Portable Healthy Lunches for Your Motorcycle Ride

Motorcycles have become a primary source of recreation for many riders. Whether it is a weekend or a long vacation, riders prefer to spend time riding their bikes on some of the most scenic routes. The enjoyment tends to increase when riders have delicious and healthy lunches to enjoy during the ride. With most motorcycles already equipped with secure luggage bags , carrying portable healthy lunches on a motorcycle has become quite convenient. The fact that money is saved on food allows riders to use it for fuel and increase their time on the road or purchase a souvenir for their family and friends. In this article, Viking Bags brings you some exciting lunch ideas that will help you control portions and stick to your diet even during a long motorcycle trip.

Also Read: How to Make Motorcycle Trips More Enjoyable?

As the motorcycle trend is on the rise, a surge in preference for carrying home-cooked meals on motorcycle trips has also been observed. Different motorcyclists have their unique reasons for carrying lunches for their long motorcycle trips and short rides. If you too are looking for reasons to pack your healthy lunches, here are some advantages to consider: 

The variety you have in your kitchen cannot be found even in the fancy gourmet restaurants out there. From a few simple ingredients, you make custom meals that are hearty, filling, and delicious. From salads to wraps, quick appetizers, and even thick soups, you can create a complete menu for your motorcycle rides. 

When out on the road, there is a higher chance of coming down with food poisoning and other digestive issues. These health problems make it extremely difficult to reach your destination safely and on time. On the other hand, fresh home-cooked meals completely rule out the risk of contracting intestinal and digestive infections, ensuring you remain healthy throughout your trip. 

Home-cooked meals are hygienic and ensure safety; however, you may not find the same hygienic kitchen practices being observed in local diners and restaurants. Also, the utensils in which your meal is served might not be clean. Therefore, when planning a motorcycle trip, whether short or long, it is recommended that you also plan your meals. Moreover, when enjoying meals en route, make sure you wash your hands or use sanitizers before handling meals. 

Home-cooked meals are much more budget-friendly than eating out. Though eating out at local diners may give you a chance to try out local cuisine; however, it can be taxing on your tight budget. If you want to complete your motorcycle trip within your budget, it is best that you avoid purchasing meals, snacks, and beverages from convenience stores, cafes, and local restaurants and pack your own. 

Some people are on a specific diet, recommended by their personal trainers, dieticians, or doctors. These diets may be a result of certain food allergies, health conditions, or fitness goals. Therefore, if you are on a keto diet, Mediterranean diet, gluten-free diet, high-protein diet, or simply avoid some foods due to allergies, it is best to carry healthy meals for your motorcycle ride and if possible try to plan to make your meals during the trip as well. 

When carrying your own lunches, you can improvise and take a much-needed rest break at any scenic spot that was not included in your original route. On the other hand, the availability of food helps you deal with hunger pangs without having to search for nearby diners or eateries. Not only does this prevent fatigue and frustration, but also saves time, allowing you to reach your destination as expected. 

Home-cooked meals are generally healthier, even if you opt for pizzas, white-bread sandwiches, pasta, or white rice dishes. Now these foods can create food-induced fatigue and energy crashes, the produce and ingredients used to make these meals are usually of high quality, making them healthier than what you will find in local restaurants.

As mentioned, riders can stop at scenic spots to enjoy their meals due to them being readily available. The beauty of the landscape combined with the comfort of a healthy homemade lunch offers relaxation and amplifies the overall experience. Therefore, if you have a favorite recipe that you would want to enjoy near a serene lake, be sure to pack that for lunch on your next motorcycle trip. 

Healthy home-cooked meals are more environmentally friendly as they are packed in reusable food containers. This reduces the overall waste and helps riders meet the leave-no-trace policy of many remote scenic spots. 

When riding with friends, healthy home-cooked lunches can allow you to bond over a shared culinary experience. Also, to make a two-up riding more enjoyable and memorable, it is best to plan meals and picnics at different spots and bond over a hearty meal. 

With all the benefits a healthy lunch has to offer, it is difficult not to cook and pack your own food for your motorcycle trip. Oftentimes, riders find it difficult to put together a meal that is time-effective, cost-effective, and also as delicious as takeout. Here are some easy lunch ideas that will keep you fueled throughout the trip, are easy to pack and carry on a motorcycle, and quite easy on your budget as well. 

