Lunchbox ideas

Make-ahead food that packs well for school and office lunchboxes. (220 recipes)

Panellets

For the Castanyada on 31 October and All Saints' Day, Catalan families roast chestnuts, eat sweet potatoes and make panellets: little balls of almond marzipan, bound with a spoonful of cooked potato, then rolled in pine nuts, glazed with egg and baked until golden. The pine-nut ones are the classic, and children often help roll them. They are eaten with a glass of sweet wine or a cup of coffee. Chef's tip: wet the marzipan balls lightly with egg white before rolling; it is the glue that holds the pine nuts on.

57 min

Spanish Desserts

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Kalitsounia

Come Holy Week, Cretan kitchens from Chania to Sitia fill trays with kalitsounia, little open pastries whose edges are pinched into stars around a mound of fresh whey cheese. They come out with crisp, slightly sandy pastry and a soft, barely sweet filling that tastes of milk, cinnamon and orange zest, and they are eaten at Easter breakfast, offered to visitors with coffee and packed for the drive back to the village. On the island the filling is fresh mizithra or anthotyro; drained ricotta is the easiest stand-in and is usually made without animal rennet. Common mistake: using wet cheese straight from the tub, which floods the pastry and leaves the bases soggy. Chef's tip: drain the cheese overnight in a sieve lined with kitchen paper so the filling bakes up light and holds its dome.

75 min

Greek Baking

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Barazek

Barazek are the cookies Damascene families bring out for Eid and to go with an afternoon glass of tea: thin, crisp and buttery, with a glassy crust of sesame seeds held on with honey on top and a scattering of chopped pistachios pressed into the bottom. They are made by the tin-load in Damascus sweet shops and keep for weeks. Common mistake: using untoasted sesame — they should be lightly toasted before going on, or the cookies taste raw. Chef's tip: dip the sesame side into the honey syrup and then the seeds, not the other way round; you get an even, shiny layer that bakes to amber.

50 min

Syrian Baking

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Coca de llanda

Every Valencian grandmother has a coca de llanda, a plain, fluffy sponge named after the shallow metal tray (llanda) it is baked in, and it turns up at breakfast, at afternoon merienda and in lunchboxes all over the Comunitat Valenciana. Sunflower oil and milk keep it moist for days, lemon zest perfumes it, and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top bakes into a crackly crust. A common mistake is opening the oven in the first 25 minutes, which makes the middle sink. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for 10 minutes in the tin before it goes into the oven; the cinnamon sugar then sits on the surface instead of sinking in.

50 min

Spanish Baking

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Fartons

In Alboraya, just north of Valencia, the horchaterías that serve cold tiger-nut horchata in summer put a plate of fartons beside every glass: long, slim, soft buns with a shiny sugar glaze, designed to be dunked and to soak up the milky drink without falling apart. The dough is enriched with egg, milk and sunflower oil rather than butter, which gives them their light, cottony crumb. They are just as good with coffee or cold milk. A common mistake is rushing the second rise; under-proved fartons stay tight and bready instead of airy. Chef's tip: roll each strip a little thinner than you think, about as thick as your finger, because they almost double in the oven.

45 min

Spanish Baking

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Gougères

In the wine villages of Burgundy, around Beaune and Chablis, a basket of gougères lands on the table the moment guests sit down: small golden choux puffs, crisp outside and hollow and cheesy within. They are handed round at cellar tastings, christenings and Sunday aperitifs, and they are best eaten warm, within ten minutes of leaving the oven. The dough is the same as for profiteroles, but salted, peppered and beaten with grated Comté or Gruyère. Both cheeses are traditionally made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard mountain-style cheese if you need to. Chef's tip: dry the dough on the heat until it leaves a thin film on the bottom of the pan; drier dough takes more egg and puffs higher.

50 min

French Snacks & Starters

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Mondeghili

Mondeghili are the thrifty meatballs of Milan, invented to use up the beef left from a pot of bollito misto and now a fixture on the aperitivo counters of the city's bars. The cooked beef is minced with mortadella, a soft pork sausage, then bound with milk-soaked bread, egg, grana and lemon zest, flattened slightly and fried in butter until crisp and brown. They are best warm, with a squeeze of lemon, a spoonful of green sauce or simply a cold drink before dinner. Leftover roast beef or veal works just as well as boiled meat. Chef's tip: flatten each ball a little before frying; they cook through evenly and get more of that crunchy crust.

35 min

Italian Snacks & Starters

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Chocotorta

Born in 1980s Buenos Aires as an advertising idea and adopted by the whole country, chocotorta is the cake children ask for at every birthday and the easiest dessert in the Argentine repertoire. Chocolate biscuits are dipped briefly in milk (adults often use coffee), layered with a cream of dulce de leche beaten with cream cheese, and left overnight until the biscuits turn soft and cake-like. It is rich, sweet and a little tangy, and slices cleanly straight from the fridge. Any plain crisp chocolate biscuit works; rectangular ones make the neatest layers. The mistake to avoid is soaking the biscuits too long: a one-second dip is plenty, or they collapse into mush before you can lay them down. Chef's tip: assemble it a day ahead in a loaf tin lined with cling film; overnight chilling is what turns it from biscuits and cream into cake.

