• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Recipe Index
  • About Le Chef's Wife
  • Press
  • Contact

Le Chef's Wife logo

  • Start Here
  • Soup Sunday
  • Riviera Recipes
  • Entertaining
  • Boutique
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Recipe Index
  • About Le Chef's Wife
  • Salad Saturday
  • Start Here
  • Soup Sunday
  • Riviera Recipes
  • Baking
  • Family Meals
  • Entertaining
  • Boutique
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Family

    August 24, 2023

    Bentgo Lunch Box Ideas

    In this article I share my favorite Bentgo Lunch Box Ideas. Healthy and easy school lunches can be stress free with a few tweaks.

    Does the thought of making packed lunches again every day for your kids make you shudder? Trying to make a healthy, balanced lunch (that they actually eat) on top of everything else that you have to do? For me, getting back into the swing of preparing healthy school lunches for my kids with minimal time or effort is at the top of my list.

    One thing I have learned from cooking with a professional Chef for the past 18 years is how to gain efficiencies in the kitchen without compromising taste or quality.

    I first published this post a few years ago and I have updated it so that it may help you this school year.

    Good Day DC on Fox5 invited me to share healthy and easy school lunch ideas with their viewers and I am happy to list them out here for you!

    Watch my school lunch segment on Fox5DC here

    5 tips for making healthy and easy school lunches, stress free.

    1. Use leak proof lunch boxes

    There is nothing worse than leaky lunchbox compartments. Blueberries smushed with crackers - not good!

    Bentgo Lunch Boxes

    Bentgo Lunch Boxes are amazing. I have been using the same, purple Bentgo box for the past year for my daughter and just bought another one for my son. They come in lots of colors and patterns and feature 5 leak proof compartments for kids that like to snack, like mine. I love that there are 5 compartments as it is a easy reminder to include all of the food groups for a balanced lunch.

    (this post is not sponsored, I really love our Bentgo lunch boxes!)

    Bentgo lunch boxes filled with healthy school lunches
    Bentgo Kids Bento Boxes - Perfect for young kids.

    2. Bentgo Lunch Box Ideas

    Who says that a school lunch has to include a sandwich ? Not me! While living in France I couldn't get over how delicious school lunches sounded - the cafeteria menus read like a bistro "menu du jour".

    Save yourself time and portion off a little of the dinner you are serving directly into the lunch boxes.

    Serving roast chicken and rice? Slice some of the meat and serve with the rice. It isn't leftovers if you are portioning the lunch box while preparing dinner!

    Whatever your child is eating for dinner, they will likely eat for lunch. It is so easy to turn dinner (home cooked or takeout), into a delicious school lunch.

    My daughter loves stuffed tomatoes like in my petit farcis nicois recipe (stuffed roast vegetables - delicious!) I add a little rice into her lunch box and serve a couple tomatoes.

    Pasta with meat sauce always gets eaten. My go-to recipe for Bolognaise sauce is found here. I don't worry about serving the pasta cold, we eat cold pizza after all, don't we?

    Not only are you likely to be serving something healthier than a sandwich but you are also cutting your school lunch prep time in half.

    pasta with meat sauce, sliced peppers, blueberries and cheese in a lunch box
    Pasta Bolognaise, red peppers, blueberries, Laughing Cow cheese and a homemade chocolate chip cookie

    3. Make school lunches with your kid

    After I have portioned the main course, I let my daughter choose 1 fruit and 1 vegetable as well as her selection of cheese. (her favorites are Babybel Cheese or Vache Qui Rit - The Laughing Cow Cheese) She loves helping me in the kitchen and I love that it keeps her busy.

