Three Bento Lunch Box Ideas
If you have lunchbox fatigue, check out these three EASY bento-box style lunch boxes. My kids love these and yours will also!
Three Bento Lunch Box Ideas
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This post is sponsored by Horizon Organic! I used their Organic Mozzarella Cheese Sticks for these Bento Box Ideas. Be sure to follow them on Instagram for other great snack ideas!
I started the school year (our first one!) with literal lists of things I wanted to pack for my son’s lunch. After a few weeks though, I’m starting to get lunch-packing fatigue! I’m sure I’m not the only one.
So, I spent some time brainstorming some simple and wholesome Bento Box lunches for kids! My son loves the bento box approach to lunch and is much more likely to actually eat his lunch if it’s in snackable portions.
These bento boxes all feature Horizon Organic Cheese Sticks or Single Serve Milk Boxes. These are both great on-the-go protein options for kids. I love that the milk boxes are shelf-stable and don’t need to be refrigerated. They have 8 grams of protein so I even let him have a Chocolate Low Fat milk 1-2 times a week!
Truthfully, my son doesn’t love cheese (is he even mine?!). But, if you have a cheese lover, Horizon Organic Cheese Sticks are the perfect lunch add with 7 grams of protein and come in Mozzarella or Colby Jack.
As a reminder, this fall the #HorizonConfiDANCE campaign will help Big Brothers Big Sisters of America recruit, train and support new matches! Until September 30th, if you post a short dance on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #HorizonConfiDANCE, Horizon Organic will donate $5 to BBBS (up to $200,000). Want to see how it’s done?! Check out my ConfiDANCE video in my kitchen! I might not be the best dancer in the food blog world, but that won’t stop me!
If you have lunch packing fatigue, try out some of these great bento box ideas!
Autumn Crunch Bento Box
Autumn Crunch Bento Box
- Serves:
- 1 bento box
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Total Time:
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A great bento box lunch with mini turkey and cranberry sandwiches.
Ingredients
Instructions
1) Peel and slice the golden beets into matchsticks.
2) For sandwich, smear bread with fig or cranberry jam and layer on turkey. Cut sandwich into shapes that fit in your bento box.
Be sure to have a cold pack on or in the bento box to keep ingredients cold.
This easy lunch box centers around mini turkey sandwiches that I make. Find a good cranberry jam or, even better, a fig jam! The combo of savory and sweet is really delicious and is a perfect little intro to fall. You could add any fruit or veggie to this bento box to round it out but I like to go outside of the box sometimes so I included some chopped golden beets in this version!
Caprese Bento Box
Caprese Bento Box
- Serves:
- 1 bento box
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Total Time:
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A great end of summer bento box lunch with Caprese ingredients and angel hair pasta.
Ingredients
Instructions
1) Cook and drain angel hair according to package instructions. Toss with butter and some grated parmesan cheese.
2) Drizzle tomatoes and basil with olive oil (optional) and a pinch of salt.
Be sure to have a cold pack on or in the bento box to keep ingredients cold.
If you want to keep the angel hair butter pasta warm, heat it up and scoop it into a small thermos for hot storage.
Straight from Italy! This is a fun play on the classic Caprese salad with ripe tomatoes, a few fresh basil leaves, and a cheese stick. Teach your kids that these things should be eaten together!
On the pasta, it’s actually decent cold (just angel hair mixed with butter) but if you have a small travel thermos you can heat it up and put it on the side also.
Protein Pack Bento Box
Protein Pack Bento Box
- Serves:
- 1 bento box
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Total Time:
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A bento box lunch packed with protein!
Ingredients
Instructions
1) Cook and drain angel hair according to package instructions. Toss with butter and some grated parmesan cheese.
2) Drizzle tomatoes and basil with olive oil (optional) and a pinch of salt.
Be sure to have a cold pack on or in the bento box to keep ingredients cold.
If you want to keep the angel hair butter pasta warm, heat it up and scoop it into a small thermos for hot storage.
Sometimes I feel like my kid’s attitude is in direct proportion to how much protein they have had so far in the day. Lots of protein = happy kids. Lots of sugar and filler foods = Not so happy kids.
This protein lunch box is jam-packed with protein foods. It gets the job done!
If you’re in a lunch rut, try out some of these fun bento box lunch ideas! I think you and your kids will love them!
Here are a few other great weekday lunch ideas!
- Grilled Chicken Pita Sandwiches
- Lemon Caper Egg Salad
- Chicken and Rice Picnic Salad
- Easy Healthy Lunch Wraps by Family Food on the Table
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Hello! My name is Nick Evans and I write and manage Macheesmo. I started Macheesmo 11 years ago when I was just learning my way around the kitchen. I love to cook and love everything food-related, but I have no formal training. These days I focus on fast, accessible recipes with the occasional “reach” recipe!
I’ve posted almost 2,000 recipes on Macheesmo. For each one, I do my best to give full explanations of what I did and tips on what I’d do differently next time. I’ll bring up the tricky parts and the easy parts.
I hope you can find something and cook something!
Use a silicon cupcake/fairy cake case to pop the Houmas in to prevent it spreading everywhere?
YES. That’s an awesome idea. :)
Love the bento box idea – use these for my kids (and myself) everyday.
Have to say I’m super impressed with your kids’ eating if they take down that Caprese box. Those are some healthy eaters!