My Food Bag review
We tried 24 recipes from My Food Bag across their many different plans. In this guide you will find what plans are on offer, how much they cost, where they are available, and what you can expect when you sign up to My Food Bag
Updated 31 May 2022
Our review covers:
Our review covers:
Overview of My Food Bag
My Food Bag is a New Zealand meal kit delivery service that was co-founded by celebrity chef and nutritionist Nadia Lim and aims to provide nutritionally balanced meals with mostly locally sourced ingredients right to your door. There a number of plans to choose from, from budget options to gourmet meals as well as recipes to suit vegetarian, plant-based, gluten-free and low-calorie diets.
Subscriptions are flexible, there are no minimum contracts and you can change the frequency of deliveries or the number of people the box feeds, as well as change your address, skip or re-schedule deliveries, and pause or cancel your subscription at any time. The cut-off time for switching plans, cancelling or skipping a delivery is 11:59pm Sunday before your next scheduled delivery. There is a separate cut-off for updating your delivery address or changing your delivery time, that is Wednesday at 7:00 pm (after the Sunday cut-off but before your week’s delivery).
My Food Bag is committed to the environment and the community, they have been using free-range ingredients since they started and source 98% of fresh ingredients from local partners in New Zealand. Most of the packaging is recyclable or compostable and the company runs many community outreach programmes.
Subscriptions are flexible, there are no minimum contracts and you can change the frequency of deliveries or the number of people the box feeds, as well as change your address, skip or re-schedule deliveries, and pause or cancel your subscription at any time. The cut-off time for switching plans, cancelling or skipping a delivery is 11:59pm Sunday before your next scheduled delivery. There is a separate cut-off for updating your delivery address or changing your delivery time, that is Wednesday at 7:00 pm (after the Sunday cut-off but before your week’s delivery).
My Food Bag is committed to the environment and the community, they have been using free-range ingredients since they started and source 98% of fresh ingredients from local partners in New Zealand. Most of the packaging is recyclable or compostable and the company runs many community outreach programmes.
Prices, plans and availability
My Food Bag offers a large variety of plans, briefly described below. They are available for 1, 2 or 4 people, with frequencies of 3, 4 or 5 times per week. Please note that not all plans are available in every combination.
- My Classic - classic meals with a twist
- My Gourmet - Restaurant-quality meals made easy
- My Veggie - Seasonally inspired vegetarian recipes
- My Plant Based - Plant based recipes using vegan ingredients
- My Gluten Free - Variations of the recipes from other plans to make them gluten free
- My Choice - Pick from a selection of recipes from all plans above
- Fresh Start Choice - Pick from a menu of meals that have 450 calories or less and reduced carbs
The following plans are only available in one combination:
Plan |
Number of People |
Number of recipes |
Price |
Price per meal |
My Classic |
1 |
5 |
$112.99 |
$22.59 |
My Gourmet |
2 |
4 |
$164.99 |
$20.62 |
My Gluten Free |
4 |
5 |
$215.99 |
$10.80 |
The rest of the plans allow you to choose different frequencies and number of people:
Plan |
Number of People |
Number of recipes |
Price |
Price per meal |
My Veggie |
2 |
4 |
$138.99 |
$17.37 |
My Veggie |
4 |
3 |
$153.99 |
$12.83 |
My Plant based |
2 |
4 |
$138.99 |
$17.37 |
My Plant based |
4 |
4 |
$194.99 |
$12.18 |
The most flexible plans are “My choice” and "Fresh Start Choice".
"My Choice" allows you to select the frequency, number of people and choose the recipes (from a menu of 15 options, from the previous plans):
"My Choice" allows you to select the frequency, number of people and choose the recipes (from a menu of 15 options, from the previous plans):
Plan |
Number of People |
Number of recipes |
Price |
Price per meal |
My Choice |
2 |
3 |
$112.99 |
$18.83 |
My Choice |
2 |
4 |
$138.99 |
$17.37 |
My Choice |
2 |
5 |
$169.99 |
$16.99 |
My Choice |
4 |
3 |
$153.99 |
$12.83 |
My Choice |
4 |
4 |
$194.99 |
$12.18 |
My Choice |
4 |
5 |
$215.99 |
$10.79 |
My Fresh Start Choice lets you choose from 7 recipes each week. All meals are 450 calories or less and feature reduced carbs, no refined carbohydrates or sugars and are low in gluten and dairy. Plans are available for 1, 2 or 4 people, with 4 or 5 meals per week.
