Healthy Lunch and Dinner Examples (2024)

The meals below meet the Healthy Nutrition Guidelines. Prepare recipes with less sodium, and choose pre-made products with no or low sodium content.

Boxed Lunch Examples

Chicken taco salad: Grilled skinless chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, bell pepper, onion, homemade salsa, smashed avocado, low-fat sour cream. Serve with baked tortilla chips, fresh fruit, small cookie.
Boxed salad: Leaf lettuce, sliced tomato, hardboiled egg, fresh raspberries, kidney and garbanzo beans, chopped spinach, diced red onion, shredded carrots, sliced mushrooms, roasted beets, and sliced cucumber with low-fat dressing on the side. Serve with fresh fruit, whole grain roll, and unsalted almonds and sunflower seeds.
Grilled or roasted chicken sandwich: Whole wheat or rye bread, lean roasted or grilled chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, avocado slices, mustard and low-fat mayonnaise on the side. Serve with baby carrots and fresh fruit.
(Vegetarian) Roasted vegetable and mozzarella wrap box lunch: Marinated, roasted and chilled eggplant, red and yellow peppers, red onion, zucchini with part skim mozzarella cheese in a whole wheat wrap?Serve with unsalted nuts, cookie, whole fruit.
(Vegetarian) Hummus and pita lunch: Garbanzo bean spread, mozzarella cheese, tomato, onions, smashed avocado, lettuce on whole wheat pita bread. Serve with small salad, light salad dressing, whole fruit, small cookie.
(Vegetarian and Vegan) Roasted vegetable wrap box lunch: Marinated and roasted eggplant, red and yellow pepper, red onion, zucchini in a whole wheat wrap. Serve with unsalted nuts, dark chocolate square, whole fruit.

Deconstructed burrito bar: Grilled skinless chicken or lean pulled pork with vegetarian black beans, sautéed onions and peppers, steamed corn, low-fat cheddar cheese, brown rice, homemade salsa, smashed avocado, tomatoes, leaf lettuce. Serve with side salad with low-fat dressing, sorbet with berries.
Meat and potatoes buffet: Baked or grilled fish (3–5 oz portion), skinless chicken, beef, or pork with choice of oven-baked herbed potatoes or herbed wild rice, steamed mixed vegetables. Serve with green salad with low-fat dressing on the side, baked apples with vanilla low-fat frozen yogurt.
Pasta bar: Whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce, sautéed vegetables, grilled skinless chicken. Serve with spinach salad with dried cranberries and chickpeas, low-fat dressing on the side, angel food cake with berries.
Potato bar: Baked potatoes with low-fat sour cream, broccoli, low-fat cheddar cheese, green onions. Serve with choice of turkey chili or vegetarian chili, green salad with low-fat dressing on the side, low-fat fruit crisp.
Soup and salad buffet: Leaf lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, roasted beets, unsalted nuts and seeds, sliced red onions, baby spinach, garbanzo beans, hard-boiled egg slices, fresh fruit. Serve with soups made with broth or skim milk (not cream) and low-fat yogurt parfait.
Stir-fry: Choice of skinless chicken breast or tofu with stir-fried vegetables, steamed brown rice, cabbage salad with low-fat dressing. Serve with fresh fruit, fortune cookie.

Baked salmon fillet: Fillet of salmon with lemon dill sauce. Serve with baby green salad with choice of low-fat dressings on table, smashed red potatoes, steamed vegetables, and low-fat chocolate pudding with berries.
Red beans and rice: Spiced red beans and brown rice with smashed avocado, sautéed seasonal vegetables. Serve with seasonal fruit and citrus sorbet.
Pineapple chicken: Skinless chicken breast (3–5 oz portion) in pineapple, garlic, celery seed, and tarragon marinade, whole grain pasta with sautéed vegetables, garden salad with oil-and-vinegar dressing. Serve with sorbet and fresh seasonal fruit.
(Vegetarian and vegan) Portobello mushroom entrée: Marinated and grilled Portobello mushroom filled with polenta, grilled vegetables, and fresh herbs. Serve with roasted mushroom tomato ragout, fresh fruit.
(Vegetarian and vegan) Grilled tempeh and pasta entrée: Grilled fermented soy bean cake with sautéed zucchini and vegetables in a light tomato sauce served over pasta. Serve with fresh fruit.