School meals: what the menu should include and what to serve for dinner at home

What should a school lunch menu include?

Since 16 April 2026, all school canteens in Spain have followed the same minimum frequencies, whether they are public, state-subsidised or private. These are set out in Royal Decree 315/2025 on healthy and sustainable food in educational settings [1]. Across the five weekday lunches, the weekly servings are as follows [1].

• First course. Pulses, once or twice; vegetables, once or twice; rice, once; pasta, once.
• Main course. Fish, one to three times; eggs, once or twice; meat, no more than three times, of which no more than once can be red meat. Processed meat, no more than twice a month. Give preference to white meat; the less red and processed meat, the better.
• Side dish. Salad, three or four times; other side dishes, once or twice.
• Dessert. Fresh fruit, four or five times; other desserts, no more than once.

The regulation also limits cooking methods. Fried foods, no more than once a week; ready-made foods, no more than once a month [1]. It calls for wholemeal bread at least two days a week, water as the only drink and extra virgin olive oil for dressing [1]. Use olive oil for cooking, too. It also requires menus to be supervised by professionals with accredited training in human nutrition and dietetics [1].

In Catalonia, the public health guide for families and schools follows the same approach [2]. It recommends a first course, a main course with a side dish, fruit for dessert, wholemeal bread and water, with vegetables and seasonal produce.

How to read the monthly menu in five minutes

Each month, the school must provide you with the menu, including the names of dishes, cooking methods, sauces, side dishes and allergens [1]. It may be posted on a noticeboard, on the school’s website or through another channel accessible to all families. With the menu in front of you, check the following.

1. Count the fruit. If you see custard or flan more than one day a week, something is not right.
2. Look for pulses. Lentils, chickpeas or beans should appear at least once a week.
3. Count the fish and meat. Fish should appear at least once a week. Sausages, lean cold cuts (cooked ham or turkey), fatty processed meat and industrial burgers: no more than twice a month in total [1].
4. Check how the dish is prepared. “Battered”, “breaded”, “à la romana” or “croquettes” usually mean fried or ready-made foods. More than one a week is a reason to ask.
5. Check the side dish. Salad, three or four days. Chips count as the fried food for the week.
6. Make a note of what was missing. You will need to make it for dinner.

If the menu does not comply, ask the school meal committee or the parents’ association, with the menu in front of you. Often there is a simple explanation, such as a public holiday or a change of supplier. If there is not, the same regulation applies to every school.

What should they have for dinner based on what they ate at school?

Dinner completes the day’s meals. The school must give you guidance so that dinner complements the lunch menu [1], and the practical rule is simple. See what your child ate and serve what was missing at dinner [2]. See “Type 1 diabetes in children”.

• If they ate pulses, serve vegetables and some fish or egg at dinner. For example, courgette soup and a plain omelette.
• If they ate fish, dinner can include egg, pulses or chicken with vegetables. For example, green beans sautéed with chicken.
• If they ate meat, serve fish or egg for dinner. For example, oven-baked hake with potato and tomato.
• If they had pasta or rice as a first course, prioritise vegetables at dinner, with potato or bread. For example, mixed vegetables with a hard-boiled egg.

Vegetables are the food most often left on the tray, many families tell us. That is why it is usually worth including them at dinner at home almost every day. Dinner also works better when it is a little lighter than lunch and simpler to prepare [2].

For guidance on the rest of the day’s meals at this age, see our guide to school-age nutrition. For food to pack in their school bag, see our ideas for healthy lunches and snacks for children.

If they do not eat everything at school

This is the concern we hear most often in consultations, and the answer is reassuring. Children are able to regulate how much they eat. Pressuring them to finish their plate can increase rejection and create food aversions. That is why the school food guide says not to force children to finish their plate, either at home or in the school canteen, and to serve a portion suited to the hunger they show [2].

If their plate comes back almost untouched several days in a row, talk to the canteen supervisor to find out what is happening at the table. Eating little at the canteen one day is not a problem.

What should you do if your child has an allergy, coeliac disease or a special diet?

The school canteen is required to provide an adapted menu when a medical certificate confirms that a child cannot eat certain foods [1]. It must also offer menus for ethical or religious reasons. If the family provides the food, the school must have facilities to store and heat it [1]. Here are the steps, in order.

1. Ask your paediatrician or allergist for a report stating the diagnosis and which foods must be avoided. This is the document the canteen needs.
2. Submit it to the school office before the school year starts and request a meeting with the head, kitchen staff and lunchtime supervisors.
3. Ask for the adapted menu in writing, including the allergens in each dish, and review it every month.
4. If there is a risk of a severe reaction, ask the allergist for a written action plan for the school.

This is also recommended by the European food allergy guidelines [3]. Ask for an individual written plan with step-by-step instructions. Ask for training for the people caring for your child, including teaching staff, so they can recognise anaphylaxis—a severe allergic reaction—and use the adrenaline autoinjector if one has been prescribed. Also ask for dietary advice adapted to your child’s age [3].

An adapted menu does not have to be very different from the usual one. Ideally, it should be as similar as possible to what everyone else at the table is eating. If macaroni is on the menu today, the child with coeliac disease should have gluten-free macaroni, not a separate dish. This helps them feel included.

If your family is vegetarian, the canteen can replace meat and fish with pulses, eggs or dairy products. It is a good idea to let your paediatrician know. If you are unsure how to balance the week’s meals, discuss it with a dietitian.

What mistakes do we see in consultations?

We often hear about these situations, including from families who take great care over what their children eat.

• Serving “whatever is available” for dinner without checking the menu. By the end of the week, there has been meat almost every day and no fish.
• Making up at dinner for what they did not eat at lunch. A normal dinner, in the usual portion size, is enough.
• Letting the afternoon snack grow. If they eat little at the canteen, the snack gets later and longer each day until it becomes the main meal.
• Not updating the allergy report. Some childhood allergies change, and the adapted menu becomes outdated if nobody reviews it each school year.