Healthier lunch options

Deciding on lunch

When deciding between lunch options, especially when eating out, you should consider portion size.  

The Eatwell guide shows how much of each food group should be consumed overall to help achieve a healthy balanced diet.

Look for healthy options within meal deals to help reduce your fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar intake, such as water instead of a fizzy drink or fruit instead of a chocolate bar.

Salads

Salads can be very filling, especially if they include some starchy foods such as rice, pasta, potatoes or couscous.

Cold grilled chicken (without the skin), egg, prawns, tuna, sardines, cottage cheese and hummus are all healthy choices to add to a salad.

You should add a variety of vegetables, such as:

• roasted peppers and courgettes
• avocado
• spring onions
• salad leaves
• tomatoes
• olives
• radishes
• grated carrot
• raisins
• green beans

If you are making your own salad at home, you could also add leftover potatoes or rice.

Watch out for and avoid salads that contain a lot of mayonnaise or other dressings high in fat, such as coleslaw, potato salads and some pasta salads.

Pre-packed salads often have a nutrition information panel on the label so you can check how much total fat, saturated fat, and salt they contain.

Choose salads that are lower in fat, especially saturated fat and salt (or sodium) or look for smaller portions.

Sandwiches

Whether you're buying a sandwich or making your own, here are some tips to achieve a healthier lunch:

• go for brown, wholemeal bread or rolls
• opt for healthier sandwich fillings, such as lean meats (this includes ham, beef, turkey and chicken without the skin), tuna, smoked mackerel, hard-boiled egg, and cheeses such as Edam, Emmental, Gruyère, mozzarella and low-fat cream cheese
• go for a sandwich that contains salad - add or ask for extra, if possible
• if the sandwich is home-made or made to order, have it without butter, spread, mayonnaise or other dressing especially if the filling is moist, or just have a small amount
• if you do have mayonnaise, choose a low-fat variety, when you can

To add variety, you could use different types of bread.

For example you could choose:

• granary rolls
• brown bread with added nuts or seeds
• rye bread
• bagels
• tortilla wraps
• wholemeal pitta bread

Here are a few suggestions for different sandwich combinations:

• low-fat cream cheese, roasted red pepper and sunflower seeds in a toasted bagel
• edam, tomato and cress in granary bread
• chicken tikka and cucumber with a mint and yoghurt dressing in chapatti or pitta bread
• avocado, hummus and salad leaves on rye bread
• mozzarella, olives, roasted vegetables and red onion in a wholemeal roll
• turkey, cranberry sauce and baby spinach in brown bread

To add interest and texture, add a few olives, sundried tomatoes (drain off the oil), gherkins, or some seeds such as sunflower or pumpkin.

When buying pre-packed sandwiches, look at the nutrition information on the label to help you understand which products are healthier.

Hot food

Baked potatoes are a good lunchtime choice, but it's better to leave out the butter, or just have a tiny bit.

Healthy fillings include baked beans, cottage cheese and ratatouille.

Try to avoid ready-mixed fillings that contain lots of mayonnaise, because these can be high in fat.

When choosing pasta, try to avoid dishes served with a creamy or cheesy sauce, or mixed with lots of oil, because these tend to be high in fat.

Tomato or vegetable-based sauces are a healthier choice.

You could try soup with chunky vegetables. Soups can also help count towards your five-a-day and to make it a filling and balanced meal you could add a wholemeal bread roll.

More useful links

• Healthy, balanced diet