!). These seven tips will help you prevent soggy sandwiches for good.

Depending on where you are in the country, the new school year is either underway or fast approaching. My own first grader is headed back to school next week. It has been a whole year since I’ve regularly packed her lunch box (she had half-day kindergarten last year), so getting back into our school lunch groove has involved dusting off the lunch bags, shopping for a few new supplies, and talking about school lunch.

Lunches that hit your nutritional goals, but won't leave you with the munchies!

I’ve made a pretty big effort to bring my lunch to work this year. Not only am I saving a ton of money (those $12 New York salads add up!), but I also feel like I’m eating a little healthier. What I’ve learned is that meal planning and prepping is a lot of work. First you have to find the recipe that speaks to you, then you have to actually grocery shop and make the damn thing.

How each parent defines a “better lunch” is different. For some, it might mean more healthful food choices (or even just a little weekly variety); for others, it might simply mean something that doesn’t come back home at 3 p.m. Whether you’re looking to get calories in, expand your kids’ palates, or make lunch-making less boring for yourself, there’s always room for new ideas.

Making lunch for the day is often one of the first things to be cut from the morning's mile-long to-do list. But 2019 is the year that changes.

Let’s be honest here — packing lunches for your kids can feel like a chore. It’s definitely easier to hand your child a few bucks for the day, let them buy lunch, and be done with it. But at the same time, I like knowing what my kids are eating; when they bring lunch from home, I feel like they are getting something healthier and are more likely to eat it.

School day mornings are much more hectic than I could have ever imagined. Between getting everyone dressed and bags and lunch boxes packed, it feels almost impossible to get breakfast on the table too. For those mornings when we can’t get it together before the ride to school, here are a few tips for making school mornings easier with breakfasts that can be eaten at the bus stop.

If you’re following a Paleo diet or doing a Whole30, chances are I don’t have to sell you on this dietary approach that prioritizes eating and cooking whole, unprocessed, nutrient-dense foods like veggies, fruits, grass-fed and pastured meats and eggs, and wild-caught seafood. Because you feel pretty awesome, right? There’s one downside, though, and you’ve probably experienced it too: lunch is kind of a pain.

Working from home means that theoretically I could make all my meals from scratch whenever hunger strikes, but the reality is that I often stare at my computer for super-long stretches of time until I realize I haven’t eaten in hours and need to scarf something down, usually hunched over at the counter, before my next meeting. It’s super glamorous!

Make lunch-packing less stressful and more fun with these seven tips.

For anyone who believes no lunch salad is complete without chicken, this is the salad kit you need to put together right now. It’s inspired by a classic BLT sandwich and paired with seared, sliced chicken and a tangy yogurt ranch dressing on the side. Pull together the components for this salad when you’re meal prepping for the week and pack it up in a divided lunch box to keep each ingredient fresh.

If your regular salad order skews toward a bowl of greens tossed with shrimp and a medley of chili-spiced ingredients for punchy Southwestern flare, this is the DIY salad kit to keep in your lunch rotation. And we’ve got a couple smart grocery store shortcuts help it come together fast. A good source of protein is an essential element in any salad that serves as a meal. It’s what helps to fill you up and keep you full.

Because some days, you just gotta have grilled cheese.

I think we can all agree that the lunch struggle is real and it can feel totally overwhelming when you’re at a loss for what to pack. When it comes to packing a totally tasty lunch that you look forward to tucking into midday, I truly believe it’s all a matter of inspiration. Sure, recipes help, but getting some good visual inspiration is a surefire way to jumpstart your meal prep process. Here are 10 photos that will get the ball rolling and help you pack a better lunch.

It’s incredible. It’s edible. And it’s an amazing powerhouse of protein that fits almost any budget. It is, of course, the egg. And since I learned how to hard-cook eggs in my pressure cooker, well, they are an ever-present constant in my fridge as well as on my menu. Hard-cooked eggs make a great snack, are incredibly portable, and can make lunch into something special without much effort at all.

Raise your hand if you have a lunch box or a tote that you use for packing lunches (either for you or your kids). We thought so. Yet you still probably have a pack of brown paper bags in your kitchen, right? You should! These things are pretty handy. Not only can use them to make your own puppets on a rainy day, but you can also use them for a slew of other things in the kitchen and around the house. Here are five of our favorite non-lunch-related uses for brown paper bags.

