Lunch Planning Simplified.
Generate a personalised 5-day school lunch plan for your kids in seconds β with allergy filters, Woolworths prices tracked weekly, this week's specials built in, and a printable shopping list.
Weekly plan generated
5-day plan Β· ~$19
Why Kiwi Lunchbox?
Designed for Busy Families
This Week's Sales, Built In
Plans that prioritise ingredients on sale at Woolworths and New World β see your weekly savings before you shop.
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.
NZ Nutrition Standards
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$3.40
Tue
Chicken Pesto Panini
Hot$5.93
Wed
Sushi Rolls
Cold$4.01
Thu
Cheesymite Scrolls
Baking$2.84
Fri
Mini Spinach Quiche
Baking$4.94
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 $3.80; filter for the cheaper mains and you can hold most days under $3. 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: A Complete Guide
How to pack safe, delicious lunches 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. Most primary schools operate as 'nut-aware' or fully 'nut-free' zones β meaning peanut butter sandwiches, Nutella, and trail mix are typically not allowed. Some schools extend this to tree nuts including almonds, cashews, and walnuts. 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. Juice boxes, flavoured milk, and fizzy drinks are generally not permitted in the lunchbox. Some schools participate in the Heart Foundation's Healthy Heart Award programme, which sets additional guidelines around sugar content and processed foods. Kiwi Lunchbox generates plans that align with these common policies β every meal avoids high-sugar processed items and focuses on whole foods.
Seasonal Meal Planning for NZ School Terms
New Zealand's school year runs from late January 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 (May-Jul)
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.
NZ Nutrition Guidelines for School Lunches
The New Zealand Ministry of Health recommends that school lunches include a balance of protein (chicken, eggs, legumes, cheese), complex carbohydrates (wholegrain bread, brown rice, pasta), vegetables or salad, and a piece of 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.
Portion sizes matter too: a protein serve should be about the size of your child's palm, carbs about the size of their fist, and vegetables should fill at least a quarter of the lunchbox. Kiwi Lunchbox calculates estimated nutrition for every meal β including calories, protein, and key macronutrients β so you can ensure your child is getting the fuel they need for afternoon learning.
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 17 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 8 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' will generate plans that exclude all nuts and dairy products simultaneously. The ingredient exclusion feature goes further: if your child dislikes specific foods like avocado or beetroot, add them to the exclude list and they'll never appear in generated plans. You can also add fridge leftovers to the input field, and the planner will try to work them 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, if a block of cheese costs $10.50 (the index price on 17 August 2026) but you only use a quarter for the week's lunches, the portion cost shown will be about $2.63. Across our full menu set the median lunchbox works out at about $3.80 a day, so a five-day week lands near $19 β cheaper if you pick from the lower end of the range.