Toss that boring, lifeless salad in the trash because these keto lunch ideas are coming at you full force!
These recipes are proof that keto foods don’t have to lame and flavorless…
Unique and interesting lunches can be difficult to find but I think you’ll discover your new future go-to’s below. The best part? Not only are they low carb, but they’re all easy to meal prep, and taste OH SO good!
From salads to soups, to everything in between, I got you! This will be your most valuable resource that is guaranteed to banish the lunchtime blues!
Psst — be sure to also check out my keto dinners, keto snacks, and keto breakfast recipe collections as well!
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Best Keto Lunch Ideas
This list has got it ALL! Be sure to use the table of contents above to skip to the section you’re looking for. ALSO! Each section below has our favorite recipes plus a guide to throwing your own together (sans recipe). Enjoy!
Here are the 20 best keto lunch ideas:
Keto Salads
These are not your average Joe-schmo salads, these are sassy keto salads! Lame salads, be gone! Check these diverse and fun salad options for the ultimate in low carb lunch ideas recipes:
Tried and True Recipes:
- Cauliflower Potato Salad: AKA,“Better Than Potato Salad”, this cauliflower potato salad knocks it out of the park for EVERYONE… even non-cauliflower/non-veggie eaters! The flavors and spices make the cauliflower WERK as she has never done before!
- Keto Taco Salad: Skip the Taco Bell drive-through and mow down this mighty tasty Mexican salad! It’s loaded with avocados, fresh tomatoes, cheese chips (whaaaat?!), veggies and sauteed chicken! Deeeelish, ya’ll!
- Greek Chicken Salad: Ahh, is there anything more drool-worthy than a Greek salad?! It’s guaranteed to fill you up and SATISFY. I love to make this when I need to use up chicken leftovers. And trust me, NO ONE complains about these leftovers!
- Thai Chicken Salad: Oooooh weeeeee, you’ll love how fresh this one is! It’s absolutely perfect for a lighter spring or summer dish to bring to a gathering or to enjoy at home! You can sub the chicken out for shrimp too!
Tips for Making Your Own:
Get as creative with your salad as you’d like! Here’s what you should know before diving in:
- Start with a layer of leafy greens, these are very low in carbs.
- Add your favorite veggies. As a general rule of thumb, veggies that grow above the ground are lower in carbs than veggies grown underground.
- Then a protein: eggs, steak, chicken, shrimp.
- Add healthy fat. I usually opt for roasted nuts/seeds, avocados, and maybe some cheese.
- Lastly, your dressing. You can make your own, or read storebought labels carefully to make sure they align with your eating plan. Safe low carb options are typically ranch, caesar, and blue cheese.
Keto Soups
Looking for healthy soup recipes beyond chicken soup? Check out these unique keto soup recipes. They’ll warm you up and soothe your soul in no time!
Tried and True Recipes:
- Keto Tomato Soup: This is NOT your blah can of Campbell’s tomato soup. This super simple, homemade soup has dreamy oven-roasted tomatoes, crispy bacon, fresh herbs, spicy red pepper flakes and lux richness from the heavy cream.
- Keto Chicken Soup: Who doesn’t love warming, classic chicken soup?! Who doesn’t love savory vegetable soup?!
Put them together and what have you got?! Oh, just the absolute, lip smackin’ greatest soup combination there ever was! See for yourself! - Keto Broccoli Cheese Soup: Add this to your arsenal of seasonal soup recipes because you are going to want to make this the second fall comes around! I’m talking, the very first DAY of fall!
- Keto Taco Soup: Prepare your taste buds for this decadently blissful bowl of pure goodness. The all-star players are the: veggies, spices, and juicy chicken! What’s not to love?!
Tips for Making Your Own:
We love making soup from scratch with leftover herbs, veggies and protein!
- Make a broth by boiling veggies and your favorite herbs, or use storebought chicken broth.
- Add some fresh veggies and herbs. I like to saute these before adding them to the soup to develop their flavors.
- Then a protein: beef, chicken or shrimp.
- Any extras? Heavy cream or cheese are always great in soup!
Keto Chicken Salad
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I loveeeeee a good, creamy low carb chicken salad. Here are a couple of my greatest hits that are perfecto for low carb lunch ideas!
Best served in: a traditional salad bowl, between low carb bread or as a lettuce wrap. Welcome to your new chicken salad obsession…
Tried and True Recipes:
- Keto Chicken Salad: This is a unique and fun twist on an 80’s classic dish. This modern version is different in the best kind of way possible.
- Canned Chicken Salad: What’s more convenient than popping open a can, mixing some simple ingredients together and eating a healthy lunch in the snap of a finger?! This is one of those low carb lunch ideas that can’t be beaten!
- Chinese Chicken Salad: Getting that familiar craving for something salty, sweet, crunchy and Asian flavored? Look no further, I have you covered with this Chinese chicken salad! It’s so good I get EXCITED just to make it, let alone EAT it!
- Mexican Chicken Salad: Zesty, protein-packed, and oh-so-creamy, this chicken salad is here to add variety to your chicken salad game.
- Avocado Chicken Salad: This chicken salad is wildly light, super fresh, and has a couple of non-traditional ingredients that really give it a fun, flavorful zing! Go see what I’m talking about… you’ll thank me later!