Crunchy, fresh, and filling, chicken lettuce wraps or cups are easy to make and quite healthy. To make this, take a big head of iceberg lettuce, put some grated parmesan cheese in it, season some croutons (optional), then add creamy Caesar dressing and a generous amount of grilled chicken. You can simply wrap the lettuce head with all this filling or keep it open to make a chicken Caesar lettuce bowl. If you prefer, you can also add some more Caesar dressing and parmesan cheese on top of the chicken pieces. To make these wraps even more healthy, use homemade caesar dressing to make these wraps. Feel free to experiment with this recipe and use a different filling of your choosing. 

The hummus and avocado sandwich is the perfect lunch for all our vegan riders out there. Start by cutting some cucumbers, olives, and cherry tomatoes, or you can use veggies of your own choice. Also, thinly slice a ripe avocado for this recipe. Take two whole-grain toasts and spread a generous amount of homemade or store-bought hummus on them. For this recipe, you can use simple hummus or flavored one, whichever you prefer. If you have any herbs available, top the hummus layer with them, or simply skip this part.

Next, put all the veggies you prepared earlier and top it all off with baby spinach, lettuce leaves, or any other greens of your choice. If you are not vegan, you can also add grilled chicken pieces or chicken salami to this sandwich. Cut the sandwich in half and pack it in a simple lunch box or a bento box to enjoy during your motorcycle trip. 

Aesthetically appealing and nutritiously balanced, bento boxes help you carry healthy lunches on your motorcycle rides and allow you to treat yourself to a delicious portion-controlled meal en route, something you will not find at local fast food restaurants and diners. Bento boxes are highly convenient on a motorcycle ride as you can easily fit them in a motorcycle backpack or a saddlebag .

Moreover, their easily customizable compartments allow you to pack a variety of lunch ingredients to create wholesome and balanced meals. Moreover, bento box meals are normally eaten cold, which means they reduce your cooking time. Most of the bento boxes come in two layers, regardless of their size or shape. Therefore, you can easily pack a main meal or lunch in one container and store snacks in the other to keep yourself fueled all day long. Here are some bento box ideas for your motorcycle ride:

Slice and dice a large cucumber, tomatoes, and green bell pepper. Thinly slice half of a red onion and place all the veggies in a large bowl. Use the same bowl to easily accommodate all the other ingredients of this dish, including small chunks of feta cheese and pitted black or green olives, whichever you prefer. For the dressing, combine and stir 1/3 cup of red wine vinegar, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, lemon juice, a small quantity of Dijon mustard, a pinch or two dried oregano leaves, and salt and pepper to taste. Use a hand-held mixture to mix all the dressing ingredients and simultaneously add olive oil.

Pour this flavorful blend immediately on the vegetables or pack it in the bento box separately. Either way, the salad will remain fresh and unwilted. In the snack container, add a hard-boiled egg, and a spoonful of hummus, and also add carrot or celery sticks in the bento box to scoop up the hummus with. 

Assemble the chipotle chicken quinoa burrito bento box with ½ cup of cooked quinoa, ½ cup of grilled chicken, ½ cup iceberg lettuce, 2 tablespoons of grated mozzarella cheese or any other cheese of your choice, ¼ cup of beans and avocado, a small amount of salsa, and some store-bought chipotle dressing. In the snack portion, you can add orange slices or any other fruit of your choice. Feel free to change the ingredients to come up with your own chicken quinoa bowl recipe. 

Add a can of drained tuna fish in a large bowl, along with a ¼ cup of mayonnaise, diced onion, 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, diced celery (optional), ½ tablespoon of Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir the mixture together and add it to a gluten-free or wholegrain bread, whichever you prefer. Though optional, you can put baby spinach or lettuce on the bread before adding the tuna salad mixture. Optionally, you can also add some slices of ripe avocado. Add the top slice of bread and cut the sandwich in half. You can also add some plantain chips on the side. In the snack section, add half a cucumber cut into slices, some hummus, and blueberries. 

Much like bento boxes, mason jars also ensure convenient and safe transportation of healthy meals for your motorcycle ride. They are growing in popularity because they promote portion control and recipe customization. Here is a quick mason jar lunch recipe to get you started.

