Easy Pita Lunch Ideas

These 4 easy pita recipes are great packed for healthy lunches! All are vegetarian - prep the components ahead of time for a fast, delicious midday meal.

Easy Pita Lunch Ideas

There’s a category that’s seriously underrepresented on Love & Lemons: lunch. Lunch, for me, is the meal that happens in between all of these recipe posts. It’s usually a quick throw-together meal that utilizes a previous night’s dinner and/or an assortment of random on-hand ingredients… (ie. a half of an avocado, a few leaves of kale, leftover quinoa, an opened container of greek yogurt). I love a big lunch salad, but when I don’t have enough greens & things to make up a full meal, I take what I do have and put it in (or on) a pita.

Easy Pita Lunch Ideas

I keep these Stonefire pitas on hand, usually in my freezer for easy access – they reheat and toast up perfectly. (And yes, they are sponsoring this post, but I’ve seriously been buying their pita and flatbread for years).

You’ll notice I haven’t included actual measurements in this ingredient list – since I’m usually “cooking” for one, my measurements are truly “a bit of this, a pinch of that.” Feel free to adapt & interchange things, using what you have. Everything here can be made ahead & stored for days in the fridge. It’s all pretty packable – just keep the pita separate and stuff it when you’re ready to eat. (A soggy pita would be a pity!)

For more lunch inspiration, check out this post that’s full of Healthy Lunch Ideas.


5.0 from 1 reviews

Easy Pita Lunch Ideas

 
These 4 easy sandwich recipes are some of my go-to quick, healthy lunches. They're great for packing up and taking on the go, and with 4 options, your lunch rotation will never get boring.
Author:
Ingredients
1. Kale & Apple Salad with Avocado
  • Kale
  • Drizzle of olive oil
  • A bit of Dijon mustard
  • Squeezes of lemon
  • Apple slices
  • Avocado
  • Pine nuts
  • Salt & pepper
2. Smashed Avocado and Sunflower Seeds
  • Avocado
  • Squeeze of lemon
  • Sprinkle of sunflower seeds (or any seeds you like)
  • Salt & pepper
3. Red Pepper Hummus with Chickpeas & Feta
  • Red pepper hummus (recipe below)
  • A few chickpeas
  • Diced red onion
  • Feta
  • Pine nuts
  • Parsley
  • Red pepper flakes
Red pepper hummus (make in advance)
  • 1¼ cups chickpeas
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 jarred roasted red pepper (about ¼ cup worth)
  • Juice of ½ a lemon
  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  • 1-2 teaspoons dry harissa seasoning
  • Water, if necessary for consistency
  • Salt & pepper
4. Carrot & Quinoa Salad with Curry Yogurt
  • Leftover cooked quinoa
  • Dried currants
  • Olive oil
  • Squeezes of lime
  • A bit of cumin
  • Shaved carrot ribbons
  • A few salad greens
  • Greek yogurt
  • A bit of curry powder
  • Salt & pepper
Instructions
  1. For the Kale & Apple Salad: Chop the kale. Massage the leaves with olive oil salt and pepper until the leaves are tender. Add a bit of dijon mustard and a good squeeze of lemon. Mix with diced avocado, sliced apples, and toasted pine nuts. Stuff in pita.
  2. For the Smashed Avocado & Sunflower Seeds: Slice avocado and add a bit of lemon juice, salt & pepper. Use the back of a fork to mash it into the pita. Top with seeds.
  3. For the Red Pepper Hummus with Chickpeas & Feta: Blend all hummus ingredients together, set aside. Drizzle pita with olive oil and grill on a grill pan. Slather with hummus and top with chickpeas, red onion, feta, pine nuts and parsley. Top with a few red pepper flakes.
  4. For the Carrot & Quinoa Salad: Mix quinoa with olive oil, lime juice, cumin, currants, salt & pepper. Toss with carrot ribbons and watercress. Mix yogurt with lime, curry powder, and salt. Stuff salad in pita and top with a dollop of curry yogurt.
Notes
Some tips:
Keep your avocado un-sliced until you're ready to use it - and if you're storing a half-avocado, keep it in a plastic bag with part of a sliced onion to slow down the browning process.

Make a big batch of the quinoa salad, serve it with a protein for dinner and reuse the leftovers for lunch all week.

 

This post is sponsored by Stonefire, all opinions are our own. Thanks for supporting the sponsors that keep us cooking!

53 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it):  

  1. Laura Pires da Mata Costa
    03.23.2015

    Hey! Can I change the dijon mustard for something else? 😀 Thanks!

  2. Natalie
    01.11.2015

    The print isn’t working on this one 🙁

  3. Pammy
    03.24.2014

    Thank you for posting these easy pita combos. I made the first one tonight for dinner for me and my husband. We were both super impressed with how delicious the simple kale recipe is! I chopped extra apple and put with pb for a side. 🙂 I was feeling ambitious in the kitchen tonight, so I made the pitas from scratch, too (pretty easy if this girl can do it).

    I’m going to do recipe #2 for lunch tomorrow at work. I’m pretty pumped, especially after reading all of the rave reviews on #2!

    Thanks again! 🙂

    • jeanine
      03.25.2014

      so glad you liked it! Wow, making your own pita is so ambitious 🙂

  4. sara from cupcakemuffin.blogspot.com
    01.28.2014

    LOVE these ideas, especially that red pepper hummus version!

  5. Leah from blog.leahsprague.com
    01.25.2014

    These all look so delicious! I usually begin putting a bunch of stuff on top of pitas, then only hummus, and then finally I give in and eat the pita plain. Its perfect any way! Thanks for the great ideas 🙂

  6. Sini from myblueandwhitekitchen.com
    01.22.2014

    Oh I simply can’t decide which one I love the most. Hmmm… I think #1 and #2 are my faves. Anyway, a great, inspiring post!

  7. i’m so with you about lunch! it is probably my favorite meal {when i go out to a restaurant} but because of time i am generally just throwing together a quick salad or sandwich. definitely going to be trying to pita with avocado and the one with hummus 🙂

    Molly {Dreams in HD}
    http://www.dreamsinhd.blogspot.com

  8. These are such good ideas, especially since I always find I’m so uninspired when it comes to lunch ha. Thank you!

  9. Love those pitas! I love pitas for lunch, I usually have some combination of a leftover sandwich or salad. Pitas/wraps are great for stuffing leftovers in.

  10. Kate
    01.21.2014

    These look divine! Your photos & ideas are fabulous! I’ve never seen those pitas…what’s the ingredient statement look like, is it pretty clean? I couldn’t find it on their website!

  11. Joyti from darjeelingdreams.com
    01.21.2014

    My semester just started (last semester, eeeps!) just started, and I’ve been worrying about quick bag lunches. Your post couldn’t have come at a better time for me. The red pepper hummus, in particular, sounds delicious (they all do, but that one is the most appealing to me at this moment).

    Gorgeous pics!

    • jeanine
      01.21.2014

      so glad! Good luck in your last semester, hope you like the hummus 🙂

  12. Melissa from Www.thewhimsicalwife.com
    01.21.2014

    Thanks for the wonderful ideas for lunch. Love the look of the kale and Apple pita.

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.