Work Lunch Ideas - Easy Tips for No Microwave or Fridge

4 Shares

Finding work lunch ideas to pack and eat without a microwave or refrigerator can be tricky. Eating cold lunch every day doesn’t always cut it, and you may not want to bring a sandwich over and over. In addition, you need meals that are actually filling to get you through the work day.

After years of packing lunch day after day, we’ve learned some tricks for bringing filling, nourishing foods that are delicious and can even be hot – even if there’s no microwave (or fridge) in sight.

Packing your own lunch is not only often healthier than buying a lunch, but it’s significant way that you can save money. We estimate that our lunch-packing routine saves around $65 per week. And the meals we pack are hearty, filling, and warm. That’s $260 per month, or $3250 per year!

When you figure out how to effectively create easy, packable lunches, you find that you definitely do not have to eat cold chicken or leftover turkey sandwiches every single day. In this post, we’ll share a bit about our lunch-packing routine, items you need to make it happen (not much!), and easy lunch ideas to pack.

While it can be a little bit of a learning curve, finding ways to make packing lunch work for you even with no microwave or refrigerator is totally worth it for the savings and health benefits.

Pin This Post for Later!

Our Lunch-Packing Routine

There are a number of healthy and delicious easy lunches that you can bring to work which require little to no prep in the kitchen beforehand. Sandwiches, simple salads, canned soups or stews, or a collection of snacks and sides (like trail mix, hard-boiled eggs, easy fruits and veggies, or yogurt) are just a few ideas.

Because we cook dinner at our house virtually every night of the week (total benefit of being a stay-at-home mom/wife!), it works best for us to just cook one meal for dinner and then eat it again for lunch the next day. (And yes, there are ways to easily heat meals without a microwave! Keep reading!) This is what we do most days. However, there are some days when there aren’t enough leftovers for some reason. And when this happens, there are still lots of options as long as you’re prepared.

Packing leftovers for lunch does take some time, of course, because it means that you have to cook dinner the night before. However, dinner doesn’t have to be complicated, and using leftovers for lunch also SAVES time in other ways.

How?

For one, if you’re going to eat a real meal, you’re going to have to make it sometime. A lot of people spend time on the weekend prepping a whole bunch of meals for the week. And for some, this works best! We don’t have to spend the weekend doing a whole bunch of cooking, because we just make meals throughout the week.

Eating leftovers also makes packing easy, because we just pack lunch while we’re putting dinner away the night before. It hardly takes any extra time since all of the dishes and foods are already out.

Lastly, it takes less planning time, because you only have to plan one main meal per day instead of figuring out different things to eat for lunch and dinner (that’s 5 main meals per week instead of 10). (I’m not counting breakfast here because that usually doesn’t take much thought at all.)

What Do You Need to Pack Lunch Without a Microwave or Fridge?

Whether you’re in a trade that requires being out on different jobs or in a truck all day, or you work in an office that doesn’t have a microwave and/or fridge, it can be disorienting at first to figure out what to bring. Fortunately, you only need a few simple items to keep your lunch cold and even enjoy it warm if you want to.

Here’s what you’ll need:

An insulated bag. Insulated bags or lunch boxes are essential for keeping food safely cold in the morning before lunch time. You can get a good lunch bag for around $20. There are all sorts of styles and sizes to choose from!
Ice pack. If you’re bringing meat, dairy, or other foods that need to stay cold, grab a simple ice pack to stick in your lunch bag in order to keep the food cool. Just don’t forget to stick it in the freezer when you get home in the evening so it’s ready again for the next day.
Airtight container. Many meals can be packed in plastic bags (sandwiches, for example). However, having a collection of meal prep containers like Tupperware or even glass jars is helpful. It’s a good idea to have a variety so that you always have the right size on hand whether you’re packing cut vegetables, sour cream for nachos, or a salad.
Thermos. A large thermos is a great way to keep soups and stews warm all morning long. Just heat up your food in the morning and dump it into the thermos. It will stay hot and ready for you for hours! We love our Stanley thermos with a cap that can be used to eat out of.
Slow cooker (crock pot). Probably our most valuable lunch-packing tool! A mini crock pot is perfect for heating up your food, and you can use it for almost any meal. We use a 2-quart model, but even a 1-quart would do for most types of meals. These cost about $10-$20. They’re easy to transport, and you can plug it in mid-morning to have a hot lunch ready at lunchtime. The best part is that it works for nearly any type of food. We’ve used a crock pot for everything from soup (just be careful of sloshing while transporting) to nachos to casseroles, meatloaf, and even slices of pizza.

If you’re starting from scratch, you could buy all of these tools for about $70 (give or take – there are tons of different options!). If you pack your lunch every day instead of buying, you can make up for this cost in just a week or two.

With the right tools and a good routine, enjoying hot lunches totally does not have to be hard work!

Hot Work Lunch Ideas

A thermos or crock pot are ideal for keeping your lunch warm all morning or warming it up while you’re at work. Here are some meal prep ideas that you can make or buy beforehand and eat warm on the job. You don’t need a microwave to heat lunches!

When to use a thermos

A thermos is great for soups and stews because it seals really well, and you don’t have to worry about your soup splashing out. To use a thermos, heat up your soup in the morning and dump it in – then enjoy it still hot at lunch time. A lot of thermos’s have a built-in cap that doubles as a cup/small bowl.