Plan |
Number of People |
Number of recipes |
Price |
Price per meal |
Fresh Start Choice |
1 |
4 |
$109.99 |
$27.49 |
Fresh Start Choice |
1 |
5 |
$121.99 |
$24.39 |
Fresh Start Choice |
2 |
4 |
$164.99 |
$20.62 |
Fresh Start Choice |
2 |
5 |
$179.99 |
$17.99 |
Fresh Start Choice |
4 |
4 |
$204.99 |
$12.81 |
Fresh Start Choice |
4 |
5 |
$224.99 |
$11.25 |
It is also possible to add extras to your order. These options include pre-made lunches ( a combination of salads and microwaveable meals), fruit boxes, pre-made meals (from the “made” brand, described later in this section) and donations to community programs. For more details on how you can add extras to your order, visit 'How do I add an extra to my delivery?'
My Food Bag runs three additional brands: “Fresh start” which focuses on healthy recipes with less than 450 calories per serving (plan already described above), “Bargain Box” which offers everyday meals at affordable prices and “made” which offers ready-made meals at a premium. In this guide, we only cover the plans available from My Food Bag and fresh start, but we present the plans from its other brands for completion. For further information, you can read our dedicated Bargain Box review.
Bargain Box offers 2 plans:
Bargain Box offers 2 plans:
- Bargain Box choice, you can select up to 3, 4 or 5 recipes from a menu of 8 possible options. These are available for 2, 4 or 6 people and the prices are as below:
Plan |
Number of People |
Number of recipes |
Price |
Price per meal |
Bargain Box |
2 |
3 |
$91.99 |
$15.33 |
Bargain Box |
2 |
4 |
$108.39 |
$13.55 |
Bargain Box |
2 |
5 |
$119.99 |
$11.99 |
Bargain Box |
4 |
3 |
$111.99 |
$9.33 |
Bargain Box |
4 |
4 |
$134.99 |
$8.43 |
Bargain Box |
4 |
5 |
$149.99 |
$7.50 |
Bargain Box |
6 |
3 |
$144.99 |
$8.05 |
Bargain Box |
6 |
4 |
$174.99 |
$7.29 |
Bargain Box |
6 |
5 |
$199.99 |
$6.67 |
- Bargain Box Veggie offers vegetarian meals 3 times per week for 2 or 4 people (no option to select the recipes), prices as below:
Plan |
Number of People |
Number of recipes |
Price |
Price per meal |
Bargain Box Veggie |
2 |
3 |
$87.99 |
$14.67 |
Bargain Box Veggie |
4 |
3 |
$105.99 |
$8.83 |
- made allows you to choose individual pre-made meals that you can just pop into the microwave (or oven) and enjoy a few minutes later, prices are as follows:
Plan |
Number of People |
Number of recipes |
Price |
Price per meal |
Shipping |
Total Price |
Total per meal |
made |
1 |
4 |
$67.96 |
$16.99 |
$10 |
$77.96 |
$19.49 |
made |
1 |
6 |
$95.94 |
$15.99 |
$10 |
$105.94 |
$17.65 |
made |
1 |
9 |
$134.91 |
$14.99 |
$10 |
$144.91 |
$16.10 |
made |
1 |
12 |
$167.88 |
$13.99 |
$10 |
$177.88 |
$14.82 |
My Food Bag is available in most of New Zealand, this post lists all the postcodes where delivery is available.
Also you can check out My Food Bag’s upcoming menus here.
Also you can check out My Food Bag’s upcoming menus here.
What’s in the box?
Inside the box you will find all the ingredients needed for the week’s meals. The chilled products (meats and dairy ingredients) are packaged in a compostable wool pouch or cardboard box, mixed in with water-based ice packs. Outside of this section of the box, you will receive fresh produce, spices and recipe cards. The recipe cards show:
- An indication of how long it will take to prepare the meal, the estimated calories per serve and a suggestion of whether you should cook this meal before others.
