Eating out is expensive. It doesn’t matter whether you’re walking to a neighboring deli, hitting a fast food drive-thru, or ordering from Doordash – it’s going to cost way more compared to food you prepare at home. That’s why many people prefer to pack their own meals for work. Sure, it’s not freshly-cooked, it’s a bit boring with its familiarity, and it might not taste as great as the lunches they serve at the chain restaurant downstairs, but you absolutely save a significant amount of money going the lunch box route. In this economy, that matters.
If you’re thinking of packing your own meals for work, getting a good insulated lunch box is one of the first steps to make it a steady habit. The best lunch boxes don’t just make carrying food to work an easier affair, they also protect your food, so you don’t end up with mangled sandwiches, crushed bags of chips, and warm soup spilled all over the place.
Many of the best insulated lunch boxes are optimized to keep food warm or chilled for hours. This makes it easier to keep food at more appetizing temperatures, which is important if you don’t have access to a microwave or a fridge at your workplace. As such, many modern lunch boxes are, basically, mini-coolers. Whether they’re made with fabric shells or harder materials, they perform similar function to personal-sized soft coolers, albeit with compartments designed for accommodating food containers of all sorts, instead of beverage bottles and cans.
The best insulated lunch boxes can vary based on a number of things. Some can be easier to pack, while others will be easier to bring with you on-the-go. Some offer more space for food, some are easier to clean, and some look more like a regular bag than others. Suffice to say, different lunch boxes will serve different needs, so make sure you consider your own individual requirements before getting one.
These are the best insulated lunch boxes to save money on your work meals.
Packit Freezable Classic Lunch Box
Pros
- Chills food actively, instead of just insulating it
- Box-shaped profile
- Kid-friendly designs available
Cons
- Requires you to put whole lunch box in freezer overnight
- Not leakproof
Instead of simply coming with insulation, this insulated lunch box’s walls actually come with built-in gel packs, which keeps the bag’s contents chilled for hours. That, essentially, turns the lunch box into a mini-fridge that will cool down food to keep it fresher for longer. According to the outfit, this makes it ideal for packing dairy, yogurt, deli meats, salads, fruits, and veggies, although we, pretty much, use it for most any food, since we can simply microwave ones we want to eat hot later. It keeps cold really well, too, with salads and yogurts still feeling pretty chilled when we took them out six hours after packing. Obviously, this is not an ideal option if you want a lunch box that can keep hot food warm, but it’s a really good, affordable pick otherwise. Do note, since the gel packs are built into the bag, you’ll have to put the whole thing inside the freezer for at least 12 hours to freeze them, which, let’s be honest, just doesn’t feel like the best use of space.
Oxo Good Grips Prep and Go
Pros
- Expandable top section to fit even more food
- Plenty of room for big lunches
- Looks and feels like a normal tote bag
Cons
- Hard to clean
A big issue many people have with insulated lunch boxes is the fact that they look like lunch boxes. Not this one, which looks like a normal, everyday tote that works just as well for trips to the grocery as it does for a day at the office. Being a tote, you need to pack food strategically: put heavy items like food containers and beverages at the bottom, then soft foods like sandwiches, fruits, and desserts on top, so they don’t get squished. There’s a lot of room in there, as you can pack as much as 12 cans of drinks if you want, making it a good lunch box for big meals and even multiple snacks throughout the day. The insulation is pretty good, too, allowing it to keep food decently chilled for several hours with just a couple of ice packs. Like other totes, though, this is pain to clean and dry, so you might want to avoid spilling anything inside if you can avoid it.
Mier Adult Lunch Box
Pros
- Two large insulated compartments
- Separate compartments for hot and cold food
- Leakproof bottom compartment for cold items
Cons
- Looks more like a soft cooler than a bag
This insulated lunch box’s design is very reminiscent of personal-sized soft coolers. We’re pretty sure we’ve had one or two that looked similar over the years. As such, it’s not quite as sleek to carry as other bags in the list, but we definitely appreciate all the other things it brings to the table. For instance, it offers two large compartments that use 7mm thick insulation, one on top and one on the bottom, allowing you to separate hot and cold food items. The bottom is the one meant for cold foods, by the way, and gets a leakproof PEVA liner to ensure its contents can get moist without the water seeping through. You can carry it over the shoulder using an included strap, although there’s also a carry handle if you’d rather leave the shoulder strap at home. There’s also a zippered pouch outside for cutlery and other items, along with a couple of side pockets, which we appreciate. Because of the way the compartments open, the bottom one is easier to clean than the top, but neither one gave us too much trouble.
