It’s back to school time. Discover new bento ideas and inspirations for packing school lunches!
1. Meal Prep Bento Recipe Ideas
These 3 easy and budget-friendly meal prep ideas for bento prove that eating healthy can be delicious and fun! A little prep work on Sunday will set you up to eat healthier, save money, and reduce your stress through the week.
2. Chicken Meatball Bento
Delicious soft and tender chicken meatball packed with ham flower, fruits, crab salad, egg, and broccoli in a stylish bento box.
3. Sanshoku (Tri-color) Bento
Beautiful bento tastes twice as good. Enjoy this colorful Sanshoku Bento with sweet ground chicken, salmon flakes, scrambled egg, and strawberries.
4. Hamburger Steak Bento
Want a meatier option for lunch? Japanese hamburger (hambagu) steak bento with broccoli, tomato, celery, and corn.
5. Asparagus Beef Rolls Bento
Asparagus beef roll bento with edamame, tomatoes, and Onigiri (Japanese rice ball).
6. Tempura Bento
Delicious tempura bento lunch box recipe with shrimp and vegetable tempura packed with rice and fruits.
7. Karaage Bento
In this bento box, you have golden crunchy chicken with tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelette), spinach gomaae, along with fruits and grape tomatoes for a colorful lunch.
8. Honey Soy Sauce Chicken Bento
Sweet and flavorful chicken drummett bento with sauteed cabbage, Tamagoyaki, tomatoes, and fresh fruits. Enjoy with onigiri.
9. Tonkatsu Bento
Bento lunch box with tonkatsu (crispy Japanese pork cutlet), tomato, golden kiwi, and broccoli. Yummy Japanese lunchbox to go! With a scrumptious lunch like this, even the pickiest eaters will finish up every bite in the bento.
10. Ginger Pork Onigirazu Bento
Tender thin pork slices with a hint of ginger wrapped between layers of rice and nori, this Ginger Pork Onigirazu makes a mouthwatering & attractive bento.
11. Shogayaki Ginger Pork Bento
Packed with Japanese rolled omelette and fresh fruits on the side, this Shogayaki Bento takes advantage of dinner leftovers for a quick and convenient lunch the next day. Tender slices of pork cooked in a ginger soy sauce, every bite is flavorful!
12. Sweet & Sour Chicken Bento
Looking for a bento lunch idea that is both kid and adult-friendly? Packed along with steamed rice, ramen egg & Japanese potato salad on the side, this Sweet and Sour Chicken Bento makes the best of dinner leftover and turn lunch into one satisfying meal.
13. Teriyaki Salmon Bento
Teriyaki Salmon on the go – in a bento box! Cook up this easy, sweet & savory teriyaki salmon for dinner the night before, and keep an extra piece to pack in a Japanese-style bento for lunch the next day.
14. Miso Yaki Onigiri
Onigiri is one of my favorite foods to pack into a bento lunch box. This Miso Yaki Onigiri is slathered with sweet, savory miso sauce and grilled to perfection. It’s easy to grill up an extra dozen of the rice balls and save them for lunch. Round up the bento with a colorful salad, edamame, and sliced fruits. If you happened to make Japanese potato salad the same night, it should go really well with the miso yaki onigiri for lunch!
15. Braised Pork Belly Bento
Cook the Pork Belly for dinner and pack it for a comforting work lunch! In the bento box, throw in tomatoes, tamagoyaki, and furikake over rice with the braised pork.
Oh how I love this slide show recipe thingy…wonderful and so convenient!!! Your bentos are always delicious, colorful and appetizing!!!
Nami, what a fabulous review of all those wonderful, amazing bento boxes – your recipes are always such an incredible inspiration!
I am so glad I am no longer at school, university, etc.. I used to hate the end of summer and return to school… If I had such delicious lunches every day I would certainly have liked school a bit more 😉
Your summer holidays seemed to have past by so very quickly, Nami. I can’t believe your children are back to school so quickly. I do find it a struggle to always be making lunch boxes. I’ll be very glad when my little guy starts high school and he won’t be allowed to bring a lunch box – he’ll have to go to the dining hall and eat what everyone else is lining up for xx
What beautiful ideas and presentation! Every kid would love it.
i will visit my niece next week and i can’t wait to try this bento box for her lunchbox Nami
All marvelous bentos, Nami! Your kids are seriously lucky!
Back to school would be easy with these ideas 😀
So cute and tasty!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
You always manage to win hearts Nami….of every age 🙂 Beautiful bentos, never get old!
I love all your Bento ideas, I can imagine being a small girl and having these for lunch at school. You are a great mother!!!
Always so impressed by your bento boxes, I like the sanshoku one as it look grown-up too.
It is quite a task once the schools reopen and the kids want variety in their tiffins. How my daughter would love these!!
Hi Nami, Boy I wish I had you packing my lunches. Can you eat these meat dishes cold? Thats the only problem I’d have. I don’t think I’d like some of these ingredients cold.
Hi Melissa,
The Homemade Bento usually serve at room temperature. But if you prefer warm Bento, you may use a double-walled stainless steel food jar (Thermos).
We hope this helps!🙂
Great review of some amazing bento recipes and designs just in time to inspire a new school year of lunches.
Oh I love this! You do back to school in style girl!
so many delicious combinations. I dont have a bento box but you make you want to get one…