When it comes to lunchtime hunger pangs, few foods hit the spot quite like a big bowl of pasta. It’s high in carbohydrates – the body's primary source of fuel – and is a quick and easy way to load up on energy for the afternoon. Armed with just a few basic ingredients you can create a mouthwatering pasta meal in minutes. For sheer simplicity and speed, Spaghetti aglio e olio (spaghetti with garlic and oil) is hard to beat. In the time it takes the boil the pasta, you can have this Italian classic ready to serve, or try throwing in a handful of prawns and some lemon zest for Francesco Mazzei’s delicious variation.

A healthy diet should contain at least two portions of fish each week. Oily fish such as salmon, trout, sardines and mackerel are particularly good for you and incredibly quick to cook. Read our handy guide for pan-frying mackerel fillets, which can then be added to all kinds of delicious lunch dishes. Dominic Chapman serves crispy skinned mackerel with a simple beetroot salad and horseradish cream, or have a go at making your own Balik ekmek – a colourful Turkish sandwich made with pan-fried mackerel and salad dressed with pomegranate molasses.

Soup is the ultimate one-pot solution for leftover vegetables, meats and any other ingredients languishing in your fridge. Recipes are easy to scale up into large batches, which will leave you with plenty of leftovers for the next time you want a quick lunch. Andy Waters’ fragrant Thai chicken soup takes just thirty minutes to make and is packed with aromatic herbs and spices to help jumpstart your afternoon, or for something a bit different why not try Filippo Trapella’s authentic recipe for Zuppa imperiale – a rich beef broth soup with little cubes of baked semolina and Parmesan. For a gloriously rustic one-pot dish, take a look at Andrew MacKenzie’s Potato soup, which is served with a dollop of cream for a little extra indulgence.

While tortillas are a form of sandwich, they are so versatile that they deserve their own special mention. The incredibly tilted Sandwich Council of America also classes quesadillas as not a sandwich, so that's good enough for us! An unopened pack of tortillas has a longer shelf life than bread, so they’re useful to have in reserve. A simple cheese quesadilla is always a great snack, but it’s easy to add other ingredients – for example, Nisha Thomas adds chorizo, spinach and Gruyère to hers. For a healthy alternative, Mark Dodson’s simple vegetarian wrap has a delicious ratatouille filling, or if you can spare a little more time David and Charlotte Bailey’s Vegan burrito is guaranteed to fill you up.