Meal Prep Bento Recipes Ideas 3 Dollar Bento Challenge

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These 3 easy and budget-friendly meal prep ideas for bento prove that eating healthy can be delicious and fun! A little prep work on Sunday will set you up to eat healthier, save money, and reduce your stress through the week.

Many of us including myself struggle to prepare our children’s lunch. We want them to eat healthy homemade lunch at school, but how do we do that when our morning is hectic as it is?
A few hours on meal prepping for bento lunch box on a Sunday might be a solution to consider. Today I’ll show you an example of meal prepping and how I pack 3 days of bento using the ingredients I meal prep on a Sunday morning. As a bonus, I made it a challenge to make each bento box under $3.
How to Meal Prep Bento: $3 Bento ChallengeThese 3 easy and budget-friendly meal prep ideas for bento prove that eating healthy can be delicious and fun! A little prep work on Sunday will set you up to eat healthier, save money, and reduce your stress through the week.
 
Plan Your Bento ScheduleBefore the week start, plan your bento schedule and visualize what each bento should look like. If you’re new to bento making, you can even draw the bento box and write down each dish or ingredient name in the section of bento you want to pack. Eventually, you’ll be able to do this process in your head.
Planning ahead will help you check on colors of ingredients so your bento won’t look all same color, cut down on frequent trips to grocery stores, and save money by using the same ingredient but using it differently.
Here’s my plan:
Saturday – Shopping DaySunday – the Meal Prep DayMonday – Bento #1: Karaage BentoTuesday – Sandwich DayWednesday – Bento #2: Soboro BentoThursday – Sandwich DayFriday – Bento #3: Onigirazu Bento
On Sandwich Day, you can make your children’s favorite sandwiches (my kids love grilled cheese sandwich). I have some sandwich recipes here:
Tamago SandoWanpaku SandoCrispy Chicken SandwichKatsu Sando (coming this Friday)Menchi Katsu SandwichKorokke SandoYakisoba PanSunday – The Meal Prep DayThis is the most important day. I set aside 2-3 hours for meal prepping as you will need to make several dishes at the same time.
For the meal prep recipes and ideas I share on Just One Cookbook, I make sure they have a minimal/simplified ingredient list and cooking process (but it doesn’t mean less tasty!).
Here is the list of dishes I need for the week:
Ajitsuke Tamago (Ramen Egg)Grated Carrot SaladKorean Spinach Salad (Spinach Namul)Chicken KaraageChicken SoboroScrambled EggTuna SaladOther food to prepare:
Wash vegetables (carrot, snow peas, spinach, green leaf lettuce, cherry tomato)Blanch snow peas and spinachCook steamed rice (and freeze individual portions)A Quick Breakdown of The Meal Prep ProcessIn general, I prepare EVERYTHING ahead of time, and this means the food that keeps well in the refrigerator. I cook and wash everything, and place each dish or ingredient in an airtight container and put in the refrigerator. I even cook rice ahead of time and freeze the individual portions of the rice in a container.
In the morning of the day I pack bento, I reheat everything and let cool before I pack each dish into the box (Please read my Food Safety Tips for Bento).

To get everything ready in the most efficient way, I first separate my tasks into working stations and then tackle the tasks that require marinating/cooking or take the longest first, and I work backward from there.
Washing Stations
Rinse rice and soak for 20 minutes  <<< Step 1Wash vegetables (carrot, lettuce, tomatoes, snow peas, and spinach) <<< Step 2Cutting Stations
Cut carrots into julienned pieces >>> Step 4Cut spinach after blanching <<< Step 9Cut chicken before marinating <<< Step 12Cooking Stations
Bring water to boil and boil eggs <<< Step 3Bring water to boil and blanch snow peas <<< Step 7Blanch spinach <<< Step 8Cook ground chicken for Soboro <<< Step 16Cook scrambled eggs <<< Step 17Deep (shallow) fry the Chicken Karaage <<< Step 18Cook rice on rice cooker or stovetop <<< Step 6Work Stations
Make the marinade for Ajitsuke Tamago, peel the eggshell, and marinate eggs <<< Step 5Make the marinades for Carrot Salad and mix with julienned carrots <<< Step 10Make the marinade for Spinach Namul and mix with blanched spinach <<< Step 11Make the marinade for Chicken Karaage and marinate the chicken for 30 minutes <<< Step 13Measure the seasonings for Soboro <<< Step 14Measure the seasonings for scrambled eggs and beat eggs <<< Step 15Make the tuna salad <<< Step 19Meal Prep Check List (8 containers)
Pack each dish and ingredient in a separate container and refrigerate/freeze. <<< Step 20
Ajitsuke Tamago (Ramen Egg)Grated Carrot SaladKorean Spinach Salad (Spinach Namul)Chicken KaraageChicken SoboroScrambled EggTuna SaladWashed vegetables (lettuce, tomatoes, blanched snow peas)Steamed rice (freezer)I hope this meal prep plan is helpful to you. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below and I’ll try my best to answer you.

Monday – Karaage Bento (#1)You will need the following item to pack in Karaage Bento:
RiceLettuceChicken KaraageGrated Carrot SaladKorean Spinach Salad (Spinach Namul)Ramen EggCherry tomatoesBlanched snow peasWednesday – Soboro Bento (#2)You will need the following item to pack in Soboro Bento:
RiceChicken SoboroScrambled eggBlanched snow peasRed pickled gingerFriday – Onigirazu Bento (#3)Onigirazu (おにぎらず) is a rice sandwich that has been popular for the past decade in Japan. Similar to rice balls, it consists of rice, nori seaweed, and filling. The only difference is that you can stuff more fillings in Onigirazu. Here are 3 kinds of Onigirazu I packed in the bento lunch box.
For each onigirazu, you will need a half sheet of nori seaweed, rice, and lettuce.
Karaage OnigirazuGrated Carrot SaladKorean Spinach Salad (Spinach Namul)Chicken KaraageSoboro OnigirazuChicken SoboroScrambled eggTuna OnigirazuTuna salad (a mixture of drained canned tuna, Japanese mayonnaise, salt, and pepper)To learn how to make Onigirazu, please watch the video above or check out one of the following onigirazu post for detail instructions. If you like the idea of Onigirazu, here are other onigirazu recipes you can try on Just One Cookbook.
Spam OnigirazuBulgogi OnigirazuTeriyaki Salmon OnigirazuGinger Pork OnigirazuChicken Katsu OnigirazuJapanese Meal Prep (Jobisai 常備菜)Japanese Spinach SaladSeafood Salad (coming this Friday)
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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