18 cold lunch ideas you can eat without a microwave

🥪 The lunch that skips the microwave line

At noon there’s a line for the office microwave. Then there are the people who packed a cold lunch. They’re already eating. These recipes get made on Sunday, sleep in the fridge and are eaten as is, at a desk or on a job site: stuffed buns, salads that actually fill you up, pasta, grains, noodles. Enough to change your lunch every day of the week without ever waiting in line.

Packing for the kids instead? My 12 lunch box recipes for back-to-school are made for that.

Ads

🥖 Eat it with your hands

Spicy shrimps roll

Northern shrimp, crunchy celery and a chipotle mayo with a little kick. Make the filling on Sunday and fill the bun right before you eat, so it stays soft instead of soggy.

See the recipe

Ads

Tomato and egg rolls

The egg, bacon and tomato combo from the Quebec snack bar, only better. The tomatoes are seeded on purpose. That’s what keeps the bun from going limp by noon.

See the recipe

Ads

Spring rolls in lettuce leaf with grilled chicken and fresh mango

No rice paper to soak here, everything gets rolled in a big Boston lettuce leaf. Curry grilled chicken, mango, red cabbage, vermicelli. The dressing travels in its own little jar for dipping.

See the recipe

Ads

Garden tomato tart with goat cheese

Two kinds of goat cheese, red and yellow tomatoes, and sheets of phyllo brushed with butter. Cut into wedges, it’s a cold lunch you eat with your fingers.

See the recipe

🍗 Salads that actually fill you up

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Spicy chicken, bacon, corn, feta and tortilla strips for crunch. Pack the strips in a bag and the dressing in a jar, then put it together at work. Nothing gets soggy.

See the recipe

Ads

Duck confit salad with goat cheese and honey vinaigrette

The lunch your coworkers will ask about. Duck confit, creamy goat cheese, arugula and a honey vinaigrette, just as good cold as warm.

See the recipe

Ads

Grilled turkey breast salad with strawberries and haloumi

Turkey grilled with smoky barbecue sauce, strawberries and haloumi. Sweet and salty, and a nice break from the usual chicken salad.

See the recipe

Ads

Luxury pollock pasta salad

The imitation crab pasta salad you grew up on, loaded with northern shrimp, sharp cheddar, bacon and green apple. It gets better the longer it sits in the fridge, so make it Sunday night.

See the recipe

🍝 Pasta, grains and legumes

Pesto pasta salad with olives and artichoke hearts

Pesto, olives, artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes and parmesan. It’s mostly assembly, the recipe that saves you on Sunday night when nothing’s ready for Monday.

See the recipe

Ads

Legendary Tex-Mex Taco Pasta Salad

Grilled corn, bacon, black beans and a creamy dressing with just enough heat. One bowl and you’re good until supper. The name is earned.

See the recipe

Ads

Greek salad with quinoa

Everything you love about Greek salad, plus quinoa and kidney beans so it actually holds you over. It keeps its bite until the middle of the week.

See the recipe

Ads

Lentil, apple and beet salad with goat cheese

Lentils, golden beets, crisp apples and goat cheese in a maple vinaigrette. The lentils soak up the dressing overnight, which makes it even better the next day.

See the recipe

Ads

Italian Barley Salad

Barley, chickpeas, green olives and mozzarella di bufala. It’s served warm at supper, and the leftovers eat just as well cold the next day. Add the mozzarella at the last minute.

See the recipe

Ads

Green couscous salad with pecans, edamame and feta cheese

Couscous turned green with basil, mint and parsley, plus peas, edamame, feta and pecans. Quick to make, and filling enough to get you through the afternoon.

See the recipe

Ads

Black beans and sweet corn rice

Cumin-scented rice with corn, black beans and grape tomatoes. Cold, with a squeeze of lime, it’s a full lunch that costs next to nothing.

See the recipe

🥢 Cold noodles

Quick sesame chinese noodles

Toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar. Ready in about fifteen minutes and just as good cold as hot. Top with leftover chicken or a hard-boiled egg and it’s a real meal.

See the recipe

Ads

The best Vietnamese noodle salad with rice vermicelli

Rice vermicelli, carrots, cucumber, mint and cilantro with a fish sauce dressing. Fresh and light, it won’t put you to sleep halfway through the afternoon.

See the recipe

Ads

Udon noodle salad with vegetables

Thick udon, kale and julienned vegetables in a sesame-ginger dressing. Unlike thin pasta, these noodles keep their chew in the fridge.

See the recipe