Easy Bento Box Ideas: Trader Joe’s Shumai Bento

It’s mid-August, and another school year is about to start for my kids. Back-to-school this year is bittersweet for me, as my son is now a high school senior (my daughter is already in college). I’ve been making bento box lunches for my kids almost every day since they were in preschool, even though school cafeterias always had options. They both preferred bringing a homemade bento lunch to school.

As you may know, Noriko and I wrote and published a bento recipe book, Simply Bento, featuring healthy and delicious homemade bentos. With proper planning and preparation—like setting the rice cooker timer the night before or saving leftovers from dinner—making bento from scratch is not as hard as you might think.

That said, I proudly admit that not all the lunches I’ve packed were perfect or made entirely from scratch. I’ve often cut corners, relying on prepared or frozen food to save time and effort—or simply packed a sandwich with snacks from a box. No one has the time or energy every single day to plan ahead or wake up early to make bento. And that’s completely OK!

In this new Easy Bento Box Ideas series, I’m going to share my tips and tricks to make bento-making as easy as possible for busy parents. By adjusting portion sizes or the number of items, these lunches can work for everyone—from elementary school children to adults.

Trader Joe’s Lunch Options

Trader Joe’s, a popular grocery store in California, offers a variety of items that are perfect for packing in bento boxes. I love that they carry many Asian food options, including Chinese, Korean, and Japanese dishes.

Here are the items I used for today’s bento lunch box:

• Frozen Chicken Shu Mai: TJ’s offers two kinds of frozen Shu Mai—chicken and pork. All you need to do is microwave them for a few minutes, and they’re ready to eat. The chicken shu mai comes with dipping sauce, which you can pack in a small container inside the bento box. Or, you can make your own sauce by mixing equal parts soy sauce and vinegar.
  
• Potato Salad: We love TJ’s potato salad! It’s great as is, but I like to add more vegetables or protein. In today’s bento, I mixed in ready-to-eat edamame for added protein and fiber.
  
• Small Vegetables: I like to stock my fridge with small, fresh vegetables like baby carrots, mini cucumbers, sugar snap peas, and cherry or plum tomatoes. They’re healthy, nutritious, and require no cutting or cooking. Just add a few different colors for extra nutrients and a visually appealing lunch box.
  
• Steamed Rice: Rice is always an essential item in a Japanese bento, and it’s easy to prepare ahead of time if you have a rice cooker. Just set the timer the night before to have fresh rice ready in the morning. You can also prep and freeze rice in advance. Just microwave frozen rice for a few minutes in the morning—it tastes just as good as freshly steamed rice. Sprinkle some furikake on top for added flavor and umami.

Short Video

The full video is on our YouTube channel. Bento box used in this recipe is BLACK + BLUM Bento Box Style Compartment Food Container (#CommissionsEarned)