The Scratch-Cooking Continuum: A Roadmap for Healthier School Meals

If the idea of scratch cooking in schools seems like a major undertaking, you aren’t alone. But it’s more achievable than you think. Scratch cooking isn’t an all-or-nothing leap; it’s a continuum of gradual progress. 

The Chef Ann Foundation’s scratch-cooking continuum (above) illustrates the journey from pre-packaged, processed foods to creating scratch-made dishes using whole, fresh ingredients and culinary techniques. 

We gratefully acknowledge our partners at ScratchWorks for their contributions in shaping this continuum and ongoing partnership in advancing districts' transition towards more scratch cooking.

From Packaged to Possible 

Ready-to-Eat/Individually Wrapped

The first step on the continuum begins with items that arrive pre-wrapped or ready-to-eat, requiring minimal preparation and no additional ingredients. The product typically contains meat (or a meat alternative) and a grain component, and is served directly in its original packaging. This could be thought of as the school meal version of a “TV dinner," served in a plastic tray and heated in the microwave with all the components intact.

Heat-and-Serve

This step moves away from individual pre-packaged portions by using fully-cooked, processed components in bulk packaging. Those same nachos would utilize bulk chips, pre-cooked beef crumbles, and frozen cheese sauce to create the full entree. While this transition offers greater control, it’s dependent on pre-processed ingredients.

Moving beyond the "heat-and-serve" stage often brings up a big question: "Can the current kitchen actually handle this?" It's a valid concern. 

A common misconception is that schools need a million-dollar kitchen to start cooking from scratch. They just need the right tools for the job. As our chief officer of school food operations, Lori Nelson, puts it: “When a kitchen lacks the tools to cook, the menu is dictated by that equipment. If all you have is a warming oven, then all you can do is heat food up; you can't really cook. You wouldn’t buy microwave popcorn for your house if you didn’t have a microwave, so it’s the same theory here." 

The most effective path forward is to let the menu lead the way. Identify fresh, healthy recipes to serve and then determine the equipment needed to bring them to life, rather than letting existing equipment limit what’s on the plate. 

Scratch Foundations

Foundational Speed-Scratch

This approach uses convenience products made from whole or minimally processed ingredients to create complete dishes. While it doesn't typically involve fresh ingredients or new culinary techniques, it’s an excellent entry point for districts beginning to cook from scratch. For example, beef nachos at this stage might still have bulk cheese sauce and tortilla chips, but are elevated by seasoning pre-cooked beef crumbles in-house.

Fresh Speed-Scratch 

This stage combines ready-made products from whole, minimally processed ingredients with fresh ingredients to make a new, complete dish. For our nachos, this could look like using raw ground beef, seasoned in-house, paired with shredded cheese and tortilla chips.

Mastering these speed-scratch milestones is a significant achievement, but progressing further requires more than just recipes; it requires a foundation of support. 

Once a district has established the baseline infrastructure to move beyond a simple warming oven, the true catalyst for improvement is their school food team. 

While investing in staff training requires an initial financial commitment, our managing director of East Coast operations, Brandy Dreibelbis, argues that the long-term shift benefits both operations and economics. “People often don't realize that when purchasing pre-processed, packaged items, you are paying for someone else to make and package that product. When you transition to scratch cooking, you eliminate that middleman. You focus on whole ingredients and invest in your staff, helping them develop valuable culinary skills they can pass on." 

Once a district reaches the foundational speed-scratch category, they’ve got a lot to celebrate and are well on their way to fully scratch-cooked meals. 

The Shift to Scratch

Scratch-Made 

Scratch-made items are prepared from whole, raw, or minimally processed items. This stage emphasizes culinary technique, such as crafting sauces from real ingredients, and ensures all animal proteins are prepared from a raw state. This means nachos topped with a house-made cheese sauce from five simple ingredients and raw ground beef seasoned in-house.

Once a district has built the facility and skills to cook from scratch, their kitchen is no longer limited to what comes in a convenience box. They are now able to explore expanding the ingredient sources. Although the continuum ends with scratch-made, there’s always room to enhance school meals by elevating the quality of the ingredients. 

Values-aligned procurement is a practice in which a school district’s purchasing decisions are guided by its core values and ethical principles. It goes beyond sourcing locally and directing food budgets toward values such as environmental sustainability, animal welfare, and fair labor practices. 

A scratch-made recipe using values-aligned ingredients is prepared entirely from raw, unprocessed, or minimally processed ingredients and should emphasize high-quality products or ingredients, with emphasis on the meat (or meat alternative). 

The ultimate scratch-made nachos made with values-aligned ingredients could feature grass-fed raw beef, pasture-raised dairy, and organic tortilla chips from a local vendor. 

The Scratch Impact

Scratch cooking is more than tasty meals; it’s a powerful tool that extends far beyond the cafeteria. Embracing scratch-cooking methods benefits the entire planet by reducing waste, eliminating ultraprocessed and artificial ingredients, and minimizing the use of preservatives. 

By meeting school districts where they are and offering custom, practical solutions, we invest in school food professionals' skills and strengthen local food systems, ultimately supporting communities. Most crucially, better school food is one of the smartest investments we can make in kids today, in the adults they become, and in future generations.

The scratch-cooking continuum demonstrates that, with time and a dedication to nourishing students, scratch cooking is within reach for all school districts, regardless of size, budget, region, or staffing. 

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