Lunch recipes
These lunch recipes are built around what a midday meal usually is: a bowl of soup, a salad substantial enough to count as a meal, or something good in bread. Some are ready in 20 minutes or less; others are weekend projects whose leftovers carry you through the week.
Make a BLT or egg drop soup when time is short, a Caesar salad or salade niçoise on a warm day, and bánh mì when a sandwich is worth an hour of your time. Set the number of people and each recipe works out every amount for you.
61 recipes
Caesar Salad🇺🇸 American recipes · Lunch · 35 min
Phở Bò🇻🇳 Vietnamese recipes · Lunch · 4 h 40 min
Bánh Mì🇻🇳 Vietnamese recipes · Lunch · 1 h
Chicken Shawarma🌍 Middle Eastern recipes · Lunch · 3 h
BLT🇺🇸 American recipes · Lunch · 20 min
Tortilla Española🇪🇸 Spanish recipes · Lunch · 1 h 5 min
Harvest Bowl🇺🇸 American recipes · Lunch · 1 h 20 min
Pumpkin Soup🇫🇷 French recipes · Lunch · 1 h 5 min
Roasted Beet Salad🇺🇸 American recipes · Lunch · 1 h 50 min
Warm Quinoa Salad🌍 Mediterranean recipes · Lunch · 50 min
Biang Biang Noodles🇨🇳 Chinese recipes · Lunch · 2 h 15 min
Chicken Noodle Soup🇺🇸 American recipes · Lunch · 1 h 50 min
Chivito🌎 Latin American recipes · Lunch · 30 min
Cullen Skink🇬🇧 British recipes · Lunch · 45 min
Empanada Gallega🇪🇸 Spanish recipes · Lunch · 3 h 30 min
Galette Bretonne🇫🇷 French recipes · Lunch · 2 h 30 min
Gỏi Gà🇻🇳 Vietnamese recipes · Lunch · 1 h 10 min
Gözleme🇹🇷 Turkish recipes · Lunch · 1 h 35 min
Khachapuri🌍 Eastern European recipes · Lunch · 1 h 45 min
Khai Jiao🇹🇭 Thai recipes · Lunch · 30 min
Mediterranean Orzo Salad🌍 Mediterranean recipes · Lunch · 25 min
Mediterranean Tuna Salad🌍 Mediterranean recipes · Lunch · 15 min
New England Clam Chowder🇺🇸 American recipes · Lunch · 1 h 10 min
Omurice🇯🇵 Japanese recipes · Lunch · 1 h 10 min
Panzanella🇮🇹 Italian recipes · Lunch · 55 min
Pasta e Fagioli🇮🇹 Italian recipes · Lunch · 1 h
Pissaladière🇫🇷 French recipes · Lunch · 2 h 25 min
Ribollita🇮🇹 Italian recipes · Lunch · 13 h 55 min
Seolleongtang🇰🇷 Korean recipes · Lunch · 12 h 30 min
Shorbat Adas🌍 Middle Eastern recipes · Lunch · 55 min
Solyanka🌍 Eastern European recipes · Lunch · 1 h 10 min
Avgolemono🇬🇷 Greek recipes · Lunch · 35 min
Choripán🌎 Latin American recipes · Lunch · 1 h 35 min
Cobb Salad🇺🇸 American recipes · Lunch · 1 h
Cơm Tấm🇻🇳 Vietnamese recipes · Lunch · 4 h 45 min
Egg Drop Soup🇨🇳 Chinese recipes · Lunch · 15 min
Fasolada🇬🇷 Greek recipes · Lunch · 10 h
Finnish Salmon Soup🌍 Nordic recipes · Lunch · 40 min
Greek-style Chicken Bowl🌍 Mediterranean recipes · Lunch · 50 min
Grilled Cheese Sandwich🇺🇸 American recipes · Lunch · 40 min
Kartoffelpuffer🇩🇪 German recipes · Lunch · 45 min
Kartoffelsuppe🇩🇪 German recipes · Lunch · 1 h
Larb🇹🇭 Thai recipes · Lunch · 4 h 45 min
Mediterranean Lentil Soup🌍 Mediterranean recipes · Lunch · 50 min
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad🌍 Mediterranean recipes · Lunch · 55 min
Mercimek Çorbası🇹🇷 Turkish recipes · Lunch · 50 min
Minestrone🇮🇹 Italian recipes · Lunch · 1 h 25 min
Pyttipanna🌍 Nordic recipes · Lunch · 45 min
Reuben🇺🇸 American recipes · Lunch · 30 min
Shchi🌍 Eastern European recipes · Lunch · 3 h 30 min
Sloppy Joes🇺🇸 American recipes · Lunch · 35 min
Borscht🌍 Eastern European recipes · Lunch · 2 h 40 min
Caldo Verde🇵🇹 Portuguese recipes · Lunch · 55 min
French Onion Soup🇫🇷 French recipes · Lunch · 1 h 45 min
Gazpacho🇪🇸 Spanish recipes · Lunch · 2 h 20 min
Grilled Halloumi Salad🌍 Mediterranean recipes · Lunch · 25 min
Harira🌍 North African recipes · Lunch · 2 h
Lahmacun🇹🇷 Turkish recipes · Lunch · 1 h 45 min
Philly Cheesesteak🇺🇸 American recipes · Lunch · 1 h 20 min
Salade Niçoise🇫🇷 French recipes · Lunch · 45 min
Spanakopita🇬🇷 Greek recipes · Lunch · 1 h 30 min
Soup for lunch: quick bowls and slow broths
Some soups are quick enough for a working day. Egg drop soup takes 15 minutes, avgolemono about 35 and Finnish salmon soup 40, with the salmon added only for the last five minutes so it stays tender.
