25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (2024)

Looking for a way to switch up your typical lunch salad or sandwich? Try one of these healthy and delicious low-calorie recipes. With 450 calories or fewer in each serving, these light and filling lunches can help you reach your nutritional goals while feeling full and satisfied. Recipes like our Chopped Veggie Grain Bowls with Turmeric Dressing and Avocado Toast with Burrata will be sure to give your day a healthy and flavorful boost.

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Whole-Wheat Veggie Wrap

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (1)

Use whichever veggies you have on hand to fill up this veggie wrap. The avocado and hummus help hold the wrap together--and provide heart-healthy fat and fiber.

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Lemon Chicken Pasta

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (2)

In this easy lemon chicken pasta recipe, we love the combination of lemon zest and toasted breadcrumbs. This healthy dinner is made with rotisserie chicken, quick-cooking spiralized zucchini and baby zucchini, so you get a complete meal in just 10 minutes.

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Mixed Greens with Lentils & Sliced Apple

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (3)

This salad with lentils, feta and apple is a satisfying vegetarian entree to whip together for lunch. To save time, swap in drained canned lentils--just make sure to look for low-sodium and give them a rinse before adding them to the salad.

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Egg Salad Lettuce Wraps

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (4)

We love the retro vibe of these egg salad lettuce wraps. Iceberg lettuce makes a perfect low-carb swap for bread to serve the egg salad.

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Caprese Sandwich

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (5)

This caprese sandwich is fresh from the basil and hearty from thick, crusty ciabatta. The sun-dried tomatoes deepen the flavor. Topping the bread with a layer of basil leaves and using toasted bread helps to keep the sandwich from getting soggy if you need to make it a few hours ahead.

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Miso Soup Cup of Noodles with Shrimp & Green Tea Soba

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (6)

Green tea soba noodles, or cha soba, are buckwheat noodles made with powdered green tea, which imparts a subtle grassy note and pretty color. You can find them in Japanese markets or online. Regular buckwheat soba noodles work just as well in this cup-of-noodles-style mason jar noodle soup.

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Chopped Veggie Grain Bowls with Turmeric Dressing

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (7)

In about 10 minutes, you can prep a week's worth of lunches using 4 simple ingredients from your local specialty grocery store. To minimize prep, we're taking advantage of prechopped fresh veggie mix and frozen quinoa (which heats in the microwave in under 5 minutes). These crunchy chopped salad bowls are high in fiber but lower in calories, making them perfect for those following a reduced-calorie diet.

Avocado Toast with Burrata

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (8)

Burrata (cream-filled fresh mozzarella cheese) takes this avocado toast recipe to the next level for a decadent, yet weekday-friendly breakfast.

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Greek Kale Salad with Quinoa & Chicken

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (9)

Toss the cooked chicken into this healthy 5-ingredient salad recipe while it's still warm to lightly wilt the kale, making it softer and easier to eat. Using store-bought salad dressing saves time, but you could also make your own Mediterranean vinaigrette.

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Cannellini Bean & Herbed Ricotta Toast

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (10)

Herbed ricotta toast gets topped with cannellini beans and roasted red peppers for a colorful, tasty open-face sandwich.

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Cucumber Sandwich

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (11)

This creamy, crunchy cucumber sandwich recipe strikes a lovely balance between decadent and light. The cream cheese-yogurt spread complements the crisp refreshing cucumber while the hearty flavor and texture of the whole-wheat bread holds everything together. Removing the crusts makes it more delicate than your average sandwich.

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Quinoa Chickpea Salad with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Dressing

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (12)

This hearty vegan salad is loaded with plant-based power ingredients: chickpeas, quinoa and hummus. We love the crunch of the sunflower seeds and the unexpected flavor of roasted peppers.

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Vegetarian Sushi Grain Bowl

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (13)

Skip the hassle of making sushi rolls at home and just go for this grain bowl. Start with a base of brown rice and add veggies, dressing and creamy avocado for a delicious and easy meal.

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Black Bean & Slaw Bagel

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (14)

This easy open-face sandwich recipe uses a jalapeño-Cheddar bagel, but a plain bagel would work just as well. Top each bagel half with black beans and fresh slaw for a satisfying bite.

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Veggie Sandwich

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There's no chance of getting the afternoon munchies when you fuel up with this vegan veggie sandwich filled with fiber and healthy fats, plus fruit on the side. It'll keep you energized until dinner. Feel free to swap in your other favorite sandwich vegetables, sprouts or greens.

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Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Rice Bowl

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In this riff on a healthy grain bowl recipe we use cauliflower rice instead of another whole grain like brown rice to cut back on carbs and load up on veggie servings. A simple citrusy drizzle, inspired by Cuban mojo sauce, finishes these vegan rice bowls, perfect for lunch or dinner.

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Cucumber, Tomato & Arugula Salad with Hummus

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (17)

Tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and feta top arugula in this quick Greek-inspired salad. Served with whole-wheat pita and prepared hummus, it makes a filling, yet healthy lunch.

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Meal-Prep Vegan Lettuce Wraps

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (18)

For these meal-prep-friendly lettuce wraps, we swap the traditional warm filling for a cold plant-based bean salad filling loaded with fresh herbs and lemon. Topping each lettuce leaf with a little quinoa before adding the filling helps to keep the lettuce from getting soggy.

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Green Goddess Sandwich

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (19)

This green goddess sandwich is a fresh and satisfying sandwich. The dressing packs a flavorful punch with capers and lemon juice. The cucumber and sprouts add nice crunch, and the seasoned avocado brings in the creaminess.

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Egg Tartine

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (20)

Bruschetta meets avocado toast in this simple breakfast upgrade.

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Tea-Leaf Salad

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (21)

Traditionally, the star of this famous Burmese salad, laphet, is made by fermenting just-picked tea leaves for several months underground. While laphet is starting to be imported, it is still hard to find. This version, using readily available green tea, offers a quick alternative. Mix the salad at the table so everyone can appreciate the diversity of ingredients--from crunchy to savory--that make it so special.

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Avocado Egg Salad Sandwiches

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Lighten up classic egg salad by swapping in creamy avocado instead of using mayonnaise. Sandwich it between toasted whole-wheat bread and you've got an easy, packable lunch ready for work or school.

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Mediterranean Tuna-Spinach Salad

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25 Healthy Lunch Recipes with 450 Calories or Less (23)

This tuna salad recipe gets an upgrade with olives, feta and a tahini dressing. Served over baby spinach, this is the perfect easy and light lunch or dinner salad.

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Spicy Ramen Cup of Noodles

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Make your own cup of instant soup at home with this vegetarian ramen recipe. Pack several jars at once to take to work for easy lunches throughout the week.

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Veggie & Hummus Sandwich

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This mile-high vegetable and hummus sandwich makes the perfect heart-healthy vegetarian lunch to go. Mix it up with different flavors of hummus and different types of vegetables depending on your mood.