Are you having a hard time coming up with low carb lunch ideas to meal prep? It's something many struggle with until learning that planning ahead and meal planning makes for easy low carb and keto meal prep lunches and dinners.
Healthy low carb meal prep ideas make it so much easier to stick to your low carb or keto meal plan and make it easier to skip the take-out at lunch.
Whether you prefer salads, soups, casseroles, one dish meals, quick ideas that don't require a recipe, or recipes you can make for dinner and then eat during the week, we have 60 super delicious low carb and keto meal prep ideas you can make in advance for when you're on the go, want to track macros, or need a healthy work lunch.
⭐ On Keto? Grab our FREE keto foods list here OR Snag our Keto Binder HERE ⭐
Looking for even more low carb or keto lunch ideas? You'll love these keto bowls to meal prep, Whole30 Meal Prep recipes, and healthy meal prep ideas for weight loss.
Low Carb Keto Meal Prep Ideas: Getting Started
The first step to creating amazing and easy low carb lunch ideas for meal prep is making sure you have the right tools for the job. We personally love to use glass containers that store well, can be reheated, and can even go in the freezer too.
Meal prepping in advance and batch cooking your low carb lunches makes sticking to a healthy lifestyle so much easier. For readers who don't like to count calories at every meal (like me!), meal prepping is a game changer! You just need to count the calories once and then write them on the outside of the meal prep containers for storage.
Our favorite low carb meal prep resources:
- Plastic BPA free meal prep containers - We love these, especially for meals that don't need to be reheated, but even if they do, they're BPA free. Buying a sturdy plastic container is the least expensive way for low carb and keto meal prep.
- Glass Meal Prep Containers - 5 pack - Glass meal prep containers work great for your low carb lunch, they heat well and are very sturdy. The downside to using glass is they're heavier, they cost more, and don't stack as well as the plastic containers.
Did you know there are Keto Meal Prep Cookbooks you can actually read for FREE if you have an Amazon Kindle subscription. If you don't have Amazon Kindle you can also try it one month for free to download lots of healthy and low carb cookbooks. We do this hack when traveling to download travel guides!
Low Carb Meal Prep
We're sharing some of our most popular low carb lunches from our website plus included keto lunch meal prep recipes from other foodie websites too.
These are all terrific low carb lunch ideas for weight loss since you can package them into meal prep containers, you know how many calories each meal will be, and you're less likely to binge since you've prepped your food for the next few days.
Big Mac Salad
Making a low carb keto Big Mac Salad is a fantastic way to get the flavors of a cheeseburger without all carbs. Layer your ingredients in meal prep containers and then add the special sauce when you go to eat it.
One of our reader favorite recipes! Either make our homemade Big Mac Sauce or buy low carb store-bought special sauce.
Keto Broccoli Salad
Keto broccoli salad is our most popular salad recipe for a reason, plus it's a super hearty salad that'll keep you full during the day.
Raw broccoli salad loaded with bacon, cheese, sunflower seeds, and an easy homemade dressing holds up all during the work week and makes it a perfect candidate for low carb lunch ideas. Our low carb readers love to also serve this for potlucks and BBQ's!
Greek Chicken Meal Prep Bowls
This incredible recipe for Greek salad bowl with meal prep chicken is seriously addicting and will feed you a low carb lunch for days on end.
The chicken is so good in this recipe you'll find yourself making it just to eat on its own for dinner too! We love to buy precooked chicken and tzatziki sauce to assemble this quickly in the morning.
Tuna Stuffed Avocados
One of the keys to eating low carb and sticking to it is eating a lot more protein and also healthy fats. Stuffing avocado halves with our healthy tuna salad recipe does just that!
Just rub a little lime juice on the avocado to keep it from turning brown for keto meal prep, or try to fully cover the avocado halves with tuna salad.
Antipasto
Threading antipasto on a stick not only makes a quick and easy keto meal prep idea for lunch, but they're easy to customize plus it's a great way to use up a little bit of this and that in the fridge.
While we love it as one of our favorite low carb lunch ideas, they make the perfect appetizer too!
Taco Salad Lunch Bowls
Keto meal prep ideas can't get much easier than making our quick and healthy keto taco salad.
