Meal Prep Recipe Ideas

Lunch Recipe Ideas

Kick start healthy eating with these lunch themed meal prep recipes. Get recipes like these directly to your mailbox by subscribing to the Beach Balance Newsletter.

• Greek Chicken Bowl (4 servings)

  Ingredients:
  Bowl:

  • 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 tsp. oregano
  • kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 c. cooked quinoa or brown rice
  • 1 c. halved cherry or grape tomatoes
  • 1/2 cucumber, chopped
  • 1 avocado, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 c. halved Kalamata olives
  • 3/4 c. crumbled feta
  • Fresh dill, for garnish

  Dressing:

  • 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tsp. dried oregano
  • kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil

  Directions:

  1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Add chicken and season with dried oregano, salt, and pepper. Cook until golden and no longer pink, 8 minutes per side. Set aside to let rest 5 minutes, then thinly slice.
  2. Assemble bowls: Place cooked quinoa or brown rice into bowl and top with tomatoes, cucumber, sliced chicken, avocado, Kalamata olives, feta, and dill.
  3. Make dressing: In a small bowl, combine red wine vinegar, lemon juice, and dried oregano and season generously with salt and pepper. Slowly add olive oil, whisking to combine.
  4. Drizzle with dressing and serve.

  How to Prep for the week:

  1. Separate evenly each serving into four containers.
  2. Each container should have about ½ cup of brown rice or quinoa, 1/4 cup of tomatoes, a few cucumbers, ¼ avocado, a few olives and sprinkle of feta.
  3. Also add about ½ large chicken breast. (size of your hand palm)
  4. Set in fridge for the week and you are ready to go!

• Lentil Kale Salad (2 servings)

  Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup golden raisins
  • 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • 4 & 1/2 cups thinly sliced Tuscan kale
  • 1 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 3 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 tbsp. honey
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
  • 1 cup cooked beluga lentils
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)

  Directions:

  1. Soak: Add raisins and red wine vinegar to a small bowl, let the raisins soak for 10-15 minutes while you clean and chop the kale.
  2. Dressing: Remove the golden raisins to a small bowl using a slotted spoon. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, honey and salt and pepper to the vinegar and suea whisk to combine. Alternately, you can add the dressing to a mason jar and shake until the dressing thickens.
  3. Salad: Place kale in a large bowl, dress salad and toss. Add the lentils, golden raisins, pepitas, and parmesan cheese as desired. Give it a taste and adjust the salt and pepper as desired.

  How to Prep for the week:

  1. Make four servings of this recipe by multiplying all measurements by two.
  2. This will create four servings that you can then separate into four different containers for the rest of the week.
  3. What is great about this recipe is that kale only gets better with time when being marinated with dressing. It will allow the kale to soak up the flavor but not get soggy.
  4. Have four meals prepped for the week already ready to go!

• Mango Quinoa Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing

  Ingredients:

  • 1 heaping cup mango chunks (fresh or frozen)
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 cup chopped red onion
  • 1 jalapeno, seeds removed, diced small
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 cups cooked quinoa
  • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 avocado
  • 10 oz. fresh spinach (about 2 large handfuls)

  Directions:

  1. 2 Tbsp. honey (or maple syrup for vegan)
  2. 3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
  3. 1 tsp garlic powder (or 2 garlic cloves, minced)
  4. 1 tsp salt
  5. 2 tsp Dijon mustard

  How to Prep for the week:

  1. If using frozen mango chunks, put them in a bowl with warm water to thaw.
  2. Combine the chopped onion, diced jalapeno, chopped cilantro, chopped red bell pepper, quinoa and black beans in a bowl. Cut the thawed mango into small 1/2 inch chunks and add to the bowl.
  3. Stir dressing ingredients together and toss with salad.
  4. Roughly chop spinach leaves into smaller pieces. Toss with the rest of the salad, or as I like to do when using a salad platter, put a bed of spinach beneath the quinoa salad.
  5. Just before serving, add chopped avocado.
  Meal Prep Tip:
  Cook large batches of quinoa or rice to use throughout the week. Also freeze small bags of 1 or 2 cup portions. You can thaw it quickly in the microwave or under hot water, so you can toss it quickly into salads like this.