    4. Bentgo Lunch Box Formula for a healthy lunch:

    I fill each of the 5 compartments of the Bentgo Box as follows:

    1. Main dish from supper (usually includes a protein and a starch like pasta, potatoes or rice)
    2. A cut up fruit (my daughter loves strawberries, blueberries or apple slices)
    3. Cut up vegetables (baby carrots, sliced cherry tomatoes, peppers or cucumbers are super quick and kid-friendly)
    4. A piece of cheese. The French always include a piece of cheese in their lunch and it is a tradition we have carried on as well.
    5. I love to include a little sweet treat. Sometimes it is fresh baked cookies, other times it is a few chocolate graham crackers from a box, regardless, it always gets her excited about her lunch.
    roast chicken and rice lunch box
    Roast Chicken, rice, strawberries, cucumber, Babybel cheese and graham crackers

    5. Keep it cool

    Packit Freezable lunch bags are a revelation! It looks like an insulated lunch bag (that perfectly fits the Bentgo box) but it really is a freezer pack. The entire lunch bag folds flat in the freezer. It keeps my kids's lunch cold all day. No more slimy cheese!

    Bentgo also makes a great backpack with an insulated lunch compartment that I bought for my daughter this year and she loves it!

    school lunch box by Packit
    Packit Freezable Lunch Box. So practical and they come in so many different colors and patterns.

    Healthy and easy school lunch Ideas

    I hope you have enjoyed my 5 top healthy and easy school lunch ideas. Here are some other articles you might enjoy on my blog about making good food, simple.

    Healthy Freezer Meal Batch Cooking

    poulet roti - roast chicken with lemon and thyme

    Roast Chicken

    Cheesy Chicken and Orzo

    a blue pot with orzo chicken and mozzarella cheese

    Foolproof Eggplant Lasagna Recipe

    Healthy 3 Bean Turkey Chili

    Taboulé du Marché

    Let me know if you found this article about Bentgo Lunch Box Ideas useful. I love to hear from you!

    Bon Appétit,

    Le Chef's Wife

    Le-Chefs-Wife-logo-final

    ABOUT LE CHEF'S WIFE

    Bonjour! I am Anina Belle. I translate the fancy cooking of my Michelin-star trained French Chef Husband, Le Chef, into easy to make dishes that busy people with no culinary training (like me!) can make at home. We have two young kids (5 and 2) and I have a full time job in hospitality in addition to this blog. I strongly believe that even busy people deserve to eat well at home.

    Look inside our Kitchen with this recent Washington Post Article. We were recently featured on the TODAY SHOW for our recipes of French Onion Soup Gratinée and Moelleux au Chocolat. You can watch our full segment here:

    I share our home cooking on Instagram, pinterest and tiktok. Sign up for my newsletter to be the first to receive my new recipes and have advance access to cooking classes. I look forward to cooking with you!

    Sign Up for Le Chef's Wife Newsletter

    * This article includes affiliate links. By clicking on the product links I receive a small commission if you purchase, at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting my business.

    « Wagyu Steak
    30 Simple French Fall Recipes »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Jacqueline says

      August 30, 2021 at 1:10 pm

      How do you keep some things warm at the same time as keep things cold? See your lunch box with pasta and bolognese sauce (that would not taste so good cold). It's in the same box with things that need to be cold.
      And even if you chose just to do hot, how to keep it warm in the lunch box for hours and without risking bacteria?

      Reply
      • lechefswife says

        August 30, 2021 at 2:38 pm

        Hello Jacqueline! Thank you for your comment. I actually keep everything cold in the lunch box. My daughter eats the cold bolognaise sauce, no problem. It is like cold pizza - even better the next day!

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Primary Sidebar

    Bonjour. If you are looking for French Recipes, made simple, you are in the right place! I translate the fancy cooking of my French Chef husband into easy-to-follow recipes that busy people with no culinary training, like me, can cook. From French Baguettes to French Riviera classic recipes, I invite you to learn French cooking with me.

    More about me →


    Follow Me On

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube


    Popular

    • French Dinner Recipes
    • coq au vin blanc , a chicken stew with white wine, pork belly, celery, onions, mushrooms, parsley
      Coq au Vin Blanc
    • French spinach recipe with garlic and butter on a plate with roast chicken, rice and broccoli
      French Spinach
    • duck magret with apples and squash
      30 Simple French Fall Recipes


    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    My Favorites

    • duck magret with apples and squash
    • homemade French baguettes piled up on a striped cotton towl
    • Le Chef's Wife in her kitchen in front of a row of pots and pans

    Search

    Follow

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Featured In


    Copyright © 2020 Brunch Pro on the Brunch Pro Theme