Going Back To The Office? How To Vastly Improve Your Lunches
If you’re going back to work after maternity leave or like millions of others post-pandemic, you’re probably experiencing plenty of anxiety. Your lunches shouldn’t add to it.
Sure, unless you want to spend a small fortune eating out every day, you still have to pack your lunch and think about your snack options throughout the week, but at least you can do so in style.
From elevated bento boxes to fully insulated options wrapped in luxurious leather or crocodile, there’s no need to worry about “paper bagging it” ever gain. These stylish and sophisticated lunch bags look fantastic and will keep both you and your lunches cool as a cucumber all day long.
Best Overall – The Luncher by Modern Picnic
Stylish, sophisticated, and more than capable, the Luncher by Modern Picnic checks all of the boxes when searching for the perfect vessel to elevate your office lunches. It features a classically chic silhouette and looks just like a stylish purse.
For the exterior, you have the option of going with vegan leather, crocodile, or canvas. There are also 15 different classy color options to choose from, so you can match several outfits and look like a million bucks.
Best of all, no one will know you’re toting around a chicken Caesar salad, yogurt, apple, or whatever else you plan on snacking on throughout the day. The inside is fully insulated with interior pockets, a magnetic enclosure, and an interior slot for your spoon, fork, and knife.
Other thoughtful features include a perfectly sized leather, canvas, or bamboo handle, a removable strap, and a back pocket. It’s a durable, stylish, and fully functional lunch bag all wrapped into one.
Best Design – Insulated Lunch Bag by Baloray
The Baloray Insulated Lunch Bag has become a go-to favorite for a variety of reasons. For starters, it’s designed to resemble a handbag and comes with 18 tasteful patterns to choose from.
It’s also designed to keep your lunch and snacks at exactly the right temperature for hours on end. While it lacks the multiple smartly placed pockets of the Modern Picnic lunch bag, this Baloray does feature a front pocket for storing napkins or utensils.
The insulated interior is also a lot more spacious than it first seems. There’s enough room for your lunch, snacks, and even a thermos or protein shake bottle. A smart design and it looks great – what’s not to love?
Best Style – Corkcicle Lunch Box
The Corkcicle Lunch Box is a modern lunch box for a modern woman. This chic lunch bag is super stylish and looks like it should be carrying a compact and pocketbook instead of a sandwich and vegetable soup.
Outside, you’ll also find a special strap for the matching Corkcicle water bottle. Inside, you’ll find a dual-zippered main compartment with a small mesh pouch for holding snacks, making it both one of the prettiest and most functional lunch bags on the market.
With four fun colors to pick from, you’ll get plenty of compliments and quite a few people asking, “Who left their purse in the fridge?”
Best Space-Saver – Modetro Ultra Slim Bento Box Lunchbox
With one of the slimmest designs out there, this Modetro lunch bag will take up next to no space on your shoulder and under your desk. To match its low profile, it even comes with its own bento box that perfectly fits inside.
Of course, you can’t pack a four-course meal. However, since it’s smaller, it does a wonderful job of helping with portion control. It fits just the right amount of food – nothing less and nothing more.
The Modetro’s slim design also lends to its good looks. While it isn’t quite as stylish as some, it looks very professional and will seamlessly fit into any office environment.
Best Plus-Size Option – Easyfun Fashionable Lunch Bag
If you like to snack and pack several containers, the Easyfun Fashionable Lunch Bag may be a good fit. It can even hold multiple meals. There’s easily room for lunch, snacks, drinks, pocketbook – you name it.
Despite its size, the Easyfun also looks great. Since it’s fashionably designed to resemble a modern tote bag, you can bring it to work, the beach, or anywhere else. It looks like a cute tote, but it can do so much more!
Best Insulation – PackIt Freezable Deluxe Lunch Bag
The PackIt Freezable Lunch Bag is options out there for anyone just as concerned with insulation as they are style. It comes in over 25 prints and colors, and thanks to its patented cooling technology, it can keep food cold for nearly 12 hours.
Rather than requiring ice or gel packs, cooling gel is built into the PackIt’s exterior. You simply place the bag in the refrigerator or freezer to get it nice and cold prior to use. That’s all there is to it.
There’s no need to worry about durability either. Not only is it made of tough poly-canvas, but it’s also equipped with a water-resistant liner, both of which are easy to clean and completely non-toxic.
Best for Bento – Komax Lunchmate Bento Lunch Box Kit
Bento boxes are a terrific option for taking samplings of multiple dishes with you and keeping items separate from each other prior to lunch or snack time. The Komax Lunchmate Bento Lunch Box Kit combines the added organization of a bento box with an insulated carrier, making it one of the best bento box lunch bag options around.
The kit includes not one but two 17.9-ounce containers with leak-proof snap-lock lids. One of the containers is also divided, providing you with two compartments instead of just one.
To top it all off, the containers are freezer and microwave safe, making them great for reheating and prepping meals ahead of time. With chopsticks and stainless steel utensils included, the Komax Lunchmate is an ideal choice for sushi lovers or anyone wanting to take their lunch game up a notch.
Best for Salads – Lunchbots Salad Bowl
If your go-to office lunch is a big, healthy salad, the Lunchbots Salad Bowl has you covered. With a 6-cup capacity, it’s large enough for any type of salad and plenty of it.
Both the lid and the container are dishwasher safe and BPA-free. Meanwhile, the bowl’s silicone seals make it both leak-proof and easy to open. While it isn’t insulated and is only good for, well, salads, it’s the best on-the-go option for getting your salad fix.
Making the Decision
Let’s face it; brown paper bags clash with everything and big bulky coolers are better suited for jeans and jobsites. The good news is today’s working women have some wonderful lunch bag options!
From salad and sophisticated bento box carriers to chic and stylish lunch bags that insulate and resemble fashionable purses, there are a ton of options to take your office lunches to the next level. Now comes the fun part: picking one out!
