One of the biggest complaints about keto is that meals aren’t exactly quick to prepare. Lunch can feel especially tricky. Before keto, you might have made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or grabbed a quick sub on your lunch break. Keto-friendly lunches aren’t quite so simple.
But that doesn’t mean keto lunches are hard. Lunch can be as easy as grabbing last night’s leftovers or throwing together a quick salad with a can of tuna and your favorite Primal Kitchen dressing. You can even still have your favorite savory sandwiches; you just have to be more creative with the bread options.
Here are some of our favorite easy keto lunch ideas and recipes to prep ahead to make low-carb lunches a breeze.
Easy Keto Lunch Recipes
Mini Smoked Salmon Hand Rolls
These hand rolls are essentially rice-less sushi you can make at home in just a few minutes. They also make a great appetizer for your next get-together.
Mark’s Big-Ass Keto Salad
You can’t go wrong with a big salad made with tons of greens (which have virtually no net carbs), healthy fats from avocado, nuts and seeds, and salad dressing made with olive or avocado oil. Add any protein, and voila, a complete (and completely satisfying) meal.
Buffalo Ranch Chicken Stuffed Peppers
Creamy loaded chicken salad in bell pepper “cups” are a tantalizing low-carb alternative to a sandwich—easy to eat with your hands! Use Hot Buffalo Sauce to turn up the heat.
TikTok Inspired Salmon Rice Bowls
Cauliflower rice, of course. This make-at-home take on a poke bowl is endlessly adaptable.
Keto Bread and Sandwich Recipes
Garlic, Dill & Cheddar Keto Bread
Many low-carb breads you find at the store contain ingredients that a Primal eater wouldn’t want to consume. (Wheat gluten and canola oil? Pass.) This savory bread contains only Primal-friendly ingredients and is worth the effort.
Keto Completo Hot Dogs
Did the Internet ever decide whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich? Guess it is now. This recipe uses the bread recipe above to make keto-friendly hot dog buns, but you can also enjoy these loaded hot dogs without a bun. They’re great either way.
Philly Cheesesteak (with Optional Primal Cheddar Cheese Sauce)
Serve these cheesesteaks with a lettuce wrap, on the hot dog buns from the previous recipe, or even atop a salad.
Keto Cubano (Cuban Sandwich) Sliders
This sandwich features mouthwatering pork and ham paired with Swiss cheese, salty pickles, and mustard in a combo that’s more than the sum of its parts. It’s an ideal way to use up leftover shredded pork.
Collard Green Tuna Wraps
This one’s for the tuna salad sandwich lovers out there.
Keto Lunch Meal Prep Recipes
If you pack a lunch to take to work or school, you need pre-made keto lunch recipes. Here are some things you can prepare the night before, or in a big meal prep blitz on the weekend. Pack them in individual portions in the fridge so they’re easy to grab on your way out the door.
Primal Sloppy Joes
This recipe also includes low-carb buns that you can use for sandwiches and burgers, too! Pack the bun and meat separately, then heat up the meat and assemble when you’re ready to chow down.
Turmeric and Kale Soup with Ground Lamb
If you’re not big on lamb, this soup is equally delicious with ground turkey.
Ginger Turmeric Chicken Soup
This is one of the most popular recipes on the blog, and for good reason. This soup is everything you want soup to be.
Wonton Soup
This is our take on the Chinese restaurant staple. All of the flavor but none of the noodle wonton wrappings that wouldn’t work on keto.
Healthy Chicken Salad
Every keto eater should have a basic chicken salad recipe in their back pocket. Use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken to make meal prep even easier. Serve wrapped in lettuce or collard greens, over a big mixed salad, or just eat it with a fork.
Buffalo Chicken Salad
Your classic chicken salad… with a twist.
Primal Tuna Salad
The tuna salad from this recipe from Primal Kitchen is fabulous served in avocado halves, as in the photo.
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