Keto Lunch Ideas: 30 Easy Low-Carb Lunches for Work & Home

The best keto lunch ideas are built from protein, fat and low-carb vegetables: think egg muffins, chicken Caesar lettuce boats, tuna mayo cucumber boats, halloumi salads, creamy soups and sandwiches or wraps made with keto bread. Below you'll find 30 easy keto lunches for work and home, each with an approximate net carb count per serving, plus packed-lunch tips and a simple meal-prep plan.

What Makes a Good Keto Lunch?

A keto lunch follows the same pattern as any keto meal:

• A protein: chicken, beef, pork, fish, prawns, eggs, cheese or tofu.
• A source of fat: olive oil, butter, avocado, mayonnaise, cream, cheese, nuts or seeds.
• Low-carb vegetables: salad leaves, spinach, cucumber, courgette, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, peppers and green beans.
• Few net carbs: most of the lunches below have about 2g to 10g net carbs per serving.

Net carbs are total carbohydrates minus fibre. On UK nutrition labels, fibre is already listed separately, so the "carbohydrate" figure is effectively the net carb figure. On US labels, subtract the fibre yourself. If you're new to planning keto meals, our low carb meal plan for keto shows how lunch fits into a full day.

30 Keto Lunch Ideas at a Glance

Carb counts are approximate. We calculated them from standard UK and USDA nutrition data for the portions shown, and from our product labels where our products are used. They'll vary with the brands you buy and how much you use, so check your labels if you're tracking closely.

#	Lunch	What's in one serving	Approx. net carbs per serving
1	Chicken Caesar lettuce boats	120g cooked chicken, romaine leaves, 15g Parmesan, 1 tbsp Caesar dressing	about 2g
2	Keto egg muffins	2 muffins made with eggs, spinach, red pepper and Cheddar	about 2g
3	Tuna mayo cucumber boats	1 tin of tuna, 1 tbsp mayonnaise, spring onion, 100g cucumber	about 3g
4	Cobb salad jar	Chicken, bacon, 1 boiled egg, ½ avocado, 40g cherry tomatoes, leaves, blue cheese	about 4g
5	Smoked salmon and cream cheese roll-ups	100g smoked salmon, 30g full-fat cream cheese, 50g cucumber, dill	about 2.5g
6	Antipasto lunchbox	40g salami, 60g mozzarella pearls, 30g olives, 40g cherry tomatoes, rocket	about 3g
7	Greek-style salad with chicken	Chicken, 50g feta, 80g cucumber, 40g tomato, 30g pepper, olives, olive oil	about 6g
8	Keto club sandwich	2 slices of our keto bread, chicken, bacon, lettuce, a slice of tomato, mayonnaise	about 5.5g
9	Egg mayo and cress sandwich	2 slices of our keto bread, 2 eggs, mayonnaise, cress	about 5.5g
10	Ham and cheese toastie	2 slices of our keto bread, 50g ham, 40g Cheddar, butter	about 5.5g
11	Chicken fajita wrap	1 of our keto wraps, chicken, 40g peppers, 15g onion, 1 tbsp soured cream	about 7.5g
12	Tuna melt wrap	1 of our keto wraps, tuna mayo, 30g Cheddar, grilled until melted	about 5g
13	Halloumi and roasted veg wrap	1 of our keto wraps, 80g halloumi, 50g courgette, 30g pepper, 1 tbsp pesto	about 8.5g
14	Cloud bread BLT	Cloud bread made with eggs and cream cheese, bacon, lettuce, a slice of tomato	about 2g
15	Cheese and spinach quesadilla	1 of our keto wraps folded over 50g grated cheese and a handful of spinach	about 5.5g
16	Keto Margherita pizza	2 slices made with our pizza base mix, passata, mozzarella, basil	about 4g
17	Cauliflower cheese with ham	150g cauliflower in a cream and Cheddar sauce, 50g ham	about 6g
18	Chicken and broccoli cheese bake	Leftover chicken, 100g broccoli, cream and Cheddar	about 5.5g
19	Creamy mushroom soup	150g mushrooms, 15g onion, stock, 50ml double cream	about 5.5g
20	Broccoli and Stilton soup	150g broccoli, stock, 30g Stilton, a splash of cream	about 7g
21	Chorizo, egg and spinach skillet	40g chorizo, 2 eggs, 80g spinach, 30g pepper	about 4g
22	Garlic butter prawns with courgette noodles	Prawns, 200g spiralised courgette, butter, 1 garlic clove	about 5.5g
23	Burger bowl	Beef patty, lettuce, gherkin, Cheddar, 30g tomato, mustard mayo	about 3g
24	Thai green chicken curry with cauliflower rice	Chicken, 100ml coconut milk, 1 tbsp green curry paste, 50g green beans, 150g cauliflower rice	about 10g
25	Avocado, egg and bacon salad	½ avocado, 2 boiled eggs, bacon, mixed leaves, olive oil	about 3g
26	Smoked mackerel salad	Smoked mackerel, 80g cucumber, rocket, crème fraîche with a little horseradish	about 4g
27	Keto ploughman's box	50g Cheddar, 50g ham, 1 slice of our keto bread, 50g celery, 20g walnuts, homemade coleslaw	about 6.5g
28	Halloumi, avocado and rocket salad	100g halloumi, ½ avocado, rocket, 40g cherry tomatoes	about 5g
29	Caprese plate with pesto	125g mozzarella, 80g tomato, 1 tbsp pesto, basil, olive oil	about 4.5g
30	Tofu and pak choi stir-fry	150g firm tofu, 100g pak choi, 50g mushrooms, 1 tbsp soy sauce, sesame oil	about 5g

