Note: This article reflects a typical French school lunch menu during the 2022–2023 school year.
What does a typical French school lunch menu in 2022 look like? Here is a look at a school lunch menu at a public elementary school in the Haute Savoie region of France for a week this October.
The daily French school lunch menu is split up into the following categories: first course, main course, vegetables, dairy course, dessert.
For a complete overview of the French school lunch system, see → French School Lunches: How They Work Today.
Across France, all public elementary school menus include:
- at least 50% local and/or organic ingredients
- at least one fully vegetarian meal per week
- validation by a certified nutritionist
- meat origin labeling (required nationwide since March 2022)
- clear indications of allergens
For more details on the school lunch nutrition, read here → Nutritional Guidelines For French School Lunches.
Here is what one real week looked like.
If you’d like to see what the Christmas lunch menu looked like this year → French School Lunch Christmas Menu.
Monday
First course: Grated carrot salad (organic)
Main course: Beef Bourgignon (local meat)
Vegetable: Cauliflower gratin (organic)
Dairy: chocolate yogurt
Tuesday
First course: Dried pork sausage served in slices
Main course: Casserole with fish (cod) and mashed potatoes
Dairy: Comte cheese (organic and local)
Dessert: Grapes (organic)
Wednesday
First course: Green salad (organic)
Main course: Tartiflette is a regional dish that includes potatoes, cheese, bacon and onions (local)
Dessert: Fruits (organic)
Thursday
This is the vegetarian meal of the week.
First course: Lentil salad (organic)
Main course: Vegetarian pancakes
Vegetable course: Sweet potato mash
Dairy: Kiri cheese
Dessert: Kiwis (organic)
Friday
First course: cucumber salad (organic)
Main course: Couscous Mergez is made of spicy lamb sausage, vegetables and couscous grains.
Dairy: Goat’s cheese
Dessert: Fruit compote (organic)
More From France
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Working with a French school chef, I’ve created a downloadable guide featuring some of the everyday, best-loved recipes served in French school lunches → Explore the full guide
