The ultimate school lunch guide on how to pack Japanese-style Bento in 15 minutes every morning. I’ll show you every step of the way with useful tips and secrets I’ve learned throughout the years!

A Zojirushi lunch jar containing steamed rice, mapo tofu, fruits, and salad.

How are you handling your children’s back to school? This time of year I often receive questions from parents about their struggles on packing lunches for their children. But I love that you are all eager to learn how to pack a kid’s lunch like a Japanese-style bento!

If you’re feeling:

  • overwhelmed with the whole idea of packing lunch…
  • at lost and don’t know where to start…
  • discouraged because bento making looks time-consuming and difficult…

I hear you, and many JOC readers feel the same way. 🤗

I started packing my own lunch in junior high school (middle school) and continued throughout high school and college in Japan. My mom prepared the majority of the dishes and I was responsible to pack them into the bento box myself. After I came to the US, I sometimes packed my own bento for work and now I’ve been making kids’ bento since they were in elementary school.

It’s a long time of bento making, yet I still feel overwhelmed sometimes. The good news is I’ve learned to count on a formula that works, and I’m excited to share it with you. Once you get the hang of it, bento-making will become second nature to you.

In this post, I’ll go through my bento planning, prepping, and actual packing process. As a bonus, I’ll show you 6 real-life bento boxes using Zojirushi Vacuum Insulated Lunch Jars that I use for my children.

Ready to jump into the bento-making journey? Let’s begin!

A Zojirushi lunch jar containing steamed rice, chicken meatballs, asparagus tempura, and hijiki salad.

Chapter 1: Plan Bento Menus

Plan what to put in the bento box (Lunch Jar). Since I mostly cook Japanese food at home and this website focuses on Japanese recipes, I will be focusing on packing Japanese dishes here.

If you cook non-Japanese dishes, that’s okay. This post still gives you general ideas and tips on how to pack your own dishes.

📝 Prepare 5 Types of Foods

First, you will need a broad imagination of how your bento should look like. Let’s say this is just an ideal version. There are 5 types of foods you want to pack in your bento.

  1. Carbs. This is to fill up the tummy! Think of rice, yakisoba, yaki udon, and takikomi gohan.
  2. Main. Proteins such as meat, fish, and seafood, and tofu. Karaage, gyoza, and teriyaki salmon.
  3. Sides. Vegetables, tofu, egg, or mushroom dishes. Hijiki salad, potato salad, tamagoyaki, green bean gomaae, and kinpira renkon.
  4. Fillers. Colorful add-on ingredients to brighten the bento. Blanched broccoli, cherry tomatoes, and boiled egg.
  5. Fruits. Put it in the bento box or in a separate container. Berries, grapes, apples, and oranges.

💁🏻‍♀️ Tip: Remember, I only spend 15-20 minutes in the morning packing a bento. I count on leftovers and meal prep dishes from the refrigerator and freezer. This is the only way to pack bento in 15 minutes and stay stress-free.

A Zojirushi lunch jar containing steamed rice, gyudon, fruits, and green bean gomaae.

Chapter 2: Meal Prep for Bento

A nice-looking bento doesn’t magically appear without you putting in the effort. So it comes down to when and how to do this efficiently. For me, I don’t want to wake up early… so I make sure to use my effort strategically.

  1. Make Extra Food and Freeze. When I cook a freezer-friendly dish for dinner, I always make extra. Extra food can be reheated and packed in the bento the next day, or freeze it for later use. Trust me, making extra is a lot less work than starting a new dish from scratch. Don’t forget to date the container when you pack the food. In general, food lasts 2-4 weeks in the freezer.
  2. Blanch Vegetables and Freeze. Blanch vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, green beans, and corn when I have 5 minutes to spare in the kitchen (usually while cooking dinner). Freeze the cooled, plain vegetables. We can pack the frozen vegetables in the bento directly, or you can thaw them overnight in the fridge and quickly pan-fry or dress them with sauce or dressing in the morning. These blanched veggies are a great filler; they are colorful and give a fresh look. Since Japanese main dishes tend to be brown, these fillers pop up and make the lunch box more appealing.
  3. Utilize store-bought frozen food. I always have frozen gyoza in my freezer. It is helpful while you build your frozen meal-prepped food or when your inventory is low.

Here’s How to Freeze Food for Bento and keep this List of Meal Prep Freezer-Friendly Dishes for bento-friendly dish ideas!

A Zojirushi lunch jar containing steamed rice, chicken katsu, and vegetables.

