Packed with ham flowers, fruits, crab salad, egg, and broccoli, this colorful Chicken meatball bento will get your kids to enjoy their lunches without fail. Read on to learn more on how to pack bento boxes.
Lunch doesn’t end when the school year does. For many of us, even when the school year is over we are still packing lunch for summer camps, daycare, and work. To kick off the summer break, I want to introduce my recent favorite lunch box and a menu my children enjoyed throughout this past school year.
If you are new to bento making, I highly recommend you to read this post and watch this video to get a quick tutorial on how to make bento. I offer some useful tricks and tips on how to pack bento. You can make great looking bento using the previous night’s leftovers; you just need to follow some basic and simple steps.
How to Pack Bento Boxes
So what do you put in the lunch box?
The number one food my children enjoyed having in their lunch box this past school year was Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs (豆腐ハンバーグ). Remember the fluffy meatballs with tofu as a secret ingredient? Yeah, that one.
You can pack anything you like of course. Just remember the 3 rules of thumb for bento packing. Divide the meal proportionally, keep in mind the colors, and pack tightly!
Carbohydrate:
- Steamed rice (leftover – defrosted)
Protein:
- Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs (leftover – heated)
- Ham flower (made in the morning)
- Boiled egg (made previous night)
Veggies:
- Crab Salad (leftover)
- Steamed broccoli (parboiled previous night)
- Cherry tomatoes (washed in the morning)
Fruits:
- Mandarin orange (peeled in the morning)
- Strawberries (washed in the morning)
See? Simply keep your focus on colors and good proportion and the result will be super yummy. When kids are at camp or daycare during the day, they want lunches that look appetizing and nutritious which will fuel them for their activity-filled day.
If you are new to packing lunches and interested in making bento-style lunch, check out How To Make Bento.
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Chicken Meatball Bento
Ingredients
- cooked Japanese short-grain rice
- teriyaki chicken meatballs (leftover)
- ham flower
- Japanese kani salad (leftover)
- soft/hard-boiled egg (made previous night)
- broccoli (steamed, parboiled previous night)
- cherry tomatoes
- strawberries
- mandarin orange
Instructions
- Pack steamed rice in ½ of bento box and let it cool.
- Reheat teriyaki chicken meatballs in a frying pan till heated through. Transfer them to a small plate and let them cool.
- Meanwhile, make ham flower and set aside.
- When rice and meatballs are cool, pack all the food into the bento box.
- Cool down completely before closing the bento box.
why we need to reheat the left over chicken teriyaki meat ball before put in the bento since we need to cool down it before cover?
I discuss about this topic on this post (https://www.justonecookbook.com/food-safety-tips-for-bento/). Basically, you need to reheat the food to kill possible germs (that you don’t see). But you have to let them cool before adding to lunch box because you don’t want to create condensation, which will cause bacteria to grow. Hope that makes sense. 🙂
I love bento! O-bento 🙂 Your bento box look very nice and functional. Did you buy those ‘cups'(The wavy divider cups? in the white box.)somewhere else? I didn’t see those at the monbento site. They are not made with paper are they? Reusable, I imagine?
My favorite food for the bento was also the meatball(ハンバーグ）. It was the best!
Well, I would love to be your kids and take those yummy bento box to school!
Wish you have a wonderful trip to Japan! Say ‘Hi’ to Yokohama for me… I miss you, Yokohama~ !!
Hi Ayako! I got those silicone cups from Lunch a Porter and I have these sets.
http://www.lunchaporter.com/products/Silicone-Cups-Oval.html
http://www.lunchaporter.com/products/Silicon-Cups-Flower.html
Thank you so much for your kind words!
I love the colors! And the ham flower is a super cute touch. =) Now that summer is getting into swing, I bet that there are a lot of vibrant veggies and fruits to brighten up a bento.
Hope you have a wonderful and fun trip—can’t wait to see your posts from Japan!
Hi Kimmi! Thank you so much! The ham flowers are easy to make and they are very cute! As long as you have several colors (of food) to play, the bento will look very nice! 🙂
Yummy! Am loving you to bits right now – I simply loved the chicken meatballs when I made them and now this lovely lunch! 🙂
Thank you so much for trying the meatball recipe, Sandy! Make a lot and enjoy them next day in lunch box. 🙂
Hi Nami! The bento lunch box from Mon Bento is so chic! I love the cutlery that goes with it too! Have a wonderful trip to Japan! I love Yokohama and Kanagawa ken and I am very jealous that you will enjoy five weeks there! I will look forward to hearing about all your adventures there; it will warm me up as it is cold here in Melbourne (Australia). Safe travels to you and your family ^_^
Hi Maybelle! Thank you so much for your kind words! So happy to hear you like Yokohoama and Kanagawa-ken. This last two days have been very nice weather here. Hope you stay warm in Melbourne! 🙂
Oh my gosh, I just love all the work in those pictures, BEAUTIFUL with writing as well. Have a great time. All will be missed. Stay Safe and Enjoy.
Hi LP! Thank you very much! I’ll be posting regularly from Japan, so don’t worry! 😉
Can’t wait to order the boxes for my young grandsons….Have a super trip..keep in touch …can’t wait to learn and experience new Japanese goodies..:)
Hi Lyn! Thank you so much for your kind words! I hope you check my Instagram/Facebook for updates from Japan! 🙂