Your Formula for a Better Midday Meal

Packing lunch doesn't require a complicated recipe or a perfectly planned week. Sometimes all you need is a simple formula.

Current dietary guidance encourages eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and protein foods across the day. So instead of asking, “What should I make for lunch?” try thinking in building blocks.

Here’s an easy place to start:

Produce + Protein + Whole Grain + Something You Love

1. Pack Some Produce

Start by choosing a fruit, vegetable or both. Think a DOLE® Banana or Pineapple, apple slices, baby carrots, broccoli florets, leafy greens or whatever happens to be in the refrigerator.

Need a visual? MyPlate offers an easy target: make half your plate fruits and vegetables.

Try:

* Apple + leafy greens
* Pineapple + sliced vegetables
* Banana + berries
* Broccoli + grapes

Don't worry about creating the perfect combination. Variety can happen across the day and throughout the week.

2. Pick a Protein

Next, add a protein food. Chicken and turkey work, but they're far from your only choices.

Try:

* Beans or lentils
* Eggs
* Tuna or salmon
* Tofu or edamame
* Greek yogurt
* Cheese
* Nuts, seeds or nut butter

Mixing up your choices can also make packed lunches a lot less predictable and unexciting. One day might be a chicken and veggie wrap, while another could be a snack-style lunch with hummus, vegetables, fruit and whole-grain crackers. Try a variety.

3. Go for the Grain

Round things out with a whole-grain option when it works with your meal.

Try:

* Whole-grain bread or pita
* Brown rice
* Quinoa
* Whole-grain crackers
* Whole-grain pasta

Whole grains supply dietary fiber, among other nutrients. The Dietary Guidelines recommend making at least half of your grain choices whole grains.

Research also continues to explore fiber's role in how satisfying meals feel. A 2025 systematic review of 48 studies found that higher intakes of certain cereal fibers, particularly those from rye and oats, had favorable effects on measures of satiety compared with lower-fiber controls, although effects differed depending on the type of fiber studied.

4. Add Something You Love

Here's the part that shouldn't get lost in a nutrition formula: lunch should taste good.
Add a favorite dressing to your salad. Sprinkle nuts onto a grain bowl. Pack a little dark chocolate. Add salsa to your beans and rice or peanut butter to your banana.
Think of this as the ingredient that turns a collection of nutritious foods into a lunch you actually want to eat.

Mix It Up

Once you know the formula, the possibilities multiply quickly:

Mediterranean-ish: Greens + tomatoes + chickpeas + whole-grain pita + hummus

Tropical: DOLE® Pineapple + edamame + brown rice + crunchy vegetables + favorite dressing

Snack Box: Apple slices + cheese + vegetables + hummus + whole-grain crackers

PB&B: DOLE® Banana + peanut butter + whole-grain bread + crunchy vegetables on the side

Leftovers Remix: Roasted vegetables + chicken or beans + quinoa + your favorite vinaigrette

The combinations don't need to be elaborate, and every lunch doesn't have to check every box perfectly. Think of the formula as a starting point you can adapt to your appetite, preferences and what's already in the kitchen.

And One for Later...

While you're putting together lunch, consider adding an afternoon snack. Dole's Lunchbox Weekly Menu uses the same idea, including a “snack for later” alongside the midday meal.

Fruit with yogurt, vegetables with hummus, or a DOLE® Banana with nut butter are easy pairings. Or try DOLE® Banana Energy Bites, made with banana, dates, oats, peanut butter, flaxseed and chia seeds.

What's for Lunch?

Maybe that's the wrong question.

Instead, take a look at what you have and ask: What's my produce? What's my protein? What's my whole grain? And what will make me look forward to eating it?

Mix, match and lunch is served.

Published Oct 1, 2026