Plastic-free packed lunch: how to pack it so the food keeps

The matpakke, the Norwegian packed lunch, is often the last plastic left in the kitchen. It does not have to be. With a few things you probably already have in a drawer, the food arrives at lunchtime whole and in good shape.

How to pack a plastic-free lunch, step by step

1. 1
   Start with dry food

   Moisture is the main reason a packed lunch turns sad. Pat fruit and vegetables dry, and let freshly baked bread cool completely.

2. 2
   Put the bread slices together in pairs

   The slices protect each other. Pack them tightly in a beeswax wrap or a clean cotton tea towel, and press the edges together with the warmth of your hand.

3. 3
   Give the topping a layer of its own

   Cheese, ham and egg are packed separately. Then the taste and the moisture do not travel into the bread.

4. 4
   Anything wet goes in a jar or a tin

   Yoghurt, soup, cucumber and tomato belong in something sealed. A preserving jar or a plastic-free steel lunch box does the job.

5. 5
   Fruit and snacks on top

   Put whatever gets squashed easily at the top.

6. 6
   Pack it upright, not at the bottom of the bag

   The lunch takes the day better when it stands steady, with no book or water bottle resting on it.

Bread slices that do not go soggy

A soggy packed lunch is nearly always down to cucumber and tomato. Both are almost pure water, and the liquid goes straight into the bread as soon as the slices lie against each other. So spread a thin layer of butter right out to the edge, it works as a barrier, and put the cucumber in a small box of its own.

A packed lunch without cling film has a real advantage here. Cling film is completely sealed, so the moisture from the food settles as condensation against the bread. Beeswax wraps and cotton breathe a little, and the slice holds its shape better. There are more uses in the guide on how to use beeswax wraps.

Cheese and cold cuts kept apart

Cheese is the hardest item in the lunch box. Sealed up tight it turns clammy, and the smell settles into everything lying next to it. Give the cheese a sheet of its own and let it sit by itself. There is more in the guide on storing cheese without plastic.

Boiled eggs, cold cuts and mackerel in tomato sauce are easiest in a small jar with a screw lid. Raw meat and raw fish should never go in a beeswax wrap, because the sheet cannot take the hot wash that has to follow.

Fruit, vegetables, cakes and snacks

Whole apples and bananas need nothing at all. Cut fruit does need help: lay the cut surface against a sheet of beeswax wrap and it stays pale for much longer. Carrot sticks stay crunchy in a small box with a little cold water in the bottom. Pepper strips are the opposite, they need to lie dry, or they go limp. Salad and herbs are especially delicate, and they have a guide of their own on keeping salad and herbs fresh.

The crisp must never share a space with the damp. Knekkebrød, the dry Norwegian crispbread, sitting next to a box of cucumber is crisp in the morning and chewy by lunch, so use a sealed metal tin with a lid that really closes for anything meant to crunch, see the guide on keeping crispbread and biscuits crisp. Buns and cakes are the other way round: they need to hold on to their own moisture, and there a sheet wrapped tightly around is exactly right.

What takes a whole day in a bag

One thing is worth knowing: beeswax softens as early as 35 to 40 degrees Celsius. The sheet copes perfectly well with an ordinary day in a bag, but not with a car in the sun or a radiator in the staff room. If the sheet goes soft, lay it flat somewhere cool and the wax firms up again.

Leftovers in the evening, and a routine that carries the week

The packed lunch starts the night before. Lay a sheet over the dish of leftovers instead of cling film, put the dish in the fridge, and tomorrow lunch is already done. Dinner leftovers in a jar are the quickest plastic-free lunch there is.

• Sunday: wash the sheets in cold water with a mild soap and hang them up to air dry.
• Monday: cut up carrot and pepper for the whole week.
• Every evening: pack the lunch while you tidy the kitchen.
• Every morning: take the fruit and anything wet straight from the fridge.

The sheets last about twelve months with daily use, and looking after them takes under a minute. Everything about washing and storage is in the guide on caring for beeswax wraps.

Frequently asked questions