I truly enjoyed reading the recipes in this book! I look forward to implementing some of them into my daily life.

Posted on Goodreads: Courtesy of NetGalley I read this wonderful, information-packed book on Bento. For the many who pack their own and family member lunches on a daily basis, this book will refresh and revitalize what can often seem an onerous task. Bento boxes are a great way to pack in variety and healthy meals that are anything but boring. While most of the recipes require pre-planning they are still simple and easy to make. If we really do eat with our eyes first this book will help us all find delight during the work/school week. Each recipe is explained very well, the photography is clear and colorful. I was inspired to make several different meals and even bought a new Bento box. This is a good title to add to library cookbook collections, especially those libraries serving families.

A variety of recipes with smaller sizes, portion ideas. I don't know if it is worth buying a separate book because of the "bento" in the title, although the recipes themselves do look tantalizing, however you serve them.

I loved this book. Page after page had enticing recipes which were wholesome and fresh. I would highly recommend it.

If you're bored with eating ordinary turkey sandwiches for lunch or sending your kids another PBJ, you'll want to check out this cookbook. In addition to traditional Japanese rice and noodles, there are chapters for sandwich bento and other ideas. Lots of full-color photos, as well as advice for how to prepare, pack, and keep food at the right temperature for lunchtime.

These recipes and bento boxes look wonderful! My kids are used to the same types of lunches that they've always had, so I'm going to try to ease them into it. I think the fact that the bento box compartments are so neat will help intrigue them!

This book is great for both those new to bento and Japanese cooking and those with some experience under their belt. The recipes are easy to follow and well laid out and the pictures are gorgeous! I especially loved the section on staple recipes and food safety.

Awesome cookbook! Clear instructions, practical advice, recipes for everyone

Simply Bento is a wonderfully complete bento cookbook with stunning photography and includes everything from a brief history of bento, descriptions of common ingredients, sauces, bento safety, etc., plus includes a wide variety of bento recipes. What I really like about this bento cookbook is that the authors try to make everything simple and practical for every day, knowing that most of us have limited time and energy to invest in daily lunches, but also knowing that we want to feed delicious healthy food to our families. They themselves use leftovers, precut vegetables, and prepare bento in ways that help them save time and money. Love that the photos really show you how you can layout these recipes to for absolutely gorgeous presentations.

The recipes are varied, cover a wide range of nationalities, and offer lots of healthy choices. I intend to use this book to provide bento lunches that mostly fit a lower carb/keto diet and also accommodate the multiple food allergies in my family.

Here’s a brief overview of what’s included in Simply Bento.

How to Make Bento: 7 Key Points
Covers important advice on bento safety, serving a balanced diet, packing what you like, planning ahead, choosing the right bento box, packing attractively, and making bento prep a routine.

Bento Essentials
Information on the differences between and advantages of different styles of bento boxes, and information on accessories such as utensils, baking cups and dividers, picks, food molds, and ice packs.

Japanese Pantry Essentials
Covers basic ingredients such as soy sauce, mirin, dried bonito flakes, etc., with information on what they are made of, how they are used, what they add to each dish, etc.

Bento Ingredients
Includes recipes for different types of rice cooked in rice cookers or stovetop, plus broths, sauces, and dips including dashi, tamagoyaki, etc.

Classic Japanese Bento
Includes recipes for chicken teriyaki bento, beef roll-up bento, grilled mackerel bento, tsukune bento, beef shigureni bento, sukiyaki bento, salmon teriyaki bento, and pork shogayaki bento.

Sandwich Bento
Includes recipes for tonkatsu sandwich bento, antipasto bento, mixed sandwiches bento, cucumber and cream cheese sandwich, and hamburger bento.

Sushi and Onigiri Bento
Includes recipes for sushi burrito bento, onigiri bento, sushi roll bento, spam musubi bento, inari sushi bento, and yaki onigiri.


Noodle Bento
Includes recipes for ramen bento, soba noodle salad bento, bukkake udon bento, shrimp avocado pasta salad bento, and cold somen noodle bento.

Popular Japanese Bento
Includes recipes for chicken karaage bento, hamburger steak bento, yakiniku bento, okonomiyaki bento, korokke bento, sweet and sour meatballs bento, and chicken nugget bento.

