One of the easiest ways to get your greens in every day is by devouring one of these simple salad recipes for lunch! Easy and delicious, these are two salads you’ll want to eat over and over!
I’ll admit, I am not the hugest fan of veggies. And I am not great at serving veggies with every single dinner I make (gasp!). However, I have found the easiest way to get ALL of my daily vegetables in, is to just have a simple salad for lunch each day.
I’ve tried different easy salad recipes but these two I’ve kind of gotten stuck on as my go-to’s. They are super easy and always so satisfying!
I love having pre-cooked chicken on hand at all times and it comes in so handy when you want to add protein to a salad. With some chicken on hand, you can easily turn a side salad into a real meal!
There are three types of pre-cooked chicken I typically use for these salads:
- Leftover grilled chicken (the best!!)
- Costco Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Skewers
- Trader Joes frozen chicken strips
Related: Find out how I get my perfectly cooked chicken breasts here.
Here is the rundown of salad recipe #1
- Mixed greens
- Chicken
- Sunflower seeds (or something crunchy!)
- Dried cranberries
- Blue cheese
- Balsamic dressing
You can absolutely sub out blue cheese if you don’t like it. Gorgonzola and queso fresco are a little milder. Or just use your favorite cheese or omit it all together! No stress!
I use my favorite store-bought salad dressing which might be my favorite salad dressing of all time! It’s Marzetti’s Simply Dressed Balsamic Vinegarette. It’s in the produce section with the “fresh” salad dressings. Marie’s also makes an amazing balsamic dressing (also found in the produce section).
Here’s a rundown of salad recipe #2
- Mixed greens
- Chicken
- Artichoke hearts (canned, drained)
- Cherry tomatoes
- Red Onion
- Avocado
- A simple lemon and olive oil dressing
Either of these two salads make a perfect lunch or light dinner. I like to have all the ingredients ready for the week, but not assembled until the night before I am packing lunch. I find if the ingredients sit all week they just aren’t as fresh tasting.
Happy lunch’ing!!
Bacon and Garlic Fried Rice
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked rice
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce see note
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- scallion and sriracha sauce for garnish!
Instructions
- Stir together sauce ingredients: soy sauce, hoisin and sesame oil. Set aside.
- Heat large skillet to medium high heat; add chopped bacon.
- Cook bacon for 4-5 minutes until just crispy; remove from skillet. Leave enough bacon grease (about 1 tablespoon) in the skillet and discard the rest.
- Add onion and cook for one minute until translucent, then add in garlic.
- Cook garlic for 30 seconds, stirring frequently to avoid burning.
- Add rice and sauce to the pan, stirring continuously until sauce/garlic/onions are well mixed. Continue to stir until rice is hot and sauce has fully coated the rice.
- Stir in reserved bacon. Top with scallions and sriracha (if desired) and serve!
Notes
Simple Salad with Chicken, Artichokes and Avocado
Ingredients
- 3-4 cups mixed greens
- 1/2 cup cooked chicken breast, diced
- 5-10 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 artichoke hearts, quartered see notes
- 1/2 avocado, diced
- 2 tbsp red onion, diced
- juice of one lemon
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt/pepper
Instructions
- Whisk together lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
- Assemble all other ingredients and top with dressing, if eating rifht away!
Notes
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This post was all about two simple salad recipes for lunch. They are easy, healthy, and will keep you fueled throughout the day!
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