6 high-protein lunches
A lunch that keeps you going until six has two jobs: enough protein to stay full, and few enough calories that you are not asleep at your desk by three. Every dish here does both.
CThe Cookpath kitchen9 min read · 6 recipes
Light Chicken Caesar Wrap
- 25 mintotal
- 61 gprotein
- 610kcal
- Beginnerlevel
- 2servings
Why it's here: The most protein on this list. 10 g of protein for every 100 kcal, which is very lean.
12 ingredients · 5 steps
The most protein on the list: 61 g in a wrap that still comes in at 610 kcal. The Caesar part is a Greek yogurt sauce with Dijon, lemon and parmesan, so you get the tang without a spoonful of mayo.
Air fry the chicken for about 12 minutes, then the bacon until crisp, and chop the bacon small so it spreads through the filling. Roll the wrap tight and slice it in half. Make it when you want a proper lunch ready in 25 minutes.
Greek Chicken Bowl
- 35 mintotal
- 42 gprotein
- 640kcal
- Intermediatelevel
- 4servings
Why it's here: Packs well for work.
20 ingredients · 6 steps · 25 min hands-on
A gyro-style bowl of spiced chicken thighs over basmati, with a thick homemade tzatziki. At 640 kcal and 42 g of protein it is one of the bigger lunches here, and the rice and salad make it feel like a full meal.
The step not to skip is squeezing the grated cucumber dry before it goes into the yogurt. Otherwise the tzatziki turns watery. It makes four portions and 25 of the 35 minutes are hands-on, so it suits a Sunday cook-up for the week ahead.
Spicy Chicken Udon Soup
- 20 mintotal
- 42 gprotein
- 600kcal
- Beginnerlevel
- 1serving
Why it's here: The fastest one here.
10 ingredients · 5 steps · 8 min hands-on
A soup for one: chicken thigh and mushrooms simmered in a spicy gochujang broth and poured over udon. It gives you 42 g of protein for 600 kcal, and only 8 of the 20 minutes need you at the hob.
Cook the udon in its own pot and drain it, then pour the soup over it in the bowl. The noodles stay springy and the broth stays clear. Make it on a cold day when you are home at lunchtime and want something hot.
Chicken Penne alla Vodka
- 3 h 35 mintotal
- 41 gprotein
- 650kcal
- Intermediatelevel
- 4servings
Why it's here: Only 20 minutes of that is you; the rest it cooks on its own. Packs well for work.
20 ingredients · 7 steps · 20 min hands-on
Creamy tomato pasta with no cream in it. Blended cashews give the passata its body, and baked chicken breast brings the protein: 41 g a serving at 650 kcal, which makes this the biggest lunch on the page.
Soak the cashews a few hours ahead or overnight so they blend smooth. Keep some pasta water when you drain, and add a good splash to the sauce, because it loosens everything and helps it cling to the penne. It makes four, so cook once and pack the rest.
Pesto Chicken & Tomatoes
- 20 mintotal
- 38 gprotein
- 450kcal
- Beginnerlevel
- 4servings
Why it's here: The fastest one here. Packs well for work.
13 ingredients · 6 steps · 15 min hands-on
The lightest lunch here at 450 kcal, with 38 g of protein. Thin chicken breasts simmer in a pesto cream sauce with blistered cherry tomatoes and spinach, all in one pan, so there is very little to wash.
Brown the chicken for only a minute or two a side and take it out. It finishes cooking in the sauce, which keeps it tender. Because the dish is light, there is room to serve it over rice or pasta. Twenty minutes, 15 of them hands-on.
Chicken Yaki Udon
- 30 mintotal
- 36 gprotein
- 590kcal
- Beginnerlevel
- 4servings
Why it's here: Packs well for work.
15 ingredients · 6 steps · 25 min hands-on
A Japanese-style stir fry of udon, chicken and vegetables in a sweet, dark soy sauce. It has the lowest protein on the page at 36 g for 590 kcal, but that is still a solid lunch, and the noodles make it feel big.
Mix the sauce first and set it aside, so the pan never waits. Cook the udon only until loosened but al dente: about 1 minute if vacuum-packed. Toss until no liquid sauce is left. It makes four portions, which covers most of a working week.
Thirty grams of protein is roughly where a meal stops being a snack. Most sandwiches and salads people pack for work land somewhere between 12 and 20 g, which is why the 4 pm biscuit happens. These all start at 30 g a serving and stay under 650 kcal, so they fit a normal day of eating without any counting.
They are also lunches that survive a box. Nothing here goes soggy overnight, and most taste better on day two, once the sauce has soaked in.
Three things that help
Pick two of these on Sunday. Two pans, about an hour, and Monday to Thursday are done.
Wraps and bowls stay crisp if the dressing goes in a small pot and on just before you eat.
Noodles and pasta dry out in the fridge. A spoon of water before the microwave brings them back.
Every dish here is in the app with timers inside the steps, servings you can change and a shopping list that builds itself.
