5 no-cook, high protein lunches for when it's too hot to turn the oven on

Right, slagbags, the universe is apparently taking the absolute piss because we wrote this when it was hotter than Satan's crack but on the day we're pressing 'publish', it's rained in much of the UK and is actually borderline jumper weather.

But assuming hot-as-balls weather is going to become the standard every summer, let's talk about lunch, specifically quick and cold ones. Because as any perimenopausal slags knows, when the whole house is a sauna, the idea of standing over a hob or worse, an oven, feels like the final insult. Sweat does not make for a delicious sandwich condiment (although there are probably some of those clickbait foodie influencers trying it).

So we've put together five no-cook, high-protein lunches that need nothing more than a chopping board and roughly four minutes of your busy life. Every single one lands around 500 calories and 30g of protein, so you're actually fuelling your midlife self properly and able to ride out the worst of the afternoon's heat and/or energy dive with grace/no biscuits.

Let's 'ave it.

1. Salmon & Edamame Power Bowl (or Plate)

This is the easiest lunch in the rotation. Grab a precooked salmon fillet (120g), 80g of shelled edamame, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and a bit of feta (20g), and pile it onto some leaves. Then don't skip the dressing: whisk together tahini, lemon juice, a crushed garlic clove and a splash of olive oil (add water to loosen if needed), or some other delicious salad dressing of your choice. Either way, you're looking at around 30g of protein and it takes less time to make than it does to eat.

2. Eat a Rainbow Beetroot, Sweetcorn & Seed Salad (w/chicken or tofu)

This one's a proper base salad you can build either way depending on what's in the fridge. Cooked beetroot, sweetcorn, pomegranate seeds, finished with a tablespoon of toasted (or raw) pumpkin/sunflower etc seeds and a teriyaki-style dressing (bung soy sauce, a touch of honey, rice vinegar and sesame oil together, adjust to taste).

Use 100g cooked chicken breast and you're at roughly 35g of protein. If you're on team veggie, you'll want 200g of firm tofu plus a slightly heavier hand with the seeds (or a scoop of edamame thrown in) to get you closer to that 30g mark, since tofu alone comes in a bit lower.

If you don't want to pre-buy cooked chicken and there's a moment where the temp is not roasting YOU, a top batch-cooking tip is to roast a whole chicken or air fry a bunch of breasts at the start of the week, shred it all up once it's cooled, and portion it into 100g servings. Cheaper, way faster in the long run than cooking chicken breast fresh every day, you only have to use the oven once and you've got the rest of the bird for other meals too.

3. Spudtastic Tuna-Stuffed Sweet (or Regular) Potato

Okay this is 'technically' cooking, but using a microwave kinda doesn't count in our eyes. There's an Australian cooking creator that calls it 'the Tucker Fucker' and most microwave cuisine can absolutely get in the bin. But it can't be beaten for a quick potato-based lunch!

Shove an approx 200g potato in microwave for 10-ish minutes (or if you're a purist, batch cook a few in the oven on a Sunday at a time when it's cooler/you can be arsed). Mix 120g of drained tuna with a little light mayo, split open spud and stuff it in, side salad (our cucumber and edamame salad is as moreish as crack) on the plate. Simple, filling, roughly 30g of protein - bosh.

4. Tomato, Avocado & Chicken Salad

Another salad, yes, but don't let the name fool you, this one pulls its weight (whlst not derailing yours if you're working on it). Tomatoes, half a small avocado (about 40g, no need to go overboard), a bit of torn mozzarella (20g), fresh basil, balsamic drizzle, and 100g of cooked chicken breast (see above). This gives you around 35g of protein, so it's a proper lunch that gets you nice and satiated.

5. The Basic Btch Deli Meat (or Egg) Bagel

Sometimes you just want a simple sarnie for lunch, and honestly, fair enough. We recommend a wholemeal bagel for extra fibre to keep you full but we're not giving anyone any grief for eating white flour; 100g sliced turkey or ham, salad, a scrape of mustard. This one sits a little under the 30g mark on its own (around 26g), so if you want to hit your midlife muscle mass maintenance macros (try saying that five times fast!) properly, add a small pot of cottage cheese or a boiled egg on the side.

Veggie version: swap the deli meat for three boiled eggs, mashed with a little mayo, s&p. Same story on the protein, to up it add cottage cheese or fat free Greek yoghurt/Skyr alongside to top it up to 30g.

Bonus: Controversial Cottage Cheese Protein Plate

This one didn't make the top 5 cut, but as the title implies, it's a bit controversial as some slags out there consider cottage cheese to be as palatable as lumpy discharge.

If that's not you, just smash 150g of cottage cheese with 50g of sliced ham or smoked salmon, whatever salad or crudité veg you've got, and some oatcakes or rye crackers on the side. This is most def the fastest lunch: open the tub, plate it up, done. Around 29g of protein.

With a bit of forward planning at the beginning of the week (or buying pre-made items), none of these need the oven, the hob, or a single ounce of your patience in this heat. Batch cook some chicken, do a few spuds once for later in the week, and the rest is just assembly. Easy, breezy heatwave and perimenopause fuel.

Want more of this? Head over to the Nutrition Hub in the app for the full library of high-protein, high-fibre recipes: breakfasts, dinners, snacks and treats too, because what is life without treats?