• Peach burrata salad (4 servings)

  Ingredients:

  • 3-4 fresh organic peaches
  • 2 medium heirloom tomatoes
  • 1 container burrata
  • Handful fresh basil
  • 3 Tbsp. balsamic reduction
  • Salt to taste
  • Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

  Directions:

  1. Balsamic reduction: add balsamic vinegar to sauce pan, bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Liquid should be notably reduced. Remove from heat and let cool.
  2. Slice peaches
  3. Slice tomato
  4. Finely chop basil
  5. Combine peaches, tomato, and basil
  6. Add burrata
  7. Add balsamic reduction, olive oil, and salt

  How to Prep for the week:

  1. Depending if you want to eat this as a snack or a meal, separate this recipe into six containers or 4 containers, after following the instruction.
  2. Dressing can be added when making it or when you go to eat it. The texture will slightly change and be softer when it is drizzled with the dressing.
  3. This is a refreshing snack or a good side for a meal idea.
  4. Add this to your prep for the week.

• Refreshing Spinach Salad (1 serving)

  Ingredients:

  • 3 cups of spinach
  • 1/2 cup blueberries
  • 1 cup cubed watermelon
  • 1 ½ tbsp. slivered almonds
  • Half a lemon
  • 1 tbsp. water
  • 1 tbsp. honey
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • Salt/pepper to taste
  • (Optional) Lemon pepper seasoning

  Directions:

  1. Rinse spinach and set aside to dry.
  2. Create the salad dressing in a separate bowl:
  3. Add olive oil, water, honey. Mix these until they are well incorporated.
  4. Squeeze the lemon juice to the mixture
  5. Add salt/pepper to your desired taste
  6. Mix all again
  7. In a large bowl, put the spinach and fruit together. Drizzle the dressing on top.
  8. Add slivered almonds (optional).
  9. Combine all ingredients until evenly distributed.

  How to Prep for the week:

  1. Make four/five servings of this recipe by multiplying all measurements by four/five.
  2. Do NOT add the salad dressing when prepping. Leave it aside until the day you are going to consume the meal.
  3. This will create four servings that you can then separate into four/five different containers for the rest of the week.
  4. Have four meals prepped for the week already ready to go!

• Tasty Teriyaki Turkey (5 servings)

  Ingredients:

  • 1lb Ground Turkey
  • 1 can Garbanzo Beans
  • 1/4 Cup Island Teriyaki
  • 2-3 medium-large broccoli crowns (~5 cups cooked)
  • 1 cup brown rice dried (~3 cups cooked)
  • 1-1.5tbsp extra virgin olive oil (1/2tbsp if cooking rice in pan)

  Directions:

  1. Begin cooking rice by either using a rice cooker, following stove top instructions on bag of rice, or using microwavable rice
     • If no instructions on rice, in a medium saucepan, heat ½ tbsp. of olive oil on medium heat and add rice.
     • Add in either 2 cups of water, or 1 cup of water and 1 cup of broth (Chicken/veggie)
     • Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover.
     • Let cook until liquid has evaporated and rice is cooked through (~30-40min)
  2. In a large sauté pan, heat 1tbap olive oil over medium heat. Add turkey and begin cooking.
  3. Rinse garbanzo beans and set aside.
  4. Once turkey is almost fully cooked, add in garbanzo beans and teriyaki sauce and cook until turkey is completely cooked through (no pink meat).

  How to Prep for the week:
  In 5 separate containers, add ½ cup of cooked rice, and evenly divide the steamed broccoli and turkey dish (~1/5lb ground turkey and 1/5can of garbanzo beans) Nutrient Information (per serving):
  Total Calories: 378 Carbohydrates: 45g Protein: 27g Fat: 9g Fiber: 7g