10 Easy No Sandwich Lunch Ideas for Busy Days

You already know that chickpeas are my emergency lunch superhero!

Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas and mash them lightly with mayonnaise, a little mustard if you enjoy it, pickle relish, salt and pepper. 

Then make it your own.

Add chopped celery, grated carrot, diced pickles, dried cranberries or tiny cubes of cheese.

Serve it with crackers, cucumber slices, grapes, apple slices or whatever needs to be used from the refrigerator.

For little ones, you can keep everything separate.

For teenagers, make the portions bigger and add cheese, fruit or yogurt.

For grown ups, spoon the chickpea salad over greens and you have an instant salad.

One bowl of chickpea salad…three completely different lunches!

This one is inexpensive, filling and unbelievably easy.

Place black beans and shredded cheese on half of a tortilla.

Add a spoonful of salsa, fold it over and warm it in a skillet until the tortilla is lightly crisp and the cheese is melted.

Cut it into wedges and serve it with:

• Salsa
• Corn
• Avocado
• Fruit
• Pickles
• A little salad
• Or a few tortilla chips

You can also add leftover vegetables hiding in the refrigerator.

Lunch and refrigerator clean out all at once…I call that a win!

There is something about putting several little foods on a plate that makes lunch feel special even when it took approximately three minutes to prepare.

Try a combination of:

• Hummus
• Crackers or pita
• Chickpeas
• Cucumber slices
• Carrots
• Olives
• Cheese
• Roasted red peppers
• Pickles
• Dried cranberries
• Grapes or apple slices

You absolutely do not need all of these.

Choose four or five things you already have.

This is also a wonderful lunch for days when everyone wants something slightly different.

Put the ingredients on the table and let everyone build their own plate.

Couscous is one of those ingredients that deserves more attention because it cooks so quickly.

Prepare it according to the package directions and stir in chickpeas, dried cranberries and a few chopped vegetables.

Then add a little olive oil and lemon juice or simply use your favorite salad dressing.

If you have them, toss in:

• Cucumber
• Tomatoes
• Roasted peppers
• Olives
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Cheese

This one is delicious warm, room temperature or cold, which makes it a great lunchbox option too.

This is one of the easiest ways to turn a few pantry ingredients into something that feels like an actual meal.

Start with rice.

Add black beans and corn.

Then pile on whatever sounds good:

• Salsa
• Cheese
• Avocado
• Tomatoes
• Olives
• Lettuce
• Leftover vegetables
• A spoonful of sour cream or plain yogurt
• Add a few tortilla chips on the side and lunch is done.

Microwave rice cups make this especially fast on those days when lunch needed to happen five minutes ago!

Pasta salad does not have to be a big recipe reserved for picnics and parties.

Make a little bowl just for lunch.

Cook your favorite small pasta and cool it down.

Then look around the pantry and refrigerator.

Add whatever you find:

• Chickpeas
• White beans
• Olives
• Roasted red peppers
• Artichoke hearts
• Corn
• Cucumber
• Tomatoes
• Cheese
• Dried cranberries

Toss everything with your favorite dressing or a little olive oil and vinegar.

There really are no strict rules here.

Sometimes the best lunches are the ones we make from all those little odds and ends that need a home.

Here is an easy one that children might especially enjoy…but I certainly would not turn one down!

Spread peanut butter on a tortilla.

Place a peeled banana near one edge and roll everything up.

You can leave it whole or slice it into little rounds.

Serve it with fruit, yogurt, applesauce, pretzels or dried cranberries.

Sunflower seed butter can also be used when appropriate.

Of course, always follow individual school, camp or group allergy rules when packing lunches for children.

A potato can rescue lunch!

Bake or microwave a potato until tender and turn it into a complete meal with whatever you have available.

Try:

• Cheese
• Black beans
• Corn
• Broccoli
• Salsa
• Vegetarian chili
• Leftover vegetables
• Sour cream or plain yogurt
• Green onions

This is especially good when you want something warm and comforting without making a full dinner in the middle of the day.

And potatoes are still one of the most affordable little workhorses in the kitchen.

Sometimes we need to stop trying so hard.

Heat up a bowl of tomato soup.

Top an English muffin, pita, tortilla or slice of bread with cheese and warm it until the cheese melts.

Slice it into strips for dipping.

That is lunch!

Add some fruit, cucumbers, carrots or crackers if you want to round things out.

Simple? Absolutely. Comforting?

You bet!

There is a reason tomato soup and melted cheese have been friends for a very long time.

This may be my favorite idea because absolutely nothing has to match.

Take a plate or tray and start looking for all the little things that need to be eaten.

Maybe you find:

• Three crackers
• Half an apple
• A spoonful of hummus
• A few olives
• Some cucumber slices
• A chunk of cheese
• Two pickles
• A little handful of nuts
• Some dried cranberries
• Half a container of yogurt
• A few leftover vegetables

Put them together and suddenly you have lunch.

We tend to think a meal has to be one recognizable recipe.

It doesn’t.

Sometimes a collection of tasty little foods is exactly what everyone wants.

And if it saves perfectly good food from being forgotten in the refrigerator…even better!