10-Minute Bento
Includes recipes for cold shabu shabu salad bento, hot dog bento, quesadilla bento, pinwheel sandwiches bento, yakisoba bento, pizza bento, corn chowder bento, granola bento, spicy chicken wing bento, and breakfast muffin bento.

Rice and Grain Bowl Bento
Includes recipes for omurice bento, chicken soboro bento, oyakodon bento, gyudon bento, taco rice bento, and quinoa salad bento.

Low-Carb Bento
Includes recipes for grilled shrimp and steamed vegetables bento, cauliflower fried rice bento, fish meuniére bento, lettuce wrap bento, curry chicken salad bento, and beef and vegetable stir-fry bento.

Vegan Bento
Includes recipes for tofu steak salad bento, falafel bento, vegetable miso soup bento, spaghetti with lima beans and cabbage bento, hijiki gohan bento, and tofu poke bento.

Bento for Special Occasions
Includes recipes for Valentine’s Day bento, Halloween bento, Birthday bento, picnic or field trip bento, and first day of school bento.

Bento at Home
Includes recipes for tempura bento, temari sushi bento, roast beef bento, sashimi bento, and holiday bento.

Side Dishes
Includes recipes divided into sections for rice and potatoes, vegetables, salads, seafood, mushrooms, eggs and meat, pickled, and sauces, dips, and more.

Highly recommended for beginning bento enthusiasts, bento fans looking for new, frugal, and efficient recipes, and anyone who wants to prepare healthier meals.

I liked what was offered in this book so much I bought the Kindle version and the hardcover version. I am reviewing the Kindle version of Simply Bento. I will amend this review with info on the hardcover version when I receive mine. (I initially received this book as a digital Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from the publisher through NetGalley. My opinions are my own.)

Last summer I lived in Japan, and not in a bustling metropolis like Tokyo. I lived on the top of an isolated mountain and the only food available for most of my meals came from the convenience store down the block. Now, convenience stores in Japan are nothing like any other convenience stores I’ve ever seen, and are truly the most convenient of stores one could imagine. I ate uncountable bento (Japanese packed lunches) from this “konbini” and have been missing them terribly. Not only are bento delightfully delicious, but also aesthetically pleasing and more balanced than most meals I prepare for myself.

For the last year, I have attempted to both emulate the food I ate in these bento and find local restaurants that capture the flavors of these pre-packed lunches, but everything has fallen short. And that is why I was so thrilled to get a chance to read Simply Bento. This cookbook brings together all of the aspects of bento in an easy to follow manner, from preparing the food, to packing, and the arrangements within the boxes. All of the meals I have been yearning for are included within these pages and the recipes are shockingly easy! The authors even provide hints on how to save time by using leftovers from dinner, or prepping the night before, since bento is a labor of love and can take some time to prepare. But it is worth it, so worth it.

Simply Bento includes many classic recipes, such as karaage (Japanese fried chicken) and hambagu (Japanese hamburger steak), but also Americanized dishes like chicken nuggets bento and quesadilla bento. The side dishes are also marvelous, with a variety of salads and vegetable dishes. There is even a section for vegan bento. All told, there are over 140 recipes within these pages. This book had me longing to cook every single recipe and to order up all of the cute accessories to make heart-shaped boiled eggs and star cutout carrots. So fire up the rice cooker, and enjoy some bento!

*I would like to thank the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

I LOVE bento recipes! this one shows super easy bentos to make with easily accessible ingredients. The recipes were easy to follow and i loved all the cute packaging ideas for the food! I need to get this as a hard copy!

No doubt I was going to love this book because Japanese Cooking 101 is my go to resource for whenever I want to cook something Japanese - which is a lot of times, since I have a huge passion for Japan.

Anyway, this cookbook is about bento boxes, of course, but it offers so much more like traditional Japanese recipes that you could cook for dinner and have the leftovers for your bento, side dishes, vegan recipes, western version of bentos and more.

There is something in here for anyone!

