I shared these Summer Lunch Ideas on Facebook Live a few hours ago, and today I’m sharing the written version with recipe links!
I’ve mentioned before that our family rarely eats sandwiches. The cost for the bread, cheese, and meat can really add up since we’re such big eaters! We typically save sandwiches for travel, packing them to take with us when we hit the road. It’s funny. Sandwiches have kind of become a “treat” for us since we don’t have them very often. We like to load them up as if we’re at Subway. (I’ve learned to love sliced cucumbers on mine!)
For my own benefit and yours, I’ve put a list together of more than 10 great lunch ideas that work well during the summertime. None of these require an oven, and very few even require a stove-top. Most have options for you so you can work with whatever you have in your freezer or with leftovers you need to use up.
Here’s to having a list so that we don’t have to think so hard when the kids ask, “What’s for lunch?”
10 + Summer Lunch Ideas
1. Meal-type Salads
This is the best way to get my family to eat lots of greens. Our favorite salads are:
- BLT Chopped Salad
- Taco Salad
- Chef Salad that we make with leftover grilled chicken or chopped up ham
2. Baked Potatoes in the Crock Pot
These are amazing because I can bake many potatoes at once and we can top them with whatever I have on hand at the time. Some ideas are:
- Taco fixin’s
- Nacho Cheese/Meat Sauce
- Ham, Cheese, and Sour Cream
- Leftover grilled chicken, cheese, and sour cream
- Leftover grilled steak, sliced and sauteed with peppers and onions
3. Chicken Salad or Tuna Salad
We eat this on a bed of lettuce, with crackers, on a tortilla, or sure – on bread like a sandwich. ;) We like making fruit smoothies with this meal because the combination is so refreshing!
4. Sloppy Joes
I usually make several pounds of Sloppy Joe meat at one time, then freeze it in meal size portions. We usually skip the buns and eat this with tortilla chips – sometimes with salsa and cheese sprinkled on top.
5. BLT Wraps
These are completely amazing. Bacon and cream cheese with lettuce and tomato in a tortilla? Every bite is excellent.
This is such an easy meal because you just dump chicken and salsa into a crock pot. Everyone can build their tortilla however they like and I feel like I haven’t even cooked (because I pretty much haven’t!).
7. Grilled Hot Dogs or Brats
It’s a little bit hard to find great quality dogs and brats without having to fork out the big bucks, but occasionally we’ll grab a good nitrite free, beef variety to grill. We all love these, and since we eat them with a bunch of raw veggies and fruit I don’t feel too bad about them not being the most nutritious food option. :)
This meal is great because again, everyone can fix their bowl however they like it!
9. Hearty Dips
We typically think of serving Homemade Guacamole or Black Bean Salsa as a side dish – but since both of these are pretty filling and nourishing, they make a good “main dish” at lunch sometimes. Smoothies or fresh fruit, along with raw veggies (also good for dipping) makes it a complete meal with little effort.
If I already have homemade pizza crust in the freezer, or if I’ve purchased them from Bountiful Baskets – it is super easy for everyone to build their own pizza with their favorite toppings, then we heat it for a couple minutes on the grill. Admittedly, we prefer our pizza baked in an oven. But on a hot day we make the sacrifice. :) We’ve also made Pizza Boats on the grill, which is even easier.
Thank you for this!! I’ve been scratching my head for days, trying to think of what to put on the grocery list. We always struggle with what to have for lunches. I should have known to look to your blog. ????
Man! What great timing! We have several trips this summer and in an effort to save money (and eat better)I’m packing out food. I will be using lots of these ideas. Once again, you have come to the rescue!
When it’s super hot, cold fruit soup is the go-to choice. We started making it when the kids were little from a recipe found in Molly Katzen’s Pretend Soup cookbook for children. If I’m organized, we’ll have it with homemade bread, made in the slow cooker. I set the slow cooker outside on the deck while it “bakes” our bread. :)
We love putting our fixin’s in lettuce leaves and rolling them like a tortilla. Everything from leftover chicken to tuna salad goes in and we add tomatoes, cheese, sliced onion, whatever each person likes.