These easy and satisfying lunch recipes are perfect for a midday repast. Most are made quickly; others require a little foresight — but we promise the payoff is well worth your trouble. Some, like our recipe for Roasted Vegetable Grain Bowl with Chickpeas and Tahini-Ginger Dressing, are perfect for batch cooking, allowing you to cook once and reap several lightning-fast lunches. If you plan on having company, Masala Paneer Kathi Rolls are perfect for a make-your-own style of service. On chilly days, a soul-warming bowl of Tomato Lemon Rasam might be just the thing.
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Sorghum and Albacore Tuna Salad with Preserved Lemon
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Sorghum, a nutritious and sustainable grain, adds a pleasantly chewy bite to this simple salad from Roxana Jullapat, the co-owner and baker of Los Angeles restaurant Friends & Family.The bracing flavor of preserved lemon adds a salty kick to this olive-, onion-, and fresh herb–laden tuna salad.
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Greek Kale Salad with Fried Halloumi
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Crisp and tender pan-fried Halloumi cheese is the star of this wintry twist on a Greek salad. Finely chopped kale holds up a creamy, spicy yogurt-based dressing that gets a kick of piquancy from minced garlic and crushed red pepper. Classic Mediterranean ingredients — cucumbers, olives, and artichokes — and crisp radishes add savory flavor and crunch.
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The Best Cucumber Sandwich
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The only reason you think cucumber sandwiches are boring is because you haven't had one that is made right, says chef Vishwesh Bhatt. Benedictine, a creamy spread of cucumber and herbs; along with a spicy and herbaceous peanut pesto with serrano chile, cilantro, and citrus; and chaat masala add verve to these sandwiches. And after layering in the crisp cucumbers, spicy chile slices, and juicy tomatoes, take a bite.
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Roasted Vegetable Grain Bowl with Chickpeas and Tahini-Ginger Dressing
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This grain bowl is a choose-your-own-adventure delight. Sub in any grain, protein, or leafy green you have on hand — no matter what you choose, the deliciously easy sesame-based dressing will tie it all together. You'll have enough for at least two lunches plus leftovers. Make a double batch of the dressing to have enough for a full week of easy lunches.
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Pan Bagnat (Niçoise Salad Sandwich)
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Essentially a Niçoise salad in sandwich form, the pan bagnat is sold at bakeries, restaurants, and nearly every outdoor market in Nice, France. For this version, tuna is pureed with red wine vinegar, olive oil, anchovies, and garlic to form a unique sandwich spread inspired by tonnato sauce. Spreading a tangy tuna dressing on the cut sides of the ciabatta allows it to get absorbed into the bread, giving the sandwich plenty of flavor while also making it easier to eat.
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Creamy Tomato Soup with Buttery Croutons
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This comforting, creamy tomato soup from Seattle chef Tom Douglas comes together quickly and easily by using a few pantry staples, such as canned whole tomatoes, garlic, onion, extra-virgin olive oil, and several dried herbs and spices. The soup is delicious when eaten on its own, but the crowning glory is the freshly made brown butter croutons added on top.
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Peppery Greens Salad with Avocado, Chicken, and Tortilla Croutons
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A combination of radicchio, arugula, and frisée meets chicken, avocado, toasted pepitas, and a vinaigrette flavored with honey and lime juice. Crispy, pimentón-dusted tortillas are layered into the salad and absorb some of the dressing.
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Masala Paneer Kathi Rolls
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For these paratha sandwiches, paneer, peppers, and onions are marinated in a spiced yogurt mixture and then roasted until golden in a screaming hot oven. Fresh cabbage salad adds a sharp, acidic crunch and a final dollop of Spicy Mango-Mint Chutney adds sweetness and heat.
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Warm Puttanesca Pasta Salad
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This delicious pasta salad starts by marinating halved and salted cherry tomatoes with olive oil, red wine vinegar, and minced shallot. The tomato-juice vinaigrette that pools underneath is then used to dress casarecce pasta, along with crisped prosciutto, fresh basil, and, of course, the classic puttanesca trio of anchovies, olives, and capers.
