Diet Lunch Ideas on a Budget: Healthy Recipes That Won’t Break the Bank
When you’re trying to diet, it can be frustrating to find healthy lunch ideas that don’t cost an arm and a leg. Even worse, you end up settling for greasy takeout instead of packing yourself a healthy lunch.

This doesn’t have to be the case, though – there are plenty of affordable recipes out there that are also good for you and your waistline. In this article, we’ll look at some of the best budget-friendly, delicious diet lunch ideas you can make in your own kitchen.
Diet Lunch Ideas on a Budget: Healthy Recipes That Won’t Break the Bank
- Green Bean Salad with Eggs
- Roasted Chicken and Rice
- Tilapia Bowl
- Grilled Steak with Zucchini Noodles
- Kale Chips Snack Pack
- White Bean Salad
- Shrimp Tacos
- Tuna Sandwich
- Chopped Greek Salad
- Leftover Sliders with Avocado Spreads
Green Bean Salad with Eggs
You can make an easy lunch even faster by simply adding eggs to something you would already make. For example, green bean salad is delicious but takes a bit of time to cook; if you add eggs, you get more calories from protein and extra flavor without making it any more complicated. It’s also super cheap!
Eggs usually run about 20 cents per serving and are extremely versatile, so adding them to salads or pasta dishes adds bulk without sacrificing taste.
In fact, we used them in our favorite healthy brownie recipe for extra protein! If your goal is diet lunch ideas on a budget, be sure that some of your meals contain at least 15-20 grams of protein.
Roasted Chicken and Rice
Roasted chicken, rice and a little seasoning make up one of my favorite diet lunch ideas. I prefer to buy a whole roasted chicken and pull all sorts of meat off for meals such as salads, sandwiches or with vegetables for easy snacks.
This also works well in tacos!
The downside is that it takes longer to prepare than something like pasta dishes but can be equally as delicious when made properly. If you don’t mind freezing your food, you can often find roasted chickens on sale!