Supercharged Salads

Post-pandemic, diners are seeking out foods that provide multiple health and functional benefits to their overall health. Immune boosting dishes, and sustainably sourced, minimally processed, “clean” ingredients are all priorities for today’s diners. And that means they are looking for more than just iceberg lettuce and the usual suspects in a salad. Adding a superfood salad to your menu with crunchy kale, nuts, in-season berries, roasted root veggies, goat cheese, and a light vinaigrette can be a great healthy option but one that still appeals to diners.

For a spicy, internationally inspired take, consider a Kung Pao Salad with bok choy, carrots, and peppers and top it with some lean protein such as Butterball^® Sliced Turkey Medallions to appeal to both health-conscious consumers and adventurous eaters.

Healthy Handhelds

Sandwiches are a popular lunch menu item and a convenient grab-and-go option, but they don’t have to be bland and boring to be healthy. Diners crave seasonal flavors and it’s cost effective for you to utilize ingredients you already have in-house. A toasted pita pocket with grilled eggplant, red cabbage, sweet potato, and tahini-yogurt sauce or a grilled apple and gouda panini are sure to pique your customers’ interests.

Forgoing the bread altogether and serving up nutritious options like lettuce wraps can be a fun but healthier alternative to heavier sandwiches. Infuse some Asian flavors with a bahn mi-style wrap with pickled veggies, Butterball^® Ground Turkey, and a spicy peanut or Sriracha sauce.

Super Soups

Over a quarter of consumers are ordering soup from restaurants more often than two years ago, according to recent trend reports. Diners are expecting restaurants to serve unique, high-quality soups they don’t have to cook at home, so now is the perfect time to stir up some new options. You can utilize seasonal ingredients for this category as well and create nearly endless combos that appeal to meat lovers, vegetarians, and vegans. Chicken noodle soup or tomato basil will always be a crowd pleaser or take heartier soups like chili or chicken tortilla and swap in lean proteins and pack in veggies and fresh herbs.

And with more than 30 percent of consumers wanting to try more globally inspired soups, you can tap into current trends while offering up a nutritious soup to satisfy customers. Consider infusing some Korean flavors into your soups with ingredients like kimchi, gochujang, daikon radish, garlic, shiitake mushrooms, and Butterball^® Fully Cooked Turkey Thigh Roast to give them an immune-boosting option with a kick.

Bites with a Boost

Diners love to snack, and the snacking trend has exploded in recent years. You can still cash in on the trend while serving up healthier alternatives to snacks for your happy hour, appetizer, and LTO menus. Consider grilled veggie kebabs marinated in a Greek dressing and serve it up with some light tzatziki sauce.

Dips will always be a crowd pleaser and you can serve ones that pack in a ton of flavor but are still a healthier alternative to heavier, cream-based dips. A trio of roasted red pepper hummus, eggplant caponata, and sundried tomato dip served with cucumbers and grilled pita is sure to light up your snacking menus and appease diner cravings.