Healthy make-at-home lunches for under $25

When you buy your lunch – and you’re trying to eat healthy – it’s easy to fall into the trap of paying $15 every day for a small salad. James Colquhoun has some suggestions for tasty lunches you can make in batches, costing less than $25.

Some people say, "Oh I hate spinach". But let me take some of that raw spinach, put a little bit of olive oil in a pan, lots o nice garlic, sauté it gently, and, put that in some scrambled eggs. Delicious! Try to find new ways to use vegetables and also think about having fun with storing and fermenting.

One of the most important things to consider when looking for cheap lunches, is to be creative and resourceful with your leftovers. I'm a huge fan of recycling dinner and then turning it into a salad. So, when you’re next prepping for dinner, remind yourself that it's so much easier to cook a little bit more now than it is to prepare a lunch from scratch.

While cabbage is cheap, people don't really think about using it. But using cabbage with coconut milk and fish in a one-pot dish is a game changer.

If carrots are cheap and in season, then juice them up. Try to buy as much of that cheap produce as possible: in as good quality possible and organic wherever possible. Then, when you've got a surplus of it, try to find more creative ways to use it!

I definitely think that garlic and herbs are game changers when it comes to healthy and tasty meals.

If you’re needing some culinary inspiration, here are some delicious suggestions of lunches that you can make in batches for less than $25:

Veggie Curry

Making up a big batch of veggie curry, or a big coconut milk-pumpkin soup, is a really cheap, easy thing to make that costs next to nothing – and you can make a lot of it.

You could even add it to a salad and make a hot salad. If I have some veggie curry, I’ll add some green leaves, maybe with some other salad items like cucumber or capsicum or avocado, and just add a little dressing. Literally, you just put the salad on a plate and then put the curry on the side of it or on top of it. Just eating the curry and the salad together feels so much more nourishing than just the salad on its own.

I love this idea of hot salad – people trip out about it, but having a salad with something warm, there's something magical about it.

Roast vegetable salad

Game changer: All you need to do is roast the vegetables at night. I like to make sweet potatoes to start, as it's just an unbelievable root vegetable that supports gut health.

When you cook big trays of roast vegetables, you can just use them in different ways over the next three days. Take a cup or two of that roast veg (heated up or left cold), and pair with some fresh salad leaves, avocado, cucumber and some dressing. I’d recommend keeping some dressing in the office or making your own with yoghurt, olive oil, sea salt and turmeric or fresh garlic.

Smoothies

Sometimes I just want a lunch that's not too extreme, so I'll bring ingredients for a smoothie to work. With the right ingredients, it can be incredibly nourishing. One that I like in particular is coconut milk, date, banana, spinach, avocado, and a protein source like hemp seeds or a protein powder. With that, you've got protein, fat and a grain. It's going to sustain you for quite a bit.

Miso veggie soup

Veggie soup in a jar is very cheap and simple. You can literally just combine some chopped up veg, like broccoli, spring onions, capsicum and maybe even some dried Japanese mushrooms or fresh mushrooms put in there. A dollop of good quality miso paste and just put the lid on.

Then when you get to work, open the lid at lunchtime, put boiling hot water in there, leave it for five minutes and then eat it up! Amazing and super simple.

Filmmaker of 'Food Matters' and 'Hungry For Change', and founder of FMTV, James has dedicated his life to discovering the truth behind nutrition and our food supply. James, alongside Laurentine ten Bosch, has transformed the 'Food Matters' film into a global wellness hub, with a community of over 3.3 million followers across email and social networks. The information in this article is general information only and is not intended as medical, health, nutritional or other advice. You should obtain professional advice from a medical or health practitioner in relation to your own personal circumstances.

Disclaimer:
The information in this article is general information only and is not intended as financial, medical, health, nutritional, tax or other advice. It does not take into account any individual’s personal situation or needs. You should consider obtaining professional advice from a financial adviser and/or tax specialist, or medical or health practitioner, in relation to your own circumstances and before acting on this information.