For all the noodle lovers out there, lunch is incomplete without a savory noodle dish. For this recipe, you can choose to use home-made or store-bought kimchi, whichever option suits you best and speeds up things. In a mixing bowl, add some cornstarch, 2 tablespoons of oil, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon of sriracha sauce. Stir the mixture to get a smooth texture and even consistency. You can use chicken chunks or tofu chunks for this recipe. Add either of the two ingredients in the sauce and stir it till the chicken or tofu chunks are completely covered. Bake the chicken or tofu until properly cooked.

In a pan, heat some olive oil and four cloves of crushed garlic. Once the garlic is golden, add some baby spinach and cook for a few minutes until the spinach has wilted. In the same pan, cook some mushrooms and then move to the plate next to the spinach. Repeat the process to cook thinly sliced carrots. Now cook some brown rice noodles according to the instructions on the package. Once it's all done, layer the noodles, vegetables, and chicken/tofu chunks in the mason jar. You can also add a dressing of your choice to enhance the flavors of your meal. 

Riders can never go wrong with a fresh salad as an easy portable lunch for motorcycle rides. A versatile lunch option, fresh salads save you a lot of cooking time, allow you to experiment with different ingredients and dressings, and give you much leverage in terms of your less than meticulous cooking skills. In a large salad bowl your favorite diced vegetables, this can include cucumbers, carrots, avocados, red and yellow bell peppers, onion, and lettuce. If you want to add some protein, feel free to add cooked chicken chunks to the salad bowl. Add your preferred salad dressing to the vegetables and chicken and mix it all until all the ingredients in the salad bowl are properly coated with the dressing. Pack the salad in a lunch box, food container, mason jar, or bento box as per your convenience and enjoy it in a remote scenic spot. 

Nutritious and filling meals that do not cause a spike in your blood sugars and keep you satisfied for a long time are extremely important for a comfortable and safe motorcycle ride. Processed and sugary foods make you lethargic and drowsy, and when riding a motorcycle, these states can be dangerous. To ensure that you are alert and awake the entire time you are on the road, it is essential to stay hydrated and eat healthy meals.

The specialized motorcycle luggage bags available on the market are so multifaceted that the riders really have no excuses when it comes to safely transporting their lunches and other meals, along with their personal belongings and other stuff. However, even if the luggage bags come with secure mounting points and advanced installation systems, riders also need to adopt safe practices to pack their food in these luggage bags without jeopardizing the safety of other items. Here are some quick tips to help you safely carry healthy lunches on your two-wheeler. 

Also Read: How to Stay Awake & Alert During Long Motorcycle Trips?

As mentioned earlier, bento boxes, mason jars, and similar accessories make a two-wheeler a practical vehicle even to carry lunches. In fact, we see food delivery riders do this job meticulously on their bikes, and that is all the encouragement we need to do the same for ourselves. To succeed in this, all you need to do is inspect and make sure that the mason jar, bento box, or your container of choice does nor leak oil or other fluids in your lunches. If you are packing dry foods, such as a sandwich, then you need not worry about leaks. 

It is best to place the bento box or a jar in an upright position to avoid it from moving around too much. For this purpose, a medium-sized solo bag , a leather saddlebag, or a backpack works best. Avoid storing a bento box, mason jar, or any other food container in a large motorcycle tour pack unless it comes with a foam lining.

If you store these food containers in a tour pack that lacks an inner soft lining or a mat there is a high risk of these food boxes rattling around at higher speeds. Other motorcycle luggage bags that you can use to safely carry lunches, utensils, and water bottles include tank bags , tail bags , and roll bags . Some people also store quick snacks such as dry fruits, nuts, or some dark chocolate in their handlebar bags for easy access. 

Some motorcyclists secure the food containers or bento boxes directly on the bike’s luggage rack, passenger seat, or fuel tank, using a bungee cord or a heavy-duty strap. While this may work for short trips, you should avoid carrying the food container on your two-wheeler in this manner. When the motorcycle is at higher speeds, the chassis and other parts of the bike experience vibrations that can cause the straps or bungee cords to come loose.

If that happens, you will be deprived of a nutritious meal; moreover, the incident will shift your focus from maintaining control of the bike and this distraction can be quite dangerous for you. Similarly, a lunch box or any other item that may fall from the motorcycle can be a safety hazard for other people sharing the road. It may seem unlikely, but a bento box or a food container falling off your bike may cause serious accidents. 

If you agree that warm meals are tastier, then opt for insulating food containers that will keep your food hot for a longer period, so when you are ready to enjoy a hearty meal, you have a warm and fresh meal to enjoy. Moreover, insulated food containers provide much-needed temperature regulation that makes them highly multi-faceted; you can also store fruits, sandwiches, and cold salads in these food containers. In addition, these containers are available in different sizes, allowing you to accommodate snacks with lunches. Also, these food storage boxes come with secure lids and tight seals, making them dependable and convenient during motorcycle rides.

When carrying both hot lunches, cold snacks, fruits, and desserts, it is best to separate them on a temperature basis and pack them in different containers. While freshly cooked warm lunches don’t go bad for quite a while, if you pack cold lunches such as sandwiches or salads with warm meals, they might get wilted or soggy if they get exposed to the heat, which can spoil their look and also taste. 

To get you started and give you some ideas, we have provided some of our favorite meals that are healthy, quick, and easy to carry on a motorcycle. But, once you become comfortable with the idea of carrying your own food, surely you would want to experiment with different recipes. You should always choose balanced meals for your motorcycle trips. Avoid making fast foods, white bread sandwiches, sweetened granola bars, doughnuts, pastries, and other foods high in sugars and carbohydrates, energy drinks, and sweet beverages. In addition to increasing your blood sugar levels, these foods will lead to a sudden energy crash, making it difficult for you to continue riding. A sudden drop in energy levels can lead to accidents, spoiling your whole motorcycle trip. 

When packing a pasta or a rice dish, the last thing you want is to not forget to pack spoons, forks, knives, and other necessary utensils. Moreover, make sure you carry napkins with you during the ride. To ensure that you pack all these accessories, be sure to add them to your packing list. It is also recommended that you carry a thin picnic blanket to make your meals even more enjoyable. 

If you want to have a picnic at a scenic spot during your motorcycle ride, then make sure you plan the route and your stops well. Estimate the time you might get hungry during the trip and try to coincide it with reaching the spot where you want to have a picnic. This small activity en route will energize you and make your trip more memorable. During your ride, if you have adequate food supplies, you can also choose to experience motorcycle camping. There are many campgrounds, national parks, state parks, national forests, and BLM lands available for camping. However, make sure that the campground you are choosing allows non-reservation entries and that there are no risks of bears in the area that may get attracted to your camping site due to the aroma of your lunches. 

Also Read: Best Non-Reservation First Come, First Serve Motorcycle Camping Spots Across America

Always carry plenty of water, flavored water, and other healthy beverages to ensure you stay hydrated during the motorcycle ride. Wind-induced dehydration can make you sluggish and drowsy, impairing your focus and posing serious safety hazards. Therefore, do not wait for the next stop to get and drink water. Carry your own to ensure all-time availability. 

During long motorcycle trips, you would need to rely on coffee and naps to stay focused and alert during the ride. While nutritious meals help fight fatigue and drowsiness on a two-wheeler, you would still need to take a coffee break. Thankfully, carrying your own homemade coffee during a motorcycle ride is not a hassle anymore. Depending on your motorcycle handlebars' shape and design, you can easily find and mount a compatible cup holder. As for storing the coffee, use a spill-proof thermos that will prevent the coffee from spilling and keep it searing hot for hours. Having your own coffee ensures that you can drink it right before taking a nap. This way, you can maximize the effects of caffeine and stay refreshed and alert for a long while. 

Portable healthy lunches have many advantages whether you pack them for school, work, or a motorcycle ride. It is best to carry homemade salads, wraps, sandwiches, and other meals to avoid getting sick on the road and to enjoy your trip to the fullest. If you haven’t already, make sure to equip your motorcycle with high-quality hard or soft luggage bags that will make it easy to transport lunch on your motorcycle safely. Also, the recipes provided in this article are just some ideas to get you started on your motorcycle ride meal prep.

If you are not a great cook, start with simpler recipes that you can also find easily on food blogs, YouTube videos, and social media pages dedicated to promoting healthy eating habits. Once you develop a habit of carrying your own meals on every ride, the next adventure would be to carry supplies to make your own food en route. 

Also Read: How to Pack for Motorcycle Camping