These 10 Whole30 Cold Lunches will help you feel empowered on the go! Great options for work, school, travel, or just a simple meal at home. Perfect if you are doing a Whole30, or eat Paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, or soy-free. It can feel intimidating to eat Whole30 on the go and one of the best defenses can be to BYOL (bring your own lunch!). Here are some ideas!

Cold Lunch Meal Template

I always aim to have the Whole30 meal template: 1-2 palm-sized servings of protein, healthy fat, and veggies, with fruit as desired. This concept is not mine, but is from the Whole30 materials. You can see it in their PDF download HERE. I found my clients needed a visual representation, so I created this graphic to easily reference how to build a Whole30 plate.

With that, let’s break it down into components first so you can build almost your own DIY Whole30 Lunchable:

Protein:

• Sweet Everything Bagel Tuna Salad – Delicious by itself, or I enjoy it paired with a batch of Homemade Plantain Chips. 

• Egg salad: Mix two hard-boiled eggs with my Date Mustard to the desired preference. Add garlic salt to taste! Pictured below with snap peas, watermelon, and a homemade “trail mix” (recipe in my Cookbook).

• Classic Whole30 Chicken Salad – A Whole30 take on a traditional Chicken Salad, just like Gramma Carol used to make it. Easy and delicious!

• Compatible lunch meat – I love Applegate turkey I can find at Walmart. Just roll it up and eat it like a Lunchable, EASY protein! Shown here with a side of Whole30 Caulilfower “Hummus” (in my Cookbook), Everything Bagel Nuts (recipe in my Cookbook), and fresh raspberries. 

• Compatible meat sticks – My favorite are Original Beef Chomps, which I find at the most affordable price at Costco but is also available at Trader Joes, Walmart, and Target. Pictured below with my Plantain Pizza Pockets (in my Cookbook), strawberries and cashew butter, and Kale Chips.

• Paleo Chick-fil-a Chicken Strips. Yup, we love these cold and have eaten them cold on many trips and camping. Delicious cold or hot! 

• Ham and pineapple kabobs – Take Whole30 Compatible Ham (like this Applegate Whole30 Approved Ham) and weave it onto a toothpick with fresh chopped pineapple. Love this easy sweet and savory combo! I combined it below with bell pepper and Homemade Ranch, blueberries, and my Whole30 Date Balls. 

• Whole30 Wrap – Now, per the Whole30 Pancake rule, no tortilla recreations are allowed. However, if it does not use any compatible flour such as these Coconut Wraps, they are compatible! They aren’t big but they work great for wrapping up deli meat and the fixings or any of my chicken strips. The possibilities are endless!
• Whole30 Sandwich – Yes, such a thing exists! You just have to think outside the bun. Check out this blog post I wrote for Whole30 on 7 Ways to Make a Whole30 Sandwich. So many easy awesome ideas here!
• In my Cookbook only:
  • Chicken Avocado Salad (a Cookbook fave!), served with homemade Tostones
  • Plantain “Pizza” Pockets
  • Blackened Chicken Caesar Salad with an EASY homemade Whole30 Creamy Caesar Dressing 

Sides

Veggies

• Raw veggies like carrots, cucumbers, or peppers with Homemade Ranch 

• Homemade kale chips – Be sure to notice the tip on how to keep them crunchy with a foil pouch!

• Homemade veggie Hummus and Plantain chips (in my cookbook)
• Whole30 Broccoli Salad – We love this one on the go! As long as you have a way to keep it cold, it’s delicious and no reheating required to enjoy a veggie-loaded side. 

• Whole30 Kale Salad – Kale is dense and doesn’t get soggy easily, so you can mix this up at home the morning of, or bring the delicious easy eggless dressing with you and toss before eating. 

• A green side salad – Just stating the obvious here so you don’t forget it! I love my side salad with my Date Mustard, sunflower seeds, avocado, and hard-boiled eggs and a pinch of garlic salt. 
• Whole30 Cilantro Salsa Slaw – I don’t like coleslaw, but I LOVE this Mexican-inspired coleslaw. 

• Whole30 Veggie Queso Dip – Veggie-loaded queso that is delicious with raw veggies or Homemade Plantain Chips.

Healthy Fats

• Compatible nuts or seeds of choice – Just double check they aren’t cooked in non-compatible oils. Want a fun flavorful nut mix? Try my Pumpkin Spice Roasted Nuts. 
• The best Roasted Pecans – Seriously, I don’t like pecans. But these are AMAZING! No oil is required for this crispy result!

• Nut butter with fruit like apples, bananas, or strawberries
• Tostones and Guac – Store-bought chips or tostones are not allowed on Whole30, but Homemade Plantains are and make a great pairing with homemade guacamole. 
• Avocado in all the things – your salad, your wrap, your sandwich!
• Guac and raw veggies like carrots and cucumber

Just for fun

• ANY raw fruit is Whole30 compatible. Enjoy!
• Date balls – Pay attention to the disclaimer information as to whether these date balls are right for YOUR Whole30!

• Chunky Monkey Smoothie – This smoothie is full of veggies and healthy fats, with no added sweetener. Just be sure to use almond or cashew butter to keep it Whole30. Plus, this one stays blended well and won’t weirdly separate by lunchtime! Are smoothies allowed on Whole30? YES. But, read under the “Smoothie” section of this Whole30 website for full details. 

• Fruit juice jello (in my cookbook)
• Baked apple chips (in my cookbook)
• Blender Salsa and Homemade Plantain Chips

Many of these EASY lunchbox recipes mentioned in this post can be found in my cookbook Whole Food for Your Family, which has 100+ budget- and family-friendly recipes. You can learn more or grab a copy of my cookbook HERE!