3 Easy, Healthy Meals That Reheat Well for Lunch

Food is fuel for your body. What you eat can have an impact on cognition, mood, concentration, productivity, and more.

While being in NYC gives us access to almost any cuisine we could want at any hour, studies have shown that cooking at home is healthier and has more nutritional benefits.

Lunch is an important meal and can help you power through your afternoon. Take the guesswork out of what to bring by making extra dinner the night before.

We tapped into nutritionist Sarah Garone, NDTR, CNC, for three healthy meals that can easily be reheated at the office. Here’s what she shared:

Soup is a food that not only reheats well but often tastes even better the next day. It's also an extremely versatile vehicle for healthy ingredients like vegetables, beans, lean meats, and whole grains. Make a large batch for dinner and portion the rest into portable containers for easy reheating. You can even freeze most soups! Just be sure to pull a serving from the freezer the night before you intend to reheat it. 

One of my favorite next-day lunches is a simple one-dish pasta. I start with high-fiber rotini (or any other small or ridged pasta that soaks up flavor), then add chickpeas, crumbled feta, a few slices of hard salami, and plenty of sturdy vegetables like broccoli, artichokes, or sun-dried tomatoes that won't go limp when reheated. The finishing touch is a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice and a sprinkle of dried Italian herbs. Stirring in a little extra olive oil before microwaving helps this dish reheat well without becoming dry.  

Fried rice is another one-dish meal that travels and reheats well. It may have a reputation for being greasy and high in sodium, but when you make it yourself, you can keep these elements under control. Whip up a wok full of brown rice, mixed vegetables, eggs, and your favorite protein (diced chicken breast is a good choice) and season it with low-sodium soy sauce and sesame oil. There's even an extra bonus to eating rice the next day: as rice cools, it develops more resistant starch, which helps keep blood sugar steady. 

A healthy, balanced diet can have a positive effect on your day and work outcomes.

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Sarah Garone, NDTR, CNC is a nutritionist and the founder of A Love Letter to Food. Follow her on Instagram here.