Lunch: The Frontline of Menu Innovation

In today’s ever-evolving foodservice landscape, lunch is the battleground. It’s where competition is fiercest—from other restaurants, food trucks, C-stores, supermarket ready-to-eat stations and the refrigerator at home. But it’s also the daypart where the rewards may be the richest. When menu appeal aligns with convenience, speed and price, lunch can produce fervent customer loyalty.

To help foodservice operators address these realities, Conagra Foodservice tapped the expertise of four foodservice chefs, seeking their assistance in defining today’s top lunchtime challenges and asking them to develop menu concepts that showcase the possibilities when reimagining lunch. This initiative is a keystone in the company’s new Daypartners™ campaign, aligning its extensive product portfolio by daypart to help operators in every segment build better menus through use of Conagra products, insights and culinary expertise. Conagra seeks to offer tailored solutions that address the unique pain points and needs of individual customers.

Operators seeking to up their lunch game have an abundance of resonant flavor trends to explore. Diners are seeking comfort and indulgence—but they also want more options that contribute to health and wellness. Interest in global flavors—from all continents—isn’t slowing down, and younger demographics have demonstrated a willingness to take that a step further with inventive mash-ups. This provides great latitude in developing menu solutions that are trend-forward but stay within the broad strokes of a brand’s identity and integrity.

“For me, it’s important to have easy access to on-trend condiments, dips and sauces,” says Nikolaos Kapernaros, executive chef, Levy Restaurants/Navy Pier, which provides catering and event services at the iconic Chicago destination. Focusing on flavor-forward condiments and sauces is an easy way to refresh current menu favorites, giving meals “that extra touch.”

Sam Barron is chef and co-owner at The Fat Shallot, a Chicago-area food truck-turned-brick-and-mortar chain focused on craveable sandwiches and sides. He is seeing greater demand for menu items that can address dietary restrictions and respond to interest in health and nutrition. Bowls are one way to meet these needs, he says. “They’re a real crowd pleaser, can be affordable and be a quick and easy prep option.”

As lunch expectations shift, operators need solutions that balance creativity with operational ease. Conagra’s product line-up is built to streamline prep while giving chefs a blank canvas to paint with bold, modern flavors. To illustrate the potential, the Reimagine Lunch culinary team developed several concepts that highlight how Conagra Foodservice ingredients can spark new ideas for lunch menus. Here are four examples:

1Fire-Roasted Tomato Soup and Grilled Mac and Cheese

Bailey Sullivan, executive chef, Monteverde Restaurant and Pastificio, a contemporary Italian cuisine restaurant in Chicago’s West Loop, leans into classic comfort with this dish. She switches up tomato soup’s conventional grilled cheese sandwich pairing, replacing cheese slices with a creamy mac and cheese filling. Three Conagra products are put to work in this dish: Angela Mia^® Whole Peeled Tomatoes, Award Cuisine^® Macaroni and Cheese and Udi’s^® Delicious Bread. The mac and cheese twist allows an operator to appeal to customers by elevating a longstanding favorite with minimal departure from core flavor and format attributes.

2California Blend with Tomato Brunoise over a Greek Yogurt Saffron Dip

Demonstrating the prep advantages of speed-scratch assembly, this dish from Kapernaros features a poly bag of Birds Eye^® California Blend from the Conagra portfolio. The vegetable blend includes carrots, broccoli and cauliflower, which are mixed with diced Roma tomatoes and fresh herbs. The base of Greek yogurt blended with saffron lends a rich, creamy tang, with subtle floral warmth. Finding equal inspiration in California and Mediterranean cuisines, the dish cues light, fresh and nutritious for diners with wellness top of mind.

3Buffalo Cauliflower

Acknowledging diner interest in the health halo of veggie options that still deliver on robust flavor, this upgrade of a popular appetizer combo swaps out fried chicken wings or mozzarella sticks in favor of Birds Eye^® Crispy Cauliflower Florets, also from Conagra. In this concept developed by Barron, the veggie is served with a traditional Buffalo sauce that is spiked with chipotles in adobo for a greater kick. A crumble of blue cheese adds another layer of flavor.

4Green Chile Smothered Burrito

Developed by Jacqueline Mearman, owner of the Baltimore-based, breakfast/lunch-centric Kitsch Hospitality Group, this dish celebrates the enduring appetite that diners continue to demonstrate for the versatile burrito. Here, Mearman packs a mix of black beans, cooked rice, beef crumble, yellow onions and jalapeño into a flour tortilla. The burrito is topped with queso fresco and a sauce featuring diced green chiles, making it more of a satiating fork-and-knife entree than an on-the-go handheld. Mearman uses Rosarita^® Diced Green Chiles and Ranch Style^® Black Beans. Using Gardein^® Plant-Based Be’f Ground Crumble makes the dish a sound choice for guests who prefer a plant-forward meal.

“I’m always looking for something that takes a lot of the guesswork and potential problems out of the prep,” says Barron. “Brands like Conagra can help me simplify my menu by giving me a wide variety of options to work with.” When lunch is the battleground, having dependable, versatile products is half the fight.

Click here to check out chef-created lunch solutions featuring Conagra products.