Best Food Storage Containers for the Car Ride to Grandma’s
Over the river and through the woods... in the car... with lukewarm food? With these food storage containers your famous dish will arrive picture perfect and toasty warm.
Erica Mueller
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These Food Storage Containers Will Keep Your Holiday Foods Warm and Fresh in the Car
Here come the holidays! And that means work parties with food, church potlucks, and big feasts at Grandma’s house. If you’ve been asked to bring food, you may be wondering how you’ll keep your treats warm or cold and how you’ll safely transport them to your destination. Here are a few ideas and some things that have worked well for our family.
Related: Tips for Traveling with Food at the Holidays
Lug your lasagna with ease in an insulated food storage container like this one from Rachael Ray. Photo: Amazon
Insulated Food Storage Containers
Of course, the most basic insulation is a large bath towel wrapped around your casserole, but that get-up isn’t easy to carry without the pan slipping out. And it doesn’t look very nice either. It works in a pinch, but one of these insulated carry bags will really up your game.
For years now, I’ve had an insulated casserole dish carrier from 31 Bags. These come in limited prints and fun colors, and mine has held up really well, but they’re only available through a friend who sells this brand, so I set to work finding some similar things you can order and have here before the holiday gatherings commence.
The Rachael Ray Lugger Duo food storage container helps to keep everything at the proper temperature. Photo: Amazon
Rachael Ray Lugger Duo
I love that this set holds two different sizes of pans (9″x 9″ and 9″x 13″), meaning you can bring a main dish plus a side or dessert! You can also separate the pieces if you only need one, and the small piece stores inside the larger piece. The temper foil-lined, insulated walls keep food hot or cold, and the padded handle makes this set easy to carry. There are 4 pretty colors and patterns to choose from.
Keep your mains delish for $35.99 here.
The VP Double Casserole food storage container bag comes in festive prints. Photo: Amazon
VP Home Double Casserole Insulated Travel Carry Bag
The top compartment of this insulated casserole carry bag expands or collapses, so you can carry just one or two 9′ x 13′ baking dishes. I love the multiple colors this comes in and that the zippered exterior pocket is large enough to hold serving utensils.
Get it here for $27.99
The OXO Glass Pie Plate is an ideal food storage container for the car. Photo Amazon
Best Food Storage Containers For Traveling
But what about the actual food storage containers that you put the food in? Sometimes you don’t want to take your good dishes, or they don’t seal well enough for a road trip. Crockpots can be great for transporting some things like roast, chili, or sauces, but not everything is crockpot-friendly. Here are some of my favorite picks for transporting food.
Fancy Panz food storage containers keep the table pretty and your foods at the right temperature. Photo: Amazon
Fancy Panz Premium Food Storage Container
These Fancy Panz are on my most-wanted list! The Premium version holds the standard sizes of foil pans, plus a cold or warm pack to keep your dish just the right temperature, but there’s also one that just fits a pan. The snap-on lid is less messy than covering with foil, and the whole thing is sturdy, which makes transporting a disposable leave-behind foil pan so much easier. I love that Fancy Panz also sells deviled eggs and charcuterie/veggie tray inserts for those hard-to-transport finger foods.
Get fancy for $35 right here.
Sip your hot drinks at the party the way they were intended with a Stanley Stay Chill Pitcher. Photo: Amazon
Stanley The Stay-Chill Classic Pitcher
Asked to bring a hot or cold beverage? This mega Stanley pitcher will help you do it in style. This pitcher comes in 5 colors and keeps drinks hot, cold, or iced for hours!
Keep the yuletide punch warm for $51.93 here.
The Snapware Food Storage Container Set holds lovely desserts with ease. Photo: Amazon
Snapware Snap ‘N Stack Portable Storage Carrier with Lid
My mom bought me a set of these years ago, and I use them constantly. Cupcakes, muffins, cookies, cheese trays… this set is so versatile because the inserts that hold the cupcakes or muffins upright are both reversible for a flat surface or come out altogether. The lips on the handles allow you to pull the tray up and rest the handles on the sides to elevate your goodies and make them easy to grab. You can also get a version with egg trays for deviled eggs which we all know are a big hit at holiday parties.
Purchase this set here for $26.99.
The Pinnacle Insulated Storage Dish is a good fit for traveling with soup. Photo: Amazon
Pinnacle Large Insulated Casserole Dish with Lid
This round hot or cold travel-friendly serving dish holds 3.6 quarts, meaning you can transport soups or salads in a nicely handled pot-style container. I like that this is pretty enough to set on the table and that the insert is stainless steel instead of glass or plastic.