Whether you make it with ground turkey, beef, or chicken, this will definitely become a low-carb lunch staple.
Broccoli Ham Crustless Quiche
No one will miss the crust when you make our ham and broccoli crustless quiche.
Not only is it easy to change the ham to bacon or use different veggies, but it's also delicious served for lunch or breakfast, or hot or cold!
Smoked Salmon Sushi Bowl
Our 15 minute smoked salmon sushi bowls are low carb as is, but to make them keto compliant you'll want to swap the carrot sticks and edamame beans for lower carb veggies of your choice or load up on the other ingredients.
Eggroll in a Bowl (aka Crack Slaw)
If you haven't yet tried eggroll in a bowl, it is seriously a MUST. It comes together in JUST 15 minutes!
I'm not sure what's up with all of these crack names, but this is also commonly called keto crack slaw. This is probably one of the most popular low carb lunch ideas in the keto world, which of course is amazing for dinner too.
Fish Taco Bowls
Low carb fish taco bowls come together in less than 30 minutes and make a light and refreshing lunch (or dinner) any time of year.
A 10 minute baked cod gets paired with a healthy coleslaw and avocado wedges, limes, and cilantro. Don't forget the low carb margs on the side (if you work for yourself lol)!
Pizza Chicken Meal Prep
Recipe and picture by Meal Prep on Fleek
Pizza chicken? This is definitely a win! You still get your favorite pizza flavors but lighter and without the high carb crust. This makes for terrific low carb lunch ideas and would surely be a family-friendly healthy weeknight dinner too! Make sure to double the recipe so you can include this in your keto meal prep ideas.
This yummy and gooey chicken pizza cooks up in less than 30 minutes from start to finish.
Low Carb Chicken Fajitas
Life Made Sweeter prepares this on a sheet pan and offers both a low carb chicken fajitas version and also an option for those wanting corn tortillas too.
Fajitas of all kinds are one of our favorite low carb lunch ideas since it cooks up fast and stores well in the freezer for batch cooking. We often use pre-cooked chicken and frozen mix bell peppers to whip up fajitas in a flash.
Substituting beef, pork, shrimp or portobello mushrooms are great low carb fajita options so you can vary things up.
Low Carb Korean Beef Bowls
So many Asian dishes are filled with sugar, artificial ingredients, and other mystery things we just don't want to eat. Finding healthy versions of our favorite take-out dishes makes sticking to a low carb lifestyle so much easier.
These super yummy low carb Korean beef bowls are the perfect solution for low carb meal prep! Serve with cauliflower rice. The recipe makes 4 servings, plus since it's packed with so much flavor this is definitely a low carb lunch you'd actually want to eat days in a row. We include a recipe for a spicy sauce, but it's totally optional and the recipe is terrific without it too!
Shrimp Zucchini Noodles Meal Prep
I don't know about you, but shrimp and zucchini noodles are one of the BEST combinations.
Shrimp and zoodles can be whipped up in under 15 minutes when you use store-bought pesto sauce! So whether you're in a hurry making lunches on a busy morning, or you're looking for speedy low carb meal prep recipe, you're going to LOVE our pesto zucchini noodles with shrimp for a keto or low carb lunch.
Another shrimp and zucchini noodles option we recommend (that used to be featured in this list) is this recipe by Kirbie's Cravings.
Ground Turkey Zucchini Skillet
A healthy Italian-inspired turkey zucchini skillet recipe loaded with flavor that comes together quickly.
Our healthy turkey zucchini skillet recipe is low carb, dairy free, Whole30, and keto friendly. Great for a quick dinner or for keto meal prep lunches if you double the recipe. Serve with cauliflower rice.
Chicken, Bacon, Egg Meal Prep Salad
Recipe and photo by Meal Prep on Fleek
What I love about this low carb lunch meal prep idea is that other than the meat and making hard-boiled eggs, you simply add in any leftover vegetables you have in your fridge. Very resourceful and easy!
Making a meal prep chicken salad is even easier when you start with precooked chicken, bacon, and hard-boiled eggs.
Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice
This cilantro lime chicken with cauliflower rice will definitely become one of your low carb lunch favorites. The chicken cooks up in a flash and you can simply add whatever veggies you have handy.
She does mix in a small amount of black beans with the cauliflower rice, if you're following a keto diet then just leave them out, but even as is the recipe is still only 9 net carbs per serving.
Recipe and image by Fit Foodie Finds
Low Carb Coconut Curry Meatballs
Here's another wonderful low carb lunch meal prep idea from Fit Foodie Finds. I don't know about you, but we're curry obsessed here at WLY and could eat it over and over again. And serving the meatballs with cauliflower rice always keeps carbs down.
She uses a little rolled oats in the meatballs, if you're looking for a keto lunch meal prep idea, you can simply substitute almond flour for the rolled oats.
We always use almond flour as a binder for any meatballs we make and it works like a charm.
Recipe and photo by Fit Foodie Finds
Low Carb Keto Lunch Ideas (Even More!)
Cobb salad with precooked or canned chicken is one of our regular low carb lunch options and can easily be whipped up.
We love to stock up on the real bacon pieces at Costco to make this recipe even quicker, and of course, rotisserie chicken works great too.
This is a great recipe when you need to make a low carb lunch that doesn't feel like a boring salad and it'll actually fill you up.
I promise you'll never even miss the bread when you take all of the toppings from an Italian sub sandwich and turn it into a hearty salad.
This truly makes the best low carb lunch or keto meal prep idea! Plus, it keeps well in the fridge so you can eat it multiple days in a row.
These yummy 10-minute buffalo chicken celery sticks not only make a great low carb lunch, but they're perfect as a party appetizer, snack on the go or even as a light dinner.
Buffalo chicken celery sticks are a fast and easy snack that also makes an easy lunch on the go. When you have leftover homemade buffalo chicken dip, making yourself a tasty snack of buffalo chicken on celery hits every spot.
The recipe is also low carb, keto-friendly, and gluten-free.
Assembling a mini grab-and-go low carb and keto charcuterie board is another easy 5-minute keto meal prep idea.
We always try to keep no carb and low carb ready to go healthy snacks in the fridge like cheese balls, olives, salami, celery, low carb nuts, celery, and artichoke hearts.
We show you how to quickly and easily meal prep hard-boiled eggs and bacon to meal prep so you assemble last minute BLT wraps on busy mornings.
Our cold, succulent shrimp salad with Old Bay seasoning on butterhead lettuce makes for the perfect light lunch or dinner. The creamy dressing is indulgent yet bright.
Ready in less than 30 minutes this salad is perfect for serving a crowd, they'll definitely think it's a Whole Lotta Yum!
Healthy and easy air fryer sausage and veggies come together really fast but they're perfect for keto lunch ideas too when you double the recipe.
! Make with your favorite pre-cooked sausages such as kielbasa or chicken sausage, this air fryer sausage and vegetables recipe is simple to customize. Low carb, healthy, and keto friendly.
If you're a fan of pizza (who isn't!) but want a healthier, low-carb option then our portobello mushroom pizza recipe is a must-try!
It's flavorful with its melty cheese and yummy toppings, it's a pizza that's good for you and definitely a Whole Lotta Yum!
Just reheat in the microwave or air fryer for an easy low carb meal prep for work idea.
This low-carb cabbage soup is a great way to jumpstart a weight loss program or simply to warm you up on a chilly day.
Packed full of tender vegetables in rich vegetable stock, enjoy unlimited amounts of cabbage soup on the sacred heart soup diet. The theory behind this diet is that you burn more calories than you consume!
An easy low carb pizza casserole recipe that's just like eating a supreme pizza but without the breading and carbs!
Our pizza casserole without pasta combines Italian sausage, pepperoni, olives, low carb veggies, sauce, and cheese into the ultimate crustless pizza!
Low carb casseroles are perfect for keto lunch ideas since they usually make enough for dinner but they also provide lots of leftovers. They freeze great too!
A creamy loaded egg salad recipe you'll love whether you're serving it as a sandwich on low carb bread, as a lettuce wrap, or on a bed of lettuce.
