A Japanese-inspired karaage chicken and rice bowl selling for as little as $5 has been named Queensland's best school tuckshop recipe for 2026, with the Queensland Association of School Tuckshops (QAST) crowning winners from a record number of entries across the state.

The award-winning dish was created by Dana Sides, tuckshop convenor at Camira State School, and beat out competition from schools statewide to claim the 2026 Recipe of the Year title — recognised for being affordable, nutritious and genuinely popular with students.

A $5 crowd-pleaser that costs $2.27 to make

For Sides, the inspiration behind the Karaage Chicken and Rice Bowl was straightforward: bring something fresh and healthy to the tuckshop without blowing the budget.

"I wanted to bring in something that was fresh, healthy and of course affordable. So this ticks all those boxes and I'm glad it's been so popular," she said.

The bowl is priced at $5 for a small serve and $7.50 for large, with a production cost of just $2.27 per bowl — making it one of the more economical meal options on offer. Demand has been so strong that Sides currently offers it only as a Thursday special.

"Kids absolutely love it. If I could do this every day I could but at the moment, it's just our Thursday special," she said.

Queensland tuckshop menus have come a long way

The winning recipes reflect a broader shift in what Queensland school tuckshops are serving up. Where frozen pies and sausage rolls once dominated the menu, students are now being offered dishes including lasagne burritos, tahini chocolate bliss balls and, now, Japanese-inspired karaage bowls.

Cannonvale State School's Chicken Ball Wrap was named runner-up in this year's competition, while Kalkie State School's Ruby Red Banana Bread claimed the Best Snack category.

QAST Executive Officer Keryn O'Neill said the entries this year came from a record number of schools, underlining growing enthusiasm for quality tuckshop food across Queensland.

"The tuckshop's really like the hub of the school community when it comes to food. So it's really important to show the kids that delicious food can also be good for them," O'Neill said.

Health experts welcome the nutritional shift

Health and Wellbeing Queensland nutritionist Matthew Dick praised the finalists and pointed to the trend as a meaningful step forward for children's diets.

"Children need to eat more fruits and vegetables. We're seeing more dishes in there that have vegetables in them and more fruit," he said. "This is exactly what we need to see. We want to change children's diets, so they become more healthy."

Dick noted the benefits extend well beyond lunchtime, describing the shift in tuckshop menus as important both for students' immediate wellbeing and for reducing the risk of chronic disease later in life.

"This is great for their immediate health in the short term and also really terrific for preventing chronic disease in the long term," he said.

The 2026 winners at a glance

  • Recipe of the Year: Karaage Chicken and Rice Bowl — Camira State School
  • Runner-up: Chicken Ball Wrap — Cannonvale State School
  • Best Snack: Ruby Red Banana Bread — Kalkie State School

The results highlight how school tuckshops across Queensland are increasingly being seen as more than just a lunch stop — they're becoming a vehicle for building healthier habits from a young age, one affordable bowl at a time.