How to Make Bento-Style Lunches without all the Fancy Supplies

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When I first was interested in making bento-style lunches, I felt like I had to buy all of the little shape cutters, food picks, and fancy (expensive) containers in order to make cute lunches. As it turns out, you really don’t need all those things. What I find most appealing about bento lunches are the colors and variety of food, not the flower shaped silicone baking cups or the sandwich shaped like a bear (not that I don’t like those things, I am just more drawn to the food itself).

If you want to make bento-style lunches but don’t want to spend a lot of money, stay tuned! Here are some tips to help you make delicious, eye-appealing lunches without all those fancy supplies. (The only supplies I used to make the lunches in this post were: EasyLunchBoxes, EasyLunchBoxes Mini Dippers, a knife, and a cutting board.)

  1. Use a variety of colors. Of course, colors just make everything look nice. The pasta that I like to buy is colorful when it is dry (Trader Joe’s Vegetable Radiatore), but when I cook it the colors fade and the reds, greens, and whites all look kind of brown. So, by adding bright yellow (orange before I cooked it) pieces of cauliflower and green peas, the pasta becomes more colorful AND delicious. Mixing fruits or veggies of two different colors is a great way to make the meal look more exciting (which is helpful if you have a picky eater). IMG_0118
  2. Use the natural shape/pattern of the fruit or vegetable. Some fruits and vegetables have awesome natural shapes or patterns if you cut cross sections. Take advantage of those shapes to make your or your kid’s lunch look more interesting. Examples: Kiwi, tomatoes (pictured below), clementines, peppers (pictured above in rings), persimmons.IMG_0092
  3. Divide the container using the food itself. I know that many people (including myself) use those little silicone baking cups to separate foods in bento containers, but most of the time you can get away without using them. If something really needs to be separate, such as cut fruit that may have juice, put it in one of the smaller compartments of the lunch box (or an EasyLunchBoxes Mini Dipper). Try using foods to separate foods. In the lunch below, you can see that I used a whole carrot to keep the steamed cauliflower and the baguette slices separate. Or, above you can see that the green beans were laid down before the pasta was added to the box in order to divide the two.IMG_0306
  4. Pack simply. You don’t NEED to pack a complicated lunch that took you a long time to prepare. Your kid will love you no matter what it looks like! Sometimes simple is best. Here is one of my daughter’s all time favorite lunches, and it took me barely any time to put it together:
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Leftover banana pancakes from Sunday morning, strawberries, maple syrup, carrots, and plain yogurt

 

If you have any other ideas for making bento-style lunches with minimal supplies, please share them with me in the comments below or on Instagram (@sgali621)!

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