As you may have noticed, I have a pretty enormous collection of bento boxes and lunch boxes! I definitely have more than the average person, mainly because I make a point of regularly trying new boxes for the purpose of this blog (that's my excuse anyway!). I get asked a lot which box I would recommend, but I find it very hard to choose just one - different sizes suit different appetites and my favourite lunch boxes are all good for different reasons. After seeing a fantastic guide to bento boxes put together by my blogging friend Wendy of Wendolonia, I decided to create my own version, based on lunch boxes suitable for packing bento style lunches that I have used and tried myself.
Although there are many many different lunch boxes out there, I've limited this post to 12 (hopefully that's plenty to be getting on with!), and have only included boxes that I have actually tried out myself and that are readily available here in the UK, so this guide will be particularly useful for my UK based readers.
In my opinion, and based on personal experience, all of the lunch boxes below are of good quality and have so far held up well to repeated use. I've started with my 6 favourite boxes (I couldn't fit all 12 in one chart!) and then compared 6 more that I personally use less often but are still well worth considering.
My six favourite lunch boxes that I use most of all at present are the original Yumbox, brand new Yumbox Panino, Laptop Lunches Bento Box, TUMTUM Lunch Set, Lego Lunchbox and Addis Food Container. Below are some side by side comparison pictures of these lunch boxes, so you can get an idea of size and layout, followed by a chart with all of the information that I thought might be useful.
| Yumbox Classic | Yumbox Panino | Laptop Lunches | TUMTUM | Lego Lunchbox | Addis Food Container |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approx. size | 22 x 15 x 5 cm | 22 x 15 x 5 cm | 23 x 18 x 6 cm | 23.5 x 11.5 x 5.5 cm | 20 x 10 x 7.5 cm | 22 x 15.6 x 5.6 cm |
| Approx. volume | 600 ml | 750 ml | 1 litre | 750 ml | 850 ml | 1.1 litre |
| Weight when empty | 495g | 495g | 385g | 204g | 173g | 272g |
| No. of pieces | 2 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| No. of food compartments | 6 (5 medium, 1 small) | 4 (1 large, 2 medium, 1 small) | 5 (2 large, 2 medium, 1 small) | 1 (or 3 if divider container is used) | 1 | 1 (or 3 if removable inserts are used) |
| Leakproof | Yes | Yes | Partly - 3 containers come with lids | No | No | No |
| Dishwasher safe | Yes (top rack only) Handwashing recommended to preserve the seal | Yes (top rack only) Handwashing recommended to preserve the seal | Yes (top rack only) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| BPA free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Colour | Green, Pink and Blue | Blue and Pink | Several colour combinations available | Red or Blue | Several colours available | Clear |
| Recommended retail price | £24.95 | £24.95 | £19 | £10 | £9 | £4.99 |
| Accessories included | Removable tray | Removable tray | Removable inner containers | Lidded container which doubles as a divider | - | Removable inserts |
| Extra accessories available | Extra removable tray | Extra removable tray | Lunch Bags & Bento Buddies (inner boxes in various sizes including an extra large box) | Ladybird/bee lunch bags, matching drinks bottle, cutlery, food flask and nesting snack pots | Mini snack boxes in 2 sizes, drinks bottle | - |
| My review of this box | Click here for my review | Click here for my review | Click here for my review | Click here for my review | Click here for my review | - |
| See this box in action | Click here to see lunches I've made in this box | Click here to see lunches I've made in this box | ||||
| Buy this box online | Click here to buy from the Eats Amazing Shop | Click here to buy from the Eats Amazing Shop | Click here to buy from Amazon UK | Click here to buy from Amazon UK | Click here to buy from Amazon UK | Click here to buy from Amazon UK |
Below is a second chart comparing the other six lunch boxes I've selected. As with the first set of boxes I've provided side by side comparison pictures, followed by a chart with all of the information that I thought might be useful.
