One of the biggest obstacles to maintaining a healthy lifestyle is convenience food. Typically lacking in nutritional value, convenience foods are often pre-packaged, full of artificial preservatives, high in sodium and let’s face it, super convenient when you’re pressed for time. Living a healthy lifestyle is all about consistency and if you find yourself eating fast food or snacks in place of nutrient-rich meals throughout the week, it’s going to be hard to achieve your wellness goals. In our experience, the best way to consistently eat healthy lunches during the work week is to meal prep. Keep reading for three of our favorite high-protein lunch ideas for work!
Rotisserie Chicken Salad
The thought of eating leftover chicken every day for lunch can make just about anyone head for a drive-thru. While chicken breast is one of the leanest protein options out there, it doesn’t taste very good after a few days in the fridge. Enter rotisserie chicken salad! This high-protein lunch idea keeps well for up to 3 days in the fridge, tastes delicious, AND only takes about 30 minutes to make. Not a fan of rotisserie chicken? Try making your own shredded chicken breast in a crockpot! For a Mediterranean twist on the traditional chicken salad flavors, check out Half Baked Harvest’s Avocado Chicken Salad recipe.
Ingredients
1 whole (cooled) rotisserie chicken, skinned and shredded (average of 2 -3 lbs of meat)
1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise
1 tsp white wine vinegar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1/2 cup raisins, chopped
Fresh dill to taste
Salt, pepper, and red chili flakes to taste
Instructions
On a chopping board, remove skin from rotisserie chicken and shred meat with fingers. Set aside in a large mixing bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk mayonnaise, vinegar, and lemon zest until thoroughly combined. Fold in the mayonnaise with the shredded chicken in the large mixing bowl and set in the fridge for 10 minutes.
While the chicken is cooling, chop the celery, onion, and raisins. Remove the chicken from the fridge and stir in the celery, onion, and raisins.
Chop up some fresh dill and sprinkle over the chicken salad. Season with salt, pepper, and red chili flakes to your taste and mix until well-combined. Cover the chicken salad with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and let it set in the fridge for 1 hour.
Finally, use a 1-cup measure to portion out 4-6 servings in individual containers for your work week. Enjoy with a spinach salad, on a sandwich, or all by itself!
Nutrition for 1 cup serving
Calories: 294 calories
Macros: 38 g protein | 10 g fat | 13 g carbs
Protein Oats with Collagen
Oatmeal is a notorious breakfast food, but it deserves a seat at the table during any meal. Oatmeal is high in fiber (4 grams per serving), is satiating, and mixes well with protein powder. If you’re looking for a quick well-rounded meal, you can’t do much better than a bowl (or jar) of protein oats. You can make these in batches and keep them in the fridge for up to 2 days, or make them the night before work for ultimate freshness! Check out our recipe below using our best-selling Red Leaf Collagen Peptides.
Ingredients
1/2 c dry old fashioned oats
1 scoop Red Leaf Collagen Peptides
1 scoop protein powder of choice
1 cup almond milk
3 large strawberries, sliced
1/2 c blueberries
Cinnamon to taste
Drizzle of pure maple syrup
Instructions
Combine oats, Red Leaf Collagen Peptides, protein powder and cinnamon in a tupperware bowl or ball jar. Add in almond milk and mix ingredients until fully combined. Add strawberries and blueberries and drizzle with maple syrup (no more than 1 tsp). Enjoy!
Pro tip: if you don’t like mushy oats, make this recipe in the morning before work. Everything will be perfectly combined, but you’ll maintain a little more texture throughout!
Nutrition for 1 serving
Calories: 352 calories
Macros: 39 g protein | 4 g fat | 40 g carbs
Burger Bowls
Anyone who knows me personally will laugh when they see this on the menu because I eat burger bowls at least once a day. Who can blame me?! Burgers hit the spot pretty much all the time, but they aren’t always the healthiest. If you’re running through the drive thru or getting a burger from a restaurant, chances are the meat isn’t as lean as when you make it at home and it was cooked in a lot of oil. Burger bowls are the best of both worlds because you control everything that goes into them, they keep well, and they taste like a deconstructed burger! To keep things interesting, change up which sauces you use throughout the week. Sometimes I use soy sauce, sriracha and lime for a tangy twist. Other times, I stick to good old fashioned ketchup, mustard and pickles.
This recipe makes between 6-8 servings depending on your portion sizes!
Ingredients
3 lbs lean ground turkey (at least 93/7)
avocado oil spray
1/2 c white jasmine rice
Toppings:
These vary depending on what sauces I’m using in my burger bowl, but here are some of my go-to’s:
1/3 cucumber, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/3 c shredded carrots
1/3 avocado, sliced
5 kalamata olives
1 tbsp classic hummus
Drizzle balsamic vinegar
Drizzle garlic-infused olive oil
Instructions
Spray a large skillet with avocado oil and cook turkey thoroughly. Drain meat before seasoning, then return to heat and season according to your taste. I like to season my ground meat with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, chili powder, paprika, cayenne, lime juice, soy sauce, and a little maple syrup. Remove from heat and portion into individual tupperware containers.
Make 2-3 packs of ready rice in the microwave, or if you prefer to use a rice cooker or stove top, prepare 3-4 cups of rice. Add 1/2 cup rice to each tupperware container.
The basics are done, and from here you can add any toppings you like! When I am bulk prepping burger bowls, I always combine my meat and rice in an individual container, and then wait to add toppings until the day I plan to eat my bowl. Not only does this keep my veggies fresh, if I want to warm it up in the microwave, I won’t have warm cucumbers topping my plate.
Nutrition for 1 serving (~6 oz turkey):
Calories: 342 calories (without toppings)
Macros: 35 g protein | 12 g fat | 22 g ca
