Easy high protein lunches

December 22, 2019 12:33 PM

Looking for high protein lunches that are quick and easy to make

I always eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch everyday. Currently lunch is cottage cheese and a Nature Valley protein bar. Comes out to about 300 calories. After a year, I'm sick of the cottage cheese. I need something different.

I'd like to keep it around $1.50-$2.00 a meal. And I'm totally willing to keep eating the protein bar. What isn't there to love about peanuts and chocolate.

No dietary restrictions and smell not an issue since I eat at home.

I'm happy to prep stuff on the weekend. If I can only do it Monday-Friday, I can find something else on the weekends. But weekdays need to be a no-brainer.

I know there are other questions like this. I'm going to ask if there are any blogs or recipe sites I should follow.

posted by kathrynm to Food & Drink (22 answers total)

If you're fine with really boring and basic, I've been a huge fan of meat-wrapped cheese in a variety of different styles. Generally string cheese or those string-like cheddar blocks. Wrap in ham, prosciutto, salami or other deli-type neat (those are the best tho) complement with a side handful of almonds. Comes in about 300-400 calories depending on the cheese and meat and good on the protein.
posted by jessamyn at 12:47 PM on December 22, 2019 [3 favorites]

I have two sandwiches but one would keep it under $2. Today's lunch was four slices of bread (50 Calories each), two slices cheese (50 Calories each) , and two tins of Brunswick herring fillets (160 calories each). The herring is available in several flavours and often comes on sale for ~C$1.50 a tin. Toast bread, unwrap cheese slice, pull open can, dump on bread, add cheese. Done.
posted by Mitheral at 12:58 PM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]

Peanut butter sandwiches, or pb and sliced apple, no bread.

Cooked beans. White beans like great northern beans are a fairly blank canvas for other flavors. My father used to make baked beans and one way he and I would eat the leftovers was cold, smashed onto a slice of bread, salt and pepper, with butter (in truth, margarine in my family home) on the other slice. I've tried that recently and it was almost as tasty as my youthful memory.
posted by tmdonahue at 1:07 PM on December 22, 2019 [6 favorites]

Plain Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries or other fruit.
posted by pinochiette at 1:30 PM on December 22, 2019 [2 favorites]

Egg Bites can be got for not too much at Costco (I don't have the price on me), keep for ages in the fridge, and are microwaved in one minute. I've only had the bacon one, and it's fine. 300 calories, 20 g of protein -- not enough food for a meal for me, but I have it along with something else.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:34 PM on December 22, 2019 [2 favorites]

Small tin of water packed sardines, a dab of mustard and bread-like substance of your choice.
posted by Botanizer at 1:34 PM on December 22, 2019 [3 favorites]

One of my favorites is the Chickpea Salad with Lemon and Parmesan, it's very fast and simple to throw together. I usually eat it with arugula.
posted by Miss Matheson at 1:36 PM on December 22, 2019 [4 favorites]

Kodiak power waffle, with Greek yoghurt on top.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:36 PM on December 22, 2019 [2 favorites]

Beans are mostly carbs and only count as high-protein in comparison to something like rice or pasta.

I get low-carb wraps and go with lunchmeat, lettuce, and cheese inside them.
posted by Anonymous at 1:37 PM on December 22, 2019

can of tuna, some mayo, couple low carb slices of toast.
posted by some loser at 1:50 PM on December 22, 2019

A salad with rotisserie chicken. All told, about $1.50. You can even get the little salad containers with an attached container for dressing. Protein and roughage, all in one meal.

Not really amenable to weekend prep, but takes about 90 seconds to put together in my experience.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 1:51 PM on December 22, 2019 [2 favorites]

I like chocolate Odwalla protein shakes for "I am going to make bad decisions unless I get some food in me RIGHT NOW" moments. They're 300-ish calories, 30-ish grams of protein, and cost $2 when they're on sale.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:55 PM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]

Someone already mentioned sardines, but my version is a bit different: boneless & skinless tinned sardines (usually packed in oil, so drain them); a lot of brown mustard; the juice of half a lemon -- mash it all up together and voila. Good on crackers or toast if you're eating carbs, otherwise also good all by itself.
posted by BlahLaLa at 2:08 PM on December 22, 2019 [5 favorites]

A frequent flyer for me (keto, work from home, prefer to meal prep but mostly dislike reheated chicken breast so this is cook-to-order): Get as many chicken breasts as you want to eat that week, gently pound them out until they're roughly an even thickness. Prepare a marinade of 1-2Tbls mayo per breast, season heavily with whatever flavor you're in the mood for that week (a local grocery sells a chicken koobideh kabob seasoning that I love and can be mixed up at home, I also buy a lot of blends from Penzeys, but sometimes I just use Cavender's or Tony Chachere's salt-free; watch the salt because it'll make the longer-sitting breasts rubbery, so will too much acid so save any citrus or vinegars until just before cooking), give it a shot of water to thin it a little, and toss breasts in the marinade until well coated and store in the fridge.