- The list of ingredients organized by their part in the meal (under headings like “chicken”, “greens”, “sauce” for example)
- Step by step instructions for preparing the meal
- Nutritional details: energy in kilojoules and calories, carbohydrates, protein, fat
- Number of people the recipe will feed
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Recipe evaluation
We carried out an investigation of the various plans offered by My Food Bag, choosing a different plan to feed 4 people each week. Our aim was to evaluate the recipes based on the estimated cooking time, the number of utensils/ equipment required, and whether or not it would be easy to repeat the meal if you were to source all the ingredients yourself (expecting that if you were to repeat them, they wouldn’t necessarily be on the same level of quality since some seasonings are mixed especially). Since taste is subjective, we didn’t aim to rate the recipes based on this criterion.
In this section you will find photos summarising the cooking process from start to finish, starting with the ingredients as provided by My Food Bag, the oven trays and frying pans required to cook the meal, and the finished meal served in individual plates so you can have an idea of the portion sizes.
In this section you will find photos summarising the cooking process from start to finish, starting with the ingredients as provided by My Food Bag, the oven trays and frying pans required to cook the meal, and the finished meal served in individual plates so you can have an idea of the portion sizes.
My Veggie plan
We started with one week of recipes from the vegetarian plan (3 meals). Averaging the information from the recipe cards, the expected cooking time was 35 minutes and 615 calories per meal and we considered 66% of them would be easy to replicate by sourcing the ingredients independently. Full details can be found below.
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My Veggie meal 1: Oven-Braised Tomato Chickpeas with Romesco & Oregano
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My Veggie meal 2: Tamarind Glazed Haloumi with Almond Pilau & Yoghurt
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My Veggie meal 3: Vietnamese Mushroom Bánh Mì with Sticky Tofu & Gochujang Ranch
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My Plant based plan
We then evaluated recipes from the plant based plan (4 meals). Averaging the information from the recipe cards, the expected cooking time was 35 minutes and 655 calories per meal and we considered all of them would be easy to replicate by sourcing the ingredients independently. Full details can be found below.
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My Plant based meal 1: Eggplant Char Kway Teow with Sesame Roasted Tofu
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My Plant-based meal 2: Indian Cashew Lentil Korma with Roasted Cauliflower & Supergrains
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My Plant-based meal 3: Lebanese Spiced Cauliflower Wraps with Hummus & Mint
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My Plant-based meal 4: Mexican Black Bean Bowls with Avocado Sauce
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Fresh Start Lite Plan
We then evaluated recipes from the Fresh Start Lite menu (5 meals), which are aimed at weight loss and contain less than 450 calories per meal. According to the recipe cards, the average cooking time was 35 minutes and 420 calories per meal, and we considered all of them would be easy to replicate by sourcing the ingredients independently. Full details can be found below.
Note: This plan is now called Fresh Start Choice, and allows you to choose from a selection of 7 healthy recipes
Note: This plan is now called Fresh Start Choice, and allows you to choose from a selection of 7 healthy recipes
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Fresh Start Lite Meal 1: Chipotle Pulled Pork with Chilli Roasted Corn & Pepitas
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Fresh Start Lite Meal 2: Cuban Spiced Beef Sirloin Steaks with Cucumber, Feta & Mint
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Fresh Start Lite Meal 3: Korean Style Chicken with Quick Cucumber Kimchi & Cauli Rice
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Fresh Start Lite Meal 4: Tandoori Yoghurt Chicken with Roasted Kumara & Brussels
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Fresh Start Lite Meal 5: Za'atar Salmon with Roasted Cauliflower Salad & Herb Yoghurt
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My Classic Plan
We then evaluated recipes from the Classic plan (3 meals). According to the recipe cards, the average cooking time was 40 minutes and 560 calories per meal, and we considered all of them would be easy to replicate by sourcing the ingredients independently. Full details can be found below.
Note: This plan has recently changed and is now only available for 1 person with 5 meals per week. However, some of the recipes are available in the “My choice” plan and can feed up to 4 people.
Note: This plan has recently changed and is now only available for 1 person with 5 meals per week. However, some of the recipes are available in the “My choice” plan and can feed up to 4 people.
