The easiest strategy to limit your carb intake at lunch is to brown bag your meal, even if you’re not using a brown paper bag. In addition, it’s far less expensive than dining out every day. The days of consuming a bag of chips, a red apple, and a plain peanut butter and jelly sandwich are long gone. Take your time and relish your home-cooked lunches once more.
Here are some suggestions for a nutritious lunch, along with their carb counts. Each of these sandwiches has 60 grams of carbohydrates, but they are broken down so you can see where the carbs are coming from and modify the recipe to suit your needs.
1. Smoked Turkey & Havarti Pita: The combination of creamy Havarti and smoked turkey is amazing. The cherry on top are thin pieces of Granny Smith apple within.
Even if you have a few vanilla wafers with this meal, you can still consume an appropriate amount of carbohydrates.
| Food | Amount | Carbs (grams) |
| Pita | 1 | 30 |
| Apple | 1 | 15 |
| Vanilla Wafers | 5 | 15 |
| Total | 60 | |
2. Fancy Grilled Cheese: Take a traditional grilled cheese sandwich and dress it up with chopped marinated olives or mushrooms, roasted red peppers, or roasted green chilies. Use whole grain bread. There’s nothing like tomato soup to pair with grilled cheese. One cup of melon can also be added and the goal will still be met.
| Food | Amount | Carbs (grams) |
| Bread | 2 slices | 30 |
| Melon | 1 cup | 15 |
| Tomato Soup | 1 cup | 15 |
| Total | 60 | |
3. Mason Jar Salads: These are now quite popular. Easy to prepare in advance. Store them in the refrigerator for up to one week. Salad dressing, protein (tuna, chickpeas, or black beans), vegetables (grape tomatoes, sliced bell peppers, or cucumber slices), and salad greens should be layered in this order.
Depending on what you put in, the number of carbohydrates will change, but you should have enough left over to make a Greek yogurt parfait with one cup of plain yogurt and one cup of sliced fruit. This is a filling, high-fiber lunch!
| Food | Amount | Carbs (grams) |
| Chickpeas | ½ cup | 20 |
| Salad Dressing | 2 T | 4 – 10 |
| Greek Yogurt | 1 cup | 15 |
| Sliced Berries | 1 cup | 15 |
| Total | 54 – 60 | |
4. Barbecue Chicken Wrap: Top a whole wheat tortilla with your preferred barbecue sauce (be careful with the quantity, as barbecue sauce may be very rich in carbohydrates). Top with sliced red onions, bell pepper strips, or shredded carrots. Roll up the prepared grilled chicken strips after tucking them inside. Include a recent pear or peach. Delicious!
| Food | Amount | Carbs (grams) |
| Whole Wheat Tortilla | 1 (10 inches) | 30 |
| Barbecue Sauce | 2 T | 15 |
| Peach | 1 | 15 |
| Total | 60 | |
5. Breakfast for Lunch: For breakfast, make extra scrambled eggs. Place the eggs and ham slices on top of an English muffin. This delightful breakfast for lunch is rounded out with some yogurt and a juicy fresh orange.
| Food | Amount | Carbs (grams) |
| English Muffin | 1 | 30 |
| Orange | 1 | 15 |
| Yogurt | 1 cup | 15 |
| Total | 60 | |
6. Tea Party Treats: Drizzle cucumber slices with a mixture of light cream cheese and chives. Add some smoked salmon to the top of a tiny bagel. Add a side of cantaloupe slices wrapped in prosciutto. Add a couple ginger snaps at the end for a taste explosion. Imagine a sophisticated tea party right in your lunchbox!
| Food | Amount | Carbs (grams) |
| Mini Bagel | 1 (2.5 ounce) | 35 |
| Melon | 1 cup | 15 |
| Ginger Snaps | 3 small | 15 |
| Total | 60 | |
7. Chicken Noodle Soup: One evening, prepare extra homemade soup for supper at home. Add a small bunch of grapes and some crunchy wheat crackers. Every time I’m having a mid-day slump, warm soup helps!
| Food | Amount | Carbs (grams) |
| Soup | 1 ½ cups | 18 |
| Wheat Crackers | 10 | 27 |
| Grapes | 15 | 15 |
| Total | 60 | |
8. Snack Pack Lunch: This is a terrific idea if you have a lot of small leftovers that you need to finish off from your pantry and refrigerator. Delicious, colorful, and substantial—grape tomatoes, dried apricots, roasted almonds, cheese chunks, pretzel twists, baby carrots, and a banana!
Read Also: Five Alternatives to Tomato Paste
| Food | Amount | Carbs (grams) |
| Dried Apricots | 6 halves | 15 |
| Pretzel Twists | 15 small | 15 |
| Banana | 1 | 30 |
| Total | 60 | |
Which diabetic-friendly lunch at work is your favorite? Tell us about it in the space provided for comments below. Give these recipes to anybody you think would enjoy them!
DiabetesCouncils Article | Reviewed by Dr. Christine Traxler MD on June 05, 2020
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