Your lunch box is already a bento box

Your lunch box is already a bento box.

You don’t need a special compartmentalized box — silicone cupcake liners plus a couple of small containers will hack any regular lunch box into a bento in about two minutes.

The silicone cup trick is the whole game. They’re a few bucks for a pack, they squish into any box shape, and they hold a decent portion of rice, fruit, or veggies. The walls are soft, but that doesn’t matter. The point is keeping things from touching and flavors from blending. Get the ones with flat bottoms — they hold more.

For anything wet or saucy, use a small lidded container instead. Those little 2-ounce sauce cups with lids are perfect, and they’re everywhere. They keep dressing off the salad and yogurt off the granola. That’s the job a simple divider can’t do.

If you want rigid walls, cutting a divider from an old plastic container works, but it’s honestly not worth the effort. Silicone cups are cheaper, easier to clean, and microwave-safe.

This is not where you need to spend money on a new lunch box.