Chapter 3: Food Safety

But before we start packing, let’s talk quickly about food safety (or read more here).

Food Safety Tips:

  • Wash your hands and make sure your lunch jars are clean and dry.
  • Use clean utensils (chopsticks etc) or plastic gloves when you handle the food. Your hands have germs and it’s better to avoid touching them with your hands.
  • Reheat pre-cooked/leftover food/frozen food to eliminate bacteria before packing. The longer the food has been lying around, the less fresh it gets, even when you keep it in the refrigerator or freezer. Use less power on the microwave and heat it thoroughly so it’s reheated properly inside and out.
  • Quickly let cool completely. Bacteria love a warm and moist environment, so it’s important to cool the foods from hot to cold as soon as possible. You can use an ice pack underneath the plate or silicone cups so the hot food gets cool fast. If you have an insulated lunch container, pack the hot food immediately and close the lid.
  • Pack ice packs in the lunch bag to keep food fresh and safe till lunchtime.

It’s better to take extra safety precautions, especially during the summer months or if you live in a humid or hot climate.

A Zojirushi lunch jar containing rice, pork rolls, and miso soup.

Chapter 4: Pack Bento in the Morning

Now your freezer is packed with an assortment of bento dishes and you are aware of all the food safety tips. What do you do when you wake up? Your freezer is like a buffet or cafeteria. You can find what you want to pack in the bento and get started.

Morning Timeline

  1. Cook the one dish you decide to prepare (optional).
  2. Reheat frozen food including frozen steamed rice (if you’re not sure why we reheat, read Food Safety Tip section).
  3. Pack hot food immediately into a thermal container (if you are using any)
  4. Let the food cool completely before packing it into a bento box.
  5. Pack all the cooled bento dishes in the bento box and add “fillers” (frozen or defrosted) if there is any gap.

Bento Packing Tips

  • Use colorful and microwave-safe silicone cups. They are the easiest way to keep dishes portioned (not stuck to each other), reheated, and packed. Plus, they make bento a more appealing lunch by adding a nice pop of color, especially when you lack colorful veggies. You can purchase these silicone cups and mini ones.
  • Pack bulky and big dishes first. The main dish tends to be the biggest item that goes into the bento box. So start with that, followed by the side dish(es) in a silicone cup. Any gap can be filled with vegetable “fillers” such as cherry tomato and blanched broccoli.
  • Pack tightly! Otherwise, the dishes would be shifting left and right or up and down!
  • Remove liquid. The liquid may go into another dish and mix up all the flavors. Also, the liquid could spoil the food faster, so it’s best for food safety as well.

Chapter 5: Six Real-Life Bento Examples

I usually pack Japanese-style bento on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and pack sandwiches on Tuesday and Thursday to mix things up. But here I made 6 Japanese-style bento.

Monday: Chicken Katsu Bento

A Zojirushi lunch jar containing steamed rice, chicken katsu, and vegetables.
  1. Carbs: Steamed rice (frozen → reheat in the microwave) with shiso leaf and umeboshi
  2. Main: Chicken Katsu (frozen → reheat in the toaster oven)
  3. Sides: Carrot Namul (frozen → thaw in bento box), green bell pepper with bonito flakes (frozen → thaw in bento box)
  4. Fillers: Blanched broccoli (refrigerated), boiled corn (frozen → thaw in bento box), cherry tomato
  5. Fruits: In another container

Tuesday: Gyudon Bento

A Zojirushi lunch jar containing steamed rice, gyudon, fruits, and green bean gomaae.
  1. Carbs: Steamed Rice (frozen → reheat in the microwave) with black sesame seeds
  2. Main: Gyudon (frozen → reheat in the microwave)
  3. Sides: Green Bean Gomaae (frozen → thaw in fridge overnight)
  4. Fillers: Boiled corn (frozen → thaw in bento box), cherry tomato
  5. Fruits: Cherries

Wednesday: Teriyaki Chicken Meatball Bento

A Zojirushi lunch jar containing steamed rice, chicken meatballs, asparagus tempura, and hijiki salad.
  1. Carbs: Steamed Rice (frozen → reheat in the microwave) with furikake rice seasoning
  2. Main: Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs (frozen → reheat in the microwave)
  3. Sides: Hijiki Salad (frozen → thaw in fridge overnight)
  4. Fillers: Chikuwa Isobeage (fried in the morning), aspragus tempura (fried in the morning), cherry tomato
  5. Fruits: In another container

