A healthy spin on your favorite childhood throwback, these dietitian-approved high-protein adult lunchable ideas will keep you full and crushing your goals!

Even as a Dietitian, I’ve made a lot of lunch mistakes in my life. Mostly by not eating enough calories or protein, which only led to binging later on in life.  When I discovered the adult "Lunchable" almost 15 years ago, everything changed.  Finally, a lunch that was satisfying, energizing, and took less than 10 minutes to prep. I've basically been eating some version of this ever since, because the combinations are endless if you can squeeze in enough protein. 

In this guide, I’m sharing ten delicious, quick, no-cook, high-protein adult Lunchable ideas that are balanced, dietitian-approved, and perfect for meal prep.  Each takes under 10 minutes to assemble and keeps you full and energized all afternoon.  Plus, you'll get my cheat sheet to mixing and matching your own adult lunchable and my favorite tools to make it happen.  

What is An Adult Lunchable?

An adult lunchable is a combination of no-cook finger food that can be thrown together in just a few minutes, and that travels well to the office/school/work/pick up line.  It's a grown-up version of the meat, crackers, and treats we had as kids.  My guide has an emphasis on getting enough protein and vegetables to keep you full, without losing the "fun" feeling from the treat from your childhood lunchable.  

Dietitian's Adult Lunchable Mix and Match Guide

The above mix-and-match dietitian's adult lunchable guide will help you build your own adult lunchable from whatever you have in the fridge.  And if you are looking for inspiration for combination ideas, I've got 10 of my favorites right below!

Dietitian's 10 High-Protein Adult Lunchable Combinations

Here are my top 10 high-protein adult lunchable ideas to get you started—these are some of my personal favorites! Perfect for summer or any time you just don’t feel like cooking. As a Dietitian, one of the biggest mistakes I see is skipping lunch or not eating enough protein at lunch, which can lead to fogginess and sluggishness in the afternoon.  Not to mention, you may end up binge snacking while trying to make dinner at home later that evening.  Protein keeps you full and energized, so each box has at least 20 grams of protein (most are closer to 40!), and I’ve estimated the macros for you to make things easy. Feel free to swap out ingredients using the mix-and-match guide as you see fit! Enjoy—and let me know if you try one!

Recommended Storage & Equipment for Adult Lunchables:

• Glass bento boxes - I've had these forever (since 2019), and I still love them. 
• Silicone muffin cups - great, flexible little cups that can help you divide up your sections even more. 
• Stainless steel sauce cups - these fit great in the glass bento boxes I linked above, but they are too tall for regular Pyrex containers.  I originally bought these for food photography, but we ended up using them a ton in everyday life!

Meal Prep Tips for Adult Lunchables

I like to pick one to two adult lunchable themes per week.  So I'll eat the fiesta box one week and the Mediterranean the next.  This helps cut down on ingredient cost and makes it easy to fill up as many containers as you want at once!  Plus, it gives your taste buds variety so you don't get bored week to week, and you get a rotation of nutrients, win-win!

How Long Do Adult Lunchables Last? 

Adult lunchables can typically be stored in the fridge for up to five days, depending on the protein source. They can be kept at room temperature up to 2 hours; otherwise, they need to be kept cold until you are ready to consume them.  The bento boxes I linked above make ideal stacking containers, so they don't take up too much space in your fridge or the office fridge.  

10 High-Protein Adult Lunchable Recipes

1. Mediterranean Box (Dairy-free)

• 4 ounces cocktail shrimp
• 2T cocktail sauce
• Individual hummus pack - about 3T
• 5 cherry tomatoes
• ½ cucumber cut into slices
• 10 pita chips

Macros: 593 kcal| 24g PRO |77g CHO | FIBER 9g |23g FAT 

*Nutrition facts are estimates only as they will vary with different brands of crackers, meat etc.  

2. Southwest Fiesta Box (Gluten Free)

• 4 ounces of turkey and 2 slices of pepperjack 
• Guacamole cup 
• 1 serving tortilla chips (10-15 chips)
• Bell pepper strips

Macros: 548 kCal | 37g PRO |46g CHO|9g FIBER |26g FAT

*Nutrition facts are estimates only as they will vary with different brands of crackers, meat etc.  

3. Italian Deli Box

• 3 ounces of turkey 
• 8 slices of salami
• 1-2 ounces of mozzarella balls 
• 5 cherry tomatoes
• 3-4 pepperoncini slices
• 10 olives
• 10 whole-grain chips
• ½ ounce dark chocolate

Macros: 777 kCal |37g PRO | 33g CARB |55g FAT

Need lower calories?  Reduce salami to 4 slices and chips to 5 to get the following macros: 572 kCal | 28g PRO | 22g CHO |41g FAT

*Nutrition facts are estimates only as they will vary with different brands of crackers, meat etc.  

