This everyday bento is made with no special equipment at all. I didn’t even use the onigiri molds I have, but made those babies by hand.
I have had a couple of people comment they’d like to try bento, but are strapped for cash. Hence, they can’t get a special box so they can’t do bento. Nonsense, I say. You almost certainly have a flat plastic container in your kitchen right now! The most special thing I used in making it was special short grain rice and my “good” knives to cut up the food
This bento, which didn’t take forever to make, was made using a RubbermaidTM sandwich container. I lined the bottom with lettuce, took sliced beef from the roast we had for dinner, made some onigiri, added some cherry tomatoes, strawberries, and sliced yellow pepper.
While not the coolest looking bento I’ve ever made, it’s a nice, basic bento that’s made from what I have in the house. In looking at it, I can see some grace notes I could have added still within the “no special equipment” caveat. I could have put some sort of sesame seed decoration on the onigiri. I could have cut the strawberries in special shapes. But it was a speed bento that I wanted to be attractive and tasty, but not sweating the kawaii aspects.
Basically, if you get a nice 2-3 cup flat container, get a wide variety of food color, arrange it fairly nicely, and be sure to pack it tight, you’ve got a good bento!