21 Paleo/Ketogenic High-Protein Lunchbox Ideas

by - April 01, 2018




Making lunch for yourself the night before, or in the morning, if you're a lark, gives you more time on your lunch break and less choices to make, conserving precious energy stores. These high-protein lunchbox ideas ensure you're replenishing those muscles (You went to the gym earlier, didn't you!?) And it'll keep you satiated all afternoon due to the high protein/fat content. 


When asked in coaching, what is the one thing you would want if I could wave a magic wand, your answers have mostly been "More time in the day"  I know so many of you feel starved of time.

Part of Living Intentionally is being aware of what you eat. This means making it yourself. That way you can control cost, portion size and most importantly what's in it. Doing a big food-prep day gives you food for the week ahead so that when you're famished and just want to kick the front door open to get to the fridge after work, you've got healthy stuff ready to eat. 


Also, supermarket choices/meal deals can be very limited or sandwich-centered and, let's face it, are just a bit rubbish. So here are some ideas on how you can jazz up your lunchbox, or dinnerbox, whatever meal you want it to be... 

Ketogenic and paleo food focuses on you getting more saturated fat in your diet (This is good) So get drizzle-happy with the olive oil. All the carbs are from vegetables, so you won't find yourself in a post-lunch slump reaching for biscuits and coffee. Instead, increased productivity and more energy. Boom. 

CHICKEN

Roast a whole chicken on a Sunday and I was getting 6 or 7 portions out of it, which is one for the Sunday, then loads for the week. You gotta be cool with having chicken for lunch AND dinner one day #FirstWorldProbs 

Chopping up a load of salad options into a box is the fastest and easiest way to load the box, topping it with your roast chicken and finishing with a fun sauce. Hot sauce is always a winner.  I think this one below was Frank's hot sauce heated with butter... yes

Sometimes just plain extra virgin olive oil and seasoning is the best dressing when you have show-stealing flavours such as red onion.

Homemade cranberry sauce isn't just for Christmas - consider making a similar sauce using whatever berries are in season, they all work fantastically with chicken. All you have to do is simmer with a little water and honey (garlic optional)

Alternative to salads - if you fancy an option that you can have heated up or cold, throw in some veg that works two ways, such as peppers, tomatoes and baked sweet potatoes. This way you can microwave it if you want or not. I think this was some amazing mango habanero hot sauce I had from Burning Desire, Brighton.

Thai-style peanut butter stir-fried veg.

FISH

Just as you can roast a whole chicken on a Sunday for the week, consider cooking 4 salmon fillets at the same time. I used to do this and then wrap them individually in foil and eat them throughout the week. If you're building muscle, your body is constantly wanting to be drip-fed protein so they act as a great go-to fridge snack that isn't the normal toast option (Which I know many people resort to through lack of knowing what else they can eat that will satisfy them) Also when you cook them all at the same time, they are cooked when freshest and many supermarkets do deals on multi-packs of Salmon, saving you money.


Consider a topping of crushed nuts to add texture to a veg box.

Smoked salmon fillets, yes fillets, are my absolute favourite. Some cooked veg here for a bit of variety on the salad staples. 

If you've never tried one they have a strong, salty, fishy taste, exactly like smoked salmon but are just meaty and firm and you can sometimes buy them pre-cooked, saving even more time!  All they require is a lot of lemon on your salad for balance. 

Tuna is the old-school lunchbox hero, we mustn't forget or discredit him but long gone are the days of soggy tuna sarnies. Try this twist on a tuna jacket potato: Baked sweet potato chunks topped with tuna mayo, lemon juice and fresh raw red pepper for crunch.

A bit of fresh chilli goes a long way with bases such as a stir-fry which always seem to be quite greasy the next day, so it cuts through that oiliness and wakes you the f*ck up! 

PORK

This pork was an extra chop that was leftover from this dinner recipe [Soy, garlic & honey pork chops - click here] and some of my raw 'slaw [click here for recipe]



This was like a deli-bar lunchbox: Chorizo slices, dollops of pesto, torn mozzarella and the usual salad and baked sweet potato atop a bed of greens.

CHEESE

Just a quickie here. Cheese is an underrated source of protein which many people avoid due to it's high fat content. True but it's not as bad as consuming extra sugar in the form of carbs and not burning them off as they turn to stored fat quicker than when you consume fat, which when you're consuming more fat than sugar, your body runs on fat, which is better fuel than sugar. I won't go too much into it here but a quick google on eating Ketogenic will give you more info. Not pictured here but another absolute winner of a salad is finely chopped red cabbage, salad greens, spring onions and loads of grated cheddar [Check it out here on Insta]

EGGS

Lol, I wonder how many people swiped off my Instagram stories last year when everyday it was just my boiled egg lunch box again. Well, it was the highlight of my day! Only joking, life was amazing outside the lunchbox but I just used to love opening this up everyday (On my super early lunch break of 11.30am!) And feeling joy just looking at the colours. Again, cook your eggs in bulk - throw all 6 or even all 12 in a pan and boil the lot. Then you've got them ready to go for the week. Yes it's fine to eat that many per week. One egg a day, maximum is so 1998. Check out the Cereal Killers documentary for more information about how it's super beneficial to consume extra saturated fat. 

Less time buying or cooking lunch = more time sitting on the grass.



Red pesto is so fit with soft boiled eggs. Think cheesy, rich flavours meeting gooey, salty eggs. OMG.




So there we are, I hope these have inspired you to make your own lunch/dinner boxes and free up some of your day while enjoying your own creations.


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