Such a great variation to the classic egg salad plus it's an easy keto meal prep recipe.
Air fryer spaghetti squash made easy! Serve tossed with our quick and easy garlic parmesan sauce, use it in your favorite recipes in place of pasta, or drizzle it with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Add protein by serving the spaghetti squash with low carb meat balls.
Make easy mini Caprese skewers as an appetizer at your next get-together or as a quick healthy snack. The healthy antipasto on a stick recipe is also gluten free, low carb, and keto.
The Kitchn not only has easy to assemble keto meal prep ideas with smoked salmon, but their posts also include numerous other great quick lunch box swaps.
Assemble keto meal prep ideas by using containers with dividers and filling them up with a variety of proteins, low carb veggies, sauces, and nuts. This low carb meal prep recipe makes smoked salmon rolls with cream cheese. The spiralized zucchini can be eaten raw or cold cooked.
Whether you are looking for a quick keto lunch or an afternoon snack, our ham and pickle roll-ups are just the thing!
Made with your favorite ham slices and dill pickles, these low-carb pinwheels are held together with cream cheese. Done in less than 10 minutes. Serve alongside low carb vegetables and nuts.
Take last night's pulled pork dinner and turn it into pulled pork lettuce wraps for a low carb lunch idea for the week.
Low carb and packed with flavor our pulled pork is served on butter lettuce and topped with a keto-friendly BBQ sauce and coleslaw.
You'll love this 15 minute egg drop soup recipe that's only 52 calories per serving and just 1 net carb.
Even if you serve other food on the side, this simple soup is super filling! Pack it in a thermos to keep warm at work or microwave it as needed.
The easiest low carb meal prep idea when you start with a bag of pre-shredded cabbage, carrots, and use a pre-cooked chicken.
The recipe makes 10 cups and is less than 350 calories per serving. Store the dressing separately for making keto lunches for the week.
If you're looking for variety when making egg salad, did you know you can skip the mayo and make an egg salad with avocado instead? Serve on low carb bread, in a lettuce wrap, or on a bed of lettuce.
Low carb and keto cauliflower fried rice tastes just as good as regular fried rice but without the extra carbs and processed ingredients. You can get your favorite Chinese food right at home with this easy and healthy low carb fried rice recipe with chicken, low carb vegetables, and savory seasoning.
Not only is the cauliflower fried rice keto, but it's gluten free, paleo, low carb, and Whole30 cauliflower rice too! You can even make it vegetarian by skipping the chicken or adding in baked tofu.
Our favorite hearty vegan salad! Not every meal needs to have meat, seeds gives the salad extra protein but you can also add hard boiled eggs or low carb beans like black soybeans.
Made with kale that doesn't wilt like lettuce greens, this keto meal prep idea will last for 3-4 days in the fridge.
Dinner Doubles: More Keto Meal Prep Ideas
These keto lunch meal prep ideas also are great suggestions for dinner too!
They provide lots of leftovers that make great keto lunches or you can double them for the week or freeze them for later.
- Stuffed Peppers without Rice - Savory and cheesy stuffed peppers with cauliflower rice make the ultimate low carb lunch comfort food. Eat them for dinner and save the rest as a keto lunch idea.
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole - So fast when you have pre-cooked chicken on hand. You can also prep this and freeze meal prep containers for lunches throughout the week.
- 20-minute beef stroganoff - One of our personal favorite keto meal prep ideas, you can easily substitute ground beef, turkey or chicken for the steak strips. This is also paleo and pairs well with riced broccoli or cauliflower.
- Bacon and Cheese Pinwheels- If you believe everything is better with bacon than these quick and easy pinwheels will make the best low carb lunch for you. The recipe whips up in 30 minutes and makes 10 servings. The hard part will be keeping them away from others!
- Keto chicken broccoli casserole - When you start with precooked chicken, this casserole is done from start to finish in less than 30 minutes. Yummy and easy keto casseroles are one of our favorite low carb lunch meal prep ideas since they're quick to put together and can easily give you 6-8 servings from one pan.
- Philly cheesesteak wraps These keto Philly cheesesteak wraps come with a link for a low carb tortilla, you can also use lettuce leaves or just eat the hearty filling out of a bowl.
