15 Mediterranean Diet Lunch Ideas
By Bill Bradley, R.D.
Updated November 1, 2024
What Do People In The Mediterranean Eat For Lunch?
Traditionally, in the Mediterranean, lunch was the biggest meal of the day and was eaten in the early afternoon (usually before nap time). Nowadays, those who work during the day, eat a smaller lunch and then have their big meal at night. What is eaten for lunch varies greatly from country to country and person to person. In Greece, they might have a Greek salad with bread, in Italy they might have leftover pasta, in Lebanon they might have hummus with vegetables in a pita. A Mediterranean lunch really can be made up of almost anything a Mediterranean breakfast or dinner is made up of. Leftovers are eaten often, sometimes just made into something a bit different. Here are some of our favorite Mediterranean Diet lunch ideas.
Eat Your Leftovers For Lunch!
I never understand why some people don’t love leftovers. You get to eat more of the delicious food you already made, you don’t have to cook and you end up saving lots of money. In the Mediterranean, there is often one very large family meal eaten once per week, usually on the weekend. These meals consist of many different dishes that turn into leftovers for the rest of the week. I also will use my creative chops to turn leftovers into something completely different. I might turn a baked chicken into chicken salad and then turn the bones into soup. This way I am using all of the chicken and making new dishes from the leftovers.
Meal Prep Ideas for Lunches
Even if you don’t use leftovers, I like to try to pre-prep a lot of my lunches over the weekend. Salad dressings, pestos, sauces, hummus, and vegetables for both salads or sandwiches can all be prepared ahead and will last most of the week. Below are some of my favorite lunches, most of which can be prepared ahead. Enjoy!
Tuna Patties Fried in Olive Oil
These small French tuna patties are quick to make and require only ingredients that you probably already have. Don’t worry if you have most of the ingredients, but are missing one or two. These patties adapt to what you have, especially with herbs. If you don’t have parsley, but you do have dill then use dill. If you don’t have shallots, add onions. Tuna patties work with lots of different ingredients.
Pasta Genovese in Pasta or Potato Salad or on Bread
Pasta Genovese is now my all time favorite pesto. We make a ton of it during basil season and then freeze it to eat all year round (last year, we froze 35 bags!). We have had many lunches where we defrost the pesto (takes about 5 minutes under warm water) and then use it in salads, on pasta or in sandwiches.
Authentic Greek Salad
Greek salad is the ultimate Mediterranean lunch. It is definitely a meal in a salad, but in Greece they would always include some nice crusty sourdough bread. Nutritionally speaking, it has it all, healthy protein, anti-inflammatory fat and amazing, hopefully organic vegetables. Save some of the bread for the bottom of the salad. The dressing is great for dipping!
Avocado Toast with Smoked Salmon, Fresh Dill and Capers
Lunch has never been as simple as this Avocado Toast with Smoked Salmon, Fresh Dill and Capers! This is the perfect blend of flavors: salty capers and smoked salmon, tangy lemon juice, the crispy bite of red onions paired with creamy avocado and warm crunchy toast.
Moroccan Harira (Lentil and Chickpea Soup)
This lentil and chickpea soup is wonderful for a wintry lunch at home. It is easy to make, super flavorful and very filling. Moroccan spices are warming on a cold winter day.
Grilled Cheese with Feta and Sun Dried Tomatoes
Grilled cheese grilled with extra virgin olive oil is fantastic and I recommend you try it for a quick lunch made in minutes. This sandwich is guaranteed to fill you up as it has two types of cheese (feta and mozzarella) along with sun-dried tomatoes and arugula.
Beet and Carrot Salad with Walnuts and Goat Cheese
You can’t beat this beet recipe! This is a flavorful, well-rounded and crunchy salad to show how delicious and beautiful your winter vegetables can be. Use our recipe for dijon vinaigrette.
Muhammara (Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Dip)
The dip can be made from start to finish in 30 minutes. Simply roast the red peppers and walnuts in the oven, add them to a food processor with the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth and the dip is ready. You can serve Muhammara warm or cold and I find that the flavors are even brighter after being refrigerated overnight.
Garlic Soup with Egg and Croutons
In ancient times, this Castilian soup was a typical lunch for humble people. It was an extremely cheap and very comforting recipe to spread warmth throughout the body in cold rural areas. It was eaten in the middle of the morning to maintain strength for the day, usually with one or two eggs cracked inside, which were cooked from the heat of the soup.
Avocado Salad with Cucumber and Radish
Tired of eating the same old salads? This Mediterranean Diet themed recipe will get you excited again! It has an amazing crunch to it and is full of healthy fats from the avocado and extra virgin olive oil. This is also a great weight loss recipe as it has filling fats, but still is low in calories because of the vegetables. Don’t be surprised if this becomes your new favorite salad!
Lebanese Hummus
The variety of different types of hummus in the grocery store is growing rapidly. The thing is, homemade hummus is so inexpensive and easy to make that the store-bought hummus won’t taste the same after you try this version. Hummus is a traditional Mediterranean lunch recipe and is made with extra virgin olive oil, not canola oil, while most store-bought hummus contains canola oil. Your homemade hummus will already taste better and be healthier with extra virgin olive oil.
Pasta Alla Puttanesca with Canned Tuna
Pasta alla Puttanesca is arguably one of the most classic pasta dishes, both in Italy and around the world and one of my absolute favorites to cook and eat. It’s pungent and rich in traditional Mediterranean flavors like olives, capers, tomatoes and oregano, so much so that is impossible not to love it!
Avocado Toast with Caramelized Balsamic Onions
This is a ridiculously satisfying avocado toast recipe. It’s vegan and very filling and the fat from the avocado and extra virgin olive oil make for a rich taste. The sweetness of the caramelized onions creates a nice balance with the acidity from the balsamic vinegar. A tip for this is to find good bread. Some of my favorite loaves of bread for avocado toast are sourdough, baguette, focaccia, olive bread, and fresh Italian bread.
Bean Burgers with Garlic and Sage
Bean burgers are super quick and great to make when you don’t know what you are making for lunch or dinner. Just grab the ingredients from the pantry, prepare (10 minutes), fry (10 minutes) and within 20 minutes your meal is ready.
Mediterraean Fish Stew in 30 Minutes
This Mediterranean fish stew is perfect using any white fish. I have tried it with both halibut and flounder. It is so simple to make that even a novice in the kitchen will find making it to be a breeze. You don’t even have to cut the fish before putting it in the broth, because it will fall apart naturally on its own.
I have a question…. I’m allergic to all fish, would this still work for me?
I have an autoimmune disease and have tried the paleo and the autoimmune protocol diet and neither helped….. I also need to lose weight. Please let me know what you think!
Hi Barbara, you can definitely do the Mediterranean Diet without eating fish. You would want to try to get omega-3 fats from other sources such as flax, walnuts and dark green leafy vegetables. You can totally do this without fish and also lose weight.