When to use a slow cooker

A slow cooker works for almost anything – from casseroles to leftover pizza. (Seriously, we’ve done it all). If you have a short commute, you can just plug your slow cooker in when you get to work. That way, you don’t have to worry about keeping perishable foods cold. Or, what we usually do is put the crock in a lunch bag with an ice pack and anything else that needs to stay cold. Then bring a regular plastic bag with the base of the cooker (it’s super light). You can also stuff other items like a piece of fruit, tortilla chips, or silverware in here. This works well if you don’t want to plug it in until mid-morning. (Most foods don’t need very long to warm).

Here are some delicious lunch ideas that you can enjoy hot while at work.

Soups and stews. Homemade soups and stews are delicious, of course. But there are also lots of options out there for pre-made, canned soups. These store for a really long time, so they’re great for keeping on the shelf in case you run into a day with no other lunch ideas. You can also make your own large batches of soup or stew, cool completely, and then freeze them in glass jars. They’ll keep for months and make an easy, healthy, and delicious meal. Chicken noodle, chili, ham and bean, and broccoli cheddar chicken are some of our favorite hearty soups. Pair it with some whole grain bread or sourdough and perhaps a salad and you have nourishing (and warm!) lunch!
Nachos. Pile some seasoned, cooked meat, refried beans, and cheese in the crock pot. Bring some tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, and hot sauce on the side in some small tupperware dishes (with an ice pack). Throw a Ziplock bag of tortilla chips in your lunch bag. This is a great way to eat leftover tacos without having the mess of trying to fill and eat out of shells while you’re a work.
Cooked or baked meats. Leftover pot roast, baked chicken, porkchops, meatloaf, and steak all re-heat well in a slow cooker.
Casseroles. Whether you make dinner every night and want to eat leftovers, or you want to do one meal and eat it all week, casseroles are great because most are easy to make and they can feed you over and over. They’re easy to warm up, too! Lasagna, tuna casserole, tetrazzini, chicken casseroles or pot pie, hamburger casserole, baked macaroni and cheese, taco casserole, and baked spaghetti are just a few classic ideas.
Pasta dishes. Pasta is good cold or hot! Using a slow cooker, you can easily re-heat dishes like spaghetti, fettuccini alfredo, and lo mein.

Cold Work Lunch Ideas

Cold lunches can be delicious too, and many of them are really easy and quick to make. Even if you don’t have a fridge, you can safely keep lunch cold with an insulated bag and a reusable ice pack.

Here are some easy cold lunch recipes to consider:

Sandwiches. Deli meat and cheese sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, egg salad, tuna salad, chickpea salad sandwich… Whether you’re vegan or a meat lover, the sandwich options are endless!
Wraps. Chicken caesar wraps, creamy avocado and white bean wrap, hummus and veggie wraps, and a BLT sandwich wrap are just a few ideas. Keep some corn or flour tortillas on hand for whipping up quick wraps. You can use plastic wrap to keep it together after it’s made.
Layered salads. Mason jar salads are a simple way to pile up a whole bunch of nourishing ingredients. Then, just mix when you’re ready to eat. It can be helpful to keep the dressing in a separate container until lunch time. This way the salad doesn’t get soggy. Filling yet simple salad ideas include chicken salad with grilled chicken and mozzarella, leafy green salads with seeds, bacon bits, cheese, and cucumbers, chopped salad with ham or chickpeas, cucumber, tomato, cheese, and olives, and Greek salad with feta, grilled chicken or lamb, olives, red onion, and tomatoes. But, there are so many options to personalize your salad just how you like it. Feel free to mix it up! (Also, you totally don’t need a Mason jar – almost any container will do for salad. Just make sure to keep it cold if it has meat or cheese in it.
Pasta salads. You can make a filling cold pasta salad with ingredients like pepperoni, ham, chick peas, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, cucumber, grape tomatoes, black olives, pine nuts, and more. (Maybe not necessarily all of these together – these are just ideas!)
Grain bowls. Grain bowls are an easy, healthy lunch that offers tons of ways to mix and match. Just pair quinoa with ingredients like black beans, corn, avocado, cooked sweet potatoes, or shredded rotisserie chicken. Drizzle with the dressing of your choice or a simple lemon juice and olive oil mix.
Chicken salad or tuna salad.

Healthy Sides and Snacks

If you don’t have time to make a main dish or you just want some variety, you can always just pair together a collection of sides and snacks. Here are some ideas for simple but filling foods that you can mix and match or pair up with a main dish. Some of these can be stored and eaten at room temperature if you’re looking for something super easy.

Meat sticks.
Cheese sticks.
Hard-boiled eggs.
Bagel and cream cheese.
Meat and cheese roll ups.
Cheese and crackers.
Fruit. Apples, bananas, pears, grapes, and berries are all easy fruits to pack and eat on the go. Mandarin oranges, fruit cups, or other canned fruits without added sugar can also be a pretty good option if you’re in a hurry.
Hummus and veggies. Hummus with cut carrots, cucumber slices, bell pepper slices, cut cauliflower, snap peas, or other fresh vegetables are a fairly easy way to get some veggies and protein in together.
Trail mix or plain nuts. Buy it, or make your own! You can combine any sort of nuts, seeds, and dried fruits you like to make an easy trail mix protein boost. If you’re short on time, mixing up just some peanuts and raisins is super easy yet delicious, filling, and a little bit sweet.
Yogurt. A container of yogurt is a quick and easy snack. Pairing plain greek yogurt with some granola and/or fruit is another easy way you can mix it up, too.
Energy balls or bars. These are handy because you can mix them up and alter the ingredients to make it different every time. Or just stick with what you love! We like to make big batches of energy balls or bars that will last for weeks. Monster energy bites and 10-minute date energy bars are our main go-tos.