Lunch Recipes & Ideas

Even little kids, with their limited palates, know that meals are more fun when you get to have a bunch of snacky stuff versus just one main dish. (It’s our favorite way to eat too!) That’s why bento boxes are so darn popular with the school-aged crowd. Parents can fill various little compartments with pretzels, cheese cubes, fruit, and more. And you never have to worry about the strawberries touching the peas!

A store-bought bottle of water is rarely the answer. Luckily, there is no shortage of reusable water bottles on the market. (It was a major trend at the big Housewares show earlier this year.) Dare we even say the market is flooded? Awash in options? You get the point. There are so many water bottles out there, we thought we’d help you pick the best ones. Of course, you don’t need all of these. Take a look and pick out one or two that will be the most useful to you.

It’s happened to the best of us: You stay up late or wake up early to make the most amazing lunch. You get super excited about it and pat yourself on the back. You’re saving money and eating something delicious! And then you get halfway to work and realize that, in the morning chaos, you left said delicious meal in the fridge — or worse, on the counter where it’s sure to spoil before you can get home to rescue it.

Whether you’re brown-bagging a sandwich to the office for lunch or packaging up fruits, nuts, and other snacks for your kids to eat on the go, you will probably go through a ton of reusable plastic baggies over the course of your life. (Yes, even if you tend to mix things up with some plastic or glass containers every now and then.) And while their disposability makes them super convenient, they wreak havoc on the environment — and your wallet. Want to go green and save green?

We are unabashedly passionate about bento boxes when it comes to packing lunches for school or work. For one, bento boxes are just flat-out adorable with all those little containers and compartments! They also eliminate the need for anything disposable (looking at you, plastic baggies and plastic wrap!). So imagine our excitement when we found this Rubbermaid LunchBlox Container — on sale on Amazon right now for $16.

It’s that time of year — the time when lunch boxes for the kiddos go on sale. And right now, adults can get in on the savings with this gourmet getaway lunch tote, which is currently marked down for less than $20. Gourmet Getaway Lunch Tote, $20 In case you’re not familiar with the brand, BUILT NY specializes in creating lunch totes and other bags that will protect your stuff and make it easier to lug things around.

I’ll admit: As a kid, I used to get way too excited to go back to school. Some of that may have had to do with the promise of all-new gear — some new clothes, a cool backpack, bright new folders, and a new lunch bag — to really make a style statement on that first day. And while my memories of it are all about how fun it was to get new stuff, now that I’m a mom I know the truth: Last year’s stuff was always totally trashed.

Between books, sports gear, art projects, and more, kids’ backpacks get pretty loaded up. Add lunch to that, and your child’s backpack is not only full, but also heavy — and that can be a real problem if they’re walking a ways to school or just toting it onto the bus and into the front door. One way to lighten the load is to opt for a different lunch box. While lunch boxes are not particularly heavy (although some really are!

If you’ve been reading any of our lunch-packing stories over the years, you’ve probably seen us use these stainless steel LunchBots containers again and again. They start at $20 (for one with no compartments) and go up to $40 (for the one pictured above with five compartments), which I realize is a lot of money to spend on a lunch box that your kid may or may not remember to bring home. Here’s the thing, though: I’ve learned that it really is money well-spent!

Last January, my New Year’s resolution wasn’t super original. I made it a goal to pack lunch at least three times per week — an especially pertinent mission because Manhattan’s $13 salads were coming for my checking account with a vengeance. The one thing that made this resolution a lot easier to uphold? I had recently acquired a set of Rubbermaid Brilliance food storage containers and, at the risk of sounding like a hyperbolic advertisement, they changed my life.

While we’re in the midst of all this Amazon Prime Day stuff, there’s another big milestone to think about: back-to-school time! It’s practically August now, which means you might as well start having your kid sleep in her first-day-of-school outfit. (Just so she’s ready! We’re only half kidding.) It also means you have to start thinking about packing lunches again.

As the Lifestyle Director here at Kitchn, I run at least one shopping story each day. It can be about a specific section at Costco, a life-changing gadget a Kitchn staffer is obsessed with, the best brand of jarred pasta sauce, saving money, and so on. (We cover it all!) For the most part, I have a pretty good grasp on when a story will do well. (And we try to only run stories that we think you guys will like!) But every once in a while, a story will do better than we ever imagined it would.