Take the boring out of your lunches with these quick lunch ideas that are not salad. You have a nutritious lunch no matter where you eat in no time.

My lunches have evolved quite a bit over the years.

As a single teacher who did not know how to cook or eat well, lunches were either skipped, bought from the vending machine in the staff lounge, or a sad attempt at a salad.

As a woman learning how to cook and weight lift, lunches were dinner leftovers or more thought out salads.

This post contains affiliate links.

As a teacher with six different classes to plan for, lunches were thrown together the morning of and scarfed down in 10 minutes or less.

As a mom of three young kids, lunches look very similar to being thrown together just with more thought on the nutrition of it all. If I can eat my whole lunch without getting up more than three times to get the kids something, I call it a win.

Regardless of where I was at in my life and lunch journey, two things remain true:

1. Lunch has to come together quickly.
2. Salads become something to dread after eating them day after day (and that is from someone who loves salad).

7 Quick Lunch Ideas That Are Not Salad

These seven quick lunch ideas that are not salad will help you get a nutritious lunch on the table in no time at all.

Vegetable Loaded Quiche

While this meal is a quick lunch idea that is not salad, it does take a bit of prep work. I highly recommend you cook your quiche the day before, or that morning if you have about 10 minutes to chop and will be home to keep an eye on the oven.

For this vegetable loaded quiche, use whatever vegetables you have on hand. I prefer vegetables like mushrooms, peppers, onion, tomatoes, broccoli, zucchini, and spinach.

Use this recipe, but in a pie crust, if you prefer to follow along with one for more specific details.

To save a bit of time on both the prep work and the clean up, use a frozen pie crust. I also highly recommend you make two. They freeze really well and you can pull one out another week for lunch or dinner.

Chickpea Mash Sandwich

An excellent quick lunch idea that is not salad you can throw together in just a few minutes, a Chickpea Mash Sandwich gives you a vegetarian protein boost, can easily be a pantry meal to just have on hand, and saves well if you do not get through it all.

• 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cucumber, chopped
• 1/3 cup Mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons stone ground mustard
• 1 tablespoon Kirkland No Salt Seasoning
• Optional: bread, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes

1. Mash the chickpeas in a bowl to desired consistency.
2. Add in chopped bell pepper, cucumber, mayonnaise, stone ground mustard, and Kirkland No Salt Seasoning.
3. Mix together.
4. Serve in a sandwich with preferred fixings.

This is pretty much the same recipe as the Husband Approved Chop & Mix Tuna Salad, but my husband does not approve of chickpeas.

Snack Plate

Rob used to make fun of me for making this type of lunch, but now that I pretty much rotate between a snack plate and a chopped salad, he has stopped.

The snack plate lunch helps you eat the vegetables you like, includes a fruit, and can make your meal time feel fancier than normal. (Fancy Nancy would be so proud.)

When making your snack plate, be sure to include the following:

• A protein – Protein is vital to help you feel fuller for longer. Not to mention all the good it does to build your muscles. Opt for protein sources like hummus, leftover lean meat, nuts, eggs, and cheese.
• 50% vegetables – Veggie sticks work really well here to increase your fiber intake and give you all those vitamins and nutrients your body loves so much.
• Some fruit – Again, a good fiber source and offers you a bit of sweetness.
• Whole grain – This gives you that quicker energy you are going to need to get through the afternoon.

Vegetable Wrap

There are pretty much two meals I rotate through with the kids during lunch time: peanut butter and jelly and vegetable roll ups.

Sure their roll ups consist predominately of tomatoes and cheese, but they still devour them and they are super fast to make. They are also good ones to have the kids help cook with.

The adult version of the vegetable wrap contains more vegetables and can be served with some fruit on the side, or even more veggies. It is definitely a quick lunch idea that still gets you your vegetables but is not a salad.

You can really customize your wrap to what you like, but I typically make ones that include red pepper hummus, avocado, bell pepper, lettuce, and tomatoes.

Crunchy and sweet!

Farro Toss

Another meal that requires just a touch of prep work in the form of making a batch of farro ahead of time, you will be so glad you did.

Farro toss has to be one of my most decadent feeling lunch meals. I think it is the warm feta. Maybe it is the sliced grapes. Either way, it is always a hit with me.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Farro
• Handful chopped cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup chopped cucumbers
• 3 tablespoons red onion, chopped
• 3 tablespoons green onion, chopped
• Handful grapes, halved
• Feta cheese to taste
• Honey Dijon dressing

Directions

1. Cook Farro according to package directions, or prep it ahead of time.
2. Toss with vegetables and Feta.
3. Add salad dressing to taste.
4. Serve warm.

Lettuce Boats

I find lettuce boats to be such a quick way to get in more vegetables at lunch without making a full blown salad, because who really has time to do all that chopping?

Lettuce boats first entered my world as a consistent option when I was struggling gestational diabetes and had to find some very low carb options that would still fill me up.

There is no real recipe here as lettuce boats are extremely versatile. My favorite is to layer red pepper hummus, sliced sharp cheddar cheese, tomatoes, peppers, and a bit of avocado.

You could load your lettuce boat with dinner leftovers like meat and roasted vegetables.

Another option would be to add some beans, corn, and bit of sour cream or avocado.

Essentially, just find what you like and start filling them to make them one of your quick lunch ideas that is not salad, but still kind of a salad.

Bean & Corn Dip

Very similar to Cowboy Caviar, but with much less chopping, bean and corn dip always leaves me full and with leftovers.

Whether you want to eat your bean and corn dip with tortilla chips (blue corn chips are so good!), or wrap some of it in a tortilla, you will most likely add this dip to your regular meal rotation.

Ingredients:

• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can corn, rinsed and drained (or two ears fresh)
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• Optional: tortilla chips, tortilla

Directions:

1. Toss all ingredients together in a medium bowl.
2. Serve warm or cold with tortilla chips or in a tortilla.

For any of these meals, you could add a piece of fruit on the side to round out your meal and give you that touch of sweetness. Either way, the goal of lunch is always to keep it simple with minimal prep time. These quick lunch ideas that are no salads definitely deliver.