Tips for Making Your Own:
Making your own chicken salad is easy peasy with these tips:
- Make the dressing. Mayo is almost completely carb-free, same with spices, and mustard. Greek yogurt and avocado make for awesome mayo subs!
- Dice up the vegetables. Add something with a crunch (I like red onions and celery), then get creative — bell peppers, avocados, pickles, you name it!
- Mix in diced chicken. Either poach your own or buy precooked (canned, rotisserie, etc.) to save time!
- All the goodies. Fresh herbs, extra spices, nuts, and seeds.
Keto Tuna Salad
Looking for some keto tuna salad recipes to jazz up canned cuisine? Dive into these endless options, they’re o-fish-ally the low carb lunch ideas you are looking for!
(On the fence about canned tuna actually being healthy? Get the 411 here.)
Tried and True Recipes:
- Avocado Tuna Salad: Someone once told me that this recipe kind of reminds them of guacamole…what could be better than that!? If you love avocados or are looking to sneakily mask the tuna (for those picky eaters), this is your dish, my friend! In just TEN minutes, lunch is served and happiness is created.
Tips for Making Your Own:
Same instructions as the chicken salads above, just sub in flaked and drained tuna!
Keto Egg Salad
Looking for some eggcellent keto egg salad options?! Crack into these… (psst, be sure to try the avocado egg salad! There’s nothing like it!)
Tried and True Recipes:
- Keto Egg Salad: This low carb classic egg salad recipe is chockablock full of savory and robust flavors that will keep you going back for seconds, maybe even thirds! Add bacon for a delicious salty crunch!
- Avocado Egg Salad: This is the creamiest avocado egg salad of your life! It’s a meal you can feel good about since it’s low carb and loaded with healthy fats, protein and extra love! Pro-tip: be sure to double the recipe, it won’t last long!
Tips for Making Your Own:
Again, use the tips from the chicken salad recipes above. Keep in mind, you can use egg whites or the entire hard-boiled egg!
Keto Bread
Think keto bread is hard to find? Think again, you can buy it or just as easily create your own homemade versions for easy low carb lunches, snacks or dinner!
The options are endless! Here are some awesome low carb lunches for work AND for weekends:
Tried and True Recipes:
- Keto Wraps: These bad boys are a one-stop-shop of amazingness! They’re incredibly versatile, portable, pliable, soft, fluffy, and packed with flavor. They’re the perfect vehicle for any filling you’re craving! There’s nothing they can’t do!
- Keto Sandwich Bread: This bread replacement is the soft, fluffy loaf of love you’ve been looking for! You can make just about anything with it, even desserts! Check out the other ways I like to serve it too…
- Keto Tortillas: This is not your average Keto tortilla! This is an all superior almond flour recipe that magically creates the softest, most supple low carb tortillas ever. No cracking or crumbling, just people begging for more!
Tips for Making Your Own:
When making low carb bread and bread products, it’s best to stick to a recipe, then get creative once you get the basics down. Here are the most important potentially unfamiliar ingredients I use in most of my bread recipes:
- Almond flour
- Psyllium husk
- Whey protein isolate
- Xanthan gum
20+ Keto Lunch Ideas
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 2 Cups Pepper Jack
- 1 Lb Chicken Breast boneless, skinless, pounded thin (or purchase thin chicken breast)
- 2 Tablespoons Keto Taco Seasoning can use whatever taco seasoning you'd prefer
- 2 Bell Peppers julienned
- Romaine Lettuce chopped
- Cherry Tomatoes sliced
- Avocado sliced
- Pepitas
Instructions
For the Cheese Chips:
- Preheat oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Spread a thin and even layer of pepper jack (2 cups) over the parchment paper.
- Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the cheese begins to look crispy. Take the baking sheet out of the oven, set aside and, allow it to cool.
- Once it has cooled enough to handle and has completely stopped bubbling (if you do this too soon, the cheese will stick to the paper towels), place paper towels over the top to sop up some of the grease.
- Flip the cheese onto a cutting board (with paper towels between the cutting board and the cheese.)
- Replace the parchment paper on top with paper towels to absorb some excess grease on this side.
- Using a pizza cutter, cut the cheese into long and thin strips — similar to tortilla strips.
For the Salad:
- Meanwhile, season chicken (1Lb) on both sides with low carb taco seasoning (2 tablespoons) and pat the seasoning into each breast.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat (I used a grill pan cast iron to get the grill marks).
- Add julienned bell peppers (2) to the pan and saute until crisp-tender, about 8 minutes.
- Remove from pan and set aside to cool.
- Add chicken breast to pan and sear each side for about 3 minutes.
- Cover the skillet and continue cooking the chicken for about 10 minutes (until no longer pink in the center).
- Set the chicken aside with the peppers to cool slightly.
- In a large bowl, assemble chopped lettuce and sliced cherry tomatoes. Add bell peppers and chicken. Cover with sliced avocados, cotija, pepitas and cheese strips.
- Serve with your favorite low carb dressing and enjoy!
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Lindsey's Tips
- Avocados. Go for haas! They’re higher in fat, creamier and WAY more delicious than regular (sorry Florida ?).
Nutrition
Conclusion
These keto lunch ideas are perfect to prep for your work lunch or to enjoy on the weekends! Let me know how you made them and what you thought in the comments section below!
