12 Vegetarian Lunch Ideas for Work, School and Home

These vegetarian lunch ideas are what keep me away from the sad supermarket sandwich, whether I am packing a lunchbox for school, taking a tub to work or eating at my kitchen table between calls. All twelve are my own tested recipes, from Greek pasta salad and two kinds of hummus to lentil soup, courgette fritters and a coconut chickpea curry.

In short, these 12 vegetarian lunch ideas cover five packed lunches, two salads, two soups for a flask and three hot lunches for home. Nine keep in the fridge for several days, five are vegan, and the edamame hummus, simple spinach salad and Instant Pot mac and cheese are each ready in 15 minutes.

I have grouped them by how you eat them: packed lunches, fresh salads, soups for a flask, and hot lunches for working from home. After the recipes you will find how to pack a lunchbox safely, a mix and match lunchbox table, a fridge chart and a Monday to Friday plan.

What Makes Good Vegetarian Lunch Ideas

Honestly, a good lunch has three jobs: it has to survive the morning in a bag, keep you full until dinner and be quick. So every recipe here does at least two.

• Made ahead: nine of the twelve keep in the fridge for several days.
• Proper protein: chickpeas, edamame, lentils, beans, cottage cheese and feta do the work.
• Five are vegan: both hummus recipes, the lentil soup, the minestrone and the coconut chickpea curry.
• Hot or cold: half travel cold in a lunchbox, and half are for a flask or the hob at home.

Packed Vegetarian Lunch Ideas

First, the lunchbox heroes. These five travel well, taste good cold and can be mixed and matched across the week.

1. Greek Pasta Salad

This is the salad I make for the lunchbox because it gets better, not soggier, as it sits. Short pasta, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, kalamata olives and feta are tossed in a sharp red wine vinaigrette. Cool the pasta completely before the feta and dressing go in, otherwise the cheese melts into the pasta.

Get the Greek Pasta Salad recipe →

2. Hummus

Homemade hummus (vegan) is the backbone of my lunch week. I simmer the chickpeas for 10 minutes first to soften the skins, then blend them with tahini, lemon and garlic in my food processor for a full two minutes. Cold water, not more oil, makes it light. It goes into wraps, next to crackers and beside every salad.

Get the Hummus recipe →

3. Edamame Hummus

This bright green twist (vegan) swaps chickpeas for shelled edamame, so it carries more protein than the classic. Everything goes into the food processor with tahini, lemon, garlic and cumin, then cold water loosens it a spoonful at a time. Drain the edamame well, or the dip turns watery in the lunchbox.

Get the Edamame Hummus recipe →

4. Cottage Cheese Flatbread

Cottage cheese, self raising flour and a pinch of salt make a soft dough you can cook in a dry pan straight away. No yeast and no oven. They puff up with charred spots and stay soft once stacked under a towel. As a result, they are what I wrap around hummus and salad, or tear into a bowl of soup.

Get the Cottage Cheese Flatbread recipe →

5. Pizza Muffins

Soft pizza dough is pressed into a muffin tin, filled with sauce, mozzarella and olives, and baked until the edges turn crisp. They taste just as good cold at half past twelve in a school playground as they do warm from the oven. Paper cases make them easy to pack, while a greased tin gives crispier sides.

Get the Pizza Muffins recipe →

For school days, a bento style lunch box with little compartments keeps the hummus away from the crackers and gives the pasta salad its own corner.

Fresh Vegetarian Lunch Ideas: Salads

Next, two salads for the days when you want something crisp. Both are best dressed just before you eat, so pack the dressing in a little jar.

6. Watermelon Salad

Watermelon salad pairs salty feta with cold sweet watermelon, one of those combinations you cannot un-taste. Cucumber, red onion and mint go in, then a lime and honey dressing. There is no cooking at all. Of course, the fruit releases water once dressed, so for a packed lunch I keep the cubed fruit, the feta and the dressing apart until lunchtime.

Get the Watermelon Salad recipe →

7. Simple Spinach Salad

Baby spinach, toasted walnuts, a squeeze of lemon and good olive oil, finished with grated cheese. It takes fifteen minutes and goes with everything on this list. The recipe uses Parmesan or Romano, which are traditionally made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard cheese. Swap the walnuts for almonds or pecans if that is what you have.

Get the Simple Spinach Salad recipe →

Soups for a Flask

After that, two soups I make in big batches. Both are vegan, both freeze, and both thicken overnight, so loosen them as you reheat.