Keto Lunch Ideas for Work

The best work lunches travel well, taste good cold and don't need much assembly at your desk. Ideas 1 to 7 are designed for exactly that.

• Salads in a jar: put the dressing at the bottom, then the sturdy ingredients (chicken, egg, cucumber), with leaves on top. Shake into a bowl at lunchtime.
• Egg muffins: bake a batch of keto egg muffins on Sunday and take two a day.
• Bento-style boxes: cured meats, cheese, olives and crunchy veg need no cooking at all.
• Something sweet: a Groovy Keto Bar fits in any lunchbox. The variety box has Cocoa Orange and Salted Caramel bars, with 2.7g net carbs per bar. If there's a microwave at work, our Keto Variety Mug Cake Mix comes in 8 flavours with 2g to 3.5g net carbs per cake: add 1 tbsp melted butter and 1 egg, then microwave for 60 seconds.

Keep packed lunches cold with a cool bag and an ice pack, and keep dressings and sauces in a separate pot so salads don't go soggy.

Keto Sandwich and Wrap Ideas

Sandwiches are the lunch most people miss on keto, and ideas 8 to 15 bring them back.

Keto bread sandwiches

Our Low Carb Keto Bread is a sliced multigrain loaf with 2.3g net carbs per slice, so a two-slice sandwich starts at 4.6g before fillings. It toasts well, which makes it ideal for toasties, and you can freeze it for up to 6 months. Please note it contains gluten (wheat). Wondering how bread fits into keto in general? Read Can You Eat Bread on Keto?

Keto wraps

Our Low Carb Keto Wraps have 4.4g carbs per wrap and are soft enough to roll without cracking, so they work for fajitas, quesadillas and packed-lunch roll-ups. Once the pack is open, keep them in the fridge and use within 2 days. They also contain gluten (wheat). Our guide Can You Eat Wraps on Keto? compares wraps and the alternatives.

Homemade options

Prefer to bake? Our keto tortillas use psyllium husk powder to bind the dough so the tortillas roll without breaking, and our cloud bread needs only eggs, cream cheese and a few minutes of prep. Crisp lettuce leaves make a no-bread option for burgers and Caesar boats.

Hot Keto Lunches: Soups, Bowls and Quick Skillets

If you're at home or have a microwave at work, ideas 16 to 24 give you something warming.

Soups

Creamy mushroom soup and broccoli and Stilton soup are both easy to make in a big batch. Blend in cream or cheese for body instead of potato or flour.

Bowls and bakes

Keto cauliflower cheese with ham, a chicken and broccoli bake, a burger bowl and Thai green curry over cauliflower rice all reheat well the next day.

Skillets

A chorizo, egg and spinach skillet or garlic butter prawns with courgette noodles takes about 10 minutes from start to finish.

Pizza for lunch

Make our keto Margherita pizza with our Keto Pizza Base Mix, which has 1g net carbs per slice: just add eggs and water, shape and bake. For a quicker option, our Low Carb Pizza Base is handmade by a family bakery in Puglia, Italy, has 2.9g carbs per 100g and crisps up in the oven in 5 to 6 minutes. Leftover slices are just as good cold in a lunchbox.