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Grilled Cheese with Corn and Calabrian Chile
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This upgraded grilled cheese by chef Nancy Silverton is filled with a charred sweet corn-studded blend of nutty English cheddar, sharp caciocavallo, and just enough mayonnaise to bind it all together. Thick slices of sourdough get a beautifully buttery, golden crust in a cast iron skillet, while Calibrian chile sneaks in with just the right amount of heat.
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California BLTs
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F&W’s Justin Chapple makes sure there’s bacon in every bite of his BLT by weaving the strips into a lattice before baking them. He adds California style with avocado and lemon-herb mayo.
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Spinach Salad with Smoked Chicken, Apple, Walnuts, and Bacon
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This delicious and satisfying salad calls for thick-sliced smoked chicken often available in the meat department of supermarkets. Of course, you can always use smoked turkey from the deli counter instead. If you like a more pronounced sweet-and-sour flavor, use another teaspoon of vinegar.
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Red Quinoa and Lentil Pilaf
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Akasha Richmond’scauliflower-flecked pilaf is a fantastic, healthy meal in one dish. Chopped Marcona almonds add crunch and coconut oil imparts an unexpected tropical flavor.
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Spaghettoni with Butter and Brewer's Yeast
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Italian chef Ricardo Camanini built an award-winning reputation on this incredibly delicious spaghettoni recipe topped with butter and a surprising ingredient: brewer's yeast. The dish has such simple, luscious, and — thanks to brewer's yeast — funky, umami appeal that legendary French chef Alain Ducasse declared it the best dish ever. That's an insanely high pedigree for only 15 minutes of active prep time. Pair it with a simple salad and lunch is served.
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Moroccan Chickpea, Carrot, and Spinach Soup
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Cooking instructor and author Molly Stevens describes the elemental beauty of this restorative soup aptly: "Gently sautéed onions add sweetness and a silky texture. Carrots provide heft, more sweetness, and their cheerful orange color complements the buff tones of the beans. For seasoning, a heady mixture of garlic, cumin, ginger, turmeric, and cayenne pays homage to the cuisines of North Africa where chickpeas prevail. And finally, tender spinach leaves bring a welcome jolt of green and their earthy minerality balances the sweet."
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Smoked Salmon Smørrebrød
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This enticing open-face rye sandwich from chef Claus Meyer, the Danish chef known for New Nordic cuisine, makes for the perfect light lunch.
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Minestrone with White Beans and Italian Sausage
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The Italianminestrarefers to a variety of moderately thick soup. Minestrone is a hearty vegetable-filled minestra that often contains beans and sometimes pasta. We've omitted the pasta here but added some Italian sausage. With minestrone, it seems, there is no end to the delectable variations.
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Israeli Roast Eggplant, Hummus and Pickle Sandwiches
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Michael Shemtov and Stuart Tracy prepare this messy, incredibly tasty vegetarian sandwich, called a sabich, with vegetables, hummus, house-baked pita, and herbs from a garden right behind the restaurant. “The sabich is Iraqi-Israeli, just like me,” Shemtov says. “It’s a personal dish.”
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Tomato Lemon Rasam
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This rasam has the tangy flavor profile you expect from the South Indian favorite, but gets its punchy brightness from lemon juice stirred in at the end instead of the traditional tamarind. The broth may appear to be simple, but boasts great depth of flavor from warm spices like cumin and coriander and the blend of ginger, garlic, and chiles mixed in, plus the fried curry leaves, turmeric, and mustard seeds. The chopped cilantro addgreen herbal notes, especially as they meld into the warm broth.
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Zucchini, Corn, and Shrimp Flatbread
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Store-bought naan flatbreads get toasty on the grill, layered with mascarpone cheese, sweet shrimp, juicy corn, and tender ribbons of fresh zucchini. Don't skimp on the garnish of smoked paprika — it adds a dash of vibrant color and enhances the smoky flavor.
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