The slow ones repay a free Sunday. Phở bò needs hours at a bare simmer for a clear broth, chicken noodle soup starts with a whole chicken, and borscht is built on a beef broth with the beetroot cooked separately so it stays red. Phở broth and borscht both taste better the next day, so one big pot covers several lunches.
Salads and sandwiches that make a proper meal
A salad that works as lunch needs protein and something with bite. Cobb salad lays chicken, bacon, egg, avocado and blue cheese in stripes, and salade niçoise arranges tuna, green beans, eggs and olives in separate groups so each keeps its own texture.
With sandwiches, the bread matters as much as the filling. A BLT wants toast that is still warm, bánh mì a light, crisp baguette, choripán a crusty roll for grilled chorizo, and a Philly cheesesteak a soft hoagie roll under melting provolone. Uruguay’s chivito stacks steak, ham, bacon, mozzarella and a fried egg into one roll, so one each is plenty.
What to pack for lunch at work
The lunches that travel best are the ones already eaten at room temperature where they come from. Tortilla española is sliced and served cool in Spanish bars, empanada gallega is baked as one large pie and cut into squares, and spanakopita is better at room temperature than hot.
Keep wet and crisp things apart until you eat: carry the niçoise dressing in a small jar, and the pickles for a bánh mì separately from the bread. Plan the week’s lunches together, and the ingredients you still need go onto the shared list in one tap, grouped by aisle.
Frequently asked questions
- What can I make for a quick lunch?
- A BLT takes about 20 minutes: bacon cooked flat until brittle, drained tomatoes, crisp iceberg lettuce and mayonnaise on warm toast. A chivito takes 30, and egg drop soup, a Chinese broth with ribbons of egg, only 15. Avgolemono, the Greek chicken, egg and lemon soup, is ready in about 35 minutes with stock and cooked chicken to hand.
- Does Caesar salad have chicken in it?
- The classic Caesar salad has no chicken and no cream. It is whole romaine leaves in a dressing emulsified from egg yolk, garlic, lemon and, in most versions today, anchovy, finished with Parmesan and croutons fried in olive oil. Grilled chicken is a common addition, but the recipe here leaves it out. Because of the anchovy and Parmesan, it is not vegetarian.
- What is cullen skink?
- Cullen skink is a thick Scottish soup of smoked haddock, potato and onion cooked in milk, named after the fishing village of Cullen in the north-east of Scotland. Half the potato is mashed into the pot as the only thickener, so the recipe needs no flour and is tagged gluten-free. It takes about 45 minutes and makes a filling lunch with bread.
- What goes in a bánh mì?
- A bánh mì is a Vietnamese sandwich on a light, crisp baguette, the bread the French brought to Vietnam. The version here is filled with pâté and mayonnaise, grilled lemongrass pork, pickled carrot and daikon, cucumber, coriander and chilli. The pâté is what gives it its savoury backbone, so do not leave it out, and drain the pickles well so the bread stays crisp.
- Is tortilla española gluten-free?
- Yes. Tortilla española is made from potatoes, onion, eggs, olive oil and salt, so the recipe here is tagged gluten-free, dairy-free and vegetarian. The potatoes and onion are cooked slowly in olive oil, most of which is drained off, then set in beaten egg until the outside holds and the middle stays soft. It can be served warm or at room temperature.