Insanely healthy frozen leftovers to bring for lunch to work.

May 20, 2021 2:21 PM

Looking for specific recipe suggestions for big batch lunches that I can bring to work and reheat if necessary in the microwave. I've been bringing homemade bread, tomatoes, peppers, fruit, yoghurt, hard boiled eggs or sardines. But I think I would like something a bit more cohesive, and of course a little variety from week to week. I don't have dietary restrictions, but I am trying to eat more plants, moderate carbs, less meat.

I was inspired by the following article, which doesn't contain any recipes, and has picture sof more salad-like things, which I would think would not do well froyen. .https://www.huffpost.com/entry/healthy-big-batch-leftovers_l_609b5039e4b0daf2b59a62b9

posted by melamakarona to Food & Drink (17 answers total)

Personally, I've been cooking up a pound of tasty beans on Sundays and reheating a cup each day for lunch. Might garnish it with many of the things you mention (though perhaps not the sardines), definitely a slice of the homemade bread. There's a lot of variety to be found in a plate of beans.
posted by mumkin at 2:43 PM on May 20, 2021 [3 favorites]

Soba noodle salads are a good way to go. Keep the ingredients in separate containers and mix in the morning or the night before. Ingredients can be anything you like, but any seaweed would probably be a good thing along with anything fermented, plus fresh vegetables and sesame seeds from a health perspective. Roasted sesame seed oil is a luxury dressing, but you can just use vegetable oil, soy sauce and lime or lemon juice.

Minestrone soup is another good thing, you choose wether it will be vegan, vegetarian or omnivore. Bring it in a thermos or heat it in the microwave. Again, keep the soup and the pasta in separate containers until you prepare the lunch.

A whole grain pasta salad with just tomato, cucumber, olives and mozzarella, dressed with olive oil and lemon is very simple and nourishing. I'm not sure it can last a whole week, but I don't know because it always disappears from the fridge. It is very easy to make.

Fried rice and chicken wings.

These are things that my kids had regularly in their lunch bags which were so popular I had to make double or triple portions so they could share. None of them wanted school lunch ever. I won't say I made them once a week. All these lunches were so easy to make I would make them on the run. Maybe the minestrone on a Sunday for dinner, and then save some for lunch a couple of days during the week. Fried rice and the chicken wings were a bit more complicated, so they would be planned. The soba noodle plan was very simple and cook be made on a weeknight. I often made the pasta salad in the morning before school, it's that easy.

Personally, I hate lunch bags, so the kids and their friends are my reference. I like a sandwich made with thinly sliced whole rye bread, ham, cheese and mustard, cucumber and cress if available, and I can eat it every day all year round, but I want it freshly made. If I can't get that, I'll eat microwaved leftovers.
posted by mumimor at 3:09 PM on May 20, 2021 [1 favorite]

NOT FROZEN but quinoa is super delicious, and you can eat it as a veggie stir fry base or cold in a salad. One of my fave lunches is a bowl of quinoa salad, and it is versatile. You cook and cool quinoa, and mix in veggies like peas, corn, cucumber, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes (really whatever suits you), and make a dressing with olive oil mixed with a little bit of Dijon mustard and vinegar-I like apple cider but it's whatever you want. I usually put about the same amount of oil & vinegar but again it's to whatever your tastes are. You can make a similar salad using canned mixed beans & chickpeas instead of quinoa. Both of these you make a big batch & they sit nicely in the fridge all week!

For frozen, I would look at veggie chili and soups. I rarely freeze stuff though, so I don't have any specific recipes that I can recommend that hold up well when unthawed.
posted by DTMFA at 3:11 PM on May 20, 2021

I always seem to recommend Cheese Spinach Pie when folks are looking for vegetarian, low-carb dishes that can be frozen and reheated.

