Easy Choice Family Kai Meal Plans
Make family dinners easier
Take some of the thinking out of dinner with our free seasonal meal plan recipe books.
Each book gives you four weeks of family-friendly dinners, with five recipes and a ready-made shopping list for each week. The meals are designed to use affordable, seasonal ingredients across the week, helping you plan ahead, shop with purpose and make better use of the food you buy.
Each recipe serves up to six people: two adults and four children under 10, or four adults.
What’s included?
Each free seasonal book contains:
- four weeks of meal plans
- five dinner recipes each week
- a weekly shopping list
- a list of pantry and fridge staples to check before shopping
- recipes designed to use ingredients across more than one meal
- storage, freezing and leftover tips
- ideas for affordable ingredient swaps
- a mix of familiar favourites and meals to try
You do not have to follow the entire four-week plan. Start with one week, choose the meals that suit your household and make swaps based on what you already have.
80% of people agree Easy Choice has helped them to reduce food waste and 82% also agree that it has helped them save money.
Plan once. Make five dinners.
Easy Choice Family Kai brings your meal plan, recipes and shopping list together in one place.
Before you shop, check the weekly list against your fridge, freezer and pantry. Some ingredients are used in more than one recipe, so you can buy what you need and use it throughout the week.
Prices and availability will vary, but the planners include tips for choosing lower-cost alternatives, using frozen vegetables and adapting recipes to suit your household.
Choose your free seasonal meal planner
Ngahuru | Autumn
Dish up tasty autumn recipes including hearty bolognese, Sri Lankan style dahl, babootie, Thai curry and more!
Hōtoke | Winter
Enjoy meals such as chicken noodle soup, nasi goreng, teriyaki chicken drumsticks, corned beef hashcakes and other delicious dishes.
Kōanga | Spring
Find tasty recipes from shakshuka, sausage jambalaya, egg fried rice, potato crusted quiche and many more!
Raumati | Summer
Create memorable summer meals like falafel pita pockets, tuna pasta salad, moussaka, Niçoise salad plus more.
Designed to help you use what you buy
The weekly plans use ingredients across different recipes, helping reduce the odds of half-used packets and forgotten vegetables being left behind.
Where a meal may produce leftovers, the planners include guidance on storing, freezing or using them for another meal. Small planning steps like these can make dinners easier while helping more of your food get eaten.
Start with one week
New to meal planning? Keep it simple:
- Choose a seasonal planner.
- Pick one week to try.
- Check what you already have.
- Adjust the shopping list and recipes to suit your household.
- Enjoy having five dinners planned in advance.
Already have your own favourite recipes?
Explore our meal planning tips and download our free blank meal planner here.
Helping households plan with confidence
Auckland mother Kimberley with daughter Fleur
For West Auckland mother Kimberley, Easy Choice was a life saver when she became unemployed and found herself struggling financially.
“I thought I had hit the jackpot when I started using Easy Choice,” said Kimberly who was introduced to Easy Choice through the pilot programme run last year by Healthy Families Waitakere and the Fresh Choice supermarkets in Ranui and Glen Eden.
“I was surprised that I could make so many meals for only $65. It has made a real difference to our financial situation as the meal planner ensures that we can stick to our food budget.
“What I like most about it is that it is easy and healthy – it tells me what I need to buy and I know that I am going to get a tasty meal. At first I wasn’t sure that I would like some of the meals that had beans instead of meat in them, but many of the vegetarian meals have ended up being my favourites.”
