Rethinking Lunch for Today’s Tastes

“When you’re a lunch-driven business, it’s really important that your guests are coming in three, four, five times a week,” reflects Jacqueline Mearman, owner of the Baltimore-based, breakfast/lunch-centric Kitsch Hospitality Group. “Lunch is a pretty tough meal period.”

Nikolaos Kapernaros agrees. “People at lunch want something tasty, something not very expensive and something fast—they want to be out of the restaurant within 30 to 35 minutes,” says the executive chef at Levy Restaurants/Navy Pier in Chicago.

Both chefs were part of an operator panel convened by Conagra Foodservice to identify the challenges associated with the midday meal and reflect on winning strategies for making the most of opportunities afforded by this daypart.

Success tends to be found in the sweet-spot intersection of menu mastery and operational efficiency. The first is being driven by concepts that offer a break from the routine without wholly upending customer expectations. The second sees savvy application of speed-scratch prep that leans on versatile products that reliably deliver quality and consistency. Together, these tactics can help operators gain the edge in a competitive market.

MANIFEST A MINDFUL MENU MIX

Lunch customers are often on the run—employees on a break, home-based consumers out for errands, tourists in between sightseeing destinations. Their need for a menu item that’s quick to order and eat tends to pair naturally with the choice of something familiar. But even lunchtime diners can grow weary of the routine. “People don’t want the same thing all of the time,” reports Kapernaros.

Providing a rotation of daily, weekly or monthly specials is one way to leverage the advantage of routines, and make them work for you. The inherent limited availability of an occasional, but popular, special tends to drive intentional and repeat visits. The special can be a wholly unique offering or one that elevates a menu mainstay with a premium ingredient swap, a signature sauce or other condiment or inclusion of unexpected components. This is especially easy to apply to handhelds, flatbreads/pizzas, salads, bowl builds, soups and other lunch favorites.

Tweaking the familiar is another way to inject a little escapism in lunch. The goal is to offer recognizable items “but with a little bit of a twist,” says Sam Barron, chef at The Fat Shallot, a Chicago-area food truck-turned-brick-and mortar chain focused on craveable sandwiches and sides, and another participant in Conagra’s Reimagine Lunch panel.

Consider plays with format, such as deconstructing a burger and using the elements in a bowl, stir-frying vegetables and tucking them into a taco or filling a grilled sandwich with mac and cheese. This is where bold and bolder flavors also can make a difference. Is it time to try a marinara sauce with a bit more kick? Swap your burger’s standard cheddar slice to a Jack? Offer three variations of a chicken marinade or sauce: sweet, swicy and fiery?

Of course, heat is not the only way to go bold. Consider ways to adapt favored dishes by incorporating smoke and roasted flavor profiles. Tap the power of sour or add a touch of tang. Boost the umami quotient. “We’re seeing changes with more flavor coming into the lunch scene,” says Mearman. “And that is a beautiful thing.”

Pulling from the global pantry can also dial up renewed interest in your menu mix. Asian, Mediterranean and Latin influences are popping up across brand concepts. It’s not a shock to find broadline menus including items that reflect a cross-cultural dining sensibility, with potstickers, falafel and tacos offered side by side by side.

Consumers are showing some waning allegiance to traditional daypart timelines. Adding one breakfast-for-lunch item or select breakfast elements might be enough to spark intrigue, whether it’s a serving a traditional breakfast burrito at midday or using waffles to sandwich a club sandwich. “Let’s serve items for lunch that people enjoy at dinner, too,” adds Kapernaros.

VERSATILITY MEANS VALUE

The first step in a successful effort to reimagine your lunch offering is making smart back-of-house decisions, from procuring versatile ingredients you can cross-utilize across applications to identifying a vendor partner that will provide insights and culinary expertise along with high-quality products. The new Daypartners™ campaign from Conagra Foodservice is designed to help operators in every segment build better menus.

“I’m always looking for something that takes a lot of the guesswork and potential problems out of the prep process,” says Barron. “Brands like Conagra can help me simplify my menu by giving me a wide variety of options to work with.”

Conagra’s product portfolio is built to streamline prep in the kitchen, while giving chefs plenty of latitude for easy explorations of modern lunch solutions. To demonstrate the potential, the Reimagine Lunch culinary team developed concepts that highlight how Conagra Foodservice ingredients can spark new ideas for reenergized menus. Three examples follow:

1Greek-Style Chicken Sandwich

Developed by Kapernaros, this sandwich represents the broad spectrum of ways operators can reinvigorate the ubiquitous chicken sandwich—tapping into global influences and showcasing bold flavors. A chicken breast is marinated simply and quickly with parsley, oregano, olive oil and lemon and then baked. The sandwich is built between toasted bread slices, featuring the chicken, an herbed mayonnaise, shredded Graviera cheese (a distinctive Greek variety), grape tomatoes, salt, pepper and pickled red onions. This sandwich uses Udi’s^® Delicious White or Multigrain Bread and the chicken can be swapped with Gardein^® Plant-Based Chick’n Breasts.

2Asian Stir Fry with Shrimp

Kapernaros also created this Asian Stir Fry, featuring paprika-spiced shrimp and a cilantro-lime teriyaki glaze. It’s an example of leaning into the popularity of Asian cuisines and playing up bold flavors. The chef’s eye-catching presentation is another nod to simple ways operators can signal something new to diners. The dish features La Choy^® Asian Stir-Fry Vegetables. Thawed shrimp is marinated in a mix of salt, pepper, sweet paprika, honey and onion powder. Teriyaki glaze is spiked with lime juice, cilantro and parsley.

3EGGS IN PURGATORY

This classic Neapolitan one-pan dish is from Bailey Sullivan, executive chef, Monteverde Restaurant and Pastificio, a contemporary Italian cuisine restaurant in Chicago’s West Loop. Another participant in the Reimagine Lunch project, she offers a fresh approach to defying expectations at lunchtime. Often served on breakfast menus, this dish of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce makes for a rustic treat any time of day. Served in the dish it’s cooked in, it can be positioned as a hot and satisfying alternative to soup or chili, with bold flavors abounding. Here, Sullivan uses Angela Mia^® Fire-Roasted Diced Tomatoes as the hero sauce ingredient, supported by Gardein^® Plant-Based Italian Pizza Crumble, scallions, garlic, onion, Calabrian chile, ricotta and seasonings. Slices of Italian loaf or French baguette slices for dipping is recommended.

With versatile, ready‑to‑use products from brands like Conagra, it’s easier to rethink lunch in small but meaningful ways—adding simple twists, leveraging the power of bold flavors and refreshing familiar favorites without adding kitchen complexity.

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