Recipes encourage shoppers to try new foods or to prepare familiar foods in new ways. Recipes that can be prepared in 30 minutes or less are especially popular.
What you can do today
Try new recipes. Here are a few places you can go.
- Recipes, cooking tips and physical activity ideas for a healthier life: Real Life, Good Food
- Browse recipes that are searchable by ingredient and other categories: MyPlate Kitchen
Tips for success
Pair recipes with fresh produce and healthy foods you're currently offering and hand out copies to clients as they enter. Remember to focus on recipes that feature healthy, but common, inexpensive ingredients readily available at your food shelf or at the grocery store.
Offer new recipes frequently so that regular clients can get new ideas for preparing healthy foods.
How Extension can help
Connect with a SNAP-Ed health and wellbeing coordinator or an EFNEP coordinator to set up an on-site cooking or recipe-sampling demonstration to encourage clients to attend cooking classes or classes on healthy eating on a budget.
Download the complete document: Promoting healthy eating at food shelves (PDF).
Related resource
MyPlate Kitchen — United States Department of Agriculture — Search this bilingual database of recipes, create and print your own cookbook, browse recipes by nutrition theme, and more.
Reviewed in 2023