Lunch is the hardest meal of the day on Keto. I have the hardest time coming up with good Keto lunch ideas. This is a problem. Because when I don’t have a clue what to eat for lunch, I end up eating something like, a chunk of cheese and a scoop of peanut butter.
Not really the best option. I can do better. With a little planning ahead and grocery shopping, I can always have excellent keto lunch ideas to keep me satisfied til dinner. **This post contains affiliate links. If you click one and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.***
ALERT! There’s a ps at the end of this post that you do not want to miss.
Before we get to the lunches, it’s been a while since I last posted anything Keto related, so maybe you’re wondering if I fell off the Keto wagon? Did I cheat on Keto?
No, I did not fall off the wagon. In fact, I don’t really think there is a Keto wagon. I’m at the point now, almost a year into this, that I cannot imagine going back ever to the way I used to eat. I don’t want a sandwich. I don’t want regular cookies. In fact, my whole mindset around food is different.
I no longer think about food like it’s entertainment. I eat because I have to eat food, but I’m not obsessed with what my next meal will be. I used to think people who said that must have something wrong with their taste buds. But now I am one of those people.
There are actually positives and negatives to that. The positive is that I can be in the same room as brownies and not eat any of them, never mind ALL of them. The negative is that figuring out what to eat is annoying. I don’t have a craving for anything which leaves me to eating whatever is the easiest thing. Which, see above, is usually cheese and/or peanut butter.
But if I plan ahead, just a little tiny bit, I can have easy keto lunch ideas sitting in the fridge, ready for a quick assembly (note I didn’t mention cooking, I don’t cook at lunch time).
Oh! And if you are curious about my weight loss on Keto, I started at 148 lbs. I’m down to 125 as I’m writing this post. I’m a very small person (5’2″ and small in general in stature) and so I would like to still lose more, but if I don’t, I’m ok with that. I actually don’t look at Keto as just a weight loss diet anymore. There are so many other benefits of Keto that I’ve discovered along the way. Those are what keep me on Keto now.
If you’re just starting your own Keto journey, my best advice to you is to join Keto Bootstrap. From meal plans, to macros, you’ll find all of the information you need to do Keto right. Elisa is an amazing resource for all of your Keto questions. There’s even a 28 day work out plan which someday I swear to GOD I am going to complete.
Easy Keto Lunch Ideas
Ok, I know, you came for the easy Keto lunch ideas not to hear me gush about Keto. Here they are.
Egg Salad On a Tomato Slice
One of the biggest favors you can do for yourself when you are eating Keto is to boil a bunch of eggs ahead of time to have on hand as a quick snack or lunch at a moments notice. There’s really not anything much easier than boiling eggs.
This egg salad recipe is, well, let’s be honest here, it’s not a recipe. I’m not even going to pretend it’s a recipe. I boil eggs, I chop a couple up, add some keto friendly mayonnaise and smidge of yellow mustard and some salt and pepper to taste and you’re good to go.
Scoop it on top of a thickly sliced tomato and you’ve got a great, simple keto lunch.
And if you’re not into egg salad (I get it), you could do this with Tuna or Chicken Salad. I’ve made this with tuna and slapped a piece of cheddar cheese on top, popped it in the oven to melt and it’s a tuna melt!
Frozen Precooked Meatballs with Sauce and Mozzarella Cheese
Dig around your grocery stores frozen meatball section and find the one’s with the lowest amount of carbs.
Because here is what will happen one day. Someday, you’re going to go, Oh my god it’s 3pm and I haven’t eaten lunch. You’re probably going to be hungry which means, there’s a very good chance you will just eat whatever is around in order to not be hungry and sometimes that means you will eat bad things.
BUT!
If you have this bag of frozen precooked meatballs in the house, then you are SAVED! Saved from the bad, bad carbs.
Top the meatballs (two if they are big meatballs, 6 if they are the little guys) with about 1/4 cup of low sugar tomato sauce and as much mozzarella cheese as you want. Pop that in the oven for whatever your frozen meatballs tell you they need to cook for and you have yourself a fantastic keto lunch idea.
Turkey Club Roll Up
This Turkey Club Roll Up, or some variation of it, is on the keto lunch ideas I go to most frequently. It’s easy, tasty and it involves almost zero cooking.
Almost zero because I always heat up the pre-cooked bacon I use for a few minutes before I add it to the roll up.
This is not complicated, in any way and totally customizeable. I usually do deli turkey, but if I only have ham on hand, then that will do. I lay out a couple of pieces, slather a little blue cheese or ranch dressing (make sure your dressing is low in sugar!), add a couple of strips of bacon, some lettuce or even some baby spinach and roll it all up!
I can never get a really cute rolled up thing like you see on Pinterest, but my taste buds don’t know that, nor would they care if they did.
Deli Box
I don’t know why, but I’m obsessed with things that come in their own little compartments. Deli boxes are something that I look forward to not just because of the food that I will be eating, but also because they are adorable. It’s cozy food.
A keto friendly deli box also gives you lots of options for customization. In general, you want to think about getting your protein and your fat in there. So, a handful of nuts, an egg or maybe some rotisserie chicken, a few chunks of your favorite cheese and you’re good! You could even toss in some low sugar berries if you’re into fruit. I’m not. Blech.
But to each her own, right?
Keto Smoothie
The laziest, easiest and maybe even yummiest of all of these easy keto lunch ideas is, in my opinion, the Keto Smoothie or shake.
I love a good Keto Shake and I am going to share with you my very favorite ever Keto shake.
I take 8 ozs of Almond milk and add it to my shake cup. Then, I add in some Heavy Cream. I don’t measure, it’s maybe another ounce worth. Next is the protein powder. This Perfect Keto Chocolate Collagen is the best one I have ever tried. Then the secret ingredients.
1 T of Instant Espresso
and
A Dash (I don’t know, like a 1/4 tsp, maybe?) of Coconut Extract
This shake is so delicious. I might get up and go make one right now. It takes approximately 3 minutes to make, too, so you won’t even notice I’m gone.
Deviled Eggs
If you have made your boiled eggs ahead of time, you may get to a point in the week where you have some still left, but you’re not in the mood to eat another plain old hard boiled egg.
That’s fine. You can jazz up that humble egg into a Deviled Egg.
I go super simple and make my deviled eggs similar to my Egg Salad. Slice the egg in half, scoop out the yolks, add a little mayo, a little mustard and a tiny splash of some vinegar. Mix it all together and stuff it back into the egg yolk hole. There are TONS of recipes for SUPER jazzed up deviled eggs out there, too. If you have bacon lying around, add some of that to these.
Leftovers
Dinner is usually easy on Keto. I mean, I have to cook dinner because there are other people in this house who will starve if I don’t, so I cook dinner and they eat it. Whatever main dish I’m making is a Keto dish.
This is the award winner for no brainer Keto lunch idea. I mean, you set aside some leftovers and heat them up.
I really don’t think there is anything else we have to say about this, is there?
So there you have it! 7 Easy Keto Lunch Ideas. One for each day of the week. Put these ideas on rotation. Don’t forget to boil your eggs ahead of time!
Before I go, what did I miss? Is there another keto lunch idea that requires minimal time and effort that I missed?? Let me know in the comments!
If you Liked It Then You Shoulda Put a Pin In It!
PS!
In case you want to know what a kitchen looks like on the day it made 7 lunches in 1 hour? it looks like this:
