Lunch Planning Simplified.
Generate a personalised 5-day school lunch plan for your kids in seconds β with allergy filters, Woolworths prices tracked weekly, lunches ranked by what they cost after verified specials, and a printable shopping list.
Weekly plan generated
5-day plan Β· ~$19.50
Why Kiwi Lunchbox?
Designed for Busy Families
Ranked by What the Week Costs
Lunches are ranked by what they cost after any special we can match to the exact product and pack size. Few specials clear that bar, so in most weeks this mostly surfaces the cheaper lunches β which is the same saving, arrived at honestly.
Smart Scheduling
Generate a 5-day plan in one click, with variety enforced across categories so it is not five sandwiches. Allergy filters, excluded ingredients, and fridge leftovers all factored in automatically.
Ingredients & Calorie Estimates
Every menu lists its ingredients and an estimated calorie figure, so you can see what is in the box. The nutrition writing on this site is benchmarked against Ministry of Health and Heart Foundation NZ guidance and cites its sources.
Auto Shopping Lists
Get a categorised shopping list with Woolworths price estimates. Download as PDF or email it to yourself before you shop.
Simple Process
From Kitchen to Classroom
01Set Your Filters
Choose allergy restrictions (nut-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan), exclude specific ingredients, or add what's already in the fridge.
02Generate Your Plan
Hit Generate and get a full 5-day school lunch plan with recipes, ingredient lists, and estimated costs β in about 5 seconds.
03Shop & Pack
Download a categorised shopping list as PDF or email it to yourself. Everything organised by supermarket aisle β dairy, produce, pantry.
Example weekly plan
Mon
Rice Paper Rolls
Cold$3.41
Tue
Chicken Pesto Panini
Sandwich$6.44
Wed
Sushi Rolls
Cold$3.86
Thu
Cheesymite Scrolls
Baking$2.95
Fri
Mini Spinach Quiche
Baking$4.78
Real Use Cases
How NZ Families Use It
Sunday Evening, Done
Open the planner on Sunday, hit Generate, and you're sorted before the kids' bedtime. No Monday morning scramble, no forgotten lunchbox.
Allergy Filters Built Into Every Plan
Select nut-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, or vegan and the planner leaves out any recipe tagged with that ingredient. It filters our own recipe tags β it can't know how a product was made or what happens in your kitchen, so always read the label.
Budget Picks Under $3
Woolworths price estimates are built in, refreshed weekly. A typical box works out around $3.90, and about one in five of our menus come in under $3 a box. See the full weekly cost before you shop.
The Story
Why I Built This
I was spending 15 minutes every night deciding what to pack β now it takes about five.
I wanted one shopping list for the whole week, not five separate mental notes.
No app existed that used real NZ supermarket ingredients and prices. So I made one.
β Yong Jae Lee, Senior Product Designer, Auckland
Our Promise
Evidence-Based, Corrected in Public
Every menu is checked for ingredients reliably stocked at Woolworths, and costed against regular Woolworths shelf prices that I re-read every week, with the current mailer specials recorded each Monday. The nutrition writing is sourced to Ministry of Health and Heart Foundation NZ documents and cites the table it came from. Where a figure on this site is wrong I correct it in public β the budget guide carries a dated correction for exactly that reason.
Read our editorial standards βEditorial Freshness
π Lunchbox Tips
RecipesEasy Wraps & Rolls for NZ School Lunches
Quick, versatile wrap ideas using ingredients from Woolworths and Pak'nSave.
Allergy FriendlyNut-Free School Lunches & Snacks: A Guide
How to pack safe lunches and snacks that comply with your school's nut-free policy.
BudgetBudget-Friendly Lunchbox Ideas Under $3
Practical and nutritious lunchbox ideas without breaking the budget.
Get Started Free
Ready to transform your morning routine?
Join NZ families who plan their school lunches smarter. No account needed β start in seconds.
Start Planning NowEssential Knowledge
The NZ School Lunchbox Guide
Understanding NZ School Lunchbox Rules
New Zealand schools take food safety seriously, and policies vary between schools. Many primary schools have a nut policy, and the words mean different things: 'nut-free' usually means no peanut butter, tree nuts or Nutella, while 'nut-aware' usually means nuts are discouraged but not banned. Before the school year starts, check your school's newsletter or office for their specific food policy.
