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.
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Ghosts and pumpkins too! A collection of recommended Halloween bento ideas (1–10)
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!
GeGeGe no Kitaro
When you think of Halloween, you probably picture ghosts—but lately, monsters and yokai have also become Halloween mainstays as “scary, non-human creatures,” right? Speaking of Japanese yokai… yes, GeGeGe no Kitaro! Let’s boost the Halloween mood with character bentos that feature Kitaro and his yokai friends.
The main Kitaro is an onigiri, and his trademark bangs that cover one eye are made with pasta.
And of course, Eyeball Father makes an appearance too (lol).
Pack in your favorite characters like Nurikabe, Ittan Momen, and Nezumi Otoko!
Ghosts and pumpkins, too! A collection of recommended bento lunch ideas for Halloween (11–20)
Chicken sauté grave bento
A slightly horror-themed bento that depicts a desolate graveyard—the kind of tombstones and skulls you often see in zombie movies—this is a chicken sauté “grave” bento.
Make and pack the bento as usual, then cut the main chicken sauté into a rectangle, place it on the rice, and add lettering with nori and cheese.
For a more realistic look of “soil” where the gravestone is stuck, use seasoned rice, mixed rice, or takikomi gohan.
The quail-egg skulls add just the right touch too! How about this for a Halloween bento for a boy or your husband?
Halloween decorative rice balls
Even the classic rice balls that always go into a bento can be turned into a Halloween character lunch with just a few tweaks.
Round white rice balls can become a skeleton or a mummy, and rice balls made with ketchup rice can transform into a jack-o’-lantern.
Eyes and noses are easy to make by cutting roasted seaweed.
For the mummy onigiri, wrap a seaweed-covered rice ball with thin strips of cheese to finish.
It’s an easy menu that will make your child’s face light up with surprise when they open their lunch box.
Give it a try!
Roll bread sandwich
If you usually pack rice-based bento but want something cute and special for Halloween, how about making a bento with mini roll sandwich buns? Fill the rolls with your favorite ingredients like egg salad, ham, fresh vegetables, or sausages, then decorate the tops with seaweed and cheese to create pumpkin faces, mummy faces, or bandage designs.
Even if you’re not good at detailed character bentos, this is an easy way to give it a try, don’t you think?
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.
