Lunchbox with multiple sealed sections?

November 27, 2023 1:27 PM

My son likes to take soup or beans and rice in his lunch. And he likes to take yogurt in his lunch. And he likes canned fruit. He has an OMIE box lunchbox which has a thermos. I would like a lunchbox with multiple thermoses or sealed containers, at least one of which should be insulated. That way I can put his hot food in the thermos and the other sealed-container-requiring foods in the other containers Currently if he takes a hot main dish, he can't have sealed-container requiring sides/snacks.

They do waste-free lunch (and also I don't like to add fixins to the yogurt and have no interesting in buying flavoured yogourts) so I don't want to send individual containers or yogourt or fruit or anything.

posted by If only I had a penguin... to Shopping (10 answers total)

I use a modular multi piece set up: different stainless steel containers with silicone tops and put any number of them in a soft sided zip up lunch box . The insulated Thermos also fits in there. In practice, I normally use one lidded rectangular container which has a wrapped sandwich, plus three silicone muffin liners with different stuff in them, then a separate round container with fruit plus I chuck an orange in there. But if use the thermos, I usually do two other containers on the side. I think I’m the long run, the multi piece set up is more flexible than the one container/multiple compartment set up, and way easier to clean.
posted by vunder at 1:41 PM on November 27, 2023 [2 favorites]

Like vunder, I also think you would appreciate the flexibility of separate containers. I used something like these for my kids, because the single divided container was less work for my kids to open. I'd try that plus a separate thermos.
posted by metasarah at 2:18 PM on November 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

This is tricky and hard to fit into a backpack! I like using the Fjallraven lunch box mini cooler and sticking in a thermos and a couple of sealed containers. This is a good one for yogurt and canned fruit as it is a double sided container.
posted by ichimunki at 2:42 PM on November 27, 2023

oh oh I know EXACTLY what you need, because I have been using it for years and years: a Zojirushi lunch jar. They do just what you’re describing - separate hot and cold sections, no leaks, compact and can be tossed in a backpack without fear. I am truly evangelistic about these things. Mine’s in my bag right now.
posted by showbiz_liz at 2:55 PM on November 27, 2023 [12 favorites]

Showbiz_liz beat me to it; a Zojirushi bento would work perfectly. My son used the "Ms. Bento" set for years and it held up very well.
posted by mezzanayne at 3:07 PM on November 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

We were just talking about this! I support vunder and metasarah, although I too love the Zojirushi jar. It's just a lot for a kid to handle. Though that depends on their age, and what else they need to schlepp to school. Go with them searching online and discuss the options.
posted by mumimor at 3:53 PM on November 27, 2023

If the Fjallraven lunchbox mini cooler is too steep a price point, the LL Bean lunchbox is the same size and has same function. Stick in the thermos and the double sided snack container and you are good to go! I love that everything is contained in one soft-sided bag that fits perfectly in my son's backpack along with his books and papers. If there is an explosion, it is contained in the lunchbox and it squishes to make room or expands if you have extra fruit to stick in. Thermos choices for kids are many, I linked to the Planetbox one in my previous post mainly because it is super easy to wash (no extra parts!) but I use Funtainer too because they have the cartoon characters and spoon included.
posted by ichimunki at 5:52 PM on November 27, 2023

This might be a bit too big but try an Indian-style tiffin carrier.
posted by creatrixtiara at 7:03 PM on November 28, 2023

I would often have hot stuff and other sealed stuff - I had a thermos and I had tupperware. If you are worried about the tupperware popping open in the bag, that's when the ones with little locking sides are great. They have them at Dollarama. Screw top Ziplock containers also work well for liquids, but the lock down lid containers are sturdier and come in a variety of sizes.
posted by jb at 4:50 PM on December 2, 2023

By lock-down lids, I mean containers like these.
posted by jb at 4:53 PM on December 2, 2023