What is a Good Lunch for a Teenager?

Lunch can sometimes be a challenging meal to get in! With busy schedules and often being away from home at lunchtime, making time to sit down and eat a meal might take a little effort and planning, but it is doable.

Some of the best lunches for teenagers include rice bowls, veggie quesadillas, waffles with peanut butter and bananas, Greek yogurt parfaits, tuna salad sandwiches, pitas with hummus and veggies, and tortilla wraps. A good lunch for a teenager is one that includes a balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Usually this will include a grain, protein source, a fruit and/or a vegetable. Choose healthy fats to add to your meal to make it more satisfying.

Read on to better understand what makes up a healthy lunch, and for easy lunch ideas for teenagers.

Why Is Lunch So Important?

Skimping out on a satisfying lunch is not a good idea, especially for teenagers. You need that little pick-me-up in the middle of the day for your body to have the energy to keep going!

Remember to give your body the fuel that it needs when it needs it. Some teenagers eat very little during the day and eat a huge dinner, but your body needs more of that energy during the day while it is working so hard.

Even if you do not feel very hungry at lunchtime, it is still a good idea to get in some food every few hours. Once you start regularly eating lunch, your body will likely start to feel more hungry around lunchtime.

If you are not eating regularly throughout the day, you could have lower energy levels and experience more stress and anxiety. Eating balanced, consistent meals and snacks throughout the day will help stabilize your blood sugar and hormone levels and help you feel your best.

Nutrients to Include at Lunch

There are three nutrients that we actually get energy (calories) from. We refer to those as the macronutrients, which are carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals that are found in a wide variety of the foods you eat!

Carbohydrates get broken down into sugar molecules in the body and are your main source of energy. Carbohydrates are mainly found in grain products, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and dairy foods.

Protein and fat are usually found in many of the same foods. Protein is the building block of the body and helps to build and repair muscles. Protein and fat both help to slow down the digestion of carbohydrates to maintain appropriate blood sugar levels and to sustain your energy over a longer period of time.

Protein and fat are found in meat, fish, poultry, nuts, seeds, nut butters, and dairy. Fat is also found in oils and avocados.

You might still be wondering what to eat for lunch to get in all the macronutrients and micronutrients that your body needs. Even if you know you want to eat a healthy lunch, putting that into practice can still sometimes be challenging.

An easy outline for preparing lunches is choosing something from each of the following food groups:

Grain
Protein (Remember that dairy products are often good sources of protein too)
Fruit and/ or vegetable

The way you put those together might look different depending on the day and the foods you choose! If your plate does not match up with this perfectly, that is ok. Try and get at least one fruit or vegetable with lunch and go from there.

How Much Should Teens Eat for Lunch?

The amount that teenagers should eat for lunch varies based on their energy needs and activity level. The amount of energy you need day-to-day will change! Teens should be taught to listen to their hunger and fullness cues so they know how much their body needs to eat that day.

For most teens, grain intake at lunch will probably be between 2-4 ounce equivalents. The chart on myplate.gov shows what is equal to 1 ounce equivalent. 1-2 servings of fruits and vegetables will likely be appropriate at lunch as well as 1-3 ounce equivalents from the protein group. Myplate.gov can also show examples of fruit and vegetable serving sizes as well as what counts as a protein ounce equivalent.

If that seems too overwhelming, just remember that the main focus is to listen to the body and get a mixture of carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Pay attention to how different meals make your body feel and then you can adjust what you are eating as needed!

Tips for Teens Packing Their Own Lunch

Packing a healthy lunch every day might seem like a daunting chore! Here are a few tips for teenagers that are packing their own lunch:

Prepare foods in advance. If you are making sandwiches, make extras and put them in the fridge or even the freezer!

Have individually packaged things available that you can just grab. You can often find things like guacamole, peanut butter, nuts, cheese, pretzels, crackers, fruits and vegetables packaged in individual servings to make meals and snacks more convenient!

If you will have the ability to heat up leftovers, go ahead and stash some extra food from dinner away for lunch the next day while you are cleaning up. Then it will be ready to go and you won’t even have to think about it on your way out the door!

Have fruits and vegetables in snack containers ready-to-go. This might take some preparation ahead of time, but you will thank yourself later. Maybe this means cutting up peppers or cucumbers and putting them in bags in the fridge. Maybe that means cutting up strawberries, blueberries, and pineapple for a yummy fruit salad mix!

Choose foods that you really enjoy. That will help you be more excited to plan and prepare your lunch. You can throw a fun treat in with your lunch too!

Keep ice packs ready-to-go in the freezer so it will be easy to pull out and put with your lunch if you won’t have access to a refrigerator.

Do as much prep the night before as possible. No one likes having to wake up even earlier in the morning to plan and pack a lunch! Have things set out as much of possible and have a little section of the fridge that you can keep your prepared lunch foods.

Quick On-The-Go Lunch Ideas

Most lunches can be quick, easy, and on-the-go if you have done a bit of preparation in advance. Here are a few yummy lunch ideas!

Apple slices, peanut butter, wheat thins, carrots, and a cookie

Peanut butter sandwich with a banana and peppers with ranch

Deli meat with crackers and cheese, strawberries, and cucumbers with hummus

Fruit smoothie with protein powder and peanut butter crackers

Leftovers from dinner with a fruit salad

Greek yogurt with granola and berries, and celery and pita chips with hummus

Tuna salad with crackers, a peach, and a side salad

Ham and cheese sandwich with greek yogurt and carrots

Cottage cheese with celery and crackers, chocolate milk, cherries, and a brownie
Granola bar, peanuts, an apple, and cauliflower with ranch dressing

Lunch Ideas for When you Have More Time

Hot grilled cheese or ham and cheese sandwich on a panini press or stovetop. Add lettuce, tomato, an apple on the side and chips.

Mini pizza on whole wheat pita bread with pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, tomato, olives, and italian seasoning, with a fruit and vegetable smoothie.

Quesadilla with cheese and chicken, with salsa, sour cream, lettuce and a glass of orange juice.

Rice bowls with chicken, lettuce, salsa, black beans, onions, corn, and avocado, with some pineapple on the side.

Salad with chicken, nuts, fruit, and a roll on the side.

Rotisserie chicken, roll, steamed broccoli, and cantaloupe.

Summary

Healthy lunches do not have to be incredible works of art and they do not have to be perfect. Find one way you can improve your lunches and go from there! Maybe that is actually eating anything for lunch! Maybe that means adding a fruit or a vegetable to what you are already doing. Maybe that means choosing more balanced foods if you go out to eat.

It is so worth it to make lunch a tasty, satisfying, and healthy meal. Recognize how eating a good lunch makes your body feel and use that as motivation for preparing a healthy meal.

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