If you’re finding it difficult to stay on track with Keto lunches, you’re not the only one. Breakfasts are usually light and easy, dinners are good (granted you make it home and don’t stop off somewhere) but lunches are HARD DAMMIT! When I first started leaning into a low-carb life, I started out by converting my breakfasts. Lunch usually consisted of salads and dinner was the last thing to change. After all, I was leaning in.

Once I got the hang of breakfast, I started to make small changes to dinner but lunch remained salads with rice. I know it’s weird to add rice to your salad but if you’re Asian like me and grew up eating rice almost every day, it truly goes with everything. Finally, as I wrestled with letting go of rice with my salad, I had nothing left to eat except salad or a leftover low-carb dinner…if there was any.

I love having dinner leftovers for lunch but that doesn’t always work out so I needed a full proof week of lunches that didn’t have me cheating or chomping at the bit for dinner. I also wanted a week of lunches that was easy to pull together if I had a busy weekend and didn’t have time to bake a loaf of grain-free bread or have a couple of hours to do prep work.

The total time it takes to prep these 5 lunches is about 30-40 minutes. The first time you do it, it may take longer but as you memorize the recipes, it’ll speed up the process.

If you are prepping on Sunday for a typical Monday through Friday workweek, you’ll want to eat the shrimp salad first on Monday and Tuesday. The Lunch meat roll-ups can easily be assembled before eating on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday is a cinch with an easy pesto turkey and cheese sandwich.

For the 90-second bread, I like to make all three, slice them, and have them ready to go for Wednesday through Friday.

Monday/Tuesday: Garlic Shrimp Salad with Avocado and Tomatoes

Garlic Shrimp Salad with Avocados and Tomatoes

Garlic Shrimp Step-by-Step

Pan frying the garlic shrimp is not as hard as it sounds. Shrimp cooks up in a couple of minutes and it’s hard to mess it up. Just don’t over cook it.

Get your pan hot and add a drizzle of olive oil (about 1 tbsp) to the pan. Then add your garlic. Give it a quick whirl with your wooden spoon and add the shrimp. TIP: Make sure your shrimp is ready to go so you don’t burn your garlic.

Minced Garlic and Olive Oil. What a heavenly aroma.

Turn your shrimp to one side and let it cook for a minute. Add the white wine or small pad of butter and let it steam in it.

Turn the shrimp and let it finish cooking for about a minute. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Garlic shrimp in white wine. How yummy is that?!?!

Assemble your salad (except the avocado) and it’s ready to go. TIP: Leave some space in your Tupperware so it’s easy to mix with the dressing. You can pack your oil and vinegar in a salad dressing Tupperware or if you have a desk at work, you can keep a bottle of each there along with salt and pepper. It makes it easy so you don’t have to pack that up each time.

Garlic Shrimp Salad with Avocado and Tomatoes Prepped.

Printable Recipe

Garlic Shrimp Salad with Avocados and Tomatoes

handhconnection
This summery garlic shrimp salad is refreshing, light and keeps you satisfied.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 3 mins
Total Time 13 mins
Course Lunch or Dinner
Cuisine American, California Cuisine
Servings 2

Equipment

  • Small frying pan

Ingredients
  

  • 5 oz Frozen, peeled and deveined shrimp About 6 shrimp per salad.
  • 1 Large Avocado (Half for each salad)
  • 1 Large Tomato Chopped
  • 8 Cups Romain lettuce Chopped (4 cups per salad)
  • 1 Clove Garlic Finely minced
  • White wine (a splash or about 1-2 tablespoons) (Optional)
  • Salt To taste
  • Pepper To taste
  • 5 Tbsp Olive Oil (Divided: 1 to cook the shrimp, 2 per salad for dressing.)
  • 2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar (1 tbsp per salad)
  • Onion Salt (Optional but really adds to dressing. I like the Trader Joes onion salt because it has chives and other yummy things.)

Instructions
 

  • Defrost shrimp in a bowl with water.
  • Chop and wash romaine lettuce. While romaine lettuce is soaking in warm water (This makes them come back to life) and the shrimp is defrosting, get started on prepping the other ingredients.
  • Mince one large garlic clove for the shrimp.
  • Dice tomatoes. I like to peel and deseed my tomatoes but this is not a necessary step.
  • Get your frying pan hot, add a drizzle of olive oil (about 1 tbsp) and add the minced garlic to the pan. Add the shrimp and let cook on one side until done. About 1 minute. You can add a splash of white wine or a small pad of butter to allow shrimp to steam a little. Turn and cook the other side for about a minute. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Assemble the salad in a 8 cup Tupperware. Save some room for your avocado that you'll add just before eating. Add 4 cups of lettuce, top with half the tomatoes and half the shrimp. Wait until your shrimp is completely cooled.
  • When you're ready to eat, add half of the avocado and tightly wrap up the other half to use the next day. Add some onion salt, the olive oil and apple cider vinegar.
Keyword shrimp, avocado, tomatoes, romaine lettuce

 

Wednesday/Thursday: Lunch Meat Roll-ups with 90-Second Keto Bread

Meal Prep: Turkey & Cheese Roll-Up with 90-Second Keto Bread

Raise your hand if you liked fruit roll-ups as a kid! I DID! I love rolled foods and I think it’s because I have such fond memories of eating fruit-roll ups as a kid. I would roll it around my finger and suck on it. It would get sticky and gooey but that’s why it was so good right?

