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Kawaii Bento Box Starter Kits

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A Basic Bento Supply List For Beginners

Buying bento gear can be loads of fun, but if you're just jumping on the bento wagon and need some supplies to get started you'll probably need a list of the basic essentials so you don't break the bank on your first shopping spree.

There are oodles of tools and gadgets made especially for bento and most of them come directly from Japan. Buying from online Japanese shops and sellers is actually quite a fun adventure and shipping costs are fair too. You'd even be surprised by how fast the packages arrive from far away stores. As fun as it is getting cute stuff in packages that you can't read, you really don't need any fancy equipment to make kawaii (cute) bento box meals.

The top bento blogs and best-selling cookbooks offer tons of tips, tricks and clever uses for items that you probably already have in your kitchen. If not, with a quick trick to your local craft store you'll be cooking cute in no time.

Here you'll find a list of items to put together a great beginnning bento kit for yourself or to include in a gift basket for an adventurous cook. By the way, teenage girls love this stuff!

Bento Boxes

Japanese style lunch boxes.

If you're putting together a gift basket or bento starter kit, a bento box might be the first item you'll want to check off your list. Honestly, you don't actually need a bento box to get started. A good-sized shallow food-safe container with a tight seal will work just fine in the beginning.

Look for containers that have no PVC, phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), or lead.

Most Kotobuki bento boxes are 2-tiered and include elastic bands to hold the stacked layers together. Kotobuki also offers a wide variety of cute, kid-friendly colors and characters that make lunchtime fun.

Stainless Steel Bento Boxes & Tiffins

Kawaii Bento Cookbooks

Recipes and inspiration for creating cute meals.

If you're just learning the art of bento, I highly recommend that you pick up one or both of these newly released books. They are both filled with tasty recipes, full-color photos and tons of clever tips for making food cuter than you ever thought possible.

Yum-Yum Bento Box: Fresh Recipes for Adorable Lunches

by: Maki Ogawa, Crystal Watanabe

Amazon Price: $8.59 (as of 06/02/2012)

Hawaii's Bento Box Cookbook: 2nd Course

by: Susan Yuen

Amazon Price: $14.50 (as of 06/01/2012)

Rice Molds

Onigiri is an easy first food to master as you learn to cook cute.

These onigiri shapers make easy work of turning rice into balls and triangles for portable, bite-sized additions to your bento box meals. You can even color your rice before molding for even more cute options.

Again, if you are putting your bento supply kit together on a tight budget, you can use your plastic wrap or your hands (dipped in salt water) to shape your onigiri. It takes a little practice, but the results can be just as pretty to look at.

Face Punches & Cutters

Kawaii expressions to put a smile on your food.

Bento food cutters and nori punches are probably not an essential item, but personally they were one of the first things that I just couldn't wait to get my hands on.

It's true that you can use small craft scissors or x-acto knives to cut sheets of dried seaweed into face shapes and cleverly used cookie cutters do the trick on other foods too. Face punches and cutters are a fun option that you may want to consider, now or later.

Check your local craft and scrapbooking supply stores for cute punches too.

Easy to find, readily available alternative food cutters.

Drinking straws in assorted sizes work great for cutting small circles in softer foods like cheese slices and deli meats!

Cake decorating tips are also one of my personal favorite bento cutters. They work great for eyes and facial expressions. Use either end to cut circles in cheese slices, deli meats and vegetables. Use a toothpick to push the circle through if it gets stuck.

Decorating tips are easy to find on the baking/cake decorating isle of most craft stores and they're very inexpensive, usually only about $1 each. For a large assortment of sizes, you can purchase a plain pastry tip set.

Food Cutters

An inexpensive and versatile addition to your bento kit.

Fun shaped cookie and fondant cutters are a really frugal way to add character to everyday foods. They are readily available most everywhere and can be picked up with ad coupons at local craft and fabric stores. Thrift shops often bundle grab bags of odds and ends at discounted prices too.

Children's play dough sets often come with a fun variety of miniatures that are perfect for making bento, so raid the toy box and keep an eye out at toy stores and yard sales for fun additions to your collection.

Both of the bento cookbooks (above) offer lots of clever tips using the most basic of shapes. With a little practice and some creativity you can learn to create many different shapes from a single cutter.

Try experimenting with soft, thinly sliced breads, cheeses and deli meats. Fruits and veggies can be cut too, but you may need to boil vegetables to soften and make cutting easier. After cutting fruit, dip the pieces in citrus soda or orange juice to prevent browning.

Bento Toolbox Supply List

Here's an overview of the basic beginner bento items.

