Good nutrition is essential for naturally healing your PCOS symptoms and reaching your health goals! Exercise, supplements, self-care, and the right foods can make all the difference in reversing your PCOS symptoms, combatting weight gain, and reaching all your health goals. These simple lifestyle changes can reduce inflammation, balance hormones, and lower insulin resistance, which are the three things causing most of the chronic issues of our metabolic disorder. 

As a registered dietitian for PCOS and a Cyster myself, I’ve devoted myself to finding the perfect meal plan for women with PCOS who are trying desperately to heal their unique bodies by targeting the root causes of their hormonal imbalances. I recommend a gluten- and dairy-free anti-inflammatory diet with nutrient-rich food choices that support our PCOS bodies! To target our metabolism and hormonal imbalances that impact our energy and cravings, I recommend having larger meals in the morning and a smaller dinner.

You can learn more about my PCOS diet recommendations on the blog, but today we want to talk about lunch! Lunchtime is always a time crunch and prioritizing healthy, balanced meals can be difficult when you’re a busy mom, a working professional, or even a student! So, today, I want to share some of my favorite, quick PCOS-friendly lunch ideas to keep you on track even during the craziest part of the day! 

Here are a few lunch recipes to check out on The Cysterhood app:

8 PCOS Lunch Recipes to Add to Your Meal Plan 

Grapefruit Avocado Salmon Salad 

Hot girl salads make the perfect lunches for a woman with PCOS! They’re light, quick, and delicious. This one specifically is great for improving all three root issues of PCOS: insulin resistance, hormone imbalance, and inflammation. Why? Because it’s FULL of healthy fats! Both avocado and salmon have omega-3 fatty acids while also being super tasty and high in other nutrients like protein. (Here’s more on avocados for PCOS!) 

To add flavor to this already tasty dish, you’ll make a dressing with grapefruit, olive oil, and dijon mustard. The different flavors compliment each other and grapefruit is also full of vitamin C and antioxidants. This meal has 60 grams of protein and only 45 grams of carbs, which can be a good ratio for controlling our blood sugar spikes. This means managing cravings, supporting insulin sensitivity, and preventing energy crashes.

You can find this recipe along with all the others on this list on The Cysterhood app! 

Lettuce Wrapped Burgers 

I always tell Cysters they shouldn’t give up their favorite foods when they are transforming their lifestyle to be more PCOS friendly. Instead, swap the ingredients that trigger your symptoms and replace them with alternatives that support your PCOS. With burgers, for example, I like to swap the bread and cheese! Doesn’t sound like much of a burger, does it? To make it PCOS friendly, I will use gluten-free bread crumbs and dairy-free cheese slices. And, to replace the bun, I will use lettuce! This also helps me get more fiber (great for insulin resistance) while allowing me to eat other sources of carbs.

You can put this together in under 30 minutes and have enough leftovers for a few days’ lunches! For those who have a lower Carb Tolerance Range (which I teach here on the blog and in The Cysterhood app) this is a great meal prep option. However, it only includes 26 grams of protein, so you’ll want to up that by having a second burger or adding quinoa, chickpeas, eggs, or non-dairy Greek yogurt on the side! 

Red Curry Lentil Soup

Here’s another great meal prep option! Soups are easy to prepare in advance, freeze, and warm up one portion at a time for lunch. This red curry lentil soup is vegan, and full of protein! Lentils contain 18 grams of protein per cup, making it one of the best non-meat sources of protein. They’re also rich in fiber, low in fat, and packed with essential nutrients like iron, folate, and potassium. 

Though lentils are a great protein source, one serving is still only about  32 grams of protein. So, if you’re not committed to a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle, consider adding a side of roasted chicken. That way, you’ll stay full and focused all afternoon! But, this meal isn’t just healthy, like all the recipes on The Cysterhood app, it’s full of flavor. The red curry lentil soup is decorated with cilantro, lime juice, a variety of vegetables, and red curry, of course.  

Air Fryer Sweet Potato Fries with Air-Fried Eggs

The air fryer is the best kitchen invention since the microwave, and its a must for Cysters. It comes in handy at lunch time, especially when you want something with great texture and flavor in half the time. In The Cysterhood app I have an entire category dedicated to air fryer recipes, but this one is one of my favorites! 

You just chop and season your sweet potatoes and let the air fryer do its thing. You can make eggs just how you like them in your air fryer. Just crack it and put it on a pan on the oven rack for over-hard, over-medium, or over-easy eggs. You can even make hassle-free hard-boiled eggs in the air fryer if that’s your favorite cooking method! But first, I recommend looking up your specific air fryer’s temperature and time recommendations because they all are different.