If you made a commitment to bring your lunch to work or school more often, the first step to success is mastering the art of meal prep. By cooking a big batch of food all at once and portioning it out for the week ahead, you won’t be tempted to order takeout once noon rolls around. Not sure where to start? Try these easy chicken and rice bowls. This recipe makes six servings and comes together in 30 minutes. Does it get any better than that? Start by cooking the rice on the stovetop.

When I transitioned to working from an office to mostly working at home, I thought my weekday lunches would instantly improve — I’d be able to make something nice out of my own kitchen every day, right? Not quite. Regardless of the environment you work in, lunch is a challenge. There are far too many things vying for your attention at noon Monday through Friday, which makes enjoying the midday meal not exactly easy.

Here at Kitchn, we’ve been talking a lot about the idea of the six-minute lunch. The logic is simple, of course: No one has time to spare in the mornings (because mornings are hard!), and lunch is sometimes the last thing we’re thinking about as we’re wasting precious seconds (okay, minutes) hunting down our keys. But we all deserve more than a handful of pretzels between afternoon meetings.

Eggs are good for you, but let's stop and talk about how luxurious they are. These five recipes show off the glamorous side of these yolky delights.

Just because you have to eat lunch at your desk doesn’t mean it has to be a #saddesklunch. In fact, you can make it a fun and happy one! Here’s how. If you’re eating the same leftovers for the fifth day in a row or you packed something that’s so boring, you can’t even remember what it is, chances are, you’re not going to want to eat it. Pack yourself a lunch that you’re actually excited to eat and the meal will feel a little bit more special.

In a perfect world, we’d all pack healthy, filling, satisfying meals for the office every day. But that’s easier said than done. Maybe you spent the weekend taking care of chores and didn’t have any time for meal planning. Or maybe (hopefully!) you had way too much fun this weekend and didn’t do any chores, let alone think about what you were going to eat for lunch. The good news is that on the days when you have to buy your lunch, you don’t have to break the bank.

Regardless of whether you love a smoothie bowl or think that this tasty trend should end, tucking into a nourishing bowl of something other than cold cereal or warm oatmeal is sometimes just the thing you need to start your day off right. Enter: the hearty fruit salad. Think of this as a grain bowl meets fruit salad, with enough whole grains and fresh fruit to keep you full until lunch and a punchy vinaigrette gilding the whole thing.

Are you on team snack board yet? These budget-friendly dinners are a great tool to have on hand for a simple, stress-free meal at home shamelessly made of nothing but snacks. Building them isn’t hard, and there aren’t any rules, but there are a few mistakes to avoid to ensure success. Here’s what to always keep in mind when you’re assembling a snack board of your own. Once again, snack boards are supposed to be stress-free.

The whole point of a snack board is to keep it extra simple and extra fuss-free, but that doesn’t mean you can’t give yours a little upgrade now and then. Add one or two of these ingredients — they are on the fancier side, but easy enough to find — to your snack board to jazz it up without even trying.

A custardy quiche will never go out of style. While a homemade one can’t be beat, lean on a store-bought quiche to save time and energy when you need a shortcut. Make your store-bought crust even better, and even closer to homemade, with these five quick and easy upgrades. A cold quiche is a sad quiche. Those custardy innards don’t taste like much when cold. Serve a store-bought quiche at least at room temperature or, even better, warmed from the oven.

If you tend to go for savory over sweet and like to spice things up, this is the two-ingredient muffin upgrade for you. We’re starting with our basic muffin recipe and giving it a savory, cheesy spin and a tangy kick from pickled jalapeños. Using canned peppers gives these muffins a tamer heat, not to mention makes them a pantry-friendly recipe. To balance the flavor, creamy cheddar is folded into the batter, with more sprinkled on top before baking.

Here’s what we love about instant ramen: You add hot water and, boom, you’re done. It’s a hot and satisfying meal that takes as long as waiting for the water to boil. But sometimes you want to mix it up; with some choice picks, one or two ingredients added to the bowl is enough to make your fast meal of noodles and broth feel a little fancy. From a swirl of peanut butter to the requisite egg on top, here are 1o simple hacks to help you upgrade instant ramen.

