7-day sample cycle menu
Portion sizes and therapeutic changes should follow your own facility's diet orders and your consultant dietitian's guidance. This is a planning template, not a prescription.
| Day | Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Snacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Oatmeal with brown sugar, scrambled eggs, sliced banana, milk, coffee or tea | Roast chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, dinner roll, peach halves | Tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich, coleslaw, vanilla pudding | Mid-morning: graham crackers. Afternoon: yogurt cup. Evening: warm milk and cookie |
| Tuesday | Cream of wheat, boiled egg, orange juice, whole wheat toast with jam | Meatloaf with brown gravy, buttered noodles, glazed carrots, wheat bread, apple crisp | Chicken noodle soup, tuna salad on soft roll, cucumber slices, fruit cocktail | Mid-morning: apple sauce. Afternoon: cheese and crackers. Evening: ice cream cup |
| Wednesday | Pancakes with syrup, sausage patty, warm cinnamon apples, milk | Baked cod with lemon, rice pilaf, buttered peas, dinner roll, lemon cake | Beef vegetable soup, egg salad sandwich, pickled beets, pears | Mid-morning: juice. Afternoon: banana bread. Evening: pudding cup |
| Thursday | Scrambled eggs, hash browns, toast, mixed melon, coffee or tea | Spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread, tossed salad, garden vegetables, gelatin with fruit | Split pea soup, ham and cheese sandwich, potato salad, sliced peaches | Mid-morning: crackers. Afternoon: fruit smoothie. Evening: milk and shortbread |
| Friday | French toast, turkey bacon, stewed prunes, orange juice | Baked fish fillet, macaroni and cheese, stewed tomatoes, wheat roll, chocolate cake | Cream of potato soup, chicken salad on croissant, three-bean salad, mandarin oranges | Mid-morning: yogurt. Afternoon: cheese cubes. Evening: sherbet |
| Saturday | Cold cereal with milk, boiled egg, blueberry muffin, apple juice | Pot roast with carrots and potatoes, buttered corn, dinner roll, bread pudding | Vegetable beef soup, turkey sandwich, marinated cucumbers, fruited gelatin | Mid-morning: crackers and peanut butter. Afternoon: juice. Evening: pudding |
| Sunday | Waffles with warm syrup, scrambled eggs, sliced strawberries, milk | Roast turkey with dressing and gravy, sweet potatoes, green peas, roll, pumpkin pie | Chicken rice soup, deviled egg salad plate, buttered bread, pineapple chunks | Mid-morning: apple sauce. Afternoon: cake square. Evening: warm milk |
Texture-modified variations
Rather than writing a separate menu for each texture, keep one cycle menu and record how each day changes. These are the variations most senior living kitchens run.
Regular
The cycle menu exactly as written above. Use this as your base column so every other texture is a documented variation of the same day, not a separate menu.
Mechanical soft / minced and moist
Ground or finely chopped meats moistened with gravy or sauce; soft cooked vegetables instead of raw salads; canned or soft fresh fruit; soft breads without crusts. Monday's roast chicken becomes ground chicken with extra gravy; the tossed salad becomes soft cooked vegetables.
Pureed
Every component pureed to a smooth, lump-free consistency and shaped or moulded so the plate still looks like the regular meal. Breads are replaced with pureed bread or omitted; soups are thickened to the ordered level.
Thickened liquids
Coffee, juice, milk, soups and gelatin thickened to the level on the resident's diet order (mildly, moderately or extremely thick). Record which drinks on each day's menu need thickening so the tray line does not have to guess.
Therapeutic variations
Common adaptations in senior living kitchens include no-added-salt, carbohydrate-controlled dessert swaps (sugar-free gelatin or fruit in place of cake), and renal substitutions. Follow the diet orders and dietitian instructions in place at your facility.
Running pureed trays? Our pureed diet food list for facility kitchens covers what purees well, batch production and tray line checks.
How to turn this into your cycle
- 1Set the cycle length your kitchens can realistically buy for — most nursing homes run a 3, 4 or 5-week cycle. This week is one week of that cycle.
- 2Swap items for what your distributor actually stocks and what your residents ask for. A menu nobody eats produces waste, not nutrition.
- 3Write the texture-modified variation next to each regular item on the same page, so cooks and tray line staff read one document.
- 4Have your consultant dietitian review the finished cycle before it goes into service, and record the review date.
- 5Post the week where residents and families can read it, and keep the approved copy on file for surveys.
Run this menu across every facility you manage
In MealCare Dietary Services, each facility manager builds the week's menu as a draft, your central office approves it or sends it back with a note, and the approved week sits alongside that facility's meal counts, staff schedule and compliance records. One monthly price per facility — no per-user charge.