Ranking the Top 10 Most Popular Lunches
Those of you following along with the 40FRESH Challenge may be wondering why we’ve saved lunch for last. For me, lunch is the hardest meal to consistently eat according to the 40FRESH rules. If you don’t plan ahead, you may find it quite difficult to find a healthy lunch that doesn’t include a bunch of Nope ingredients.
The reason is simple: our whole food economy revolves around ultra-processed foods. In fact, 73% of the American food supply is ultra-processed. Yikes!
Lunch is the meal that we eat at home the least and also the meal that we eat out the most, especially younger generations. This is the reason we saved lunch for last. It’s much harder to eat healthy when you’re outside of your own home.
Same as day 13 (breakfast) and day 22 (dinner), in today’s article, we’ll be examining the 10 most popular lunch foods. Over the next few days, we’ll be exploring how to replace the options that aren’t so 40FRESH friendly with healthier alternatives.
Today’s Checklist
If you’re following along with the 40FRESH Challenge, here’s your homework for today:
Read this post
Continue your 40FRESH habit for breakfast
Continue your 40FRESH habit for dinner
10. Rice Bowls
From bento bowls and Buddha bowls to burrito bowls and poke bowls, the Asian-inspired rice bowl has seen a rise in popularity over the past decade. This is good news for anyone on the 40FRESH diet!
Of the lunches on our top 10 list, rice bowls are typically one of the easiest to make 40FRESH when you’re going out to eat. Poke bowls and Buddha bowls, especially, tend to be full of healthy and fresh ingredients. To avoid all the ultra-processed Nope foods, however, you’ll need to be mindful of a few things.
Meats
Avoid the chicken teriyaki (and other sauces) and stick to plain meats. Grilled chicken, fresh fish, and grilled shrimp are all great options.
Sauces
Speaking of sauces, you’ll want to be careful with these as well. Regular soy sauce is a Limited ingredient, but dressings, teriyaki, and even low sodium soy sauce are all on the Nope list. Make sure you know what the ingredients are before you add it in.
Cheese
While fresh cheese itself is fine to use as a Limited ingredient, most cheese that you’ll find at restaurants serving bowls is shredded and/or colored. Shredded cheeses use anti-caking blends to prevent the cheese from sticking and orange cheeses use annatto extract to give it that color. Both of these things are in the Nope category.
Alternatives
None needed! If you want a great recipe to try for lunch, we suggest the Whole Bowl recipe from day 27.
9. Pasta
Carbs aren’t all bad and we think that life without pasta would be no life at all. Fortunately, fresh or dried pastas made from durum wheat semolina are an Always ingredient. However, that doesn’t mean you’re completely in the clear.
To ensure that you’re eating 40FRESH, we suggest you make your own pasta and avoid this dish when you’re eating lunch out. Regardless of whether you choose marinara, Alfredo, or pesto sauces, chances are fairly high that it’s a Nope if it came from a restaurant (especially fast food).
If you’re making pasta at home, we suggest making your own sauce from scratch. Alfredo and pesto are both super easy to make and can be ready in under 10 minutes. Marinara sauce is a bit more difficult, but you can find grocery store options like Rao’s that are Limited.
Alternatives
None needed! Take some of your Penne Pesto leftovers from day 24 for lunch!
8. Burritos
While we can’t deny the strong appeal of a burrito, the sad reality is that you really have to make your own tortillas from scratch if you want to have any chance at this meal being 40FRESH friendly. Don’t be fooled by the red, green, or whole wheat tortillas. All the store bought versions we’ve seen are full of preservatives, flavoring, and more.
Once you get past the burrito skin, you have the same considerations as rice bowls above. Meats, sauces, and cheeses all need to be inspected closely for 40FRESH compatibility. If you’re eating at a fast food establishment, you’ll want to skip the sautéed veggies as well.
Alternatives
Ditch the tortilla and other ingredients that make this a Nope and opt for a burrito bowl instead!
7. Sushi
Same as we discussed on day 30, sushi can be an excellent choice for a healthy meal as long as you know what to look out for. In general, it’s better to stick to the nigiri and sashimi and avoid the rolls. Below are a few things to look out for.
Imitation Meat
If you’re getting a roll with crab meat, think twice. Many sushi restaurants (especially cheaper ones) use imitation crab meat, which is a definite Nope.
Sauces
From the spicy aioli and sriracha to the teriyaki sauce on that eel, chances are it’s a Nope. Nigiri and sashimi generally don’t come with sauces (except maybe on the eel), but many rolls do. Of course, there’s plenty of rolls without sauce, so just be careful when you’re ordering.
Tempura
Battered and deep fried? Unfortunately, even if the batter is made from @Home ingredients, the deep frying violates the spirit of the Limited category, so these options are out.
