With her latest cookbook Real Healthy, Melissa Hemsley has created a brilliant array of affordable, accessible recipes where whole foods take centre stage. Read on for Melissa’s top tips for enjoying delicious, satisfying lunches free from ultra-processed ingredients – even with a busy schedule.
Soggy salads and unsatisfying sandwiches be gone: 2025 is the year you give yourself the lunches you deserve. Most of us eat five lunches al desko or in the office per week – that’s over two-thirds of our lunches a year! Here are my tips for making them better:
• Cook once, enjoy twice: Save your dinner leftovers and roll them over to lunch the next day.
• Eggs are a great staple ingredient: Protein-packed, relatively affordable and available everywhere, they can be combined with leftover cooked vegetables (from your Sunday roast, for example) plus cheese if you like to make an easy-to-prep lunch with multiple portions.
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• Invest in an insulated flask: You can use it for keeping hot food hot – especially at this time of year, when we all want to warm up with something comforting and cosy.
• If you want to buy a sandwich or wrap on the go, check the ingredients first: Try to buy products made with minimal ingredients and ones you can recognise, as ready-to-eat products can often contain ultra-processed foods.
• Don’t forget about tinned beans and chickpeas: Use them to make homemade hummus to add to your packed lunches or roast them for a hearty, crunchy topping on your soups and salads.
Healthy lunch ideas
Melissa Hemsley’s White Chicken Chilli
It took me too long to realise that chilli was just as delicious without the tomato base. This white bean chilli is a brilliant winter warmer. Heat up a portion in the morning, transfer it to an insulated flask, and look forward to it all morning at work.
Jarred Salad aka Jalad
I have been making these since my private chef days and called them Salad in a Jar. Then people started calling it “Jalad”, which always tickles me. We all want to cut down on waste, so upcycling old jars as a lunch container is ideal. Layer the salad up with dressing on the bottom, so the other layers don’t get soggy, then finish with more delicate components (like salad leaves) on the top. What’s great is that you can build them however you like: add leftover chicken or smoked mackerel, or baked tofu if you want to prep something plant-based.
Herb and Mushroom Slices
This tastes like a delicious quiche but without the pastry. It’s super filling thanks to the eggs and the chickpea flour (which is available in most shops, but you can swap out for any flour if needed) and lasts a few days in the fridge. You could pop a thick slice of this in wrap or sandwich for lunch one day, and serve it with a salad or slaw the next.
Curried Root Veg Soup with Crispy Chickpeas
I know lots of us like to eat seasonally and support local farmers, so cooking with root veg like parsnips, squash and celeriac in the winter is always a good idea (and not to mention cheaper than using out-of-season produce!). The soup alone is creamy and delicious but when topped with crispy chickpeas, its a next-level working lunch.
Looking for more healthy meal inspiration? Check out our selection of unprocessed recipes made without ultra-processed foods.