20 min

Argentinian Desserts

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Lasagne alla bolognese

In Bologna, lasagne means green lasagne: thin sheets of spinach egg pasta layered with slow-cooked ragù, béchamel and plenty of parmigiano, baked until the edges crisp and served for Sunday lunch and every family celebration in Emilia-Romagna. The ragù is made with beef and pork mince and a little pancetta, so this is a pork dish as well as a beef one; a splash of white wine is traditional but optional, and the note gives an alcohol-free swap. Homemade spinach pasta is the classic choice, but bought fresh egg lasagne sheets work well. Serve with a crisp green salad. Chef's tip: keep the layers thin and many rather than thick and few; a proper Bolognese lasagne has at least six layers and holds its shape when cut.

270 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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Biscuits roses de Reims

Bakers in Reims created these pale-pink, sugar-dusted finger biscuits in the late 1600s, baking the dough twice so it would keep, and they are still the city's signature treat. In Champagne it is the custom to dip them into a glass of Champagne, which they soak up without falling apart; at home they are just as good dipped in tea, hot chocolate or a fruit coulis, or layered into a charlotte. The pink colour is from a little food colouring and the vanilla scent fills the kitchen. Chef's tip: dust the piped fingers with icing sugar twice, a few minutes apart; that gives them their fine, crackled crust.

60 min

French Baking

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Kalter Hund

Kalter Hund, the 'cold dog', is the no-bake party cake of West German childhoods, set in a loaf tin in the fridge and sliced into stripes of crisp biscuit and dark chocolate at every 1970s birthday. Recipes from Hamburg to Bavaria differ only in the details; old ones used coconut fat and raw egg, while this version uses dark chocolate, cream and a little coconut oil, so there is nothing raw in it. A common mistake is pouring the chocolate too hot, which softens the biscuits into mush; it should be just warm. Chef's tip: line the tin with cling film overhanging the sides, then you can lift the whole loaf out and slice it with a hot knife.

35 min

German Desserts

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Torta de bolacha

Gaúcho birthday tables almost always carry a torta de bolacha, the fridge cake that grandmothers in Porto Alegre and the Serra Gaúcha towns put together the night before. Plain Maria biscuits are dipped in sweet milk and stacked with two stovetop creams, one pale vanilla custard and one chocolate, until the biscuits soften into something close to sponge. It is cool, soft and very sweet, and slices best after a night in the fridge; serve it with coffee or as the birthday cake itself, with candles on top. It contains egg yolks and wheat biscuits. Most failures come from soaking the biscuits too long: they should be dipped for a second, not left to swim, or the layers collapse into mush. Chef's tip: let both creams cool until just warm before layering, so they stay thick enough to hold the next row of biscuits.

40 min

Brazilian Desserts

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King Ranch chicken

King Ranch chicken is the layered casserole every Texan has eaten at a potluck, baby shower or after a funeral, named, without any proof, after the famous ranch in South Texas. Corn tortillas are layered like lasagne with shredded chicken, peppers, tinned tomatoes with green chiles, a creamy sauce and lots of cheese. This version makes the sauce from scratch instead of tinned soup. Chef's tip: lightly fry or toast the tortillas first so the layers hold up instead of turning to mush.

75 min

American Chicken

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Toot

Little white toot sit on silver dishes at Nowruz and at weddings in Tehran and Isfahan, shaped and named after the pale mulberries that grow all over Iran. They are a soft, fragrant almond paste bound with rosewater, rolled in sugar and finished with a sliver of pistachio for the stalk. No cooking is needed, so children can help shape them. Chef's tip: add the rosewater a spoonful at a time; the paste should just hold when squeezed, and a wet paste won't keep its mulberry bumps.

40 min

Persian Desserts

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Hawaiian macaroni salad

Every Hawaiian plate lunch, from drive-ins in Hilo to the lunch wagons of Honolulu, comes with two scoops of rice and one of this soft, creamy macaroni salad. It is simpler than American pasta salads: overcooked elbow macaroni soaked in vinegar while hot, then folded with lots of mayonnaise, a little milk and grated carrot. Chef's tip: cook the pasta past al dente, a few minutes longer than the packet says; plate-lunch mac is meant to be soft so it soaks up the dressing.

30 minPacific Islander Salads

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Ohio buckeyes

Buckeyes are the sweet of Ohio, made by the tray for Christmas cookie swaps and for Ohio State football parties, because they look like the glossy brown nuts of the state's buckeye tree. A firm, sweet peanut butter fondant is rolled into balls and dipped in chocolate, leaving a pale circle on top. Chef's tip: freeze the balls for 20 minutes before dipping; warm ones slide off the stick and muddy the chocolate.