Many NZ schools also follow a 'water-only' or 'water and milk only' drink policy during school hours, so juice boxes, flavoured milk and fizzy drinks are often not allowed. Kiwi Lunchbox does not apply your school's policy for you: with no filters ticked, the menu includes peanut butter sandwiches and baked treats like brownies. Tick Nut Allergy (and any other filter your school or child needs) before you generate, and check the week against your school's rules.
Seasonal Meal Planning for NZ School Terms
New Zealand's school year runs from early February to mid-December, split into four terms with two-week breaks between them. Because NZ is in the southern hemisphere, Term 1 starts in summer heat and Term 3 falls in the middle of winter β this significantly affects what you can pack safely.
Term 1 (Feb-Apr)
Summer/autumn β focus on cold lunches, fresh salads, rice paper rolls. Keep an ice pack in every lunchbox.
Term 2 (Apr-Jul)
Autumn into winter β perfect for thermos meals like soup, pasta, fried rice. Warm comfort food keeps energy up.
Term 3 (Jul-Sep)
Late winter/spring β transition meals. Wraps and scrolls work well as the weather slowly warms.
Term 4 (Oct-Dec)
Spring/summer β back to cold options. Sushi, sandwiches, and fruit-heavy boxes shine in the heat.
Nutrition Basics for NZ School Lunches
New Zealand's Ministry of Health builds its eating guidelines around four food groups: vegetables and fruit; grain foods; milk and milk products; and legumes, nuts, seeds, fish and other seafood, eggs, poultry and red meat. A practical rule of thumb for a lunchbox β ours, not the Ministry's β is to pack from at least three of them: a protein such as chicken, egg, legumes or cheese, a grain food such as wholegrain bread, rice or pasta, and vegetables or fruit. A lunchbox covers morning tea and lunch together β around a third of a child's daily energy, based on New Zealand Child Nutrition Survey data.
For portions, a rough rule of thumb is a protein serve about the size of your child's palm, carbs about the size of their fist, and vegetables filling at least a quarter of the box β a common guide, not an official NZ standard. Kiwi Lunchbox shows an estimated calorie figure for each day's lunchbox β that is the only nutrition number it calculates. It does not compute protein or other macronutrients, and none of the guidance above comes from the planner.
Pro Tips
Get the Most from Kiwi Lunchbox
The Sunday Meal Prep Workflow
The most effective way to use Kiwi Lunchbox is to generate your plan on Sunday evening. Open the planner, set any dietary filters, and hit Generate. In about five seconds you'll have a complete Monday-to-Friday meal plan. Download the PDF shopping list, do your grocery run at Woolworths or Pak'nSave, and spend 30-45 minutes prepping components that store well: wash and chop vegetables, cook a batch of pasta or rice, boil eggs, and portion out cheese and crackers. On weekday mornings, assembly takes under five minutes per lunchbox because everything is ready to go.
Planner + Blog: The Winning Combination
The blog has 24 in-depth posts covering budget recipes under $3 a meal, allergy-specific guides for nut-free, egg-free and multi-allergy families, and what regular shelf prices have actually done over the months I have been recording them. There are 9 longer reference guides alongside them. After generating your plan, browse related posts for prep tips, batch cooking and seasonal NZ produce.
Making the Most of Allergy Filters
Kiwi Lunchbox supports six allergy and dietary filters: nut-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, vegetarian, and vegan. You can combine multiple filters β for example, selecting both 'nut-free' and 'dairy-free' leaves out every meal and snack flagged for either. The Exclude Ingredients list goes further: tap an ingredient your child won't eat, such as Capsicum, and any meal or snack that lists it is left out of generated plans. The match is on the exact name in the list, so check near neighbours too β Avocado and Tuna/Chicken/Avocado are separate entries. You can also type a fridge leftover into the input field, and the planner will try to work it into the weekly plan to reduce food waste.
Understanding Price Estimates
Every ingredient in your shopping list shows an estimated price sourced from Woolworths NZ. Prices marked 'Weekly' come from Woolworths' online catalogue and are refreshed once a week, so treat them as a recent shelf price rather than a live one; prices marked 'Est.' are estimates used when an item isn't in that week's pull. We also calculate a 'portion cost' β the actual amount of each ingredient you'll use per meal, not the full packet price. For example, a 500g block of cheese costs $9.12 and covers about 16 lunchboxes, so the portion cost shown next to cheese is 55c β not $9.12. Across our full menu set the median lunchbox works out at about $3.90 a day, so a five-day week lands near $19.50 β cheaper if you pick from the lower end of the range.