Wasabi
Hate to break it to you, but if you’ve been eating wasabi in the US, chances are it isn’t real. The real stuff is native to Japan and is very expensive, so most places use an imitation version made with Nope ingredients.
Alternatives
None! Just make sure to skip the wasabi (unless it’s real) and opt for regular soy sauce (Limited) instead of the low sodium version (Nope).
6. Wraps
Swapping that sandwich out for a wrap won’t help you as far as 40FRESH is concerned. Unfortunately, same as the burrito, the problems start on the outside with the tortilla.
Of course, you can ditch the tortilla, but then you’re essentially left with a salad. See below for considerations with salads.
Alternatives
If you’re going to say goodbye to the tortilla, you might as well just go for a salad.
5. Tacos
Tacos are probably my favorite meal on the planet. Who doesn’t love a good taco? That said, Nope ingredients lurk everywhere. Below are a few things to look out for if you’re planning on reaching for that taco.
Shells / Tortillas
Surprisingly, you can find some corn shells that fall into the Limited category. This one from Ortega is a good example. However, if your heart is set on a soft flour or corn tortilla, I’m afraid those are generally a Nope unless you’re making your own from scratch.
Meats
If you’re using a seasoning packet or getting meat from a restaurant (particularly fast food), you’re going to turn your taco into a Nope. Fortunately, it’s easy to make your own seasoning! I make mine similar to this recipe from Spend with Pennies.
Alternatives
If you’re eating out, it’s pretty much impossible to keep your taco 40FRESH friendly. Save these for dinners when you can make them at home. Or, if you already made them for dinner, bring some for leftovers.
4. Pizza
Pizza topped out charts on the most popular dinner meals and is plenty popular for lunch, too. This seems to be the go to option when companies order large meals for employees. Unfortunately, pretty much nothing about a pizza is 40FRESH friendly.
Alternatives
It’s pretty much impossible to provide a satisfying alternative when you’re competing with bread and cheese. We think your best bet is to consider one of the healthier options on this list.
3. Salad
We have a surprisingly healthy option coming in at the #3 slot! If you’re eating a salad similar to the one pictured above, you’ve got nothing to worry about. On the other hand, it’s very easy to take a salad from Always and @Home ingredients to Nope. Here are the things to watch out for:
Salad Dressing
Does your salad dressing say “vinaigrette” on the bottle? Does it have ingredients other than olive oil and balsamic vinegar? So yeah… It’s almost certainly a Nope. When it comes to salad dressing, either make your own, use a bit of olive oil, or (shudder) eat it dry.
Croutons
Everyone likes a bit of crunch, but croutons are made from bread. As we’ve discussed many times, nearly all bread goes in the Nope category. Use nuts or sunflower seeds for that crunch to keep it 40FRESH friendly. If you do use nuts, make sure they aren’t candied or otherwise seasoned.
Cheese
Go ahead and add some feta, blue cheese, or any other natural cheese. Just avoid the shredded cheeses and colored cheeses, as we discussed above.
Meats
Generally, most meats that get added to salads are pretty safe. Seared steak, grilled chicken, shrimp, etc. are all pretty safe. Just avoid breaded chicken, ham, bacon, and other heavily processed meats.
Alternatives
You’re still better off preparing a salad at home, but it’s fairly easy to get a 40FRESH friendly option if you’re out as long as you watch your salad dressing choice.
2. Burgers
Burgers take the #2 spot for both lunch and dinner. Everything we said about them on day 22 when we looked at dinners still applies. There’s just too many Nope ingredients to avoid to make these worth consideration. It’s best to find a healthier alternative.
Alternatives
Opt for a rice bowl with ground beef instead of the burger. You’ll still get the ground beef and a starch, only with healthier ingredients. Try this Korean beef rice bowl recipe!
1. Sandwiches
We hate to be the ones to put the kibosh on everyone’s favorite lunchtime meal, but the sandwich is one of the worst offenders when it comes to Nope ingredients. Bread, condiments, meats, and cheeses alike would all need to be omitted to make this 40FRESH friendly. If you’re the sort of person who adds chips to your sandwich, those would have to come out, too.
Alternatives
Rice (or other grain) bowls are your best bet for getting some starch along with meat and some veggies. We’ll explore several recipes in the days ahead so you have plenty of options to choose from.
Up Next...
We want to set you up for success with your lunch habit, so we’ll spend the next few days exploring various meals that are easy to take with you when you leave the house.
Lunch is the only habit that you haven’t started. Keep up the great work with your snacking, drinking, breakfast, and dinner habits. No other homework for today, so give yourself a pat on the back and another X on your accountability calendar. Tomorrow we’ll start exploring some lunch recipes.
Did we miss your favorite lunch meal? Let us know in the comments!