It’s $37.99 and it is available here.
Keep your salad fresh in the GEHE Bamboo Fiber Salad Bowl with Servers Set. Photo: Amazon
GEHE Bamboo Fiber Salad Bowl with Servers Set
I have mixing bowls with lids that I often use to transport things like salad to potlucks, but the bottoms are narrow, and the bowls flip easily. They also look more like mixing bowls than serving dishes. I like that this salad bowl is a more stable shape, looks sleek, and has matching utensils that fit in the lid! I’d use this at home or on the go, it’s that pretty. Oh yea, and it comes in 4 fun colors.
Keep your lettuces stable for $29.99 here.
Glass lovers will enjoy this Pyrex Deep Baking Dish Set with lids. Photo: Amazon
Pyrex Deep Glass Baking Dishes with Lids
These classic Pyrex baking dishes with lids are some of my personal favorites. I have a set that has lasted me over 18 years, and the pans and lids are still in good condition. I like having multiple sizes to choose from, and I like that I can write my name on the lids with a Sharpie, and the marker stays. I take these straight from the oven to my 31 Bags insulated carrier, and I’ve never had an issue with snapping the plastic lid on right away. I’ve also found the pans and lids to be dishwasher-safe, which is a huge plus.
Buy this set right here for $38.98.
I love the ventilated lid on this OXO Good Grips Glass Pie Plate. Photo: Amazon
OXO Good Grips Glass Pie Plate with Lid
We all know that the holiday season means PIE, and in my experience, pies can be hard to transport. You don’t want to cover them with plastic wrap or foil cause you’ll mar the pretty pie. But you’ve got to cover it somehow. These clear pie holders allow you to protect your pies and show them off at the same time. And I love all my OXO kitchen gadgets!
Purchase this pie plate for $14.99 here.
Keep your veggie platters fresh with this Divided Serving Tray from Budeez. Photo: Amazon
Budeez Divided Serving Tray With Lid
Did you sign up to bring the fruit or veggie tray to your office holiday party? This tray keeps all your favorite treats separate, and there’s even a separate lid for the dip holder to ensure there are no leaks during transport.
Get it here for $21.97.
Fancy Panz containers are insulated and convenient when traveling in the car with your food. Photo Amazon
Boost Your Potluck Super Powers with These Specialty Items
If you’re traveling a long way, just putting a casserole dish in an insulated carrier might not be enough to preserve your entree’s internal temperature. These heat packs can add a few hours of peace of mind and prevent cold dinner servings.
The Vesture Microcore Hot Pack. Photo: Amazon
Vesture 7″ X 10″ Microcore Replacement Hot Red Pack for Microwave Heating
It seems these were inserts for a wildly popular casserole carrier, and so many people loved them that these replacement packs are now sold separately and available to use in your favorite carrier. Pyrex also makes a hot/cold pack, but the reviews just can’t match the Vesture packs!
Get the Vesture pack here for $17.99.
The Wagan Microcore Thermoelectric Cooler can hold your smaller dishes and specialty food items. Photo: Amazon
Wagan EL6225 12V Personal Thermoelectric Cooler/Warmer
When I was a kid, we had one of these plug-in coolers that we’d use on road trips to keep our lunches and snacks cold, but it also had a hot setting, and I remember us using it from time to time to take food to church potlucks and parties. I checked, and sure enough, there are several companies who are still making these things, and while there are many sizes and price points to choose from, this one looks like it would fit small 8×8 casserole dishes or jars of soup or gravy. Add some piping hot rolls, and you’re on your way to a feast at Grandma’s!
Keep it all together for $104.50 here.
VP food storage containers like this one are convenient for road trips with hot food. Photo: Amazon
Wherever You Are Going this Holiday Season, We Wish You Warm Fellowship and Good Food
It is easy to get caught up in the what-to-wear, what-to-cook, and how-to-impress dilemmas. Let us remind ourselves this year that the memories we carry will not be about those things. They’ll be of the people we spent our time with, the laughs and tears we shared, and the fun things we did together. For us, that looks like lots of puzzles, hot cocoa by the fireplace, singing carols with friends, and snacking till we can’t eat another cracker or cookie. But we also enjoy a warm meal around the table and the conversation that comes with that. This year we’re contributing a smoked turkey to our church potluck and I’m already trying to figure out how we’ll keep that piping hot all the way to town.
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