The 7 Best Lunch Boxes of 2024

Why wait for dinner to dig into yesterday’s delicious leftovers? Save time and indulge even sooner by packing them for lunch. Bringing a meal from home wherever you go has a ton of benefits—like saving you money and creating less waste than using a single-use brown or plastic bag. With a trusty lunch box on hand, you’ll always be able to take along your favorite food to work, school, or even on a picnic.

When choosing a lunch box, consider its insulation properties, and ensure that it’s made with water-resistant and leakproof materials. And don’t think for a second that lunch boxes are just for kids (although we did find the perfect pick for little ones, too). There are plenty of grown-up and stylish lunch boxes out there just waiting to hold your favorite foods. We tested top-rated options to help you find the best lunch boxes for whatever type of meal you plan to pack.

Best Overall

Hydro Flask Large Insulated Lunch Box

This lunch box earned our best overall spot because it’s a nice, medium size, could work for kids or adults, and comes from a brand known for its durability and insulation. If you already trust Hydro Flask’s reusable water bottles to keep your drinks cold (we do), you’ll be glad to learn that the brand’s lunch boxes boast that same powerful insulation. In fact, Hydro Flask’s Large Insulated Lunch Box features two layers of insulation to keep your food perfectly chilled for hours. Plus, this durable design holds up to countless outings like the brand’s trademark bottle.

Our testing also proved its well-designed efficiency and performance—the wide open top makes for easy packing and the handle is comfortable to grasp. We like the spacious interior that fits plenty of food, with room to spare and are impressed by how smoothly the zipper glided open. Available in four exterior colors (our favorite is the bright sunflower hue), the lunch boxes also feature fully lined interiors that can be wiped down and cleaned easily, as well as a zippered pocket for utensils and an ice pack. We do wish there was a strap long enough to hook our hand through or to throw over our shoulder, but that isn’t a deal breaker.

Best Large

Mier Adult Lunch Box

The MIER Adult lunch box is a spacious option that is perfect for bringing lunch to school or work, and can double as a small cooler for a beach day or picnic. It features two large main compartments that provide plenty of space, as well as the ability to separate your cold drinks and hot food.

We found that it can fit a full day’s worth of food—not just lunch—with space left over. We managed to fit multiple water bottles (although not upright), canned seltzers, food storage containers packed with leftovers, and a full-size tub of hummus inside. It also includes exterior compartments with unique functions (there’s even a cardholder), and the exterior’s tear-resistant oxford fabric comes in a variety of patterns. We are particularly impressed by how stays cold with just an ice pack tucked in the lunch box.

Best Budget

Baloray Insulated Lunch Bag

This stylish tote has enough space to store snacks and lunch for an average workday but is still tall enough to fit a standard water bottle upright. It has a simple pocket across the front, two small handles, and a zipper across the top. There’s no shoulder strap that’s typical of traditional totes, but rather two padded handles that make it look more like a stylish bag than a lunch box. And, with almost 30 different patterns and colors available, there’s a design fit for every aesthetic. Still, our favorite part of the bag is its price, which is surprisingly budget-conscious considering the quality.

We tested this bag with our daily portions of lunch, including a water bottle or can of soda, a plastic storage container, utensils, a banana or apple, and a reusable snack bag with chips or crackers—and still had room to spare for small snacks like homemade granola bars. We were even able to fit four 8-ounce formula bottles and two large baby food containers in the bag without struggling to close it.

While we wouldn’t recommend this lunch tote for small kids since it’s made out of softer fabric material (and no one wants a squished lunch), it’s perfect for adults. Keep in mind that the shiny silver insulation lining in the interior is minimal, so don’t expect this bag to keep your lunch cold on its own. Luckily, it’s still compact enough to fit comfortably inside the office fridge.

Best for Kids

Bentgo Kids

Bento boxes are a great option for packing lunches for kids because they feature separate compartments that allow you to pack a variety of foods. This one in particular features five compartments. The largest one is perfect for a small sandwich, three mid-sized compartments work for everything from cheese puffs to fruit to carrot sticks, and the small round one is great for dips or sauces. The best part? Nothing leaks between compartments or from the box itself.

We packed lunches every day for a week and were pleased with its performance—nothing leaked out from the lunch box into the backpack. The rubber sides proved extra durable so it’s conveniently drop-proof, although it will inevitably show scratch marks. It’s also simple to clean because the removable inner tray is dishwasher safe and the outer shell can be wiped down easily—there aren’t any crevices that trap food.

Finally—and perhaps most important to your child—it comes in several prints and colors. You can also mix and match the removable inner trays if you decide to buy a couple. The inner trays are also microwave- and freezer-safe.

Best Electric

Steambox Electric Lunch Box And Food Warmer

When you don’t have access to a microwave to warm food, an electric lunch box is a unique alternative—and we love this one for its combination of aesthetic and functionality. The Steambox is a thoughtfully designed electric lunch box that uses a combination of heat and water to gently reheat food so it tastes almost as good as it did when you first cooked it.

The tray had plenty of room for a satisfying meal and, because of the sleek bamboo and white design, the whole thing looks sleek enough to leave out on a countertop or desk—something we recommend, given how heavy the unit is (4.3 pounds in all). You can always take the tray home to wash it and leave the actual heating element at work.

Though we were initially puzzled by the touchscreen controls, a set of FAQs in the directions solved the problem: The lunch box can’t be charged and used at the same time. Once the box was fully charged, though, the controls worked beautifully (you can even control it via a Bluetooth connection to your smartphone) and our food was thoroughly warm within 20 minutes (much quicker than the hour-plus other models required). A delicious, warm meal of pasta and meatballs, no microwave or oven required.