Cheese-Spinach Pie
1 package (10-ounce) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (squeeze out most of the liquid)
1 carton (16-ounce) small curd cottage cheese (any percent milkfat works fine in this recipe)
3 eggs or 3/4 cup Eggbeaters
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup sharp cheddar, shredded or in small cubes
3 T flour
2 T dried minced onion (or ~1/4 c fresh minced onion)
1/2 t garlic powder

Mix ingredients thoroughly. Turn into a buttered 8x8 pan and bake 75 minutes at 325.
posted by DrGail at 3:17 PM on May 20, 2021 [9 favorites]

Shashuka- basically veggies in crushed tomatoes, there are recipes but it's a good wingable meal. We like using the left overs in tortillas with cheese as a quesadilla, which are best fresh but can be made ahead and reheated.
posted by freethefeet at 3:19 PM on May 20, 2021

I love wraps. I typically use a base of beans, rice, and salsa, and add leftover meat or vegetables, avocado, scrambled egg, hummus, sliced peppers, cucumber, maybe some arugula. Quick- pickled onion or carrot enliven any sandwich. Or lots of greens, some tuna, and a small container of dressing. Wraps are infinitely variable. When I was packing lunches, I made sure I had cut up food in the fridge for fast assembly the evening before. I also had small containers for pickles or fruit, because variety is nice. Also, the at last job, which I grew to despise, I really needed lunch to be a treat, because my day needed that.

I also freeze leftovers in portion sizes, so I always have soup, stew, chili, to grab and go, maybe with leftover rice or pasta. Or leftovers, which I love and make intentionally.
posted by theora55 at 3:21 PM on May 20, 2021 [1 favorite]

Caponata is a thing you can make in a big batch and combine with other foods in various ways. My gut feeling (pun intended) is that it is very useful for one's microbiome and can be even more so in different combinations, with pasta, as a side to meat or fish, or as an appetizer.

I'm not sure wether the freezer is really necessary for your purpose. Cooked or fermented vegetables keep quite well in the fridge. Obviously, if you want to cook and pre-pack all your lunch for a month, it may make sense, but then you may need to use 3-4 hours or even more doing that, rather than a mix of repurposing leftovers and some prepwork for an hour or less on a Sunday (or whatever is your day off). In this specific context I use my freezer for soups, some sauces, spring rolls, falafels and chicken wings. But cooked noodles, cut-up vegs, pickles, condiments and most sauces are in the fridge and just get used within a week if necessary.
posted by mumimor at 3:43 PM on May 20, 2021

Egg muffins or egg bites are super easy to make in bulk, store in freezer or refrigerator and then reheat in just a minute or so. Here is a sample recipe but you can adjust it to fit any combination of cheese, meats and veg along with the egg (or egg substitute) Would be good with fruits or raw vegetables on the side.
posted by metahawk at 3:48 PM on May 20, 2021

I make soups or stews and, eat one bowl, put one serving in the fridge for next day or day after, reheat, then; I freeze at least three servings, in portable containers for later in the month. This worked well for teaching lunches.
posted by Oyéah at 4:24 PM on May 20, 2021 [3 favorites]

How about fried rice? I've tried making a lot of rice and frying some with ginger, garlic, beans, onions and broccoli. Then I take the rest of the rice and add black beans, refried beans, onion and pepper. I can just pull out some salsa or sweet & sour sauce or something and the rest is ready to go.
posted by Emmy Rae at 6:02 PM on May 20, 2021

Veggie enchiladas hold up great frozen and reheated - I usually kind of wing it but here’s a recipe.

You can pack salads in jars for the week if you prefer a salad option (one link, another link).

This elote corn chowder is delightful, works well for summer, and freezes very well without the finish on top. Typically I just do a sprinkle of feta on top instead of the finish to keep it simple.

Make sure you get good containers for freezing that are single-serving sized or a bit bigger - I like the Glasslock kind. Remember to leave headspace (a bit of room at the top) when you freeze things, especially watery dishes like soups that will expand a lot.
posted by bananacabana at 6:56 PM on May 20, 2021

I don't know whether this is too carby for you, but it does have veggies, fiber, protein, vitamins/minerals, etc. In my pre-keto days, I used to batch-cook red lentils. I basically used the simple recipe on the back of the Trader Joe's red lentil bag, which if memory serves is a generous dash of olive oil and 2 cups liquid per cup of lentils. I also added red pepper flakes, onion powder, and garlic. I used a mix of cheap red wine and chicken broth for the liquid, but you could use water or veg broth or whatever. The twist for this rendition was that I cut down the liquid amount (by maybe a third?) and added frozen veg mid-way through cooking. You can tell when you should add them because the lentils start to look like they need more water). The veg releases water as it cooks. The timing and quantities are always a little trial and error, and some of the veg cooks a bit faster than others in any case, but the end result was always great. Basically impossible to overcook - the lentils and veg just get increasingly softer, which is a matter of taste. Super simple and filling. You can vary the spices (maybe some kind of Indian spice would be good?), and it's also very accommodating of additions like throwing in small amounts of leftovers. You can of course use fresh veg rather than frozen, but using frozen is what made it so fast and easy. I think it took maybe 20-25 minutes start to finish and I would typically make 6 servings at a time. Separate into 1-2 cup glass storage containers that you can bring to work. I believe it froze well, but maybe try it first with a small amount before committing a large amount to the freezer. :-)
posted by ClaireBear at 8:00 PM on May 20, 2021 [1 favorite]