Bento box or a shallow, food-safe container with a lid.
Cookbooks or recipes from bento blogs.
Notebook or binder to organize recipes, notes, ideas and sketches.
Food cutters for creating cute shapes with bread, cheese, deli-meats, fruits and veggies.
Rice molds for shaping onigiri.
Tweezers for picking up and placing small pieces of nori or bits of food .
Small pair of craft scissors.
Straws of all sizes to use a mini food cutters for eyes and faces.
Craft or scrapbooking punches for cutting nori (seaweed).
Round toothpicks for freehand cutting thin slices of cheese, etc.
Food coloring.
Cute bento accessories.
Storage box to organize your supplies.

Bento Accessories

Once you've got the basics covered, you'll want to pick up some cute bento accessories to kick the cute up a notch!

Bento supplies come in all shapes and sizes, from itsy bitsy sauce bottles to food picks that do more than you'd expect. These are the finishing touches that get tucked inside the bento box and can sometimes add expressions and features to character bento meals.

These are all things that you can live without, but probably won't be able to resist!

Travel Utensils & Chopsticks

Reusable containers and utensils create zero waste!

Ideally, bento box meals should be waste-free, so eventually you might want to pick up a set of reusable travel utensils or chopsticks to complete your lunch kit.

Thrift stores and garage sales are another great place to pick up extra forks and spoons to pack in lunchboxes. This eliminates the need for disposable utensils, but saves the worry of having the kids lose pieces from your nicer household set.

Food Dividers

Another soggy food saver.

Bento food cups and baran dividers can be tucked between different foods and flavors to keep them from getting mushy or mixed together. Assorted food cups serve the same purpose and come in lots of fun shapes and colors.

Silicone Cups

Another popular and flexible bento food divider.

Silicone baking cups are very popular in bento boxes because they are flexible and fit easy between foods and in corners. The silicone cupcake liners can also be filled with single servings of quiche or meatloaf and baked for easy transfer to the bento box.

Sauce Bottles

Their itty bitty size makes them extra cute!

bento sauce bottles are usually no bigger than half your pinkie finger, so they can easily be tucked inside your bento box without having to shift foods around to make room.

They may be tiny, but don't underestimate their value! Nobody likes soggy food and portable soy sauce containers keep the moisture locked away until you're ready to eat.

Condiment Containers

Perfect for dips, dressings and mayo!

Much like sauce bottles, these little food cups keep messy sauces separate until you're ready to eat. They can also hold dry seasonings for last minute sprinkle of flavor!

Food Picks

The dual duty bento accessory.

Plastic bento picks can transform boring food into something cute in seconds. They come in a multitude of shapes and colors and can serve as body parts, hats, leaves and stems for your bento characters, animals and blossoms. Think outside of the box and see what creative uses you can find. Oh, they also work great to hold sandwiches, wraps and finger foods together!

Bakeries, craft and party supply stores are great places to find cute food picks locally.

Tiny forks make food fun!

Some bento picks are shaped like mini forks which are great for getting even the pickiest eaters to try healthy food. I like to tuck these inside cups of sliced, fresh fruit.

Kids Animal Fork Picks Party in a Lunch Box

Amazon Price: $3.50 (as of 06/02/2012)

Hot Dog & Sausage Cutters

Make octopus, squid, flowers and animals shapes.

Bento sausage and hot cutters are a fun way to turn regular wieners into cute animals shapes. You can also a knife to cut your hot dogs before cooking them. Most hot dogs will magically puff up a little when their cooked giving the octopus and squid tentacles more life like character. Veggie dogs may take some experimenting because they cook differently than real meat hot dogs.

Egg Molds

Not your ordinary hard-boiled egg.

You have to see it to believe it, but these little molds turn and ordinary hard-boiled egg into adorable shapes that make great additions to bento boxes.

Sandwich Cutters & Stamps

Sammies are another fun first bento food to try.

Pocket sandwiches are small and sealed, so they fit nicely in bento lunches and kids love 'em! Most cutters have two parts, one that cuts and one that seals. Some have an extra stamp that also makes a cute shape on top of the bread too.

Reusable Snack & Sandwich Bags: If you are responsible citizen of Earth and want to make lunch, not trash, then a good first step is to eliminate plastic bags. Reusable snack and sandwich bags are a great alternative. There are tons of brands and styles available, including cloth wraps that double as a place mat when opened. If you're feeling crafty, you can even make you own with dozens of patterns and tutorials available here.

Bento Storage

Having a organized place to store your bento supplies, tools and accessories can really speed up the bento making process on busy mornings. I've tried lots of different storage solutions, but what works the best in my kitchen is a few simple sets of small plastic storage drawers that can be stacked on my counter top for easy access.

I use a separate drawer for food picks, sauce containers, punches, cutters and food dividers.

Sterilite 20738006 Clear View Mini 3-Drawer Organizer with White Frame and See-Through Drawers, 6-Pack

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