Thursday: Pork Roll Bento

A Zojirushi lunch jar containing rice, pork rolls, and miso soup.
  • Carbs: Steamed Rice (frozen → reheat in the microwave) with shiso leaf and umeboshi
  • Main: Teriyaki Pork Rolls (frozen → reheat in the microwave)
  • Sides: Miso Soup (leftover → reheat in the microwave), Tamagoyaki (frozen → thaw in bento box), Hijiki Salad (frozen → thaw in fridge overnight),
  • Fillers: Blanched broccoli (frozen → thaw in bento box), a cherry tomato
  • Fruits: In another container

Friday: Gyoza Bento

A Zojirushi lunch jar containing steamed rice, gyoza, and chikuwa cucumber.
  • Carbs: Steamed Rice (frozen → reheat in the microwave) with yukari rice seasoning, shiso leaf, and umeboshi
  • Main: Frozen store-bought gyoza (pan-fried in the morning)
  • Sides: Kinpira Renkon (frozen → thaw in fridge overnight), green bell pepper with okaka (frozen → thaw in bento box)
  • Fillers: Chikuwa Cucumber (freshly made in the morning), blanched okra (refrigerated), boiled corn (frozen → thaw in bento box), cherry tomato
  • Fruits: In another container

Bonus/Saturday: Mapo Tofu Bento

A Zojirushi lunch jar containing steamed rice, mapo tofu, fruits, and salad.
  • Carbs: Steamed Rice (frozen → reheat in the microwave) with black sesame seeds
  • Main: Mapo Tofu (leftover → reheat in the microwave)
  • Sides: Salad with store-bought sesame dressing (put together in the morning)
  • Fillers: Blanched broccoli (frozen → thaw in bento box), cherry tomato
  • Fruits: Berries
Bento box filled with delicious foods.

To Wrap Up: 5 Important Take Aways

I hope this tutorial will help to get you started. Here are 5 important takeaways.

  1. Plan 5 types of foods: Carbs, main, sides, fillers, and fruits.
  2. Make colorful lunches that your kids look forward to eating.
  3. Use leftover food from the previous dinner. Always keep in mind to make extra food and freeze.
  4. Stock up on meal-prepped dishes in the freezer for stress-free bento making! Utilize store-bought frozen food such as frozen gyoza in a pinch. Check and organize the inventory often and re-stock.
  5. Pack food tightly in the bento boxes to avoid shifting.

Don’t try to make a perfect bento. Start with 2 days a week and make sandwiches on the other 3 days!

Zojirushi Vacuum Insulated Lunch Jars Review

Zojirushi Lunch Jars (2 and 3-Tier)

This post was sponsored by Zojirushi to feature two of the Zojirushi lunch jar series, which I’ve been using for my children. These cylinder lunch jars are slightly different from the typical bento boxes, but they are designed for the classic Japanese meal format.

Features

The features of Ms. Bento® Stainless Lunch Jar include:

  • Durable stainless steel construction with excellent heat retention
  • Its vacuum insulation keeps foods hot or cold for hours.
  • Microwaveable inner bowls
  • Washable nonstick-coated outer container
  • Includes chopsticks/chopsticks holder (or forked spoon) and easy-to-carry tote bag
  • Made of BPA-free plastic and stainless steel

The main difference between the two is one comes with 2 tiers and the other comes with 3 tiers which allows you to pack soup or hot food with gravy or sauce.

Zojirushi Bento Jar

For Zojirushi Ms. Bento® Stainless Lunch Jar SL-MEE07 (2 inner bowls), pack the rice in the bottom insulated bowl, and the rest in the upper un-insulated bowl.

Zojirushi Bento Jar

For Zojirushi Ms. Bento® Stainless Lunch Jar SL-NCE09 (3 inners bowls), pack your soup/ hot dish in the bottom insulated bowl, followed by rice (or other carbs) in the middle insulated bowl, then the other cold dishes in the top non-insulated bowl.

Our Honest Reviews (Me + The Kids)

I also asked my kids what they like and don’t like about these bento jars and here are our honest reviews:

Pros:

  • Kids: It’s SO nice to eat warm food (especially warm rice)!
  • Kids: I like that it’s packed nicely in one jar. Mom doesn’t have to pack in different size containers.
  • Kids: My friends think my lunch is really cool.
  • Mom: I don’t have to wait until the rice is cool before packing, so it saves time on prepping!

Cons:

  • Kids: A bit heavier than other bento boxes but not a big deal.
  • Mom: Hand wash only… but I don’t mind.

Useful Bento Resources on JOC

Basics

Helpful Tips

Menu Ideas

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