I cook mine as I want them, in the air fryer, 350 for about 22 minutes and rest for 5. In a regular oven you'd still do 350 but you might have to do the first couple by starting to watch it at 20 and figure out how long to go in the future.

If you don't want to cook to order, just marinate overnight and cook them all at once. I don't mind eating it cold so I do sometimes cook ahead and just expect to slice and eat, often as a finger food, maybe with some lettuce leaves or shredded cabbage (cole slaw mix, for ease).

Egg bites/egg muffins etc are super easy to make, here's 3 versions. I find they freeze okay as-is and freeze better if you include a couple tablespoons flax meal in the batter, it seems to keep them from getting so watery when they thaw.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:54 PM on December 22, 2019 [4 favorites]

I'm vegan. I make a mash out of cauliflower, broccoli, onions, and garlic -- and sometimes whatever other vegetables I find in the 'fridge (like Brussels sprouts and spinach). No real recipe, but I boil the vegetables until they're soft, then throw them in a food processor with some Earth Balance (vegan margarine), some Vegeta, black pepper, and whatever other seasoning strikes my fancy. I also add some powdered pea protein to give it extra protein. The resulting mash does come out a bit different each time. I make a big batch of it, and then warm up a bowl of it in the microwave at meal time. Then I add a pat of Earth Balance on top and let it melt. It's filling, healthy, and low-carb. This by itself may not make a great lunch, but you can add other stuff, like a salad or fruit or something.
posted by alex1965 at 3:17 PM on December 22, 2019 [4 favorites]

Hard boiled eggs! Or if you want to make it fancier, make deviled eggs. If you have access to a Trader Joe’s and want extreme low effort, the preboiled peeled eggs they sell are good!
posted by MadamM at 8:07 PM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]

I buy frozen burritos that are about 280 cal and 18g protein. Is that the range you're looking for?
posted by slidell at 11:23 PM on December 22, 2019

Response by poster: My breakfast is a Premire protein shake, so another shake doesn't excite me. If I'm remembering correctly, my current lunch comes out to about 18g of protein.
I like the idea of the egg muffins.

I had bariatric surgery so my stomach is fairly small, thus no need for substantial meals. That also makes salads a bit difficult. I'm not low carb, but a whole sandwich is too much.

I didn't even think about rotisserie chicken. We have a Sam's nearby so that's definitely a budget option.

If there are any blogs that are relevant, I'd love a link to them.

Thanks!
posted by kathrynm at 7:28 AM on December 23, 2019

This cranberry-walnut chicken salad might fit the bill. Aside from the walnuts the ingredients are pretty cheap (I've made it without the walnuts and it was still good). I usually use rice vinegar instead of the tarragon vinegar.

I'm also a fan of this chickpea salad (again I use rice vinegar instead of the fancy umeboshi vinegar).
posted by junques at 9:28 AM on December 23, 2019

Kathrynm - same boat here.

I have been doing shakes for breakfast as well. I make egg muffins all the time using a muffin pan. Also recently I bought a mini waffle maker and have been making "chaffles" - egg and cheese mixtures with the waffle maker. You can find a ton of great mixtures online for these.

Sometimes I add a little ham or onion/bell pepper, or sometimes I just add garlic to the mix and dip them in pizza sauce. They're easy to make and you will only eat one per serving. I make a few at a time and refrigerate them. You can also add unflavored protein to any of these egg mixtures for added protein. I like to use collagen peptides for the hair issues.

Hope this helps!
posted by Sara_NOT_Sarah at 9:54 AM on December 23, 2019

I cook black eyed peas or lentils and I increase the protein content by adding chorizo, or when cooked, chunks of feta. Both those legumes need little or no soaking and I can cook them in the time between getting up and going to work. Then I just put them in a jar, maybe with a little dressing.

BTW I turn boring old cottage cheese into more of a dessert by stirring some maple syrup or preserves through it.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:16 AM on December 23, 2019

My brainless go-to is a tin of tuna or salmon and a serving of brown rice. You can make ahead the rice in bulk (or if exceptionally lazy get the microwave single serves but blows out the budget). Buy whatever brand of tuna is on sale (in Australia, I can always get something for $1/tin), there are enough flavours available that you can have some variety.
posted by cholly at 1:50 PM on December 23, 2019