Ghosts and pumpkins too! A collection of bento box ideas perfect for Halloween
How about making a bento that’s perfect for Halloween?A bento featuring Halloween-only motifs like pumpkins, ghosts, and black cats will put both kids and adults in a festive mood the moment they open it.With a little creativity, familiar ingredients like nori, cheese, and sausages can be transformed into a wonderful Halloween bento!If you brainstorm ideas together with the kids as you make it, the time spent making the bento will become a special memory, too.Here, we’ll introduce Halloween bento ideas that are cute to look at and easy to make.
Ghosts and pumpkins too! A collection of recommended Halloween bento ideas (1–10)
Mummy Sausages
With just a little extra effort, you can turn your child’s favorite sausages into cute mummy ghosts! Simply wrap boiled spaghetti around your favorite sausages—that’s all it takes to make the base of a sausage mummy.
Then, if you like, use cheese or sesame seeds to add eyes, and try using uncooked spaghetti to make arms and legs for a fun touch.
It’s best to choose shorter sausages that will fit into a lunch box without needing to be cut.
If a single strand of pasta doesn’t feel like enough, add more and wrap them all around to make a super-swirly mummy!
Ghost Mickey character bento
https://www.tiktok.com/@momokyaraben/video/7021499672858561797Recently, during the Halloween season, “Ghost Mickey” has even become a Disney mascot character.
You can easily make it with rice balls and nori.
Wrap the rice in plastic wrap to shape the ghost’s body, ears, and hands.
Wrap the upper part of the body and the ear rice balls with nori.
Place cut pieces of nori on the rice balls to form Ghost Mickey’s face.
You could stop there and have a completed Ghost Mickey, but it looks even cuter if you also make a tongue and little decorations for the head and place them on the rice balls.
Try arranging it with ham, sausages, or imitation crab sticks for extra flair.
Halloween Onigiri Bento
https://www.tiktok.com/@tomochu15/video/7287777236164349192With a little twist, your rice balls can transform into Halloween-perfect character bentos.
Try placing thinly cut nori and round slices of cheese on round onigiri—you can make mummies and cute white ghosts.
You can also mix ketchup or salmon flakes into the rice, press it into a pumpkin mold, and turn it into a jack-o’-lantern.
With a bit of creativity, you can make all kinds of Halloween onigiri.
A bento packed with Halloween characters is sure to delight the kids.
How to make a pumpkin bento
Jack-o’-lanterns, those pumpkin ghosts you often see at Halloween.
The classic look is an orange pumpkin with triangle or round eyes and a mouth carved into jagged teeth.
You can recreate a jack-o’-lantern nicely using carrots.
Thinly slice and boil the carrots, then use the corner of a heart-shaped cutter to make a pumpkin shape.
Lightly flatten a straw and pinch it into a triangle to cut out the eyes.
You can also use the triangle-shaped straw to make the jack-o’-lantern’s mouth.
It’s an easy way to craft a must-have jack-o’-lantern for a Halloween character bento using simple, everyday items.
Jack’s cute Halloween bento
Open the lunchbox lid and a cute Jack-themed rice ball appears.
With Jack’s facial expression added, it makes for a bento with a big impact.
Shape the rice into a round onigiri and place facial features made from nori on top.
By the way, Jack is the man who became the model for the Jack-o’-lantern.
According to legend, because of his misdeeds in life, he could go neither to heaven nor hell and wandered the afterlife carrying a lantern with a flame.
If you also pack items like tamagoyaki shaped like pumpkins, it’ll feel like a lively Halloween-themed bento.
Lively Halloween Bento
Halloween is a time when both children and adults feel excited—dressing up in costumes and going out for treats.
Let’s make a lively bento that suits this special event.
Shape two types of rice—one mixed with mentsuyu or ponzu and one plain white—into round balls.
Place cut nori on the onigiri to make ghost faces.
You can turn them into your favorite ghosts, like jack-o’-lanterns or Jack.
White ghosts made from quail eggs and mummy sausages are also recommended.
You’ll end up with a festive Halloween character bento packed with lots of cute ghosts.
Inari sushi
Let’s transform inari sushi into a cute Halloween version! Just follow the same steps you usually use: simmer the abura-age (fried tofu pockets) in a sweet sauce and prepare vinegared rice.
Set aside a little of the sushi rice and mix one portion with pink sakura denbu and another with aonori (green laver).
Fill the inari pockets with the sushi rice, then turn them so the side that’s usually the bottom faces up to become the “face.” Decorate with nori, cheese, and more.
Use the sakura denbu rice to make pumpkins, and the aonori rice to make Frankenstein’s monster.
Pumpkin and ghost tamagoyaki
Your usual side dishes can turn into Halloween-themed treats just by changing their shape.
It’s easy, so give it a try.
For the pumpkin-shaped rolled omelet, lay down plastic wrap, place two bamboo skewers underneath and three on top, wrap the omelet, secure it with rubber bands, and let it sit to form a pumpkin shape.
For the ghost, simply use a sushi mat to shape it into a teardrop.
Add eyes and a nose with nori, and you’re done.
It’s really easy, so please try making them.
Your kids will love them!
pumpkin pouch
Pumpkin side dishes are perfect for the Halloween season.
That said, simmered dishes might not be very appealing to kids.
In times like that, this pumpkin salad chakin, which you simply wrap in plastic wrap, is ideal.
Steam the pumpkin in the microwave, then remove the skin and mash the flesh.
Once it’s smooth, place cream cheese and ham in the center, wrap it up in plastic wrap, and finish by topping with pumpkin seeds for color.
It’s a popular dish that’s easy for children to enjoy.
Anpanman Halloween bento
When it comes to children’s heroes, Anpanman is the first that comes to mind.
It’s no exaggeration to say every child goes through an Anpanman phase, and he’s also one of the easiest and most popular characters for bento art.
Let’s add a special twist to an Anpanman bento and make it perfect for Halloween! Turn your rice balls into Anpanman—think Jack-o’-Lantern-style Anpanman or pumpkin-shaped onigiri—and use pumpkin in the side dishes to make a salad and more.
Kids will be thrilled with this slightly different, Halloween-themed Anpanman!