Healthy meal ideas
A practical guide for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners with meal ideas, cooking tips and healthy drinks.
Eating a balanced breakfast, lunch, and dinner helps us stay healthy, think clearly, and have lots of energy to do all the things we enjoy.
Here’s our guide to:
At each meal, it’s important to drink of water or milk to stay hydrated. Find out more about the importance of drinking during the day.
Breakfast
A healthy breakfast gives the nutrients and fuel our body and brain need to perform at their best and keeps us feeling full until our next meal.
Breakfast will look different for everyone depending on personal taste and routines but it is good to plan a healthy breakfast.
What a healthy breakfast could include
- Wholemeal cereals or bread: They give us energy and fibre. Food like oats, wholegrain toast or high-fibre cereal.
- Some milk, yoghurt, cheese, eggs, beans, nuts or seeds: They are a source of protein which is important for growth and repair in the body and helps us to feel a bit fuller.
- Fruit and vegetables: They give us vitamins and fibre, so try to eat a variety of colourful fruits and veggies.
Breakfast ideas
- Porridge with berries and low-fat milk
- Wholegrain cereal with fruit
- Beans on wholegrain toast
- Boiled, scrambled or poached eggs on wholemeal bread with tomatoes
- Yogurt with oats and fruit
Breakfast tips
- Prep the night before for example chopped fruit or make our overnight oats
- Rushing in the morning? Take food to go, like fruit, yogurt or bagel with peanut butter.
- Choose cereals with low added sugar. Find out more about reading food labels.
Lunch
Lunch should include a number of food groups to give you the calories and nutrients your body and brain needs to perform during the day.
What’s in a good lunch
- Wholemeal breads, pasta, rice, potatoes: These foods give slow, steady energy.
- Milk, yoghurt and cheese: These provide calcium that is needed for healthy bones and teeth and are a source of protein. Choose low-fat varieties where possible as they are lower in saturated fat.
- Fruit and vegetables: Full of fibre.
Lunch ideas
Whether it’s a cold or warm lunch we have lots of healthy lunch recipes. Try to include 2 types of vegetables.
- Sandwiches with wholemeal bread and healthy fillings, like egg and salad, tuna with sweetcorn, or hummus with grilled veggies.
- Leftovers from dinner like stews or pasta salads.
- Batch-cooked meals like casseroles or stews.
If you are packing a lunch for kids, check out our tips for preparing a healthy lunchbox that your child will eat and enjoy.
Dinner
A balanced and nutritious dinner fills us up and can keep us from snacking in the evening. Try to include 3 or 4 foods from different food groups.
What makes a good dinner?
- Half our plate should be vegetables or salad: Different colours give different nutrients. It’s easy to add extra vegetables to sauces, stews and casseroles.
- Wholemeal breads, pasta, rice or potatoes: Foods like brown rice or wholemeal pasta give long-lasting energy.
- Chicken, fish (try to eat fish twice a week), eggs, beans and nuts are great for growing strong.
Less salt: Keep processed salty meats such as sausages, bacon and ham to a minimum as too much salt can raise your blood pressure. High blood pressure is the leading cause of stroke and heart disease.
Dinner ideas
- Omelettes with vegetables, meat or cheese. Check out our basic omelette recipe.
- Stir-fries with lots of vegetables. Here’s our favourite stir-fry recipes.
- Grilled meat or fish with veggies and wholemeal sides are quick meals.
- Pasta with tomato sauce, vegetables, and lean meats, using low-salt sauces.
Cooking tips
- Cook meals in batches to save time and money. Learn more about batch cooking.
- Keep cupboards well stocked with tinned food, herbs and spices, pasta and rice.
- Grill or steam foods instead of frying. Here’s our tips on how to keep your cooking healthy.
- Serve meals with a side salad to boost your veggie in-take.
- Try swapping mashed potatoes for vegetables in dishes like Shepherd’s Pie.