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My Classic meal 1: Nadia's Seared Venison Medallions with Winter Mash & Cherry Red Wine Jus
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My Classic meal 2: Seared Market Fish with Roasted Vegetable & Walnut Toss
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My Classic meal 3: Shredded Chicken Chilli with Roasted Cauliflower & Chipotle Sour Cream
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My Family plan
Next, we evaluated recipes from the Family plan (5 meals). According to the recipe cards, the average cooking time was 37 minutes and 672 calories per meal, and we considered all of them would be easy to replicate by sourcing the ingredients independently. Full details can be found below.
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My Family meal 1: Beef Keema Curry with Roasted Pumpkin & Fragrant Basmati Rice
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My Family meal 2: Easy Chicken & Hidden Veggie Pasta with Parmesan & Fresh Basil
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My Family meal 3: Pan Fried Lemon Pepper Fish with Scalloped Potatoes & Greens
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My Family meal 4: Pesto, Cream Cheese & Mushroom Pizzas with Salad
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My Family meal 5: Sesame Crumbed Pork with Sticky Korean Sauce
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My Gourmet Plan
Finally, we evaluated recipes from the “My Gourmet” plan (4 meals to feed 2 people, this plan is not available for 4). According to the recipe cards, the average cooking time was 38 minutes and 648 calories per meal, and we considered 75% of them would be easy to replicate by sourcing the ingredients independently. Full details can be found below.
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My Gourmet meal 1: Bombay Roasted Porchetta with Cucumber Salad & Indian Yoghurt
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My Gourmet meal 2: Italian Herb Grilled Chicken with Cacio e Pepe Potatoes
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My Gourmet meal 3: Mojo Rojo Prawns with Charred Ciabatta & Saffron Aioli
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My Gourmet meal 4: Za'atar Lamb Rack with Pomegranate Dressing & Feta Curd
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I subscribe?
You can sign up online, view all the available bags here. You can also check out the information on this page that describes the process and informational videos about My Food Bag.
Can I make changes to my subscription?
Yes, plans are flexible so once you’ve signed up, you can change plans, update your address, skip or change your delivery date. The cut-off time for switching plans, cancelling or skipping a delivery is 11:59pm Sunday before your next scheduled delivery.
Do I get notified of deliveries?
Yes, you receive a tracking link via SMS, which you can follow to check the current status of your delivery.
When are the boxes delivered?
Boxes are delivered on Sunday or Monday, depending on your location. The main delivery times are Sunday afternoons and evenings, however for some suburbs in Auckland and Wellington, Monday afternoons are also available. With their regional service, deliveries happen on Mondays between 7am and 5pm.
Express delivery might be available for new joiners (or existing customers via the support team), this will allow you to receive a delivery for the upcoming weekend after the Sunday ordering lock-in.
Express delivery might be available for new joiners (or existing customers via the support team), this will allow you to receive a delivery for the upcoming weekend after the Sunday ordering lock-in.
Are the recipes easy to follow?
Yes, the recipe cards (and the app) contain step by step instructions on how to cook the meal.
Does My Food Bag have a mobile app?
Yes, there is a very handy app available. From it you can update your details, change delivery dates, select your recipes and also access the cooking instructions for the week’s meals.
What do I do with the packaging?
- Wool pouch: re-use, re-cycle, compost or put it in your garden as it’s biodegradable
- Cardboard box: re-use or re-cycle, once flattened it can be collected by your kerbside recycling collection.
- Ice packs: re-use them; alternatively, as they are filled with water you can use them to water your garden or pour them down the sink
- Soft plastics: can be taken to your local soft plastics bin for recycling; you can find your nearest location here
Can I cancel or pause my subscription?
Subscriptions are flexible, while there is no option to “pause” you can cancel and (if you want) restart your subscription at any time. Their FAQ describes how to cancel your subscription.
Can I switch plans?
Yes, you can switch plans, number of people and frequency of deliveries on the account section on the website, you just need to keep in mind the cut-off time for changes.
Can I select my recipes?
Yes, but only on for the plans “My choice” and "Fresh Start Choice" from My Food Bag and “Bargain Box Choice” from Bargain Box.
Where is My Food Bag available?
My Food Bag is available in most of New Zealand, this post lists all the postcodes where delivery is available.
Does My Food Bag cater for food allergies?
My Food Bag offers specific plans for “Gluten Free” and “Plant Based” (vegan and dairy free) diets. In addition, recipes online display the relevant allergen information, as do the labels in the actual ingredients in the box.