HAHAHA! Okay, I may have turned you off from this but I assure you that it’s not sticky or gooey. I love a good grain-free sandwich wrap but this is the “Hella Easy Work Lunch” article so instead of making wraps from scratch, I thought it would be easier, but still tasty, to make a wrap with lunch meat. And it works guys. It totally satisfies my rolled food cravings.

I’m also adding in the 90-second Keto bread because it’ll fill you up and if you wanted to, you could make the roll-ups into a sandwich.

Lunch Meat Roll-Ups

handhconnection
This can be adapted for different types of lunch meat but the bigger the better because it allows for more filling.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 3 mins
Total Time 3 mins
Course Lunch
Cuisine American
Servings 2

Ingredients
  

  • 4 Slices Turkey Lunch Meat (The bigger the slice, the better)
  • 2 Slices Havarti Cheese (Presliced into large squares)
  • 6 Green Olives Sliced
  • 1/4 Cup Romain Lettuce (Use prepped lettuce from salad)
  • 1/2 Tomato (Peeled and deseeded but not necessary)
Keyword Lunch Meat Roll-ups

 

Use a meal prep container with a divider to keep the cheese separate from the meat and filling ingredients. Add two slices of turkey and put your filling ingredients on top.

Make three 90-second Keto breads for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I got the original recipe from Low-Carb with Jennifer but I adapted it for 3 times the original recipe.

90-Second Keto Bread (Tripled)

This recipe was tripled for 3 breads instead of 1.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 3 mins
Cook Time 5 mins
Total Time 8 mins
Servings 3

Equipment

  • Microwave
  • Microwavable glass container

Ingredients
  

  • 9 tbsp Almond Flour (Or 1/2 cup + 2.5 tbsp)
  • 1.5 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/8 tsp Salt
  • 3 tbsp Olive Oil (Light olive oil if you have it)
  • 3 Eggs (Pasture raised and organic if possible)

Instructions
 

  • Mix dry ingredients into a 2 cup measuring cup. (Almond flour, baking powder and salt). This will make it easier to measure and pour out into the glass container later on.
  • Add eggs and oil and lightly beat ingredients.
  • Add 1/3 of batter into a glass container that will form the shape of your bread. This is approximately 1/2 a cup but a little less.
  • Microwave for 90 seconds. The container will be hot so be cafeful not to burn yourself. Repeat for 2 more breads. Lightly wash out the glass container to prevent the bread from sticking.
Keyword Keto Bread

I used a round glass container to make my bread look like English Muffins.

90-Second Bread ready for the microwave.

Once you’re finished with making your 3 breads, you’re done prepping for Tuesday and Wednesday. I like to add a dollop of whipped cream cheese (whipped is easier to spread) on the side to spread on my bread but you can add a pad of butter, almond butter or whatever you like on your bread as long as it’s Keto compliant.

Assembling Your Rolls the Day Of

When you’re ready to eat your turkey roll, lay out a slice of turkey and put a slice of cheese directly on top. Stagger the next slice of turkey and add all of your filling ingredients where you will start to roll the roll. “HA! Roll the roll!” I added lettuce (already prepped from my salad), tomatoes (also already purchased for my salad) and olives. You can add all sorts of ingredients like jarred fire roasted peppers, dill pickles, sliced peperoncini etc.

Note: I have rolled it up on a Monday and eaten it on Wednesday and the Havarti cheese did not get wet or gooey so it really depends on your tolerance and the type of cheese you use.

Turkey and Havarti Cheese roll with Tomatoes, Romaine and Olives.

Start rolling from the filling side like a burrito but don’t tuck the ends in. The larger the lunch meat, the better!

Turkey and Harvarti Cheese Roll.

You can eat it as is or you can slice it in half. Spread the whipped cream cheese (or your spread of choice) on your 90-second Keto Bread and you’re ready to eat! Don’t forget to pack a butter knife.

Assembled Turkey and Havarti Cheese Wrap with Tomatoes, Romaine and Olives.

Friday: Pesto Turkey and Cheese Sandwich with Berries and Celery Sticks

Friday is the easiest of all, especially since you already have your bread ready to go. The ingredients are similar to Wednesday and Thursday so you don’t have to buy all sorts of ingredients and have so many leftovers.

Slice your Keto bread in half and add it to your container. Add a slice of turkey lunch meat and a slice of cheese. I like to use the paper that is in between the slices of cheese to use as a divider with the meat and cheese. If your cheese didn’t come with it, you can use wax paper or parchment paper. Or, if you’re not particular about that stuff, just layer it and move on.

Cut up a few celery sticks, add some berries and premade pesto into a salad dressing container. TIP: Don’t wash the berries until the morning of or right before you eat it.

I love the Kirkland brand of pesto because they use actual pine nuts and they use olive oil and not sunflower, safflower or canola oil.

Spread the pesto onto the bread, the day of and assemble your sandwich. You can add extra pesto if you want to dip your celery sticks in it or you can also pack some almond butter or other Keto dip. And Presto your Pesto sandwich lunch is ready! 😉

Making 5 days worth of lunches is work but well worth it when you head over to the fridge and feel the satisfaction of pulling out your healthy lunch.

Please comment below if you have other ideas for quick lunches!