No-Cook and 10-Minute Keto Lunches

When there's no time to cook, ideas 25 to 27 (and several others in the list) come together in minutes:

• Avocado, egg and bacon salad (use eggs you boiled earlier in the week)
• Smoked mackerel salad with cucumber, rocket and horseradish crème fraîche
• A keto ploughman's box with Cheddar, ham, celery, walnuts and a slice of keto bread
• Smoked salmon roll-ups, a Caprese plate, or tuna mayo cucumber boats

Make-Ahead Keto Lunch Meal Prep

A little prep on a Sunday makes the whole week easier:

1. Cook your proteins: roast a tray of chicken thighs, boil 6 to 8 eggs and cook a batch of mince for burger bowls.
2. Bake once: make a tray of egg muffins and, if you like, a batch of homemade tortillas or cloud bread.
3. Make a soup or curry: portion it into containers and freeze some for later in the week.
4. Prep your veg: wash leaves, slice cucumber and peppers, and rice your cauliflower.
5. Mix your dressings: a jar of Caesar or mustard dressing keeps in the fridge for several days.

Most cooked dishes keep for up to 3 days in a sealed container in the fridge. Keep your fridge at 5°C or below, cool cooked food quickly and reheat until steaming hot all the way through.

Vegetarian Keto Lunch Ideas

Ideas 28 to 30 are vegetarian, and several others can be easily adapted:

• Halloumi, avocado and rocket salad: grill or fry the halloumi until golden.
• Caprese plate with pesto: ready in 5 minutes.
• Tofu and pak choi stir-fry: press the tofu first so it crisps up in the pan.
• Also vegetarian: egg muffins, egg mayo sandwiches, the cheese and spinach quesadilla, the halloumi wrap and creamy mushroom soup (made with vegetable stock).

Check that cheeses such as halloumi, Parmesan-style hard cheese and Stilton are made with vegetarian rennet, and that pesto is vegetarian.

Keto Lunch Ideas When Eating Out

Lunch out doesn't have to derail your day. Choose a burger without the bun, a Caesar salad without croutons, grilled chicken or fish with salad or green vegetables, or an omelette. At a sandwich shop, ask for the filling as a salad. Our guide to keto takeaway options covers what to order at popular UK chains and takeaways.

Keto Lunch FAQs

What can I eat for a keto lunch at work?

Packed lunches that travel well are easiest: salads in a jar, egg muffins, tuna mayo with cucumber, an antipasto box, or a sandwich or wrap made with keto bread or keto wraps. Keep dressings separate until you eat and use a cool bag with an ice pack.

What can I have instead of bread for a keto lunch?

Use keto bread or keto wraps, crisp lettuce leaves, cloud bread made from eggs and cream cheese, or homemade tortillas bound with psyllium husk powder. A large flat mushroom or slices of aubergine also make a good base for toppings.

Can you meal prep keto lunches, and how long do they keep in the fridge?

Yes. Most cooked keto lunches, such as egg muffins, cooked chicken, soups and curries, keep for up to 3 days in the fridge in a sealed container. Cool food quickly, keep your fridge at 5°C or below and reheat until steaming hot. Soups and curries also freeze well.

What are some quick keto lunches with no cooking?

Try smoked salmon and cream cheese roll-ups, a Caprese plate, tuna mayo cucumber boats, an antipasto box, a smoked mackerel salad, or a keto sandwich with leftover roast chicken. Each takes 10 minutes or less.

How many carbs are in a typical keto lunch?

Most of the lunches in this guide come in at roughly 2g to 10g net carbs per serving. Many people on keto aim for 20g to 50g net carbs a day, so a lunch under 10g leaves room for breakfast, dinner and snacks. Figures vary with brands and portion sizes, so check labels.

What's a good vegetarian keto lunch?

Halloumi and avocado salad, a Caprese plate, a cheese and spinach quesadilla, egg muffins, creamy mushroom soup or a tofu stir-fry all work well. Check that cheeses such as halloumi and Parmesan-style hard cheese are made with vegetarian rennet.

Find Your Favourite Keto Lunches

Start with two or three ideas from this list, batch-cook a protein and a soup, and keep a few store-cupboard backups for busy days: a loaf of keto bread in the freezer, a pack of keto wraps and a box of keto bars for your bag.