10 Budget Friendly Delicious Summer Lunch Ideas

Summer is right around the corner, which means it’s time for warmer weather, more outdoor activities, farmers markets, picnics, and more! When it’s cold outside, things like stews, soups, and other hearty meals sound good. But, in the summertime, it’s all about those fresh and easy to prepare meals for your summer lunch or dinner….

Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Last Updated: March 4, 2024

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10 Summer Lunch Ideas You Need To Try Today #summerlunchideas #summermeals

Summer is right around the corner, which means it’s time for warmer weather, more outdoor activities, farmers markets, picnics, and more! When it’s cold outside, things like stews, soups, and other hearty meals sound good. But, in the summertime, it’s all about those fresh and easy to prepare meals for your summer lunch or dinner.

With fresh fruits and vegetables in season, the summer is a great time to take advantage of fresh produce. Who doesn’t love going to a farmer’s market and coming home with delicious fruits and vegetables to add to their meal plan?

Many of these recipes would be good for more than just summer lunches as they would make great light dinners too. Some of these recipes would be perfect dishes to bring to potlucks, easy things to prepare for picnics, or great things to prepare as a quick summer lunch before or after a hike.

Also, having a meal plan is an important step in keeping you on track with your budget. These summer lunch recipes won’t break your budget, and they can spruce up a boring weekly meal plan if you feel like you’re in a funk.

If you’re ready for summer like me, here are some tasty summer lunch ideas to get you in the mood for warmer weather by having new recipes to add to your weekly meal plan.

Other recipe roundups to check out for summer recipes:

Note: If you’re looking for easy weekly meal plans that are full of budget recipes, I recommend $5 Meal Plan. $5 Meal Plan is a meal planning service that sends you a delicious meal plan and shopping list every week for just $5 a month.

Here are 10 summer lunch ideas.

1. Apple Pecan Rosemary Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad

Get the recipe here.

2. Grilled Summer Vegetable Quesadilla

Get the recipe here.

3. Pesto Pasta Salad

Get the recipe here.

4. Tortellini with Pesto and Roasted Veggies

Get the recipe here.

5. Balsamic Berry Vegan Grilled Cheese

Get the recipe here.

6. Easy and Healthy Chicken Salad Sandwich

Get the recipe here.

7. Avocado Egg Salad Roll Ups

Get the recipe here.

8. Green Chicken Salad

Get the recipe here.

9. One Pot Cheesy Taco

Get the recipe here.

10. Crock Pot Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches

Get the recipe here.

What’s your favorite summer lunch meal to make?


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Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Author: Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Hey! I’m Michelle Schroeder-Gardner and I am the founder of Making Sense of Cents. I’m passionate about all things personal finance, side hustles, making extra money, and online businesses. I have been featured in major publications such as Forbes, CNBC, Time, and Business Insider. Learn more here.

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  1. The Curious Frugal

    That berry vegan grilled cheese looks really interesting! (Though I’d make it with cheese cheese for myself). I do a lot of proteiny salads and smoothies in the summer. We have a brick house and it heats up more and more as the summer progresses. We try to be frugal with air conditioning (we have one but barely use it), so that means a lot less cooked meals over the summer months!

  2. EBONEE

    These all look so fresh and easy to make. I’m going to try making the Apple Pecan Rosemary Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad!

  3. Recently I have done a ton of protein plates of mixed greens and smoothies in mid-year. We have a blockhouse and it warms up increasingly more as the mid-year advances. We attempt to be economical with cooling. I’m going to take a stab at making the Apple Pecan Rosemary Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad.