This list of 15 Delicious Vegetarian Meal Prep Lunch Ideas is loaded with our best plant-packed meals, including several chickpea based bowls. Refresh your menu with vegetarian options that impress your coworkers and keep you full ’til dinner!
Get my FREE 10 Best No-Reheat Lunches eBook 🍽️
Note from Danielle
If you’re looking for more veggie based lunch ideas, but all you can think of is salad, I have good news! You’ve made it to the exact place you need to be. A magical list of vegetarian and plant-based lunch ideas awaits you.
In fact, I will personally be referring to this list in the future, because sometimes I too can only think of salads and sandwiches, when a perfectly good grain bowl or mashed chickpea concoction is right there waiting in my pantry.
Even if you do eat meat, there’s no harm in adding a veggie based meal to your lunch rotation. Actually, I think these idea are a great place to start, since I too am not a full vegetarian, but trying to eat more plant based meals.
Hope your next lunch is stellar and memorable!
Related: We’ve got even more vegetarian recipes to love. Browse our entire category of vegetarian recipes, with simple options for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner!
Equipment I commonly use for vegetarian lunches:
Whatever equipment you already have will most likely work perfectly fine for prepping these lunches. The most important thing is a sharp knife for cutting your produce, etc. More info here:
- Misen Chef’s Knife (affiliate link!) – For me, cooking vegetarian recipes always involves cutting up a lot of fresh produce for salads, roasted veggies, tofu, and other ingredients. A sharp knife is a requirement!
- cutting board – All that prep and chopping should be done on a wooden cutting board. I love my Greener Chef XL Bamboo Cutting Board (affiliate link!) and I use it for everything except raw meat (obviously vegetarians don’t have to worry about that).
- 2 Compartment Glass Meal Prep Containers (affiliate link!) – These are my favorite meal prep containers for packing vegetarian lunches with 2 components, or a main and a side, like some of the meals listed here.
Start with a plan for lunch. Graduate to weekly meal planning:
The best way to meal plan is a little bit different for everyone: some use a mobile app, some write on a laminated sheet with dry erase marker, some keep a note with meals listed in their phone.
Easy method: Start with planning only one meal a week. Lunch! Use an idea from this list.
To get started with meal planning, browse my article 5 Steps to Help You Make a Meal Plan That Works!
Free Meal Planner Templates
Try out my free Meal Planning Printable PDFs. I’ve got Weekly & Monthly Meal Planner templates, plus a shopping list template! All downloadable and printable.
Here are 15 Delicious Vegetarian Meal Prep Lunch Ideas to try:
Turn a couple cans of chickpeas, some frozen peas and fresh herbs into these flavorful Herby Chickpea Veggie Burgers! The herby mix is super adaptable to your favorite toppings. Cook on the stovetop, then reheat in the microwave, or enjoy cold as a lunch sandwich if that's your thing!
Roasted veggies and chickpeas, plus my favorite shortcut: store bought hummus with fresh lemon and dill mixed in. It brings the whole meal up at least 10 levels. This one is incredible hot or cold, and you can swap the olive for greek or whole.
Packed with pan roasted corn, bell peppers, Cotija, and tossed with olive oil and lime juice, it’s meant for make-ahead meals. You can add any kind of taco seasoned protein for a more filling meal, too!
Cauli-lovers: this time, we aren't hiding the cauliflower, we're featuring it! Roasted to perfection and then tossed with a simple chili lime dressing. Serve chilled for best results. I bet you haven't had cauliflower like this!
Looking for a warm and comforting meal that reheats oh so well? You've arrived! This make-ahead lunch is loaded with incredible flavors, and served with fluffy turmeric rice. Restaurant quality, from your kitchen.
If you're a vegetarian but you still love eggs, I think this is the one for you. However you normally like your deviled eggs, this salad can be adapted that way. Serve on white bread for classic lunchbox meal (no meat required).
This one can be made with either a homemade vegan Caesar, a homemade anchovy based dressing, OR use your own favorite store-bought Caesar. But don't skip the roasted garlic Caesar chickpeas!
The peanut dressing is what I'm dreaming of here. This is another one that's veggie packed and might be filling enough on some days, If you need a little more, sime chickpeas or air fried tofu would be perfect.
I don't know about you, but I'm a huge fan of breakfast burritos. And they do not have to be eaten only for breakfast, to be sure. But they must have potatoes, and in this case, soy chorizo from Trader Joe's. I prefer it over classic chorizo!
Here we have a solid base of fresh cut veggies, chickpeas, herbs, and a simple lemon cumin dressing that would fit on a wrap, over salad, or a pita. She's basic, but she's dependable, filling, and travels well.
A little sweet (grapes & lemon poppyseed dressing) combined with a little savory (couscous, arugula) plus some couscous, and you've got a fabulous lunch, greenery and all. The arugula holds up well with the pasta and grapes, so it's easy to take on the go.
Love a taco bowl, but don't love all the meat and cheese? This one will rock your world. Seasoned chickpeas roasted with peppers and onions, plus a heavy portion of avocado, lime, and cilantro. Don't forget the tortilla chips!
Similar to the chickpea burgers, just made with a different bean. I really like to serve these with avocado and pesto goat cheese, but you can dress it up however you want. The patty just needs a quick reheat, toast the bun, and then top it as you wish.
Look for cheese tortellini, and then grab your favorite vegetables like bell pepper, cucumber and pepperoncinis (okay that's me). You can make your own dressing, or opt for a store-bought Italian. Either way, this is a go-to that's even better after some time in the fridge.
A spin on the chicken pasta salad version, this one is chickpea based (noticing a theme here?) with lemon and fresh herbs up the kazoo. That's one of my favorite flavor combos, and the chickpeas fit right in. I like to mash them up for some variation in texture, but you do you!
Vegetarian & Vegan Recipe Resources
I’m no expert in plant-based meals, but luckily, I know some recipe creators who are. Here are some places to browse for more vegetarian recipes:
- 🌿 Food With Feeling – Brita’s been blogging about vegetarian recipes since 2012. All of her tofu recipes look LEGIT, plus there are mushrooms and beans!
- 👩🍳 Minimalist Baker – They specialize in vegan recipes, but they’ve recently worked minimal animal products back in for health reasons. I love how they still lean on plants and supplement when needed.
- 🥗 Live Eat Learn – Sarah is a food scientist who is an specializes in vegetarian dinners, particularly chickpea recipes. She’s great at high protein veggie meals!
LOOK AT YOU GO!
Have you made any of these vegetarian lunch recipes before? Let me know your favorites in the comments below! Don’t forget to add a pic with your comment 📸
