The Queensland school with the best (and healthiest) tuckshop meals

2 days ago 5

A Gold Coast school’s taco roll has been crowned the best tuckshop meal in Queensland from a list of finalists with sneaky healthy twists on child-friendly favourites.

Nutrition was packed into each of the seven shortlisted finalists for the Queensland Association of School Tuckshops’ recipes of the year – which included the likes of mac and cheese and two-minute noodles – through various vegetables grated, blended and blitzed into the meals.

The association crowned Coombabah State School’s taco rolls as 2025’s tuckshop recipe of the year.

Coombabah State School’s taco rolls were called an “obvious winner” by judges.

The judging panel, made from students and Queensland Association of School Tuckshops members, said the recipe was an “obvious winner”.

“The taco roll is everything we love about tacos, but made tuckshop-friendly,” QAST chief executive Keryn O’Neill said.

Townsville primary school Oonoonba State School secured two finalist placings with a different approach. Tuckshop convener Emina Shailer placed greens front and centre with kid-friendly picks from the vegetable aisle.

Tuckshop convener Emina Shailer runs a staff of volunteers numbering between two and six each day at Oonoonba State School.

“I think the kids eat with their eyes as well, so if you make something look good as well, they’re more inclined to try it,” Shailer said.

The school’s two entries included recipes for two-minute noodles and a chicken teriyaki bowl, billeted as balanced, yet hassle-free meals that kids will actually eat.

“I cook the same stuff I cook at [the] tuckshop at home,” Shailer said.

“Obviously standard two-minute noodles probably aren’t the best choice, but ... we just added a few more things to make it a balance.”

She said she worked with the school to encourage children to make their own healthy food choices.

“Even the PE teacher and health teachers... they talk with the kids about our menu and what they should order – about having all the food groups involved in their whole diet,” Shailer said.

Oonoonba State School has just over 500 students, and Shailer said the tuckshop completed between 100 and 160 orders each day.

Shailer said she had two to six volunteers – who she called “the heart of the tuckshop” – working with her in the kitchen on any given day.

“The cultural connections we have as well within the tuckshop [mean] we can do these special food days,” she said.

“For Harmony Day, we invited parents from different backgrounds to cook a meal from their culture for kids and staff to be able to order… we had Filipino food, Mexican food, Japanese, Korean and some Indigenous food.”

The competition is in its seventh year, and O’Neill said entries this year surged by more than 90 per cent from last year.

“It shows just how passionate tuckshops are about creating meals that students love, and how strong the movement towards healthier menus has become across the state,” she said.

Shortlisted recipes included colour-changing vermicelli noodles from St John’s Catholic School, in Walkerston, and a classic mac and cheese loaded with pumpkin, carrots, and cauliflower cleverly blended through its sauce.

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