4. Roast Beef Box

• 4 ounces of roast beef
• 1 ounce of cheddar
• 1 ounce ry crackers
• 2 tablespoon ounces low-calorie ranch 
• ½ cucumber cut into slices
• mandarin orange 

Macros: 467 kCal |33g PRO | 34g CHO |3g FIBER |21g FAT

5.  Reuben Box

• 4 ounces of pastrami
• 1 ounce Swiss
• 5-6 pickle slices
• 2tbsp sauerkraut
• 10 sourdough crackers 
• 2 tablespoon Thousand Island dressing

Macros:  613 kCal | 34g PRO |27g CHO | 1g FIBER |40g FAT

*Nutrition facts are estimates only as they will vary with different brands of crackers, meat etc.  

6. Yogurt Box

• Greek Yogurt (I used two Chobani 20g containers)
• ⅓ cup berries
• ¼ cup granola 
• ¼ cup dark chocolate-covered almonds (I used Lilly's)

Macros: 463g kCal |45g PRO |39g CHO | 11g FIBER |20g FAT

*Nutrition facts are estimates only as they will vary with different brands of crackers, meat etc.  

7. Smoked Salmon Box 

• 3 ounces smoked salmon
• 2 soft cheese wedges (like Laughing Cow or Brie)
• ½ zucchini sliced
• 10 brown rice crackers
• 2 dried mango halves 

Macros: 433 kCal | 31g PRO | 52g CHO | 5g FIBER| 11g FAT

*Nutrition facts are estimates only as they will vary with different brands of crackers, meat etc.  

• 4 ounces of ham
• 1 ounce white cheddar or provolone 
• 9 pretzels (gluten-free if needed)
• celery
• 2tbsp peanut butter (or any other nut/seed butter)

Macros:  430 kCal | 33g PRO | 18g CHO | 6g FIBER |27g FAT

*Nutrition facts are estimates only as they will vary with different brands of crackers, meat etc.  

9.  Cottage Cheese Box (Gluten-free)

• 1 cup cottage cheese and 1 tablespoon hot honey
• 2-3T hummus
• 15-20 plantain chips
• 3 mini peppers
• ½ ounce dark chocolate

Macros:  602 kCal | 28g PRO | 5g FIBER | 63g CHO | 25g FAT

*Nutrition facts are estimates only as they will vary with different brands of crackers, meat etc.  

10. Breakfast for Lunch Box (Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Vegetarian )

•  3 hard-boiled eggs
• 2 slices bacon, turkey bacon, or soy bacon 
• ⅓ cup berries
• 1-2 T maple syrup
• 2 mini pancakes

Macros: 475 kCal | 29g PRO | 33g CHO | 3g FIBER |25g FAT

*Nutrition facts are estimates only as they will vary with different brands of crackers, meat etc.  

FAQs

Should I buy organic or non-GMO ingredients?

• If your budget allows and those are important to you, go ahead!  As a Dietitian, I buy organic when I'm going to eat the skin of something (like a strawberry vs. an avocado) and it isn't astronomically more than the conventional version.  Personally, I don't really look for GMO's/non GMO's, but you totally can if it's important to you!

Can I make vegetarian adult lunchables? What about gluten-free or dairy-free?  

• Absolutely!  In my mix and match guide, you will see there are vegetarian-friendly options for every category to build your adult lunchable. You can also use gluten-free cracker versions and dairy-free swaps where you see fit! That's the fun thing about being able to mix and match!  These recipe ideas are just ideas; use the guide to mix and match to fit your preferences and dietary restrictions.  

Can I make these kid-friendly?

• Kid-friendly means different things to each kid.  My 7-year-old loves the smoked salmon box, but my 4-year-old loves the breakfast for lunch box.  Kids may not need quite as much protein as what's in my recipe combinations, but feel free to adjust as you see fit! 

Can I adjust the portion sizes?

• Feel free to adjust the portion sizes of each category to suit your needs!  Some people need more or less protein/carbs/fat, etc, to help them hit their macros.  That's one thing I love about adult lunchables: I can use the same ingredients to build my husband and me boxes, but the macros will be very different depending on portions. 

How do I make sure the crisps don’t get soggy?

• You can always add the chip/cracker portion in the morning before you leave to prevent them from getting soggy in the fridge.  However, that being said, I made and photographed all of these on the same day, and they were in the fridge for up to a week without getting soggy!  Divided containers like I linked above really help with this!