8. Vegetarian Lentil Soup

This one pot soup (vegan) is the hardest working recipe on the list. Brown or green lentils simmer with carrots, celery, tomatoes, cumin and paprika in vegetable broth, and a splash of vinegar at the end wakes the whole pot up. In fact, it packs 14 g of protein and 15 g of fibre a bowl.

Get the Vegetarian Lentil Soup recipe →

9. Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup

This minestrone (vegan) is the soup I set going in the morning and forget about. Softened onion, carrot and celery go into the slow cooker with cannellini beans, tomatoes, courgette and vegetable stock, then pasta and greens go in at the end. For lunches, cook the pasta separately, because it keeps drinking the broth overnight.

Get the Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup recipe →

Both travel well in a 16 ounce insulated food jar, filled right to the top so the soup is still steaming when you open it at lunchtime.

Hot Lunches for Working From Home

Finally, the lunches for when your kitchen is ten steps from your desk. One is fresh from the pan, one takes fifteen minutes, and one is a curry you cooked on Sunday.

10. Zucchini Fritters

Grated courgette is drained and squeezed hard, then bound with egg, flour, chives, parsley, mint and lemon zest and fried in spoonfuls until crisp at the edges. Squeezing out the water is the step that matters, because wet courgette gives you soft fritters. I eat them with a dollop of seasoned sour cream or yogurt.

Get the Zucchini Fritters recipe →

11. Instant Pot Mac and Cheese

Instant Pot mac and cheese takes fifteen minutes from opening the packet to sitting down, with only one pot to wash. The macaroni cooks at pressure for 4 minutes in exactly the water it needs, then milk and cheddar are stirred straight in. Grate the cheese from a block, because pre shredded cheese is coated in starch that makes the sauce grainy.

Get the Instant Pot Mac and Cheese recipe →

12. Coconut Chickpea Curry

This curry (vegan) is creamy from a tin of coconut milk and savoury from browned shiitake mushrooms, so brown them in a single layer before the spices go in. Two tins of chickpeas make it filling enough for six. I always hold back the lime and coriander until I reheat a portion, because both lose their sparkle in the fridge.

Get the Coconut Chickpea Curry recipe →

How to Pack a Vegetarian Lunchbox Safely

Cheese, hummus, cooked pasta and soup all need keeping cold or hot. University of Georgia Extension advises that food should not sit between 40°F and 140°F for more than two hours, and that insulated lunch bags with reusable cold packs are the best way to keep cold food below 40 degrees.

• Use two cold packs. One under the tubs and one on top keeps salads and dips properly chilled.
• Fill flasks piping hot. Warm the flask with boiling water first, then add soup that is steaming hot.
• Pack dressings separately. Salads stay crisp and the watermelon does not swim.
• Freeze a flatbread or pizza muffin. It thaws by lunchtime and helps keep the box cold.
• Throw out leftovers. Anything that has been in the bag all day does not come home for tomorrow.

Build a Lunchbox

Pick one from each column and these vegetarian lunch ideas give you a different lunch every day. These are the combinations I pack most.

Vegetarian Lunch Ideas Prep Chart

Every time below comes from the recipe card. Where a card gives no time, I say so rather than guess.

A Work From Home Lunch Plan

Here is how a Sunday cook of soup, curry, hummus and pasta salad turns these vegetarian lunch ideas into five lunches, with one fresh pan of fritters on Friday.

Getting Enough Protein at Lunch

The vegetarian lunch ideas that keep me going all afternoon always have pulses, eggs or dairy in them. Harvard Health notes that chickpeas are rich in fibre, folate and minerals, which is why hummus and the curry earn their place every week. The lentil soup has 14 g of protein a bowl, the Instant Pot mac 22 g and the edamame hummus 7 g a serving. All figures come from the recipe cards and are estimates.

Tips for Better Vegetarian Lunch Ideas

• Cook components on Sunday. A tub of hummus, a pot of soup and a bowl of pasta salad make far more combinations than five fixed meals.
• Check the cheese. Traditional Parmesan is made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard cheese, and look for vegetarian rennet on feta and mozzarella.
• Read the stock label. Use vegetable stock in the soups and curry, never chicken stock.
• Freshen at the table. Lemon on the soup, lime on the curry and herbs on everything bring day four back to life.

Frequently Asked Questions