Guide
Bento meal prep: five lunches from one 90-minute session
The secret to packing bento every day isn't getting up early. It's cooking a handful of components once a week and mixing them into different boxes each morning.
The idea: components, not meals
Instead of cooking five separate lunches, cook two proteins, two or three vegetable sides and a batch of rice. Each morning you pick one protein, one or two sides and a carb, which gives you plenty of variety from one session.
Your Sunday cook list
| Component | Batch size | Keeps (fridge) |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese short-grain rice | 3 cups uncooked | Freeze in single portions; thaw in the microwave each morning |
| Chicken karaage | 1½ lb (680 g) thighs | 3–4 days; freezes well up to 1 month |
| Teriyaki salmon | 3 fillets | 2–3 days |
| Tamagoyaki | 2 rolls (6 eggs) | 2–3 days |
| Blanched broccoli | 1 head | 3–4 days |
| Carrot kinpira (sautéed carrot with soy, mirin and sesame) | 3 carrots | 4–5 days |
| Spinach with sesame dressing | 10 oz (280 g) spinach | 2–3 days |
Fridge times assume your refrigerator is at 40°F (4°C) or below and food went in within two hours of cooking. When in doubt, freeze what you won't eat in the first three days.
The 90-minute order of work
- 0:00 Rinse and start the rice. Marinate the chicken.
- 0:10 Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch broccoli (2 minutes), then spinach (30 seconds). Cool both in ice water, squeeze the spinach dry.
- 0:25 Julienne carrots and cook the kinpira. Dress the spinach.
- 0:40 Make two tamagoyaki rolls while the pan is still out.
- 0:55 Coat and fry the karaage.
- 1:15 Pan-fry and glaze the salmon.
- 1:25 Portion the rice into single servings and freeze. Spread everything else out to cool, then pack into labeled containers.
Five boxes from one batch
| Day | Protein | Sides | Carb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Teriyaki salmon | Broccoli, tamagoyaki | Rice with furikake |
| Tuesday | Karaage | Kinpira, cherry tomatoes | Rice with umeboshi |
| Wednesday | Teriyaki salmon (flaked) | Spinach gomae, tamagoyaki | Salmon onigiri |
| Thursday | Karaage | Broccoli, kinpira | Rice |
| Friday | Karaage from the freezer | Kinpira, fruit | Rice with sesame |
Morning assembly in five minutes
- Microwave a frozen rice portion until steaming, then spread it in the box to cool while you do the rest.
- Reheat fried chicken until hot in the center (165°F / 74°C), then let it cool before packing. Reheating and cooling keeps the coating crisper than packing it straight from the fridge.
- Add sides straight from the fridge, using cups or dividers for anything wet.
- Close the lid once everything is at room temperature and pack with an ice pack. See the food-safety guide for how long a packed lunch can sit out.