No Carb Lunch Ideas
No carb lunch ideas are perfect when you're looking for low carb or keto meal prep ideas to take to work or when you're on the go. Eating almost no carbs at all for some of your meals is a way to quickly get your body into ketosis. What worked really well for my husband was to have one no carb meal like a no carb lunch so that we could have a few more carbs at breakfast and for dinner.
Here are some of our favorite one-carb to no carb snacks you can easily combine to make a simple and fast no-carb meal:
- 1-minute pepperoni chips
- dill pickles
- olives
- cheese
- artichoke hearts
- beef sticks
- Salami slices
- parmesan chips
- Grilled chicken strips
Quick Keto Lunch Ideas
Here's a list of quick keto lunch ideas for work or when you're on the go (or simply just don't want to cook with a recipe!)
- Deli Roll-Ups: Roll slices of deli meat (turkey, ham, or roast beef) around cheese sticks or avocado slices.
- Tuna Salad in a Lettuce Wrap: Mix canned tuna with mayonnaise and a dash of mustard. Wrap it in lettuce leaves. This works with chicken salad too.
- Egg Salad Stuffed Avocados: Mix hard-boiled eggs with mayonnaise, salt, and pepper. Spoon into halved avocados. You can do this with chicken salad too.
- Veggie Sticks with Guacamole or Dip: Cut cucumber, bell peppers, and celery into sticks. Serve with guacamole or a high-fat dip like ranch.
- Greek Salad: Combine diced cucumber, tomatoes, olives, and feta cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with oregano.
- Chicken Caesar Salad: Toss together Romaine lettuce, grilled chicken strips, Parmesan cheese, and Caesar dressing.
- Cottage Cheese Bowl: Mix cottage cheese with a few chopped nuts and a small amount of berries or diced avocado.
- Chicken Salad with Pecans: Mix cooked chicken with mayo, Dijon mustard, chopped celery, and pecans. Eat the chicken salad straight from the bowl for a hearty salad or serve on lettuce leaves.
- Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Roll-Ups: Spread cream cheese on smoked salmon slices and roll them up.
- Avocado and Shrimp Salad: Toss cooked shrimp with avocado chunks, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Adding in low carb vegetables like cucumber slices and grape tomatoes is tasty too.
- Cold Cut Platter: Lay out a selection of cold cuts like ham, turkey, and roast beef, along with cheese slices, nuts, and olives. Grilled chicken would be yummy too.
- Protein-Packed Salad: Mix together your choice of cooked protein (chicken, steak, or tofu), with mixed greens, avocado, and a high-fat dressing.
Low Carb Meal Prep FAQ's
If you're specifically following a keto diet and eating even less carbs than someone would if they're eating low carbs, here are some things to consider:
Understand Keto Macros: Familiarize yourself with the keto macronutrient ratios which are typically around 70-75% fats, 20-25% protein, and 5-10% carbohydrates.
Plan Your Meals: Plan your meals for the week. Include a variety of foods so you don’t get bored. Focus on low-carb vegetables, high-quality proteins, and healthy fats.
Create a Shopping List: Make a detailed shopping list based on the meals you’ve planned. This will help ensure that you have all the ingredients needed for your meal prep.
Shop Smart: When shopping, focus on fresh, whole ingredients and avoid processed foods. Look for low-carb vegetables, grass-fed meats, high-fat dairy, and healthy fats such as avocados, nuts, and olive oil.
Prep Ingredients: Wash and chop vegetables, marinate meats, and get any other ingredients ready for cooking. This step will save you time during the actual cooking process.
Cook in Batches: Cook meals in large quantities so you’ll have leftovers to use throughout the week. For example, you can bake a tray of chicken breasts, roast a bunch of vegetables, or make a big pot of soup.
Portion and Store: Divide the cooked meals into portion-sized containers. Consider using containers that have compartments to keep different food items separate.
Refrigerate or Freeze: Store the containers in the fridge or freezer depending on how soon you plan on eating them. Typically, meals stored in the fridge should be consumed within 3-4 days, while frozen meals can last a few weeks.
