Review: Stasher Bag
Plastic bags and I have a complicated relationship. Like many children who toted a mom-made lunch to elementary school and beyond, the disposable sandwich and snack bags were ubiquitous in my lunch pale, porting everything from the classic pb&j to later made-from-scratch treats like leftover chicken parm with the perfect amount of mozzarella cheese still stuck to the chicken’s exterior breading. Whatever could fit in those see-through bags made their way out the door everyday. And when the bell rang or I was finished eating, all I’d have to do was simply throw the bags away and they were gone forever. So easy, so convenient. But as I got older (and, let’s be honest, started buying the boxes of plastic baggies for myself), I started to realize that maybe these single-use plastic bags weren’t such a sweet deal after all. If you want the good sandwich bags (i.e. the ones that actually seal and don’t rip open, leaving last night’s pizza slice in your lap instead of your mouth), it’ll cost you. And if you’re packing a lunch five days a week, those boxes add up fast. Way too fast.
So, I started looking for alternatives. I took glass containers with airtight lids and special compartments, but they were just too heavy and clunky. I found cute, patterned sandwich and snack bags online with cloth outsides and water resistant lining on the insides, but a hook and loop closure, no matter how strong, just doesn’t seal in freshness for very long. No solution seemed to be checking all the boxes: reusable, sturdy, stylish, and with a strong seal. I’d given up all hope and had resigned myself to being a single-use plastic bag lady forever. That is, until I stumbled upon Stasher Bag.
Stasher Bag, founded by Kat Nouri, is a company that makes reusable bags out of food-safe silicone. The bags come in a variety of different sizes from “pocket” to gallon, and have a strong resealable top that keeps whatever is inside the bag from escaping. The lock feature on the top is so strong in fact that I sometimes struggle to get my bags open on the first try. To me though, a little extra effort is worth it because I can trust that leaks will be kept to a minimum. I also love that these come in a TON of different colors. If you want to keep it classic, there’s a clear option in every size. But if you’re like me and want to take things up a notch, there are so many vibrant color options to choose from as well.
Here are a few other things I love:
You can cook with them: Stasher bags are microwave and oven safe up to 400 degrees F, and can even be used for sous vide cooking.
You can throw them in the dishwasher: I’m not typically one to put other things besides plates and cutlery in the dishwasher, but for those days when I could not possibly wash one more thing by hand, this is a fantastic feature.
You can write on them: A clever innovation when single-use plastic sandwich bags took off was to include a little window to write the bag’s contents, the date, or even a cute little message. The silicone material of Stasher bags is also a writable surface.
They’re freezer safe: Like many people, I panic-bought a bunch of fruits and vegetables at the start of the pandemic with no real plan for any of it. Luckily, I was able to store the majority of my haul in a few of my larger Stasher bags for future use. These bags are flat to begin with, so they don’t take up much extra room, and the contents have retained their wonderful freshness all these months later.
While I’ll probably never break up with single-use plastic sandwich bags for good, I love that the sturdy and beautifully-colored Stasher bags are pushing me in the right direction towards more sustainable habits. And the fact that I can have style AND function all rolled into one? Well, that’s just the cherry on top.
Check out Stasher Bag HERE!