Mom to Mom Nutrition

Katie Serbinski, M.S., R.D., is a registered dietitian and millennial mom, blogging about healthy recipes, child and mom nutrition, and motherhood.

5 Simple Lunch Salads

By

Making a salad doesn’t have to be time consuming or complicated. Here are 5 simple lunch salads that are made even easier by prepping ingredients ahead of time.

Lunch salads used to be a novel idea to me. Or something you would rarely find in my kitchen. I’m not one of those people that craves a salad every day. Or needs one to feel like I’m eating healthy. More often than not when we go out to eat or get carryout, I order a salad. But something came over my body after a workout class last week and all I wanted was a big chunk of protein + some leafy greens.

Making a salad doesn’t have to be time consuming or complicated. Here are 5 simple lunch salads that are made even easier by prepping ingredients ahead of time. Lunch salads used to be a novel idea to me. Or something you would rarely find in my kitchen. I’m not one of those people that craves a salad every day. Or needs one to feel like I’m eating healthy. More often than not when we go out to eat or get carryout, I order a salad. But something came over my body after a workout class last week and all I wanted was a big chunk of protein + some leafy greens. I’m a firm believer in listening to one’s body and internal cravings as a baseline for what and how much to eat. Not that I’m an intuitive eating expert, but I guess that’s my own personal short-take on it. Since that first salad, I’ve been making a salad every day for lunch and I can you that my energy level has been up and I’ve felt overall a little better when the afternoon chaos hits in my house. No, there’s not some magic potion in these lunch salads that will make you the happiest, healthiest person in the world. But there’s such an emphasis in the healthy eating world on starting your day right and finishing it off with a healthy dinner, that I think sometimes we forget about lunch. Or at least I know I do from time to time! Making salads at home do not have to be complicated. In fact, I’ve just added a few extra steps and ingredients to my weekly produce prep to make sure I have a few grab n’ go topping options for lunch salads. I’ve also relied on a few store-bought items to help me out too. I also make sure I have a batch of hard boiled eggs ready to go and a batch of grilled chicken and shredded chicken to add as my protein mix-in’s. I’ve also used lean Ground Beef seasoned with taco seasoning for taco salads. Do my kids eat the salads? Nope. In fact, we rarely eat lunch together. Lunch is practically another workout for me as I’m constantly up down up down up down getting someone more milk, more crackers, more cucumber, that I end up eating my lunch when they are done eating anyways. And when we do eat lunch together they want to eat my plate. So here you have it, 5 of my favorite simple lunch salads that have been in my belly as of late. I hope if anything I inspire you to add a few extra leafy greens to your diet each day!
Produce prep has been the biggest help in terms of making salads with variety and tons of fresh fruits and veggies. One hour and bam! Your set for the week. In this batch I had roasted the potatoes and radishes while I was chopping fruit and veggies.

Here are a few of my toppings [cheese, croutons] + leafy greens I purchased from our go-to grocery store, Kroger.
I’m a firm believer in listening to one’s body and internal cravings as a baseline for what and how much to eat. Not that I’m an intuitive eating expert, but I guess that’s my own personal short-take on it. Since that first salad, I’ve been making a salad every day for lunch and I can you that my energy level has been up and I’ve felt overall a little better when the afternoon chaos hits in my house. No, there’s not some magic potion in these lunch salads that will make you the happiest, healthiest person in the world. But there’s such an emphasis in the healthy eating world on starting your day right and finishing it off with a healthy dinner, that I think sometimes we forget about lunch. Or at least I know I do from time to time!

