Are you missing restaurant outings or don’t have time for supermarket and meal-planning hassles? These meal delivery kits in New Zealand allow you to test your inner Michelin-starred chef without all the prep (or years of training).
Even when life is ‘business as usual,’ — you know, before 2020 — we found it challenging enough to get to the gym, let alone choose recipes, go grocery shopping and then make a meal. Not to mention then forgetting a key ingredient.
We’re not lazy; we’re just … poor on time. And forgetful.
So, instead of relying on a fallback menu of frozen pizza, chicken nuggets and spaghetti (or takeaway food delivery services), we decided to try the numerous DIY home meal kits available to make things easier.
Each typically operates on a subscription service, with weekly deliveries that deliver healthy recipes to your door with pre-portioned ingredients and handy instruction cards.
With varying degrees of ease, these meal delivery services are all available in Auckland and across New Zealand, each offering its only point of difference.
Each box includes most of the ingredients you need to whip up your delish dinners, but there are some pantry staples – things like oil, butter, salt, pepper, milk, etc. – you’ll need to have on hand. Each box lets you know these ahead of time so you don’t get caught out.
Read on to simplify your life, eat better, and add variety to your dinner repertoire.
Also, if you are looking for further healthy eating options, you might want to consider ready-made meals, real-time food delivery apps, fruit and veg boxes, or even visiting an Auckland farmers market.
Bargain Box
My Food Bag now owns and operates Bargain Box but runs a separate website offering food boxes focused on family favourites at lower prices.
Less gourmet than other offerings, these large boxes focus on providing value for money for the hungry mouths you need to feed with either three or five meals per week, depending on the box. Their best value box feeds six people over five nights for only $6.10 per plate, perfect for ensuring a quick and healthy meal for busy weeknights.
The recipes are easy to cook Kiwi favourites like Fish Pie or Beef and Venison Burgers, leaving you with more time to spend with the family. You’ll typically get at least one beef meal, chicken meal, and fish or vegetarian meal each week.
What we love most: The affordable prices and family focus, which is excellent for getting growing littlies onboard.
Get $40 on your first Bargain Box delivery by using discount code: leighb025
HelloFresh
This meal prep company hails from Germany and is on a global mission to make dinner easy. HelloFresh is massive, and while we don’t love the idea of a big international company muscling out our local Kiwi favourites, there is no denying the quality and appeal of their food boxes. They are committed to offsetting 100% of direct carbon emissions from their meal kit services.
Because of their size, they can offer flexible options to customise your weekly box, with around 20 weekly meal possibilities. If you have a fancy meal coming up, feel like more fish, or have a meal that then turns into lunch, these customisations are a godsend.
A different menu is posted each week for you to choose from.
What we love most: The flexibility, variety of options and carbon-neutral promise.
Get $59.99 on your first HelloFresh delivery with discount code: HS-4MCDWXHXO
My Food Bag
My Food Bag has been part of the meal delivery game in New Zealand for a long time, and their expertise shows. The brain-child of New Zealand entrepreneur Cecilia Robinson, together with celebrity chef and dietitian Nadia Lim, My Food Bag, allows you to choose from 10 of their best recipes every week with 1-4 people serving sizes to find the options that are right for you.
The meals typically take 40 minutes or less, and there is a wide variety of boxes to choose from catering to low-calorie or reduced-carb diets, kid-friendly meals, plant-based recipes, gourmet restaurant-quality meals, and gluten-free meals. Every ingredient is always free-range and as local and seasonal as possible.
Expect innovative recipes like Braised Mushrooms with Kumara Masha and Edamame to tempt you into plant-based eating or Te mana lamb chops with truffle creamed potatoes in their gourmet selection.
What we love most: My Food Bag is the biggest Kiwi-owned player, and they efficiently cater to different dietary requirements.
Get $40 on your first My Food Bag delivery by using discount code: leighb025
The Kai Box
How about 100% plant-based, mostly organic food meal boxes that show up at your front door each week? Then look no further than this healthy bunch at the Kai Box.
There are no zero animal products of any kind here, ever!
Pulled Jackfruit & Black Bean Quesadilla, with guacamole (of course) from the Family box, will do the trick every time for children, though there is also a couple’s option should you not have to consider kids’ tastes. Either way, no one will miss the meat.
You can make your mornings easy, healthy and delicious with Kai Box’s new Breakfast Box – the only one in New Zealand – offering delights like peanut butter chocolate smoothies and apple and pear bircher.
As with most vegan cuisine, most meals have nuts in them, so be careful if you have a nut allergy. If gluten is your family’s offender, they offer a low-carb 100% Plant-based box, which is always gluten-free and contains no grains.
What we love most: That Kai Box is kiwi-owned and makes healthy vegan eating incredibly simple.
Woop
Say goodbye to grocery shopping, meal planning, and even most of the prep and clean-up! Woop shops, chops, and delivers everything you need to make three or four dinners each week, then deliver it directly to your door with fresh ingredients, colour-coded labels, and exact portions.
The sauces are hand-made, and many veggies are precooked, so you get gourmet limited-step recipes for quick cooking with zero prep required. The trade-off is Woop is one of the most expensive meal kit options per meal.
There is a classic box and boxes catering to vegetarians and gluten-free people. The premium foodie box is a particular standout, with vibrant recipes inspired from around the world, including options like Sherry Vinegar Glazed Salmon or Lamb Koftas With Smoky Babaganoush And Baby Kale Tabbouleh.
What we love most: Kiwi-owned. You can cook delicious dinners in half the time of other meal kits in New Zealand.
And there you have it — all the Best DIY meal kit options in New Zealand. Choosing a favourite is hard, but you could trial each for a week to see which you prefer. Some even have discount codes to help you out.
For a family on a budget, a Bargain Box is probably the best option, and for fancier affairs, the gourmet box from My Food Bag is our favourite. To try a plant-based diet, The Kai Box is a no-brainer, while Woop is perfect for those who want divine home-cooking-in-a-hurry.
All of these are NZ-based, which leaves HelloFresh as the outsider. We still struggle with supporting a huge German multi-national with over $2 billion in annual revenue versus (far, far smaller) home-grown options, but their success also speaks to just how affordable and convenient their offerings are.
PS. There are also fruit and vegetable delivery services in Auckland, should you look for other simple ways to kick-start a healthy lifestyle.