Pizza still rules the school canteen – but teens want katsu, tacos and jollof rice
New Sodexo School Dinner Index reveals how pupils’ tastes change as they get older.
As pupils head back to school up and down the country this week, pizza remains a firm favourite in the school canteen – but older pupils are looking beyond traditional school-dinner staples and calling for everything from katsu curry and tacos to jollof rice, biryani and noodles, according to new analysis from schools catering provider Sodexo.
The Sodexo School Dinner Index 2026 draws on 7,259 survey responses from primary, secondary and sixth-form schools, alongside operational data covering 237,835 meals served across 107 primary schools in July 2026.
Among primary pupils, cheese and tomato pizza was the standout favourite, receiving 438 votes, followed by roast chicken and potatoes (223), fish fingers and chips (205), pasta bolognese (151) and mac & cheese (150).
Pizza also proved popular with older pupils. Among secondary pupils who recognised the new dishes on offer, pizza slab received 1,063 votes, ahead of mac & cheese (392), roast chicken (267) and Southern baked chicken (263).
The findings come as the Government prepares to publish new School Food Standards later this month, the first overhaul in more than a decade, with a renewed focus on ensuring children have access to healthy, nutritious food throughout the school day.
But the findings also show how tastes broaden as pupils get older.
While younger children continue to favour familiar, comforting dishes, secondary pupils called for a much wider range of international flavours and formats, including katsu curry, fajitas, tacos, jollof rice, biryani, noodles and African-inspired dishes. The wider analysis found that primary pupils are particularly drawn to familiar flavours, traditional favourites, finger foods and predictable choices, while secondary pupils show a greater willingness to try newer, more customisable and trend-led food.
School food has changed enormously, but what pupils are telling us is that new doesn’t have to mean unfamiliar.
Younger children understandably gravitate towards dishes they know and trust, while as pupils get older, we see much more appetite for global flavours, street-food influences and food they can personalise.
The opportunity is to bring those two things together – serving the familiar favourites pupils love but making them work harder nutritionally and introducing exciting new choices that reflect the food and flavours young people experience outside school too.
Pizza is a perfect example. We know children love it, so rather than simply taking a popular dish away, our chefs look at how we can make it healthier – from using wholemeal flour to building more vegetables and pulses into sauces.
Ultimately, it isn’t enough to know what children like to eat. Our job is to use our culinary and nutritional expertise to make those favourites healthier and more balanced while keeping them appealing enough that pupils genuinely want to choose and eat them.
The analysis also suggests pupils are not abandoning traditional school dinners in favour of global food. Instead, familiar formats are evolving, with dishes such as katsu chicken, loaded burgers, wraps and jerk-inspired meals combining recognisable favourites with newer flavours.
The findings are also being put into practice through Sodexo’s newly refreshed AiP school food offer, which is being rolled out across its schools and combines familiar favourites with healthier ingredients, global influences and more sustainable choices.
Its new Hero dishes include a homemade pizza made with a 50% wholemeal base and vegetable-packed “hidden super sauce”; a Mexican-inspired chilli bean stack rich in vegetables and bean protein; an adobo chicken roti wrap bringing Filipino-inspired street-food flavours into schools; and a plant-based gochujang lentil and bean bolognese.
Sodexo partners with hundreds of schools, academies, colleges and universities across the UK, providing catering and wider facilities management services. Its school catering teams work with education partners to develop nutritious, sustainable menus designed to support pupil wellbeing, encourage an interest in food and provide the fuel children need for the school day.
Methodology
The Sodexo School Dinner Index 2026 draws on:
- 1,912 parent-pupil survey responses from more than 72 primary schools.
- 5,347 pupil responses from 24 identified secondary and sixth-form schools.
- Operational meal-uptake data covering 237,835 meals served across 107 Sodexo primary schools between 1 and 24 July 2026.
School closing dates varied during the period, so operational data is used to provide context rather than direct dish-by-dish popularity comparisons.