Making a salad doesn’t have to be time consuming or complicated. Here are 5 simple lunch salads that are made even easier by prepping ingredients ahead of time. Lunch salads used to be a novel idea to me. Or something you would rarely find in my kitchen. I’m not one of those people that craves a salad every day. Or needs one to feel like I’m eating healthy. More often than not when we go out to eat or get carryout, I order a salad. But something came over my body after a workout class last week and all I wanted was a big chunk of protein + some leafy greens. I’m a firm believer in listening to one’s body and internal cravings as a baseline for what and how much to eat. Not that I’m an intuitive eating expert, but I guess that’s my own personal short-take on it. Since that first salad, I’ve been making a salad every day for lunch and I can you that my energy level has been up and I’ve felt overall a little better when the afternoon chaos hits in my house. No, there’s not some magic potion in these lunch salads that will make you the happiest, healthiest person in the world. But there’s such an emphasis in the healthy eating world on starting your day right and finishing it off with a healthy dinner, that I think sometimes we forget about lunch. Or at least I know I do from time to time! Making salads at home do not have to be complicated. In fact, I’ve just added a few extra steps and ingredients to my weekly produce prep to make sure I have a few grab n’ go topping options for lunch salads. I’ve also relied on a few store-bought items to help me out too. I also make sure I have a batch of hard boiled eggs ready to go and a batch of grilled chicken and shredded chicken to add as my protein mix-in’s. I’ve also used lean Ground Beef seasoned with taco seasoning for taco salads. Do my kids eat the salads? Nope. In fact, we rarely eat lunch together. Lunch is practically another workout for me as I’m constantly up down up down up down getting someone more milk, more crackers, more cucumber, that I end up eating my lunch when they are done eating anyways. And when we do eat lunch together they want to eat my plate. So here you have it, 5 of my favorite simple lunch salads that have been in my belly as of late. I hope if anything I inspire you to add a few extra leafy greens to your diet each day!
And sometimes instead of making salads at home, we order them out. And then Anthony wants some… of course!

Making salads at home do not have to be complicated. In fact, I’ve just added a few extra steps and ingredients to my weekly produce prep to make sure I have a few grab n’ go topping options for lunch salads. I’ve also relied on a few store-bought items to help me out too.  I also make sure I have a batch of hard boiled eggs ready to go and a batch of grilled chicken and shredded chicken to add as my protein mix-in’s. And don’t worry beef fans, I’ve also used lean Ground Beef seasoned with taco seasoning for taco salads.

You might find these posts helpful before tackling a salad-a-day attitude:

How to Produce Prep

15 Shredded Chicken Ideas

Perfectly Grilled Chicken Breasts

Do my kids eat these lunch salads? Nope. In fact, we rarely eat lunch together. Lunch is practically another workout for me as I’m constantly up down up down up down getting someone more milk, more crackers, more cucumber, that I end up eating my lunch when they are done eating anyways. And when we do eat lunch together they want to eat my plate.

So here you have it, 5 of my favorite simple lunch salads that have been in my belly as of late. I hope if anything I inspire you to add a few extra leafy greens to your diet each day!

Making a salad doesn’t have to be time consuming or complicated. Here are 5 simple lunch salads that are made even easier by prepping ingredients ahead of time.
Here we have pesto grilled chicken, asparagus, banana peppers, tomatoes and parm!
Making a salad doesn’t have to be time consuming or complicated. Here are 5 simple lunch salads that are made even easier by prepping ingredients ahead of time.
This one has a few different roasted veggies, a store bought chickpea salad, grilled chicken, and feta cheese.
This is my FAVORITE: roasted potatoes, hummus, tomatoes, cucumbers, and grilled chicken.
Back to the roasted veggies again! It helps that I like them warm or cold, which helps for a fast salad-making process.
Making a salad doesn’t have to be time consuming or complicated. Here are 5 simple lunch salads that are made even easier by prepping ingredients ahead of time.
I didn’t know how much I love strawberry chicken salads until I made this one! I added a few beets, almonds, and um, topped with some ranch. DELISH!

I’d like to think I’m on a roll here with the salads and variations… I just hope I can continue the trend through this week. If your a daily salad fan, how do you make it happen? 

Want to eat more leafy greens? Then try one of these 5 simple lunch salad ideas! Share on X

Making a salad doesn’t have to be time consuming or complicated. Here are 5 simple lunch salads that are made even easier by prepping ingredients ahead of time.

Latest Posts