Simply Bento opens a door into bento - the Japanese idea of single portion meals. Inside you'll find plenty of ideas to keep lunch from being boring. There are the more traditional Japanese bento lunch recipes with rice or noodle, a meat, and a vegetable, but then you can also find a pizza/sandwich bento idea. Simply Bento has great tips for trying bento lunches, like choosing the right box for the types of foods you'll eat (there are so many sizes and compartment considerations) or how to meal plan. The recipes are plentiful but I would have liked to have seen more photos of the food. This cookbook does seem more geared to adults or more adventurous children, but hey adults want to pack lunch too.

A great recipe book for young and old. I have used a couple of recipes for mine and my partners lunch and even my 2 year old on picnics. I like how there are recipes for life events such as first day at school and halloween.
Some of the recipes have ingredients which are hard to find in supermarkets.

I really enjoy this cookbook. There is a variety of food, both typical japanese dishes as well as more western dishes. It has given me a lot of inspiration for my work lunches.
There is also a low carb and a vegan chapter as well as many side dishes and basics to mix and match. Being vegetarian myself I didn't mind that there are many meat/fish based recipes in this book because I still find inspiration and can make alternatives. There is always a recommendation on what to add to your bento box on top of the main dish (like fresh fruit or specific side dishes) which makes work lunches a real treat.

The simplest metric for me in evaluating a cookbook is whether I'm immediately tempted to make any of the recipes--the more, the better. This delightful book is full of simple recipes that made me want to go shopping right away and start cooking. I bookmarked at least ten recipes to try over the next couple of weeks. It isn't clear that I will put all of them into cute little bento boxes for lunch, but they all are well-suited for bringing to work instead of eating the same old cafeteria food. The authors explain everything clearly, and the section in the beginning on basic Japanese ingredients is useful. For maximum usefulness as a reference after the first reading, this book would benefit from a photo of every recipe (or at least every suggested bento) directly opposite the recipe page. I would not hesitate to give this book as a gift. I received a digital pre-publication copy from Netgalley for review, and I plan to buy a physical copy for my kitchen.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I'm new to the whole bento box scene and really just started doing it for healthier lunches for my son. This book have wonderful tips with what you would need and how to create each box. There is a good mixture of breakfast and lunch bento boxes that will definitely get you started. I looked for some of the ingredients in my local stores and could find most of them but there where a couple that I couldn't find. I guess I'm not in the right area for it and will have to source outside my town. Otherwise I felt this was a perfect introductory book on bento.

Absolutely loved Simply Bento, some great healthy lunch box ideas, as a vegan I also got some great recepies that I will be using over and over again. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc..

Simply Bento is a great book for introducing people to the Japanese style of Bento food. It certainly looks like a nice alternative to sushi at lunchtime, putting a balanced meals in a box. In some ways its like taking your lunch to work or school in those little Tupperware boxes.

The book has an introduction which includes pantry essentials and the ingredients used. There are lots of lunches to make, some with meat, fish, low carbs, Noodles or vegan, plus many more.

Many of the lunches can be made the night before, or completed in the morning before you leave. The ingredients are in both imperial and metric measurements.

Not all the recipes have a photograph, but those included look very vibrant and interesting to eat.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

I legitimately have no reason for loving Bento boxes as much as I do. I blame Cher in the movie Mermaids, seriously. But there is something about these neatly packed boxes of food, all portioned out, often in fun shapes, that just SCREAMS TO ME, "Stop bringing cup o'noodles to work and make your own damn food, you heathen!"

The difference between this book and a few other bento books I've seen is that this one is ACTUALLY based around Asian cooking. What a concept! Unfortunately, this also means there's a butt load of ingredients I'm probably never going to get my hands on. Also some I don't ever want to get my hands on, or ever see a picture of again, thanks sliced lotus seed pod things.

But the majority of the recipes in here sound SO GOOD, and also look so good. Is it the adorable portions and shaped food? Well...probably, again, I am so susceptible to food in cute little boxes.

I bookmarked so many of these recipes. Will I ever make them? Dear god, I want to. But probably not. And let's be real, I don't own any cute little bento boxes. That's what mismatched Tupperware and butter bowls are for.

But it could happen. Mehbe....

This is a beautifully photographed cookbook. I had hoped to gain inspiration for my lunches when I saw this book. While it is inspiring, it involves a lot more effort in terms of prep time and shopping beyond the average grocery store. I do plan to try out a few recipes for weekend lunches, when I have more time to cook.