High Protein Lunch Bowls

A healthy quick lunch is everything, right? Because who has time and the mental capacity to whip up a restaurant-style lunch that probably takes a long time to prepare and to cook. Now don't get me wrong: I love cooking - hence this website with mostly recipes - but for lunch I want it quick and simple and easy. Especially when the benefits of having some sort of a (salad) bowl for lunch fuels your body rather than eating lunch that initiates that afternoon slump.

Lunch bowls can provide all of that by following these simple rules:

Add some sort of protein, plant-based or meat, whatever you have on hand because this is what keeps you full until dinner without spiking your blood sugar levels. Here you can use vegan or vegetarian options such as tofu, tempeh, feta cheese, cottage cheese, chickpeas, kidney beans, eggs etc. If you eat meat, you could do chicken, beef, canned tuna or your favorite fish. If you use fish, amazing because you can tick the next category off which is adding healthy fats. Otherwise, the options are endless as there are countless of healthy fats out there which help us stabilize blood sugar levels and together with the protein keeps us full for a long time. If you need some inspiration, avocado, seeds and nuts (sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecan nuts, peanuts, hemp seeds), a high quality oil (olive oil, flaxseed oil) are perfect to add onto any bowl or salad. And lastly, a little bit of carbs - now here I tend to go for something light. For me that is quinoa, couscous or bulgur. Rice or potatoes also works fine but I personally prefer these carbs for dinner. And because I absolutely love pasta and have it almost all the time in some variation for dinner, I will not have it for lunch either. I also found out that for me personally, pasta does not keep me full at all. In fact, I feel hungry after about 2h later if I have pasta in the middle of the day. Alright, sorry that I did not keep this paragraph as short as I wanted to!

Let's jump into my favorite combinations:

Lentil Salad - a mixture of brown lentils, veggies and a creamy tahini or peanut dressing. Definitely a must-try! With all of the lunch bowls there is so much room to switch up ingredients and come up with your own flavor combinations.

Buddha Bowl - otherwise known as eat the rainbow! I am sure you know this one. Just throw all of your favorite veggies and carbs (whatever you have on hand) and add a good source of protein all in one big colorful bowl. I love assembling the bowls because they always end up looking so colorful and pretty, like in a restaurant. But for a third of the cost of what you would pay for someone else to prepare it.

Chickpea Medley - I came up with this incredibly quick and easy lunch recipe during the summer when I was short on ingredients and had very limited time to whip something up. Do not knock it until you have tried it!

Greek Salad - the classic way or with a twist 😉

I will update this blog post with more recipes and inspiration - stay tuned!