Easy and Healthy Lunch Salad Recipes

I’ve been trying to eat a salad for lunch every day for the past couple of months and I’d like to share some of the salad recipes I’ve really enjoyed at lunchtime. I do a great job with food in the morning with a green juice, a healthy dinner and evening green juice. But for lunch I found that I wasn’t doing a great job. I’ve found salads have hit the spot. They are light enough to not weigh me down at work in the afternoon and the salad recipes below have given me energy and make me feel full for the afternoon.

Here are 8 of the salads I’ve been eating the past couple of months. I’ve actually tried all of these at least once and I am sure you will love them too. Oh and I think they are really helping with my weight loss.

The rules I set for finding the salad recipes were: they had to be posted on Pinterest, had to be served at cold/room temperature, had to be very healthy (obviously), had to be super easy to make, no dairy and there had to be a variety of other ingredients.

I’ve learned that salads are very similar to green smoothies in that there really is no right or wrong way. Want more kale? Add it. Want less olives? Remove them. It will be ok :)

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad

This salad recipe comes from DashingDish and includes the first time I have ever tried chickpeas! This recipe includes greek yogurt in the vinaigrette, I ate the salad plain so it was dairy-free.

8 Easy Lunch Salad Recipes that taste great and will have your energy on high all day!

Spinach Salad with Chicken, Avocado & Goat Cheese

This one has become a definite favorite of mine since first trying it. I love grilled chicken and learned to like goat cheese when I first tried a frittata. The only change I made was to leave out the corn and the pine nuts. Check out the recipe on RecipeGirl – she has a ton of healthy recipes.

8 Easy Lunch Salad Recipes that taste great and will have your energy on high all day!

Kale & Edamame Salad

The key to a great kale salad is to massage the kale like I discuss in my Raw Kale Salad Recipe. This recipe from SavoringTheThyme includes dried cranberries for a sweet punch. The recipe includes no measurements so just throw as much of each item into a bowl, toss and serve.

8 Easy Lunch Salad Recipes that taste great and will have your energy on high all day!

Asian Chicken Salad with Honey Sesame Salad

The sauce on this asian chicken salad is wonderful and super healthy. Heather’s recipe calls for poached chicken, I opted for grilled chicken instead. I only tried cilantro for the first time a few weeks ago in a smoothie and since then I have enjoyed it in salad recipes like this one.

8 Easy Lunch Salad Recipes that taste great and will have your energy on high all day!

Arugula Mango Avo Mac Salad

This salad from Kathy at LunchBoxBunch is a very simple, mostly fruit salad. I liked how simple it was, the energy burst from the fruit and the arugula gives it a kick. The dressing is also on the sweet side with a bit of agave (I used honey instead).

8 Easy Lunch Salad Recipes that taste great and will have your energy on high all day!

Avocado Tomato Salad

What I like about this salad recipe from Jennie at She’s Vegging Out is how simple it is to prepare. I haven’t eaten many avocados but since trying them in the chocolate mousse recipe, I have started to work to incorporate more into my food intake. This recipe includes one of my favorite veggies (ok I know it is a fruit) tomato and lemon juice which is my favorite citrus.

8 Easy Lunch Salad Recipes that taste great and will have your energy on high all day!

Strawberry Avocado Salad

Ok, I admit it…I never thought you could put strawberries in a salad. That was until I had them in a salad from Snap Kitchen. And now I know that strawberries in salads rock. This recipe from Heather at Flourishing Foodie uses lime juice (oh yes!) and spinach along with strawberries and avocado. Let’s just say it is one of my favorites.

8 Easy Lunch Salad Recipes that taste great and will have your energy on high all day!

Grilled Chicken and Spinach Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

No salad list would be complete without one from Gina at Skinny Taste. I first learned about Gina and her awesome website when I found her chicken nugget recipe (which btw is fantastic!). This salad recipe uses marinaded grilled chicken plus grape tomatoes that will burst in your mouth. The spinach and the red bell pepper are a nice touch. Remember to keep the vinaigrette separate until you are ready to eat so the spinach doesn’t get soggy and the chicken get wet.

Super yummy grilled chicken salad - perfect for lunch!

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7 replies on “Easy and Healthy Lunch Salad Recipes

  1. Kat

    MMM These look good, especially the chickpea salad. I’ve been on a Kale Salad kick lately, I love making it into a “Taco” Salad but with Quinoa instead of meat. I’m def going to check some of these out.

  2. Jordan

    Congrats on all the changes you have been making in your new healthy lifestyle! Alot of people aren’t brave enough to push out of their comfort zone and try new things.
    These salads look delish! I love anything and everything with avocado.
    Btw, have you announced the winners of the nutiva stevia? Or am I just oblivious lol

    1. Allen Stern Post author

      Thanks so much Jordan – just think 2 years ago at this time I was over 110 pounds heavier, could barely walk, ate 2-3x a day fast food, never a fruit or vegetable. If I can do this, anyone can do it.

      1. Anna Koroneos

        CONGRATS i started my diet in January i have lost 19 pd so far i hope i can go all the way but i am felling great all ready and i love all those salads yummy keep posting them

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