When it comes to planning K-12 menus, it’s important to have staples that kids love—meals that they’ll eat time and again that also meet federal nutrition guidelines. Having an arsenal of recipes that are quick and easy to prepare is imperative and speed-scratch ingredients that offer consistent flavor and quality are key. Menu diversity helps ensure that kids remain interested in what’s being served, and by using consistent, versatile products, operators can craft a menu that’s varied enough to keep enticing students without maxing out the food budget or having to store countless ingredients.
Quality ingredients make for quality menu items
Land O’Lakes is proud to offer foodservice operators the quality products they need to feed hungry kids. Cheese sauces, such as Land O Lakes® Ultimate Yellow™ Cheese Sauce and Ultimate Creamy White™ Cheese Sauce are designed with the latest sodium guidelines in mind. These shelf stable pouches are ready to heat and use or serve cold, making them an easy, delicious addition to any menu. Perfect as a dip to add appeal to veggies and grains or as a sauce-base for pastas, mac & cheese, sandwiches and more. These cheese sauces are also great at “build-your-own” stations where kids can create their own meals. They’re even shelf-stable, saving limited fridge and freezer space and helping operations waste less product.
Easy, cheesy, on-trend, crowd-pleasers
Of course, beyond quality, it’s important for operators to choose ingredients that offer great on-trend flavors across many menu items. Cheese sauces from Land O’Lakes are perfect on their own—added to noodles for mac and cheese, atop fries or veggies as a tasty side or offered as a dip for nachos—but they’re also easy to customize to provide even more variety to the menu. Add a few simple ingredients like diced jalapeno and green chiles to Ultimate Creamy White™ Cheese Sauce to make Three Ingredient Queso. For a delicious breakfast burrito, take that same Three Ingredient Queso and add eggs, hashbrown, pepper and onion.
Add chicken, salsa, roasted corn and low sodium broth to make a Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Soup. Not the right season for soup? Omit the broth and use it as a sauce over rice for a Chicken enchilada bowl.
More recipe inspiration
Looking for more options? With a few simple mix-ins, operators can make a Pimento Cheese Spread that can then be used across a variety of recipe applications including grilled cheese or as a topping for a tasty burger. For international flair, try serving up Curry Cheese Sauce with toasted pita or naan, potatoes, grain bowls or veggies.
For operators looking for versatility, quality and great taste, ready-to-heat and serve cheese sauces from Land O’Lakes can’t be beat. To learn more, click here
This post is sponsored by Land O'Lakes Foodservice