Lunch Box Series 28: Roasted Butternut Pumpkin Salad

When the week gets busy, having a nutritious, ready-to-go lunch in the fridge is a complete game changer! This Roasted Butternut Pumpkin Salad is one of those recipes you can make on a Sunday and enjoy all week - simple, hearty, and built for lunch boxes.

It’s the perfect balance: caramelised pumpkin, crispy bacon, crunchy chickpeas, and a creamy element to tie it all together. It stores well, packs even better, and doesn’t go soggy by midday (a true meal-prep win)! Just keep the dressing separate in one of our small containers, and your lunch is sorted in seconds. 

Ideal for workdays, grab-and-go mornings, or anyone wanting to level up their weekly meal prep without the extra effort. 

Roasted Butternut Pumpkin Salad

Ingredients: 

• 200g butternut pumpkin, cubed

• 200g eggplant, cubed

• 1 tin chickpeas

• 1 red onion, quartered

• 6 slices bacon, diced

• 6 fresh sage leaves, torn

• 1 tsp chilli flakes 

• 1 tbsp honey 

• 6g goats cheese, crumbled 

• Handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, torn

• 1 tbsp olive oil

Dressing Ingredients:

• 2 tsp wholegrain mustard 

• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 2 tsp honey

• 2 tsp olive oil

• Salt & pepper

Method: 

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius and prepare a large baking tray. 

2. Place the cubed butternut pumpkin, eggplant, drained chickpeas and red onion with the oil, honey, salt and pepper into the baking tray. Toss to coat ingredients. 

3. Roast for 20 minutes, flipping once. 

4. In the meantime, add the dressing ingredients to a jar and shake to combine. 

5. Scatter over the diced bacon and torn sage leaves before roasting for a further 15 minutes or until the bacon is crispy and pumpkin bronzed. 

6. Tip tray ingredients into a large salad bowl and pour over the dressing.

7. Garnish with crumbled goats cheese and parsley. 

8. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. 

9. Enjoy cold or slightly warmed in the microwave.

Pack Lunch With Us

For this week’s lunch, we packed the Roasted Butternut Pumpkin Salad into our Two-Removable Compartment Silicone Bento Box - a serious meal-prep win! It goes straight from the fridge to the microwave, so there’s no need to transfer your food into another bowl. Simply lift out the large compartment, heat it up, and lunch is sorted.

Paired with our Gold 7-Piece Cutlery Set (because a good lunch prep deserves good cutlery) and kept hydrated with the Biscuit 1L Water Bottle. Simple, convenient, and everything you need for a smooth workday lunch.

And that’s a wrap on this week’s lunch box! Stay tuned for more recipes, tips, and tricks - plus plenty of behind-the-scenes fun over on @packedby_elaandearth. We’ve got lots of festive, feel-good cooking coming your way, perfect for meal prep, work lunches, and the quickly approaching holiday season!