Paleo To-Go! Packed Lunch Ideas for School or Work

Keep good food portable with these Paleo packed lunch ideas for school or work! I carry Paleo To-Go meals whenever I leave home. It’s more affordable to take my own food and I know what I’m eating is safe. Here’s over 70 dips, salads, soups, breads, veggies and entrees to make a variety of packed lunches for school or work. Enjoy!

How to Pack Your Lunch

For soups and stews, you need a good insulated container to keep food hot until lunch time. Just heat up your food in the morning and package it up to go. This one will keep food hot for 5 hours ’til lunchtime. 

For adults, if your workplace does not already have a toaster oven, ask about getting one.  It will pay for itself very quickly and your co-workers will likely thank you too! You can split the cost if the boss won’t pay for it… 

I usually eat my foods at room temperature. This large Bento box works fine for me. It’s leak-proof and measures almost 7 by 9 inches. I use an ice pack under it, but remove the ice an hour or two before eating.

For other chilled food, these stainless steel containers are also leak-proof. Check out these freezable coolers – you don’t need an ice pack with them at all. Pretty clever and they come in lots of colors and sizes. 

Paleo Packed Lunch Ideas

Here are some helpful tutorials for packing balanced lunches. If you have young children or grandchildren these can give you some great ideas. Use the principles in these posts with the other recipes provided below for endless combinations! For adults, just scale up the portion sizes as needed. 

• Paleo Nut-Free School Lunches by Edible Harmony
• Real Food Bento Box Lunches by Raising Generation Nourished 
• Easy Paleo Packed Lunches for Kids by Health, Home, and Happiness
• Simple Healthy Lunches for Kids on GAPS by Health, Home, and Happiness
• Paleo Kids Lunches by Hollywood Homestead

Vegetable Roll-Ups and Wrappers

Here’s my tutorial on using vegetables as roll ups and wrappers instead of bread. These look great and are easy to vary. Good for party finger food too.

• Vegetable Roll Ups and Wrappers by On Diet and Health

Paleo Breads and Crackers

Use the bread recipes to create healthy Paleo sandwiches. The crackers are great with pate, Paleo hummus, or chicken salad. Recipes for all of those are further down the post. 

• Crispy Plantain Crackers by Raising Generation Nourished
• Perfect Paleo Crackers by The Curious Coconut
• Keto Roasted Herb Crackers by Healthful Pursuit
• Keto Flaxseed Focaccia Bread by Healthful Pursuit
• Paleo Sandwich Rounds by Empowered Sustenance
• Paleo Tortilla Recipes by On Diet and Health
• Paleo Zucchini Muffins by On Diet and Health

Cold Dishes and Salads

• Tuna Salad For All Ages by Raising Generation Nourished 
• Spanish Tuna Salad with Roasted Red Peppers by And Here We Are
• Tropical Chicken Salad by On Diet and Health
• Reina Pepiada (Venezuelan Chicken Avocado Salad) by The Curious Coconut
• Hearty Chicken Salad by What Great Grandma Ate
• Banh Mi Slaw Salad with Creamy Sriracha Dressing by GI 365
• 1-Minute Asian Chicken Salad by I Heart Umami
• Mason Jar Salads 101 by GI 365
• 10 Paleo Salad Dressings by On Diet and Health
• Easy Vinaigrette Dressing by On Diet and Health
• Vegetable Roll Ups and Wrappers by On Diet and Health 
• Wild Salmon Frittata by On Diet And Health
• “Illegal” Pate by On Diet and Health
• Creamy Dairy-Free Pate with Blueberry Jelly by The Curious Coconut

Hearty Paleo Hummus Dips

Make one of the cracker options from earlier in the post or chop fresh crunchy veggies like celery, carrots, bell peppers, and cucumbers to dip. 

• Macadamia Nut Hummus by Healthful Pursuit
• Roasted Parsnip Hummus by Popular Paleo 

Meat Dishes To-Go

These meat dishes can work one of three ways: 1) eaten chilled 2) warmed in the morning and kept in an insulated container until lunch time or 3) packed cold but heated up in your toaster oven at lunch time. Some of these would also work well cold in a sandwich! So many possibilities here. 

• Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork by What Great Grandma Ate
• Turkey Eggplant Lasagna by What Great Grandma Ate 
• Three Meat Raspberry Chili by Pure and Simple Nourishment 
• My Favorite Paleo Pork Burgers by Pure and Simple Nourishment 
• Bison Patties with Cumin and Herbs by Tri-Holistic Nutrition
• Easy Paleo Oven-Baked Meatballs by Tri-Holistic Nutrition
• Chinese Kung Pao Chicken by I Heart Umami
• Chelo Kebabs and Cucumber Yogurt Salad by And Here We Are
• Slow Cooker Cuban Ropa Vieja by The Curious Coconut
• Secret Ingredient Paleo Meatballs with Gravy by On Diet and Health 

Packed Lunch Soups

These hearty soups are perfect for packing in your insulated container to stay hot until lunchtime!

• Chicken Zoodle Soup by Raising Generation Nourished 
• French Onion Soup by Raising Generation Nourished 
• Fresh Tomato Soup by Raising Generation Nourished 
• Nourishing Broccoli Soup by Raising Generation Nourished 
• Sancocho (Puerto Rican Plantain Stew) by The Curious Coconut
• Creamy Coconut Carrot Soup by On Diet and Health (this is great cold too)

Snacks, Dessert Bars and Bites

Want some snacks or dessert bites to go with lunch? These will satisfy your sweet tooth without overloading you with sugar. Some use gelatin or collagen too. 

• Easy Low Carb Granola Bars by Beauty and the Foodie
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Fruit and Nut Bar (homemade Larabar) by Raising Generation Nourished 
• Chocolate Energy Bars by Delicious Obsessions
• Toasted Lemon Coconut Macaroons by Pure and Simple Nourishment 
• Melon Gummies by Delicious Obsessions 
• Paleo Strawberries and Cream Collagen Bars by A Girl Worth Saving
• Berry Gummies with Spinach by A Girl Worth Saving
• Almond Butter Protein Snacks by Delicious Obsessions
• Banana Raising Paleo Granola Bars by A Girl Worth Saving
• Chocolate Coconut Cookies by Carrie On Living
• Orange Bliss Balls by Yummy Inspirations

Get some great food ready to share and be proud of yourself for committing to healthy food. You CAN do this, and feel like a winner too! Enjoy!