45 min

American Desserts

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Punschkrapfen

Punschkrapfen are the bright pink cubes that glow from every Viennese Konditorei counter, especially in winter. Traditionally the filling of sponge crumbs, jam and chocolate is soaked in rum punch, which gives the cake its name, so the classic version contains alcohol. This recipe makes the alcohol-free version with orange juice and strong black tea, which keeps the fruity, warming flavour that children can eat too; to make the traditional one, swap 40 ml of the orange juice for dark rum. The sponge is moist and dense, the icing sweet and crackly. A common mistake is skipping the overnight press; the cubes fall apart when cut. Many pink colourings use carmine, made from insects, so choose a plant-based one such as beetroot red. Chef's tip: cut with a knife dipped in hot water and wiped between each cut for clean edges.

80 min

Austrian Baking

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Nebraska runzas

Runzas came to Nebraska with Volga German settlers, who called them bierocks, and today they are the state's fast food, packed for Cornhusker football games and long drives across the plains. A soft, slightly sweet bread dough is wrapped around a peppery filling of beef mince, onion and cabbage and baked into a rectangular pocket. Chef's tip: let the filling cool and drain it in a sieve before filling; hot, wet filling makes the dough soggy and tear.

70 min

American Meat

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Vasilopita

Just after midnight on New Year's Eve, or at lunch on 1 January, the head of a Greek household crosses the vasilopita with a knife and cuts slices in strict order: for Christ, for the house, then for each person from oldest to youngest. Whoever finds the foil-wrapped coin has luck for the year. This Athenian-style version is a tall, fluffy orange cake, dusted with icing sugar with the new year's numbers stencilled on top. Common mistake: slicing it warm, which makes the crumb gummy and drags the coin around. Chef's tip: beat the butter and sugar until almost white and fold the whipped whites in by hand; that is where the light, cottony crumb comes from.

80 min

Greek Baking

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Ka'ak bi ajwa

In the last nights of Ramadan, Jordanian kitchens turn into small bakeries, and trays of ka'ak bi ajwa go into neighbourhood ovens ready for Eid morning. A crumbly semolina pastry scented with anise and mahlab is wrapped round a rope of date paste, closed into rings and baked pale gold, then offered to every visitor with bitter Arabic coffee. Children usually do the rolling. The common mistake is overworking the dough after the butter goes in, which makes the cookies hard rather than sandy. Chef's tip: rest the semolina and butter mixture overnight before adding the liquid; the grains drink the fat and the ka'ak melt in the mouth.

80 min

Jordanian Baking

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Kourabiedes

Snow-white kourabiedes are piled into pyramids at Greek Christmas, New Year and christenings, and in Macedonia they are handed out at weddings, so guests leave with sugar on their clothes. The crumb is short and sandy from well-whipped butter and toasted almonds, with a whisper of rose or orange-blossom water. Common mistake: dusting with icing sugar while the cookies are still hot, which melts into a paste instead of a soft coat. Chef's tip: beat the butter for a full 10 minutes until almost white; the air you whip in is what makes them melt in the mouth.

55 min

Greek Baking

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Layali Lubnan

Layali Lubnan — 'Lebanese nights' — is the cool, wobbly pudding Beirut families make for Ramadan evenings and summer gatherings, because it is quick and feeds a crowd from one dish. A base of milk thickened with fine semolina and scented with orange blossom is topped with a thick layer of cream, then finished with pistachios, rose petals and a trickle of sugar syrup at the table. It is gentle and milky rather than very sweet; the syrup lets everyone choose. Common mistake: pouring the cream on while the semolina is still hot; it melts in and the layers blur. Chef's tip: whisk the semolina in slowly and keep whisking for the first minute — that is what keeps it perfectly smooth.

30 min

Lebanese Desserts

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Koulourakia

Easter Saturday morning in Greece smells of koulourakia: buttery cookie dough rolled into ropes, twisted into braids, coils and S-shapes, glazed with egg and baked to a deep shine. Children help shape them, and the tins last through Easter week for dunking in coffee or milk. The texture is crisp outside and tender within, with orange zest and vanilla. Common mistake: rolling the ropes too thick; anything wider than a pencil turns cakey rather than crisp. Chef's tip: chill the dough for 20 minutes before rolling and the twists keep their sharp edges in the oven.

65 min

Greek Baking

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Ka'ak bi haleeb

Lebanese families bake ka'ak bi haleeb by the tray before Eid and Easter alike, stamping each round with a carved wooden mould so it comes out patterned like a little rosette. They are soft rather than crisp, gently sweet, perfumed with mahlab (ground cherry kernels), anise and orange blossom water, and dusted with sesame or left plain. Children dunk them in milk, grown-ups in tea. The common mistake is adding too much flour to make the dough easier to handle, which gives dry, bready cookies. Chef's tip: let the shaped cookies rise for 30 minutes before baking; the yeast makes them pillowy and keeps the stamped pattern sharp.

45 min

Lebanese Baking

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