Does My Food Bag provide nutritional information?
At the bottom of each recipe card, you will find the total calories, carbohydrate, protein and fat amount per equal portion for the meal, so you know what you’re eating for your own dietary needs.
Do I need any ingredients not included in the box?
Yes, you will usually need some “pantry items” that you will most likely have at your disposal, basic things like oil, milk, eggs, salt, pepper, flour, butter, brown sugar, white vinegar, etc. For some recipes you will require less common ingredients like wholegrain mustard, rice vinegar and corn starch. Look out for the email “What’s in your bag” (which My Food Bag sends out every Tuesday), this lists all the “pantry staples” you will need for each recipe.
What is the average calorie content per meal?
My Food Bag doesn’t list an average calorie content per meal on their site, except for their “Fresh start” recipes, which contain 450 calories or less. On their website, they provide some guidance on how many calories you should aim to consume depending on your gender and level of physical activity.
From the recipes we tried, the overall calorie average was 592 calories, the average calories per meal type was as follows: “My Gourmet” 649 calories, “My Veggie” 616 calories, “My Plant Based” 655 calories, “Fresh Start Lite” 420 calories, “My Classic” 559 calories, “My Family” 672 calories.
From the recipes we tried, the overall calorie average was 592 calories, the average calories per meal type was as follows: “My Gourmet” 649 calories, “My Veggie” 616 calories, “My Plant Based” 655 calories, “Fresh Start Lite” 420 calories, “My Classic” 559 calories, “My Family” 672 calories.
Are there any leftovers?
While the aim of all these meal kits is to reduce food waste, sometimes the packets of pasta, noodles and spices are not made to measure so you end up with some left overs. From the recipes we tried, we had left overs of half a bag of noodles, 1/3 of a bag of penne pasta and small portions of various seasoning mixes left. Luckily, these are dry items that don’t need refrigeration so you have plenty of time to find something else you can use them on.
Are there any loyalty offers and perks?
My Food Bag runs a loyalty program called “The Foodie Club”, you have to sign up to it separately but it’s free to do so. At the time of writing, you get rewards (delivered along with your regular box) on weeks 4 and 8. These rewards are either a digital thermometer or a French toast skillet bake box on week 4, and a beef wellington kit or a cast iron skillet on week 8.
There are various ways to save on My Food Bag subscriptions:
There are various ways to save on My Food Bag subscriptions:
- Vouchers: My Food Bag usually offers a discount on your first box, $30 off at the time of writing.
- Friend referrals: If you are referred to join My Food Bag by an existing subscriber, you'll both get $30 off. You will need to enter your friend’s unique referral code during check out when you subscribe. Terms apply.
My Food Bag - Our Conclusion
- My Food Bag is available in most areas of New Zealand, offers flexible subscriptions and a wide variety of plans to suit many diets. As well as having plans with a fixed structure in terms of number of recipes per week and number of people to feed, My Food Bag also offers plans like “My Choice”, “My Fresh Start Choice” and “Bargain Box Choice” which allow you to choose the recipes for the week as well as the number of people and meals per week.
- We liked the use of more exotic spices, like Za’atar, Asian 5 spice mix and sauces like Nuoc Cham, which other meal kit providers don’t seem to use, or at least not as often. We also like that My Food Bag sources 98% of their ingredients from local producers and is actively engaged with the community.
- We had one person doing all the cooking so we found the meal preparation took longer than expected (but this will depend on the ability of the people doing the cooking). My Food Bag’s estimated average time per meal from the recipes we prepared was around 37 minutes, while in reality for us it took closer to 55 minutes in average to get the meals ready. This is similar to what we found with other meal kit providers. Throughout cooking the various meals, we learned a few tricks and new ways of cooking certain ingredients.
- We found My Food Bag’s app very useful, it allows you to follow the recipes step by step from your phone, you can also edit your subscription (change plans, skip deliveries, etc.) and select recipes (if you’re on a plan that allows this).
- We also liked that My Food Bag uses a compostable wool pouch or a cardboard box to keep the meat and dairy products chilled and that the ice packs are filled with water, unlike other providers that use plastic pouches and ice packs filled with gel. Finally, we think it’s a good idea to share ingredients between recipes (like herbs and cucumbers) but you need to make sure to store them properly so they keep fresh for later recipes.
