We’re excited to share our brand new recipes bringing delicious plant-powered options to school canteens’ grab-and-go offerings.
Full of fibre, packed with plants, exciting flavours, and global inspiration, our new grab-and-go recipes are the perfect on-the-go lunch for busy students and even busier canteens. As part of the pilot, we shared new recipes with Little Ilford School where we gave students the opportunity to cook and taste them. Take a listen to the feedback:
We’re incredibly proud of these new dishes that offer an alternative to high street fast food outlets that so many secondary school canteens compete with. Designed with health and sustainability in mind, the dishes offer up nutritious ingredients prepared with delicious flavours.
We are lucky to have had three guest contributions from the fantastic Chefs in Schools, the wonderful community kitchen Made in Hackney, and award-winning chef Pam Brunton of Inver Restaurant.
Why school lunches need a rethink
Lunchtimes are short, budgets are tight, and school canteens are up against the takeaways on the high street. Youth movement Bite Back’s March 2026 report, ‘Quick, cheap and profitable’, found that grab-and-go food in secondary schools is often high in fat, salt and sugar, with young people describing much of what’s on offer as “beige and bland”.
Students want something different, they want meals that are filling, properly portioned and made up of a range of food groups. Food that’s quick, tasty and affordable, and that reflects their cultures and dietary needs. That was the brief for our chefs.
So, what’s in the book?
Grab-and-Go: Plant-Powered Recipes for Secondary Schools brings together 20 street-food-inspired, 100% plant-based recipes, developed through our School Plates programme. This project is part of a pilot that was generously funded by the Nutritional Wellbeing Foundation. The recipes are higher in fibre and lower in saturated fat than many traditional school recipes, and they’re split into four sections:
- Grab-and-go mains, like coconut dal with crunchy bhaji bites and Mexican-style chilli nachos
- Hot sandwiches, rolls and wraps, like a spicy samosa-style roll with homemade chutney
- Salad bar and cold fillings, like the cheezy pasta pot
- Sweet treats and breakfast, like chocolate power squares
The numbers stack up too. Served with rice, the coconut dal provides 26g of protein and 18g of fibre for an estimated 96p a portion, while the cheezy pasta pot provides 27g of protein and 22g of fibre for approximately £1.04.
Every recipe is built for busy school kitchens. Each one makes 10 to 12 portions and scales up easily, and every dish can be served in a takeaway container. Each recipe also lists an estimated cost per serving, key nutrition data, allergens and a Foodsteps carbon rating, and all 20 are rated low or very low carbon.
Ready for the new School Food Standards
The government is overhauling the School Food Standards in England to include more fibre, fruit, vegetables and pulses. The new standards are due to take effect from September 2027, with secondary schools given until September 2028 to adopt them in full. Our recipes are built around the beans, lentils, wholegrains, and vegetables that the new standards call for, giving caterers a head start on menu planning.
Tatiana Campos, Public Food Manager at ProVeg UK, said: “Secondary students told us exactly what they want at lunchtime – food that is quick, tasty, affordable, and diverse. These recipes show that grab-and-go doesn’t have to mean unhealthy, and they give caterers a practical way to prepare for the new School Food Standards without slowing down service.”
The Nutritional Wellbeing Foundation, which funds the pilot, said: “We are so proud to be supporting ProVeg UK’s School Plates programme. We love their evidence-based, collaborative approach to transforming school food, making healthier, plant-rich meals appealing and accessible, to help drive lasting improvements in young people’s diets.”
Free support for your kitchen
Alongside the book, we offer free Plant-based Cooking in Schools workshops for catering teams and Cooking with Plants workshops for students. If you’re a caterer interested in joining our secondary school pilot, email us at [email protected].