Reheat and Enjoy: When you’re ready to eat, simply reheat the meals in the microwave or oven (if using an oven-safe container) and enjoy!
If you're on the go and forgot to pack your low carb lunch in advance, here's an entertaining YouTube Video. Here they show you the best 5 low carb and keto fast food stops and what to order.
60 Meal Prep Low Carb Lunches: Big Mac Salad & More!
When you're searching for keto lunch meal prep ideas and low carb lunch ideas, look no further than our list of 60 meal prep recipes. We've included the instructions for our most popular meal prep recipe, Big Mac Salad!
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 4+ Dill pickles, sliced
- ½ cup minced onion
- 1 head Iceberg lettuce
- ½ teaspoon Sesame seeds
- BIG MAC SAUCE
- ½ cup mayo
- 2 tablespoon low carb pickle relish (or chopped pickle with juice)
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- ½ teaspoon yellow mustard
- ¼ tsp+ monk fruit (increase if using chopped pickle for the relish)
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
Cook The Beef
Over medium-high heat, warm a large skillet and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. Add the ground beef, salt, pepper, and garlic clove. Stir and cook the ground beef until it's no longer pink in the middle, which will take about 6-7 minutes. Drain some of the grease.
Set aside and let cool down while you prep the remaining low carb Big Mac salad ingredients.
Prep The Salad Ingredients
Prepare the remaining salad ingredients by slicing the pickles, mincing the onion, shredding the cheese, and chopping the iceberg lettuce. Set aside.
Make The Sauce
In a small bowl, add all of the ingredients for the Big Mac sauce, including the mayo, pickle relish, ketchup, yellow mustard, sweetener, garlic salt, and onion powder.
Combine
Lay the lettuce in the bottom of 4 bowls, or for as many low carb Big Mac salad bowls as you're making. If you're a hearty eater, this recipe might just be 2 servings.
Sprinkle the burger meat on top of the lettuce. Then add the pickles, onion, and shredded cheese. An alternative to sprinkling over the top of your salads would be to group each topping individually in a bowl. It adds a fancier presentation getting served that way.
Drizzle lots of Big Mac sauce over the salad or serve the dressing on the side. The sauce and yummy toppings are what give the salad so much flavor. Feel free to add as many pickles, onions, and cheese as desired. Add salt and pepper to taste if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
Iceberg lettuce is what they use at McDonald's but go ahead and try little gem, romaine, spinach, or any other type of lettuce.
Feel free to add some tomatoes for color and to increase the veggies.
Ground turkey or lean ground beef can be used to make a lighter option than full-fat cooked beef. You might need to increase the seasoning when swapping leaner cuts of meat.
Not in the mood to make your own dressing? Swap out the homemade sauce for keto-friendly Thousand Island or Sir Kensington's Special Sauce (burger sauce).
Try to find a sugar-free pickle relish to keep the carbs as low as possible.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 530Total Fat 44gSaturated Fat 17gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 32gCholesterol 140mgSodium 1143mgCarbohydrates 6gNet Carbohydrates 3gFiber 3gSugar 9gProtein 39g
More Keto Lunch Meal Prep Ideas
Looking for even more keto meal prep ideas for lunch?
- 21 Easy Keto Meals for Beginners
- 30 Quick Healthy Meal Prep Ideas
- 14 Easy Low Carb Wraps
- 16 Keto bowls to meal prep
If you loved our recipe, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review and leave us a comment too! Connect with us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube!
On Keto? Grab our FREE keto foods list here OR Snag our Keto Binder HERE!
And be sure to post our 60 keto lunch ideas to meal prep post to Pinterest so you can easily find it again later!
More favorites from Whole Lotta Yum
Susan says
Omg… Thank you SO much for all of these awesome ideas!
WholeLottaYum says
You're welcome! Glad I could help 🙂
Cin says
Did you know the Mc D's sauce contains anchovies?
hayat says
thanks for sharing that with us really gave me ideas
Steve Archie says
Informative and well written article, thanks for sharing these 10 keto lunch meal. This is very helpful.
WholeLottaYum says
Thanks Steve! I hope you enjoy the keto lunch ideas!