Most Durable

Carhartt Deluxe Lunch Cooler Bag

If you’re looking for a thoughtfully designed lunch box that will stand the test of time with durable and insulating materials, consider the Carhartt Deluxe Lunch Cooler. This lunch box is made by a brand known for quality, long-lasting products, and it’s easy to see how much consideration went into the different components. We love the size, which is perfect for holding a hearty meal with two snacks yet still compact enough to fit into a shared fridge.

The insulated lunch bag has dual compartments made of water-resistant fabric, with a separate insulated top compartment for more delicate items and a front zippered pocket for utensils. There’s also an ID tag, a top handle, and a shoulder strap that makes it easy to carry (though it is not removable). Small details like YKK zippers, metal hardware, and triple-needle stitching add to the overall quality. We fit our travel coffee cup upright during testing and felt confident about transporting the bag without the mug spilling. The front and top compartments were extra handy since we could grab loose items like snacks without rifling through the entire pack, and we didn’t have any spills or leaking issues—even with condensation coming off cold water bottles and soda cans.

Best Metal

Stanley Classic Lunch Box

Stanley is well-beloved and trusted for their ultra-durable quality products and this stainless-steel lunchbox is no exception. Its vintage-inspired design is simple yet functional. The inside of the lid features a metal holding rack, made to hold a 16-ounce Stanley water bottle or travel mug perfectly. We found that everything fit nicely in this 5.5-quart lunch box, with nothing getting smushed. However, we did note some difficulty with opening and closing the wire rack.

The metal construction of this lunch box makes for effortlessly easy cleanup—simply wipe with a cloth. No stains or smells remained after our tests. It is dishwasher safe though, which is a convenient option. With this one being made of metal, keep in mind that it is not insulated and won’t keep hot or cold drinks or food hot or cold.

How We Tested Lunch Boxes

We spent hours researching top-rated lunch boxes before testing every item on this list in real-life settings. We used the lunch boxes to pack different meals and snacks, and transported them as well, in order to evaluate their portability and whether or not they leaked in transit. Each lunch box was rated on its design, insulation, size, versatility, and overall value. We also cleaned the boxes and noted if they retained any smells or stains during the testing period. The tests included:

• Packing a meal, using all the compartments of the lunch box
• Packing ice and noting the rate of melting over several hours
• Transporting the lunch box
• Noting insulation performance after several hours
• Opening and closing the zippers or latches
• Cleaning each lunch box, according to the manufacturer’s instructions

We Observed

• Bigger isn’t always better: A larger lunch box does mean you can carry a lot of food, but if it isn’t fully packed, your lunch can get jostled around causing smooshed sandwiches and bruised fruit.
• Handles make a difference when commuting: Getting to work via mass transit can be tricky when holding anything. Being able to quickly hook a lunch bag on your arm, or even better, have a full cross-body strap, means you can grab a seat quickly and you won’t forget your lunch on the train or bus.
• The small details add up: Easily wipeable fabric, a small pocket for an ice pack, a place to hold utensils, and leakproof zippers and closures were just some of the small design details we appreciated.

How can you keep food hot or cold in a lunch box?

Unless you’re investing in a high-tech lunchbox that has built-in chilling or heating features, the first thing to do to help keep food hot or cold is purely logical: Separate hot from cold. Even if that means keeping two separate lunchboxes, it will make it much easier to maintain the desired temperatures. You can also invest in individually insulated containers.

Even with insulated containers, though, there’s more you can do to boost their efficiency. Fill them with hot (or icy) water first, and then let them sit for a bit before emptying the water and filling them with food. That simple step means that the stored food itself doesn’t have to do the heavy lifting of first heating and cooling its own container. (This works for everyday coffee mugs and insulated beverage containers, too.)

Keep reusable freezer packs handy to surround the cold foods in the lunchbox. For hot foods, add a microwaveable hot pack, picking a size that best suits the lunchbox, or go entirely low-tech by insulating each food container with two layers of paper towels (handy later for napkins) and a tight wrap of aluminum foil.

What is a bento box?

Strictly, “bento” describes a type of Japanese lacquered box, but in the world of lunchboxes, “bento” generally means that the lunchbox will have sections—the Miniso Bento Box is a good example—and often a self-contained carrier with onboard utensils and a lid designed to be carried.

How do you wash a lunch box and how often?

How best to keep a lunchbox and its gear clean will depend entirely on the kind you have. First, read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Also, it’s best to err on the side of caution and hand wash lunch boxes and gear whenever possible.

Even dishwasher-safe items can warp under heat, and if something warps, its lid won’t fit properly. Worse, the insulating fluids in some containers can leak out if the seals expand, and then you’ll have a real mess on your hands. If the lunchbox has a fabric exterior or thin lining over its inside insulation, all of that should just be wiped and spot-cleaned as necessary unless the manufacturer suggests machine washing.

Clean a lunchbox and its gear after every use, and store open to the air until absolutely dry inside. A shut-up food container or lunchbox with moisture inside will certainly lead to the growth of mold.

How does an electric lunch box work?

An electric lunchbox is basically an insulated container that has interior coils that heat up to warm the food inside. Versions can be found with plugs for home current (110- or 120-volt) or car/camper (12- or 24-volt), and some will have the option of either plug. Read the manufacturer’s instructions on how to heat the food, whether to remove or leave on any exterior carriers or covers, and enjoy a warm lunch.