12 healthy and kidney-friendly lunches

A balanced diet will help you maintain a healthy weight when you are living with chronic kidney disease (CKD). If you're preparing a light meal, there are lots of tasty and kidney-friendly options to try.

Kidney-friendly sandwiches made with your choice of wholemeal bread, pittas, English muffins, rolls or wraps

There are so many low-fat fillings to choose from:

  • sliced egg with plenty of salad
  • tuna (tinned in spring water) with chopped spring onions, sweetcorn and lots of salad
  • lean meats (limiting processed meats as these are salty) with salad
  • low-fat cream cheese with salad
  • sliced flavoured tofu with salad
  • coronation chickpea (mix drained tinned chickpeas with a small amount of mayonnaise, mango chutney, chopped onion and curry powder and lightly mash) with salad

Reduced-fat hummus with wholemeal pitta and vegetables or salad

Low salt/sugar tinned baked beans on wholemeal toast

Kidney Kitchen's Indian spiced beans on toast with chopped onions and green pepper

Kidney Kitchen Indian spiced beans

Kidney-friendly pasta or rice salads

Choose wholemeal pasta and brown rice for extra fibre or try quinoa, bulgur wheat or buckwheat. Add a lean protein of your choice (eggs, chicken, turkey, pulses, beans, lentils, reduced-fat hummus) and your favourite salad vegetables (peppers, radishes, cucumber, sweetcorn, cooked broccoli, red onions, spring onions, peas, grated carrot). Mix and enjoy with a low fat dressing.

Omelette with pepper, onion, tomato and sweetcorn, or other vegetables of your choice, with some wholemeal bread on the side

Kidney Kitchen's Bean and couscous salad

Kidney Kitchen Bean and couscous salad

Wholemeal crackers or crispbreads with cream cheese or cottage cheese and salad

Eggs on wholemeal toast with a grilled tomato

Vegetable frittata with salad and some boiled new potatoes or a wholemeal roll

Kidney Kitchen's Tuna pasta salad is low in potassium, salt and phosphate, and only takes 5 minutes to prepare

Kidney Kitchen Tuna pasta salad

Kidney-friendly homemade soup* served with a wholemeal roll

Opt for high-fibre ingredients like vegetables, beans and lentils. Shop-bought soups tend to be high in salt, so try making your own.

To pack your meal with flavour, without adding salt, try adding spices, different types of pepper or a spoonful of toasted sesame oil to your soup.

*If fluid allowance allows

Kidney Kitchen lunch recipes

  • 25 minutes

    Leek and potato soup

  • 15 minutes

    Egg-fried rice

  • 20 minutes

    Mejadra

  • 10 minutes

    Salmon, rice and herb salad

More kidney-friendly meal and snack ideas

  • 6 healthy kidney-friendly breakfasts

    Whether you’re after a midweek breakfast-on-the-go or a more leisurely weekend affair, we’ve got you covered with six kidney-friendly breakfast ideas that are as delicious as they are nutritious – and all with the seal of approval from our kidney dietitians.

  • 8 kidney-friendly snack ideas

    Kidney-friendly snacks can help you maintain a healthy weight if you're living with kidney disease. Our kidney dietitians recommend these simple options.

  • 6 kidney-friendly sweet treats

    When it comes to sweet snacks, including just a little taste of the thing we are most craving helps to decrease feelings of denial and increase enjoyment, without putting health at risk. Here are six sweet treat suggestions to do just that!