If what you crave is serious comfort with a kick, a pat of butter and a sprinkle of chile flakes will take you there. Think of the comfort you get from plain buttered noodles — it’s even better when savory broth and a bit of spice is involved. The richness from the butter complements and balances the spice from the chile flakes for an instant ramen experience that’s just a little more luxurious. Prepare the instant ramen according to the instructions on the package.

With bagged broccoli slaw and a spoonful of red curry paste, you’re two ingredients away from totally transforming instant ramen into a veggie-packed noodle soup with a warm curry flavor. Bagged broccoli slaw has proved its worth time and again with salads and stir-fries, and this quick noodle soup is yet another way to put it to work. Contrasting with the chewy noodles, thin strips of broccoli, carrots, and cabbage bring a fresh, crunchy bite to the soup.

When you want to up the ante and turn this instant noodle soup from snack to satisfying meal, look to baked tofu cubes. With crisp outsides and a tender center, baked tofu cubes are a satisfying way to add texture and a boost of protein to a cup of ramen. Consider this your reason to stock the fridge with a batch or two of make-ahead baked tofu. Get a recipe: How To Make Baked Tofu for Salads, Sandwiches & Snacks Prepare the instant ramen according to the instructions on the package.

We already know that the combination of noodles and peanut sauce is a winning one, so don’t skip on bringing that magic to ramen soup. Sounds odd at first, but the resulting rich and nutty broth will have you thinking otherwise. Stirred into a pot of just-cooked ramen, peanut butter easily softens from the heat of the stovetop. It offers a little boost of protein, but, best of all, it brings flavor and body to the broth.

Just like that, your simple bowl of ramen goes from hearty snack to a satisfying meal — and all it takes is an egg. When you’re craving a filling bowl of noodle soup that can hold its weight as a meal, protein is what you want to get the job done. An egg is the easiest way to make it happen. Go for a fried or poached egg, and let the runny yolk add a silky coating to the noodles and richness to the broth. Prepare the instant ramen according to the package instructions.

Sometimes all you need is a single ingredient to give instant ramen a bold upgrade. Reach for kimchi to bring an intensely funky, spicy twist to a simple bowl of noodle soup and never go back to kimchi-free ramen again. Consider this just one of many ways to put that jar of kimchi in the fridge to work. The salty ramen broth balances the pungent flavor of the kimchi, while the fermented cabbage adds more texture to the soup. Get ready for a nose-clearing ramen soup experience!

This is just one more reason to keep a knob of fresh ginger in the kitchen at all times. A few slices of fresh ginger are an instant upgrade, bringing a fresh and zippy flavor boost. Just a small amount of ginger makes a big difference when added to quick cup of ramen. Let it simmer a few minutes until the broth picks up the ginger’s flavor. Stick with rounds for a lighter aroma with less spice, or if you like more zing, add in minced or grated ginger.

Inspired by our favorite Thai soup, canned coconut milk ups the ante on instant ramen with a rich, luxurious broth. Yes, coconut milk is great for its sweet, nutty flavor, but the real power behind this pantry staple comes from the fat. Stirred into simmering ramen, coconut milk takes the broth to another level with its extra-rich flavor. It’s a simple addition that makes ramen indulgent.

Instant ramen is all about simple comfort, and deserves a like-minded topping to match. Top off the bowl with American cheese and watch how it melts into the soup to form a creamy broth. It’s simple comfort food that invokes the nostalgia of childhood grilled cheese sandwiches. The best thing about American cheese is its meltability. Layered over the noodles in a hot bowl of ramen, it almost instantly succumbs to the heat of the broth, and softens into the noodles for a creamy twist.

If what you crave is crunch, look to the pantry for a container of crispy fried onions. We’re bringing the classic casserole topping to ramen with equally savory results. Crispy fried onions bring a welcome contrast to the tender bite of the noodles. As they soften into the broth, the onion flavor creates another layer of savory richness. Prepare the instant ramen according to the package instructions. Pour into a bowl and top with up to 1/4 cup of crispy fried onions.