| Munchkin Click Lock Bento Box | Sistema Lunch Cube Max | Sistema Lunch Cube | Sistema Triple Split | Sistema Salad to Go | Clic-Tite Double Decker |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approx. size | 20 x 16.5 x 6.5 cm | 17 x 17 x 10 cm | 14 x 14 x 10 cm | 24 x 20 x 9.2 cm | 16.5 x 16.5 x 8.4 cm | 18.4 x 14 x 7.5 cm |
| Approx. volume | 950 ml | 2 litre | 1.4 litre | 2 litre | 1.1 litre | 1.1 litre |
| Weight when empty | 242g | 257g | 160g | 318g | 200g | 226g |
| No. of pieces | 9 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 3 |
| No. of food compartments | 3 (1 large, 2 small) | 4 (1 large, 1 medium, 2 small) | 3 (1 large, 2 medium) | 3 (1 extra large, 2 medium) | 1 (or 4, if removable tray is used) | 1 (or 3 if removable tray is used) |
| Leakproof | Yes | No, apart from lidded removable container | No | No, apart from lidded removable container | No, apart from small pot for salad dressing | No |
| Dishwasher safe | Yes (top rack only) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| BPA free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Colour | Blue, Green or Pink | Several colours available | Several colours available | Several colours available | Several colours available | Purple, Blue, Pink or Clear |
| Recommended retail price | £7.99 | £7.99 | £4.99 | £14.99 | £5.99 | £4.99 |
| Accessories included | Plastic spoon & fork, 2 removable lidded containers | Small screw top lidded container | - | Small screw top lidded containe | Plastic spoon & fork, removable divided tray, small dressing container | Removable divided tray |
| Extra accessories available | - | Extra lidded containers | - | Extra lidded containers | - | Polar Gear 2 Compartment Lunch Bag |
| My review of this box | Click here for my review | Click here for my review | coming soon | Click here for my review | Click here for my review | - |
| Buy this box online | Click here to buy from Amazon UK | Click here to buy from Amazon UK | Click here to buy from Amazon UK | Click here to buy from Amazon UK | Click here to buy from Amazon UK | Click here to buy from Amazon UK |
Please note: I have provided recommended retail prices where possible but prices may vary.
If you're looking for lunch boxes ready for school (starting next week for us, eek!), I hope that this post has been useful. If you're more organised than me and all ready for school by now, do bookmark or pin it for another day!
Which lunch box do you use? Do you have any other suggestions?
Grace
Petit Mom says
Super useful, thank you for taking the time to create this guide and with fab photographs too. I'm terrible when comes to measurements, I work better at seeing something and comparing it to what I have. As I already own Yumbox Panino, Addis food container, sistema salad on the go and the sistema cube this was handy to help me compare against ones I don't have yet. I have been considering the TumTum for a while and read reviews saying it was too small for their toddler. Seems pretty good size from this guide!
Grace says
I'm so glad you found it useful - looks like you're building up quite a collection of your own! I really like the TumTum range (I'll be reviewing several of their products in the next few weeks) and find that the lunch box has plenty of room - the volume measurement is quite useful there - it all comes down to what you're packing I guess, and how you pack it!
dosirakbento says
Great overview!
From your top 6 I love using the Addis one, it's so practical. I recently bought the TumTum (like you, I buy new bento boxes only for "research" purposes :-)...) but haven't tried it out yet. From the other six I have the Sistema lunch cube max, which I find okayish, but not great.
I also recently bought a new (pink) box at Paperchase which I'm quite happy with because it has a good lock & lock style lide, and insert and a tray with cutlery.
The lunch box I used most though are the Lock & Lock bento sets from Korea, they come with either 2 or 3 containers in their own little bento bag, have chopsticks, and are so versatile. Plus microwave, dishwasher and freezer proof!
I can really recommend these!
You can buy them via Amazon for around £18 :
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lock-Rectangular-Lunch-Bento-Chopstics/dp/B0054PGWSU/ref=pd_cp_kh_1