Carhartt Deluxe Lunch Cooler Bag
Pros
- Dual compartments for separating hot and cold food
- Rugged looks
- Spacious lower compartment
Cons
- A little bulky
- Non-detachable shoulder strap
Yes, it looks like one of Carhartt’s tool bags, but this insulated lunch box is designed to carry your meals and keep them at desired temperatures for hours. And the insulation is potent, with cold food staying chilled inside even after eight hours with just a couple of freeze gels inside. It has dual insulated compartments, a smaller one on top and a bigger one at the bottom, giving you a way to separate hot and cold food items similar to the Mier above. The upper compartment isn’t as big, though (about half the size of the lower one), so it’s only ideal for sandwiches and fruits, with most of your stuff likely going at the bottom area. There’s a wide exterior pocket that’s perfect for cutlery and other smaller items, as well as a non-removable shoulder strap and carry handle. Truth be told, it feels a little bulky to carry, but if you plan to carry a good load of food and drinks, this definitely does the trick.
Hydro Flask 8L Insulated Tote
Pros
- Stylish, compact tote design
- Easy to carry
- Collapsible
Cons
- Can’t keep temperatures for long periods
We love the tote form factor for insulated lunch boxes. They just feel so natural to carry, while accommodating a whole lot of food inside. If you don’t like Oxo’s wide profile tote above, maybe you’ll take a liking to the more upright profile of this one from Hydro Flask. It has a freestanding base that makes it stand upright for easy packing and unpacking, as well as the waterproof-coated fabric, fully-lined interior, and welded seams that ensure water neither gets in nor out. The insulation maintains temperature just enough to make sure food remains fresh come lunch time, while still being thin enough to let you collapse the bag into a more compact pile when it’s empty. Hydro Flask actually has bigger versions of the design, although we prefer this smaller 8L version for daily lunch box use.
Hydro Flask 5L Carry Out Lunch Box
Pros
- Good, lightweight insulation
- Wide open compartment is easy to pack and easy to clean
- Easily fits inside larger backpacks
Cons
- No shoulder strap
If you don’t mind the boxy form factor, we actually find Hydro Flask’s 5L insulated lunch box to be much better than their tote. Sure, it accommodates less food, but the shape is optimized to fit inside backpacks and other bigger bags, all while also having two carry handles if you want to take it on its own. We also like the fact that the design can work for both kids and adults alike, so you can pass it off to your kids once they need something that looks more refined than the dinosaur lunch box they’ve used in previous years. We especially love the compression molded exterior, which protects any soft foods you have sitting inside, while the limited room means you can pack it flush, with no space for the food to wiggle around. The insulation seems nice, too, keeping food very fresh after five hours, as well as the waterproof liner with welded seams that keeps any moisture from leaking out. It even has a mesh pocket in the lid that’s ideal for holding cutlery.
Yeti Daytrip Packable Lunch Bag
Pros
- Flexible yet potent insulation
- Can expand or contract to fit contents flush
- Small enough to fit in a backpack
Cons
- No shoulder strap
- Premium price
The styling of Yeti’s insulated lunch box is easily one of our favorites. It gives off that brown bag feel without being too bulky. We also like that it keeps its shape and stands upright despite having soft walls, making it easy to both pack and unpack straight from the top opening. It uses a flexible, lightweight insulation very similar to the ones Yeti uses in their soft coolers, so it’s able to maintain temperatures for a decent length of time, all while being packable enough to fold up into a small bundle (complete with a hook to secure it) once emptied out. The bag can be expanded higher or contracted lower by simply adjusting the hook, ensuring it can always hold its contents flush, whether you’re carrying just a few items or a whole bag’s worth of food. We also appreciate that it’s small enough to fit in many backpacks, making it easy to carry your lunch box with you. If you want to carry it on its own, there’s a single handle on top and it looks good enough we really don’t mind commuting to work with this thing in hand.
