How To Freeze Food For Bento

Here you’ll find a comprehensive guide and tips on how to freeze different kinds of food, so you can easily pack them for your bento box for stress-free morning!

This is the basic guide to storing freezer-friendly dishes for your bento lunch box. Once you learn how to properly freeze pre-cooked meals, you can save so much time to make bento in the morning!

In this post, I’ll cover:

• Helpful Tools
• How to Freeze Cooked Rice
• How to Freeze Pan-Fried Food
• How to Freeze Deep-Fried Food
• How to Freeze Vegetables
• How To Freeze Vegetable Dishes
• How to Freeze Tamagoyaki

Helpful Tools

To keep everything organized, I find these containers and silicon cups extremely helpful.

• Glass containers for storing rice
• Glass containers for meal prep
• Silicone cups (I have both mini and regular sizes)

How To Freeze Cooked Rice

You don’t have to cook rice just to make bento every morning. My go-to method for storing extra steamed rice is to freeze it. Even if it’s for the following day, freezing rice is the best way. Rice gets hard and dry in the fridge, but not if you store in the freezer! I make extra and always keep a few containers of steamed rice in the freezer.

To make it easy, I have different size containers for bento portion, 1 serving of rice, and 2 servings of rice. It’s easy to take it out and pop in the microwave to defrost the frozen rice in the morning. Once the rice is warmed through, pack it in bento boxes or make rice balls (onigiri).

1. (Ideally, as soon as rice is done cooking) Pack the cooked rice with steam and cover the lid immediately to seal in the steam and moisture.
2. Let cool completely on the kitchen counter. You do not want to spoil your food in the freezer with your hot/warm rice.
3. Store in the freezer for up to 1 month.
4. Reheat by microwaving. Make sure to let cool completely before packing in the bento box (Why do we need to re-heat and let cool? Click here.).

👉🏻 Read more about How to Store Cooked Rice

How To Freeze Pan-Fried Food

1. Option 1: Put each portion the cooked food (2 meatballs) in a silicone cup and place all the silicone cups in a larger container.
2. Option 2: Put each portion of the cooked food (2 meatballs) in separate small containers.
3. Let cool completely, keeping the container lid(s) open, on the kitchen counter.
4. Store in the freezer for up to 3 weeks.
5. Reheat thoroughly by microwaving, pan-frying, or baking at 350ºF (180ºC). Make sure to let cool completely before packing in the bento box (Why do we need to re-heat and let cool? Click here.).

How To Freeze Deep-Fried Food

1. After deep frying, let cool completely.
2. Option 1: Put them in a large airtight container, separate each portion with parchment paper (see above).
3. Option 2: Put individual serving in separate small containers.
4. Store in freezer for up to 3 weeks.
5. Reheat thoroughly (without thawing) by baking at 375ºF (190ºC) in the oven or the toaster oven till heated through and crispy. Make sure to let cool completely before packing in the bento box (Why do we need to re-heat and let cool? Click here.).

How To Freeze Vegetables

1. Blanch vegetables* till tender but crisp (don’t overcook!) and drain well or squeeze water out.
2. Let cool completely.
3. Pat dry with paper towel to make sure all the moisture is removed.
4. Option 1: Put each portion in a silicone cup and place all the silicone cups in a larger container.
5. Option 2: Put each portion in separate small containerners.
6. Store in freezer for up to 2-3 weeks.
7. Pack directly into your bento box (no reheat!) or thaw overnight in the fridge (and serve with a salad dressing), or cook/stir-fry in the morning while frozen.

*Broccoli, asparagus, green beans, bell peppers, zucchini, carrots, corn etc.

How To Freeze Vegetable Dishes

1. Drain (if there is any liquid) and put each portion in a silicone cup and place all the silicone cups in a larger container.
2. Let cool completely.
3. Store in freezer for up to 2-3 weeks.
4. Pack directly into your bento box (no reheat!) or thaw overnight in the fridge.

How To Freeze Tamagoyaki

1. Let cool completely.
2. Option 1: Place the tamagoyaki slices in a container that fits and keep each piece detoched (so it’s easy to take one out).
3. Option 2: Wrap each slice of tamagoyaki in plastic wrap and put it in a freezer bag.
4. Keep in freezer for up to 2 weeks.
5. Pack directly into your bento box (no reheat).

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