Oh, one more batch-cooking item - this one freezes and reheats especially well! Crustless quiche! I subsisted off of this for probably 1/3-1/2 of the time for a year. I use the Daisy recipe as a base, with modifications. The key thing is the ratio of cheese, sour cream, and eggs (2.5 cups shredded cheese, 1 cup sour cream, 3+ eggs [I usually used 4, but occasionally 5: I was looking for a high-protein meal after the gym]). I kept it crustless to keep carbs down. After that, you can add whatever you desire. I typically made it vegetable heavy. My two favorite flavor profiles were ham and broccoli, and one that I termed "Mediterranean" (chopped black olives, artichokes [water squished out hard], feta, sometimes smoked turkey). However you could add whatever and it would likely taste good. I baked them in a silicone mini-loaf pan (something like this), for maximum flexibility on the back end. I cooled them completely and made sure they were dry (sometimes paper-toweling them off), then put them in freezer bags. Reheat deliciously in the oven but probably great also in the microwave. Very tasty and filling!
posted by ClaireBear at 8:10 PM on May 20, 2021

Seconding the suggestion of caponata, which is a delicious way to get some veggies and is even good when served at room temperature. I'm a fan of ratatouille for the same reason. Other ideas: vegetarian chili with beans and lentils, red lentil soup (which can be jazzed up with more spices).
posted by neushoorn at 2:22 AM on May 21, 2021

Is "frozen" an absolute requirement? Because the issue you're trying to resolve seems custom-made for my usual recommendation of the Moosewood Daily Special cookbook - the recipes are plant-heavy, various recipes can be mixed-and-matched to go together to make full meals (in fact, that's how the whole cookbook was inspired), and many of the recipes keep well for a while in a fridge as opposed to a freezer. It's also how I brown-bag my own lunches - I make a couple batches of a couple of their salads on the weekend, and then over the course of the week I pack my "bag lunch" by picking one, packing a little in my bento box with some salad greens, and then add a handful of nuts for a snack and a cookie for dessert. In winter I switch to soups from the book and do largely the same approach.

Most things can't freeze all that well, but everything I've made from it has kept well in a fridge for a week and change, which is usually about how long it takes for me to get through most recipes.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:39 AM on May 21, 2021

I'll re-post this from an earlier thread. Everything in there freezes well, and re-heats with rice at work.
3-2-1 cream soups also freeze and travel really well

Get yourself some stackable freezer-safe containers that will hold a serving of thing that you usually freeze, and a few larger microwave-safe to take the food to work in, if you don't already have them.
posted by Kreiger at 11:35 AM on May 21, 2021

One tactic I find helpful is to use a slow cooker, but run it over night. Then in the morning, portion out a serving for that day's lunch and freeze the rest in lunch-size portions. (Or more realistically, what I would probably do is make that day's lunch, then put the slow cooker pot in the fridge during the work day, and portion out the freezer lunches after I get home that night). As with any frozen meal, this would need to be very well re-heated, but I've never had a problem with that. I like Martha Stewart's slow cooker recipes. Here's a vegan soup that looks good:
https://www.marthastewart.com/1162566/slow-cooker-white-bean-soup

There's curry recipes for slow cookers that lend themselves well to this method too. Or you could do something like roast a squash or sweet potatoes (in slow cooker for conveniece or however you roast veggies!), and portion them into salads or veggie rice bowls. Someone mentioned jar salads above. Those are a great idea. A jar salad paired with a serving of a nice veggie or minestrone soup is a solid lunch. Or how about a breakfast bowl? Something like greek yogurt with berries, walnuts, chia seeds, and bring a banana to eat with it. I also like to make homemade veggie burritos (use a cauliflower wrap for ultimate low-carb) and bring an avocado to eat with it.
posted by areaperson at 2:00 PM on May 24, 2021