I’m in a lunch rut. I’ve been in it for a good long while. So I sought out some paleo and Whole30 lunch inspiration!
Almost every single day I eat the same thing for lunch: eggs, a sweet potato, some avocado, and maybe some chicken sausage. It works as an easy paleo and Whole30 lunch! It’s quick and easy to prepare, it’s healthy, and it keeps me relatively full.
But lately, I’ve been wanting to switch things up. So I’ve been thinking about what other sorts of things I can make myself for lunch without having to spend a bunch of time cooking. Since I don’t digest carbs well, sandwiches are out of the question, and the only other thing I could really think of was salad.
Salads are ok for sometimes, but honestly, raw veggies aren’t my favorite, and salads don’t seem to keep me full for very long unless I load them up with so much extra stuff that they don’t really resemble a salad anymore.
So today, I decided to write a post of easy paleo and Whole30 lunch ideas that aren’t salads.
The great thing about being a blogger is that when I want to learn more about something or get inspiration on a certain topic (like lunch ideas), I have a great excuse to do it!
You might notice that many of them have my staple lunch ingredients in them: eggs, sweet potato, and avocado. Either I subconsciously just really really like eggs, sweet potatoes, and avocados and I can’t get myself away from them, or they’re just staple foods in the lives of many paleo eaters.
These easy paleo and Whole30 lunch ideas are perfect for meal prepping at the beginning of the week and reheating each day. Plus, every single one of them is also gluten-free, grain-free, and dairy-free. Enjoy!
Chicken Pesto Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
From Paleo Running Momma
This recipe is extremely simple to make! You blend up a few ingredients in a food processor for the pesto, then mix it up with shredded chicken. Then you serve the pesto chicken over baked sweet potatoes and your lunch is complete!
It would be really easy to bake up a tray of sweet potatoes and the chicken breast you need at the beginning of the week, along with blending the pesto. Then it will only take minutes to reheat and enjoy over lunch each day!
Thai Chicken Noodles
From Paleo Gluten Free Eats
The noodles in this bowl are made with spiralized zucchini, or “zoodles”. I have this vegetable spiralizer from Amazon and I love it!
To make this recipe, you’ll cook your zoodles, blend up a few ingredients for the yummy “peanut” sauce (made with almond butter if you’re paleo/Whole30), then toss together with veggies and chicken!
If you make the zoodles and prep the chicken and veggies at the beginning of the week, this will make a super easy, healthy, and delicious paleo and Whole30 lunch to throw together quickly each day!
Burrito Bowls with Cauliflower Rice
From Paleo Running Momma
Just look at that GUAC! Ryan and I get excited about any food that has guacamole involved.
These burrito bowls are made with lime cauliflower rice, stir-fried peppers and onions, seasoned beef, and guacamole! Another easy paleo and Whole30 lunch to make ahead and reheat.
Broccoli Cheese Soup
From 40 Aprons
I cannot wait to try this one. Cheesy broccoli soup is one of my favorite comfort foods, but it doesn’t usually agree with my tummy. This one is dairy-free though, made with blended cashews and nutritional yeast for the cheesiness!
I haven’t had this particular soup before, but I’ve had pasta made with a “cheesy” cashew and nutritional yeast sauce, and even though it sounds like a strange combination, I promise it is delicious!
If you’re unfamiliar with it, nutritional yeast is a super good-for-you food! It’s packed with protein and B vitamins, which support healthy hair, skin, and nails. It’s also an immune system booster with antiviral properties! You can buy it on Amazon pretty inexpensively.
Southwest Chicken and Sweet Potato Fries Bowl
From Paleo Gluten Free Eats
Baking the sweet potato fries and the chicken at the beginning of the week will make this an easy paleo and Whole30 lunch bowl to throw together each day. This bowl then includes cabbage, olives, tomatoes, and cucumbers with an avocado-mayonnaise sauce and lots of yummy spices.
Egg Roll in a Bowl
From Jay’s Baking Me Crazy
This paleo egg roll in a bowl is a super easy one pan meal! First you sauté the cabbage, onions, and carrots, then you add in ginger, garlic, and coconut aminos, and finally add in ground pork or chicken until everything is cooked. Then you’re done!
Coconut aminos is a sauce made from coconut sap that is dark, salty, and slightly sweet, resembling soy sauce. However, coconut aminos, by contrast, is gluten-free and soy-free. You can find coconut aminos on Amazon if you’re interested.
Loaded Sweet Potato Fries
From 40 Aprons
This recipe includes sweet potato fries, bacon, AND guacamole, so I’m sold.
To make these loaded sweet potato fries, all you need to do is fry up some bacon, cook the sweet potatoes in spices, make some guac, and fry the eggs. Then you throw it together in a messy pile of goodness for an easy paleo and Whole30 lunch.
Paleo Meatballs with Zoodles
From My Life Cookbook
This freezer-friendly meal prep lunch has three simple parts: meatballs, zucchini noodles, and roasted tomatoes. She suggests making one big batch of each element and freezing them, then reheating for lunches during the week.
Here’s a link to my favorite vegetable spiralizer from Amazon if you’re interested in getting one!
Sausage Sweet Potato Veggie Skillet
From Paleo Running Momma
To make this easy skillet recipe, you will roast the brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes in the oven while you stir-fry the peppers, onions, and sausage on your stove-top. Then you fry up some eggs and throw it all together for an easy paleo and Whole30 lunch!
Sweet Potato Egg Boats with Avocado Crema and Bacon
From The Healthy Maven
I’ve never thought of baking eggs inside of sweet potatoes before – this is genius! The sweet potato egg boats are then topped with bacon bits and a creamy avocado lime sauce for an easy paleo and Whole30 lunch.
2 comments
Just found this and SO relieved! It’s just too cold for salad all the time now it is winter, and I have just been skipping lunch altogether recently due to having no ideas what to eat instead. I am very new to Paleo eating. It has been forced on me in recent months after Long Covid left me with auto immune problems and severe food allergies that swell my mouth and throat and need emergency injections. My food allergies include all grains like wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, maize, and even all rice – this includes the grains, flour or starch, so no cornflour, or rice starch etc. When I checked with my medical dietician we figured out a Paleo diet would suit me fine. So finding advice from fabulous people like you really is a godsend. Thank you so, so very much. XXX
Hi Ruth! I am so happy to hear that this blog post is going to help you continue to eat the diet your body needs while not dying of salad boredom! I too started eating paleo because of health problems. The longer you eat paleo, the easier it becomes, and finding amazing recipes like these help heaps. Wishing you health!