Lunch Recipes from Around the World
5 RECIPES · 5 COUNTRY INSPIRATIONS
Find a lunch worth looking forward to
Compare five lunch ideas inspired by Lebanon, Peru, Spain, France and Vietnam. Choose a grain bowl, salad, warm main or fresh rolls, with timing and serving details to help you plan.
Each recipe serves four. These are our home-cooking adaptations, not claims to traditional authenticity. Preparation and total times are estimates; the full recipe explains resting, chilling and batch-cooking steps.
Grain bowls & a substantial salad
Lentils and rice make a warming bowl; quinoa, beans, corn and avocado make a colorful salad. Both recipes include their accompanying dressing or yogurt.
Lebanon
Lentil & Rice Bowls with Onions
Earthy lentils, fluffy rice and deeply browned onions make a satisfying Lebanese-inspired lunch, finished with a cool cucumber-yogurt spoonful and fresh parsley.
Before you choose: The onions brown while the lentils and rice cook. You will need a skillet and two saucepans, plus a bowl for the yogurt.
Peru
Quinoa, Corn & Avocado Salad
Fluffy quinoa, sweet corn, creamy avocado and white beans meet lime dressing and crumbled cheese in a colorful, modern Peruvian-inspired lunch salad.
Before you choose: Allow the quinoa to stop steaming before mixing. For a packed lunch, follow the recipe’s advice on adding avocado and keeping the meal chilled.
Warm lunch favorites
Choose an oven-finished potato tortilla or a cheese-topped croque monsieur. Both include salad, and neither needs a separate side recipe to complete the listed serving.
Spain
Potato & Onion Tortilla
Tender sliced potatoes and sweet onion set inside a thick egg tortilla, paired with a crisp tomato salad. This Spanish-inspired version finishes in the oven without flipping.
Before you choose: Use an oven-safe skillet. This version finishes in the oven without flipping; the tomato salad is included.
France
Croque Monsieur with Green Salad
Crisp bread, savory ham and melted Gruyere meet a creamy bechamel topping in this French-inspired cafe lunch, served with lemon-dressed greens.
Before you choose: The recipe makes four sandwiches with salad. Set aside time for the bechamel sauce before assembling and baking.
Fresh rolls with dipping sauce
Shrimp, rice noodles and vegetables are wrapped in soft rice paper. Set out the filling components before starting and allow time for rolling.
Vietnam
Shrimp Summer Rolls
Tender shrimp, cool rice noodles and crisp vegetables tucked into soft rice-paper wrappers, with a creamy peanut-lime dipping sauce for a fresh Vietnamese-inspired lunch.
Before you choose: The recipe makes twelve rolls, three per serving, with peanut-lime sauce. Prepare all fillings before softening the wrappers.
Choose the lunch that fits your day
For the shortest listed total: the quinoa salad and croque monsieur are each listed at 40 minutes. The salad needs grain cooking and cooling; the sandwich needs sauce-making and oven time. Neither is simply an assembly-only lunch.
For a warming bowl: allow about 55 minutes for the lentil and rice recipe. The onions need patient browning while the two saucepans are in use. The cucumber yogurt is prepared separately.
For a meal without flipping a pan: the Spanish-inspired tortilla finishes in an oven-safe skillet. Plan around the listed one-hour total and remember that the skillet handle remains hot after baking.
For fresh rolls: the shrimp roll recipe lists 45 minutes, including 35 minutes of preparation. Rolling is a hands-on step; keep the dipping sauce separate and follow the recipe’s handling and refrigeration notes.
For packed lunches: read the individual storage directions. The quinoa recipe discusses adding avocado shortly before eating; the lentil bowls keep yogurt separate. Toasted sandwiches and fresh wrappers have different texture needs.
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About this collection
These recipes have not been verified through kitchen testing. Times and servings are estimates, and nutrition figures are approximate rather than laboratory analysis. The photographs show representative dishes and may differ from the recipe ingredients or presentation. They are not photographs of test-cooked results for these recipes.
This is a curated selection, not an automatic feed. For newer recipes, seasonal dishes and more choices, browse all Lunch recipes.
Photographs are resized and cropped for these cards; the linked licenses apply to the respective images. The lentil-and-rice photograph depicts a Syrian-style serving of a shared Levantine dish, not this Lebanese-inspired adaptation. Other ingredients and presentations may also differ from the recipes.