This recipe is fast and easy for lunch, and packs in lots of your essential nutrients. Sweet potatoes are high in fiber, vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin B6, and antioxidants. Of course, eggs provide protein, and they’re also rich in vitamins B12, B2, B5, A, D, E, K, and more! Here’s more on how eggs are good for PCOS. I also like to add avocado on the side for healthy fats.

Chipotle Turkey Bowl

Bowls are great for lunches, because it’s a simple way to get a balanced meal (with grains, vegetables, and protein) that’s packable, delicious, and easy to assemble. When you meal prep, you can have all the ingredients in separate containers in the fridge and take what you need when its time to combine. This bowl’s protein sources are ground turkey, dairy-free Greek yogurt, and kidney beans. Each serving offers around 46 grams of protein, which is perfect for lunch. 

To assemble this masterpiece, you’ll need lettuce, beans, corn, pickled jalapenos, lime wedges, salsa, taco seasoning, and homemade avocado dressing! If you want, you could also add black beans, bell peppers, tomatoes, dairy-free cheese, or even some crushed up Nacho Bean Chips from Beanfields (Sirak and I are obsessed, and they add more protein!) 

Chili Mac and Cheese

If you want something warm and nostalgic, pack chili mac and “cheese” in your lunchbox or prepare it on your lunch break! It’s a one-pan meal (well, technically two, if you count boiling the pasta water) that you can cook in under 30 minutes. Start by browning your ground beef, and then add all the mix-ins, including garlic, tomato paste, zucchini, tomatoes, beef broth, oregano, and hot sauce! 

Once everything is ready, combine it with your cooked elbow pasta and top it with your favorite dairy-free cheese. It’s 37 grams of protein and the variety of vegetables and spices are perfect for helping you get some of your daily nutrients. And, as I mentioned, this chili mac and cheese warms up great if made ahead of time, so it’s one of my personal go-to meal prep options! 

Chicken Salad Sandwich

Who doesn’t love a refreshing, rich, and savory chicken salad sandwich at lunchtime? This is another recipe that fits in the lower Carb Tolerance Ranges and is high in protein, which is perfect for managing blood sugar levels and fending off those afternoon cravings without making you feel bloated and sluggish with a heavy meal. 

You may be saying: Wait, isn’t a PCOS diet meant to be gluten- and dairy-free? Correct! But just like our Lettuce Wrapped Burger from earlier, we’re substituting ingredients that won’t trigger our symtoms! This recipe uses gluten-free bread and dairy-free yogurt to get the same great flavor as a chicken salad sandwich without the inflammatory ingredients. 

You can find this recipe, of course, on The Cysterhood app! It’s definitely a leveled-up chicken salad sandwich using rotisserie chicken, strawberries, almonds, celery, and more to add lots of texture variety and dimensions of flavor. I can’t wait for you to try it!

Mediterranean Chicken Tahini Wrap

This last idea is a wrap! (Get it?) But, seriously, wraps are an ideal lunchtime choice, because they’re easy to assemble and store for a quick grab-and-go meal. For this recipe, you start by cooking the chicken and vegetables! You can easily roast it in the oven or take it outside for a smoky grilled chicken and veggie version. From there, it’s just a matter of making some tahini sauce and wrapping everything up in a gluten-free tortilla. 

This meal includes 32 grams of protein, and the variety of veggies offers vitamins A, C, B6, E, folate, and K1 as well as potassium, manganese, magnesium, and calcium. Pack them for lunch or eat them right away just don’t forget that side of tahini sauce. It’s delicious!

How To Build PCOS-Friendly Lunches 

• Shoot for 60-80 grams of lean protein. This aligns with our method of having larger meals in the morning, and smaller meals at night.
• Keep your carb tolerance range in mind (but don’t go too low-carb).
• Include fiber-rich vegetables. 
• Add in lots of healthy fats. 
• Incorporate gluten-free whole grains. 
• Keep it flavorful with beneficial herbs and spices. 
• Opt for dairy-free alternatives. 
• Stay hydrated with water and herbal teas. 

Also try: Mongolian Beef Recipe for a PCOS-Friendly Diet

Which quick, PCOS-friendly meal are you cooking for lunch?

I hope this post reminded you that you can eat nutritious and delicious meals that help your PCOS even when you’re strapped for time! All these recipes are great for meal prepping or cooking up quickly when you have less than an hour to make yourself a meal.

Skipping meals is never a good idea with PCOS, so grab your calendar, plan out your lunches, and let yourself experience the relief that comes with a PCOS lifestyle! With the help of The Cysterhood meal plans and resources, you can re-discover what life is like PCOS symptom-free!