Custom Printed Chinese Takeaway Boxes for Set Meals and Family Orders

What is a Chinese takeaway box?

It is the folding board pail with a square base, sloped sides and four flaps that lock at the top. Our photos show it in white with a pagoda print, in plain yellow and in navy, with the flaps open and closed.

Where a noodle box is built for eating on the street, a Chinese takeaway box is built for the order that goes home. It packs into a bag beside four or five others, keeps each dish separate and opens on the kitchen table.

Because the base is small and the top is wide, the box stands steady once filled. It also nests neatly in a bag beside other pails of the same height, which matters when one order fills a whole carrier.

How many box sizes does a Chinese takeaway need?

Most kitchens settle on three. Small for sauces and sides, middle for rice and single mains, large for chow mein and sharing dishes. Fewer sizes mean simpler stock and faster packing.

Match each menu section to a size before ordering. The table below shows how a typical menu splits.

How do staff tell the boxes apart in the bag?

This is the everyday problem on a busy Friday night. Five white boxes look the same once the flaps are closed. Customers open every one to find the rice.

A printed tick panel solves it. We print a short list of dish types on one side of the box: rice, noodles, chicken, beef, prawn, vegetable. Staff tick the right one with a pen as they pack. You can also print your full menu numbers if you prefer.

Some takeaways go further and use a different print colour for each box size. That works well, but it means more designs, which affects the quote.

Ask your delivery riders, too. They see which orders get mixed up at the door. A large printed order number box on the front, filled in by pen, saves them checking every bag against the app at each address.

• Tick panel with dish types, marked by pen at packing
• Space to write the menu number of each dish
• Different print colour for each box size
• Order number box for delivery riders to check

Who orders printed Chinese takeaway boxes?

Chinese takeaways and restaurants doing collection are the main buyers. Chip shops that sell curry sauce and fried rice order them too, as do pan-Asian kitchens and dark kitchens running a takeaway brand.

For the paper bags that carry a full order home, see our printed takeaway paper bags.

Will sweet and sour sauce leak through the board?

Thick sauces sit in the base, and oil separates out over the journey home. Plain board absorbs some of it, which can mark the outside of the box and the bag.

Ask for a grease-resistant coating on the inside for boxes that carry sauced dishes. Many takeaways coat only the 16 oz and 8 oz sizes, because rice and noodles are drier. Food-contact materials are available on request for every size.

Heat matters too. Sauce poured in at boiling point thins out and finds the seams faster. Let each ladle rest for a few seconds before it goes in the box. By the time the bag reaches the door, the difference shows.

How do you pack a family order so nothing tips?

A family order can be eight boxes or more. The aim is to keep each one upright and stop heavy dishes crushing the light ones.

1. Put the 26 oz noodle and rice boxes in the base of the bag first.
2. Stand sauced mains next to them, flaps locked and upright.
3. Place small 8 oz sauce boxes in the gaps so nothing can slide.
4. Lay prawn crackers and dry sides flat on top.
5. Check the tick panels against the receipt before the bag is closed.

Branding ideas for a Chinese takeaway box

The pail shape gives four tapered faces. A large logo on the front and back, with your menu web address or social handle on the sides, covers it well. Keep the tick panel on one side face so it is always in the same place.

Traditional red on white is a familiar look. Many newer takeaways prefer a single strong colour, like the yellow box in our photos, or bold patterns. One or two colour print keeps the cost down across three sizes. Our design advice for printed food packaging covers colour and line weight on board.

What mistakes do takeaways make with these boxes?

Ordering one large size for everything is common. It wastes board on sauces and leaves rice looking lost. Three sizes cost little more to manage and look far tidier.

Another is printing the logo across the flaps. When the box is closed the flaps overlap and cut the design in half. Keep artwork on the four side faces.

Lastly, running out of one size in the middle of service. Order sizes in the ratio you use them, which for most takeaways means more 16 oz boxes than anything else.

Do these boxes suit dine-in leftovers?

Yes. Restaurants hand them to diners who want to take home what they did not finish. A printed box at the end of a meal puts your name in their fridge until lunch tomorrow.

For leftovers, the 16 oz size covers most single dishes. Keep a small stack by the till rather than in the kitchen.

How to order custom Chinese takeaway boxes

Tell us which sizes you need, how many of each and whether you want a tick panel. Quantities are quoted per order. Send your logo or menu and our designers lay out each size for free.

We send a free design proof for every size before printing. Once approved, your boxes are made in 4–6 business days. They then reach your kitchen flat, by free tracked UK delivery, 2–3 business days later. Boxes that arrive misprinted or damaged are put right with a reprint or refund when photos reach us within 10 days. Begin with our Chinese takeaway box quote form.