Healthy lunch ideas for less than $5 per day

Easy, affordable, and nutritious lunch ideas that won’t break the bank. 

By Nikki Hart, NZ Reg Nutritionist 

Looking for some healthy lunch ideas that won’t break the bank?

Here are some broad ideas that you can easily adapt to what your family likes to eat and what’s cheapest on your local shop shelves.

Sandwiches

The classic lunch food, sandwiches are versatile and easily transportable.

All that’s required is bread, a spread (margarine is cheaper than butter and because it’s easier to spread, you use less), and then the fillings that your family prefers.

White bread is ideal for pre-school children and toddlers as they can’t digest too much fibre, but the rest of us should choose a wholemeal or wholegrain bread variety.

Easy sources of protein include hard-boiled eggs, low-fat cheese such as Edam, peanut butter, canned fish in spring water, and hummus.

Adding plenty of colour via sandwich-suitable vegetables helps keep you feeling full: lettuce, spinach, grated carrot, sliced tomato, cucumber, beetroot, and whatever else you like. 

Rice or pasta with veggies

These inexpensive and filling carbs can be made healthy with the addition of vegetables, and are easy to make into delicious meals with a range of different ingredients – great for when you need a change from sandwiches. 

Think basic fried rice with a bag of frozen vegetables and some oyster and soy sauce, or a pasta salad with cut up sausages, spinach, and pesto. 

Make a big batch and divide into containers to give the whole family lunch for today and tomorrow.

Soup

While making your own soup on the stove or in a crockpot is a great option, for the sake of saving time you might prefer to purchase pre-made soups. Canned and dry packet soups can be very high in salt, so it’s better to buy the fresh pouch varieties.

Heat them up and send the family with a thermos and a bread roll in the winter months. 

Easy, comforting, and ‘a hug in a bowl’.

Simple savoury baked goods

With a little time and a good amount of flour, you can make delicious baked goods that work perfectly for lunches. Options could include cheese and marmite scrolls, corn and spinach muffins, ham and cheddar scones. 

Add some carrot and cucumber sticks for extra vegetables and you have a cheap, healthy lunchbox.

Snack boxes

Suitable for picky kids and also adults who prefer grazing rather than big meals, a snack box filled with affordable but filling and healthy bits and pieces is a great option – and an easy one! 

Think carrot, cucumber, capsicum, and other vegetable sticks, perhaps with some hummus to dip them in. Easy portable protein sources include cheese chunks for a bit of dairy, or a hard-boiled egg. 

Make a big batch of pikelets and sandwich them with some peanut butter or jam. Throw in some pieces of fruit you know they will eat. Add a few crackers. 

The possibilities are endless – just hold on to old containers of various sizes and you have a cheap way to put together an array of snacks and finger foods.

A little planning goes a long way

Making lunches that cost less than $5 per person – in some cases, much less than that – is almost always possible. 

We hope that the above ideas will help you to get through the lunch-making grind!