9 No-Heat Lunches That Pack up Perfectly for Work, School, or Wherever

Tired of the same-old sandwiches? These lunches will add variety and flavor to your lunch rotation.

By Robin Shreeves
Published September 16, 2025
Egg salad sandwich on bread, served on a plate

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

Certain school lunch box classics, such as peanut butter and jelly or ham and cheese sandwiches, come together effortlessly. But eating the same sandwich day after day can grow old quickly. If you’re packing lunch every day for your kid—or if that kid happens to be you at work—these 10 ideas go beyond the well-known classics. Whether it's a hearty farro salad or a cheesy quiche, these lunches will keep you (or your kid) satisfied until the end of the day.

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  • Cucumber Peanut Salad

    Plate of cucumber salad garnished with crushed peanuts and lime wedges on a table set with dining utensils

    Serious Eats / Frederick Hardy II, Prop Stylist: Christina Daley, Food Stylist: Margaret Dickey

    Inspired by the punchy flavors of pad Thai, this zesty, crunchy cucumber salad keeps well in a lunch box. Salt the cucumbers first to draw out excess water, which enhances their natural flavor and keeps them crisp, then combine them with shredded carrots, scallions, jalapeño, and peanuts, plus a creamy dressing of peanut butter and fish sauce. This 20-minute salad will undoubtedly become your new favorite lunch. Make it more robust by adding some cubed, seasoned extra-firm tofu.

  • Farro Salad With Blue Cheese, Pine Nuts, and Tomatoes

    Serving of farro salad with blue cheese, pine nuts, and tomatoes served inside a bowl

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

    This farro salad is hearty, creamy, and ideal for lunch boxes. For ease and convenience, cook the farro ahead of time, then mix a serving of the farro with tomato, cucumber, fresh herbs, blue cheese, and pine nuts when it's time to assemble your lunch. For the best texture, serve the homemade vinaigrette on the side and dress right before serving. Canned chickpeas are a great addition if you're looking for something more substantial.

  • Lemon-Thyme Couscous Salad

    Bowls of couscous garnished with dried fruits and nuts on a table near a drink and a yellow napkin with spoon

    Serious Eats / Shri Repp

    This couscous gets its sweet, tangy, and savory flavors from bright citrus, fresh herbs, sweet dried fruit, crunchy nuts, and warm spices. The three-ingredient dressing is fairly simple, too: Just whisk olive oil, lemon zest, and lemon juice together. You can even make this salad up to four days ahead for extra-speedy homemade lunch prep. Here, again, canned chickpeas are a great addition to turn this into a heartier meal. You can also up the amount of nuts.

  • Cobb Salad

    A Cobb salad served on a decorative platter, featuring rows of ingredients including chicken, bacon, cherry tomatoes, eggs, avocado, and blue cheese

    Serious Eats / Victor Protasio

    Versatile, easy, and gorgeous, a classic Cobb salad makes a nourishing lunch of romaine, bacon, tomatoes, chicken, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, and blue cheese. It's all pulled together with a tangy, slightly sweet homemade vinaigrette. Prepare the ingredients separately and store them in the fridge, then mix them when you're ready to pack your lunch.

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  • Classic New Orleans Muffuletta

    A quarter of a muffuletta sandwich on a ceramic plate.

    Serious Eats / Mateja Zvirotic Andrijanic

    A great muffuletta must sit for a few hours, so it's ideal for packing in a lunch box. Spread homemade olive salad on a large roll, then layer with cold cuts and provolone before cutting into handheld servings. Let time do its thing, and by the time you eat it, all the flavors will have melded and infused into a delightfully juicy sandwich.

  • Corn Avocado Salad

    A bowl of corn salad with various toppings, photographed with vibrant background colors

    Serious Eats / Frederick Hardy II, Prop Stylist: Christina Daley, Food Stylist: Margaret Dickey

    Have back-to-school blues? This salad of charred, end-of-season corn and poblano might help. Top the corn and avocado with a bright lime-cilantro vinaigrette, queso fresco, and fresh avocado, then add the corn chips when you're ready to eat. The salad gets even better after a few hours, once the flavors have melded, making it the perfect lunch. To make it more substantial, add drained canned black beans.

  • Chickpea Salad Sandwich

    A hand holding a chickpea salad sandwich cut in half, filled with lettuce, red onion, and tomato, placed on a plate

    Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine

    Made with canned chickpeas, tahini, mayonnaise (or vegan mayonnaise if you choose), cucumbers, and seasoning, this chunky and creamy salad becomes a tasty filling for a pita pocket or sandwich bread. For extra crunch, add lettuce, tomatoes, and red onions. We recommend packing the salad and bread separately and assembling just before serving. Or skip the bread and pile it on top of quinoa.

  • Herby Egg Salad

    Egg salad sandwich on bread, served on a plate

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    Give ho-hum egg salad a glow-up with crème fraîche, mayo, fresh dill, Dijon mustard, and quick-pickled red onions. Serve on bread with your choice of lettuce, or skip the bread entirely and add a spoonful of egg salad to a bed of lettuce.

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  • Quiche Lorraine

    Overhead view of quiche

    Serious Eats / Deli Studios

    Turn a Sunday brunch staple into a luxurious Monday lunch. Quiche is delicious when it’s cold, and a large slice—studded with Gruyère and smoky bacon—makes the perfect accompaniment to a simple green salad. It will certainly make the start of the school week lunch feel extra special. 

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