Key Stage 3 design and technology · Cooking and nutrition

KS3 design and technology: cooking savoury dishes

In Years 7 to 9, pupils are taught to cook a repertoire of predominantly savoury dishes, so that they can feed themselves and others a healthy and varied diet. The aim is a set of reliable meals they can make confidently, adapt to different needs and cook safely, using what they have learned about nutrition to decide what goes on the plate.

Cooking savoury dishes, explained

A repertoire is a collection of dishes a cook knows well enough to make without much help. The curriculum does not list particular recipes, so schools choose. Many include a tomato-based pasta sauce, a curry or chilli, a stir-fry, soup, a bread or dough, a pastry-based dish such as a quiche or pasties, a fish or vegetable dish, and a one-pot meal. The word “predominantly savoury” means that most dishes are savoury, with some baking or sweet work alongside. In many schools food shares timetable time with other areas of design and technology, so the number of dishes a pupil cooks across Years 7 to 9 varies from school to school.

The purpose is independence. Pupils are expected to feed themselves and others, which means planning as well as cooking. They choose a dish for a particular person or occasion, check it against nutrition guidelines, make a shopping list and work out costs. They scale recipes up or down, so a meal for four becomes a meal for six or a single portion, and they sequence their work so that everything is ready together. Skills such as organising, tidying as you go and keeping to a budget matter as much as technique.

Nutrition runs through every dish. Pupils ask what a meal contributes: starchy food for energy, protein, vegetables, fibre, calcium, iron, and how much fat, salt and sugar it contains. They learn to adapt: adding extra vegetables or pulses to a sauce, using less salt, swapping a processed ingredient for a fresh one, or changing a recipe for vegetarian, halal, kosher or allergy needs. A repertoire built on lentils, beans, vegetables, rice, pasta, eggs, fish and a little meat can be healthy, cheap and flexible.

Food safety and hygiene are taught as habits. Pupils wash their hands, tie back hair, use separate boards and knives for raw meat and ready-to-eat foods, check use-by dates and cook food all the way through. They learn not to wash raw chicken, because splashes spread bacteria around the kitchen, and that leftovers should be cooled quickly and kept in the fridge. Each of these is practised in the kitchen, which is the main reason why cooking at home supports the school’s work so well.

Words your child will hear

Repertoire: A set of dishes a person can cook confidently and repeat.
Portion: The amount of food that one person eats in a meal.
Scaling: Changing the quantities in a recipe to make more or fewer portions.
Cross-contamination: Bacteria spreading from raw food, hands or equipment to food that is ready to eat.
Batch cooking: Making a large quantity at once so that some can be chilled or frozen for later.
Dietary requirement: A need or choice that limits what someone can eat, such as an allergy, a religious rule or being vegan.
Sequencing: Deciding the order in which jobs are done so the dish is finished on time.

What the National Curriculum says

In Key Stage 3, pupils should be taught to:

Cook a repertoire of predominantly savoury dishes so that they are able to feed themselves and others a healthy and varied diet
Understand and apply the principles of nutrition and health

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: scaling a lentil and vegetable stew

A recipe for 4 people uses 2 onions, 2 carrots, 400 g chopped tomatoes, 200 g red lentils, 800 ml stock and 2 teaspoons of ground cumin. A pupil has to cook for 6 people. What quantities do they need, and what else should they think about?

Work out the scale factor. 6 people ÷ 4 people = 1.5, so every main ingredient is multiplied by 1.5.
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6 ÷ 4 = 1.5
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Calculate the quantities.

Onions:   2 × 1.5   = 3
Carrots:  2 × 1.5   = 3
Tomatoes: 400 × 1.5 = 600 g
Lentils:  200 × 1.5 = 300 g
Stock:    800 × 1.5 = 1,200 ml

Treat seasoning with care. Multiplying cumin by 1.5 gives 3 teaspoons, but flavour does not always scale evenly. Start with 2½ teaspoons, taste at the end and add more if needed. Salt should be added gradually, too, particularly if the stock is salty.
Adjust the equipment and timing. The bigger quantity needs a larger pan, takes longer to come to the boil, and may need extra time to chop. Red lentils soften in roughly 20 minutes, but the pupil checks by tasting, not by the clock.
Check the nutrition and the people. The stew gives protein, fibre and iron from the lentils, vitamin C from the tomatoes (which helps the body absorb the iron), and vegetables. Made with vegetable stock, it suits vegetarians and vegans. The pupil also checks the stock label, because some stock cubes contain celery or gluten, which matter for guests with those allergies or with coeliac disease.

For 6 people: 3 onions, 3 carrots, 600 g chopped tomatoes, 300 g red lentils, 1,200 ml stock and about 2½ teaspoons of cumin, adjusted to taste. A strong answer explains why the spices are not simply multiplied and mentions the larger pan and longer timings.

Common mistakes and how to help

Following the recipe without reading it all the way through first

Pupils are keen to start, and they discover halfway that an ingredient is missing or that something had to be soaked or chilled earlier.

What helps: Read the whole recipe aloud before you begin, then gather the ingredients and equipment. Professional cooks call this mise en place, which simply means everything in its place.

Washing raw chicken makes it safer

Washing feels hygienic, and many people were taught to do it.

What helps: Washing does not remove bacteria and splashes them onto taps and worktops. Cooking thoroughly kills them. Keep raw chicken away from other foods, and wash hands, boards and knives afterwards.

If the outside looks cooked, the middle is safe

Browned or crisp outsides look finished, especially on burgers, sausages and chicken pieces.

What helps: Food must be hot all the way through, with no pink meat, juices running clear and steam rising from the middle. A food thermometer probe is a reliable way to check.

Healthy cooking means bland, expensive food

Children often link healthy food with salads and special ingredients.

What helps: Beans, lentils, tinned tomatoes, frozen vegetables, eggs and rice are cheap and nutritious. Flavour comes from herbs, spices, lemon, garlic and good technique, not extra salt.

How to help at home

One family meal a week. Ask your child to choose, plan and cook one evening meal each week, starting with a dish they have made at school. Be in the kitchen at first and step back as their confidence grows. Include the washing up in the job.
Scale it up or down. Take a recipe for four and ask for a version for six, or for a single portion. Writing out the new quantities uses real multiplication and division, and the result is a dinner.
Cost the shop. Set a small budget and let your child write the shopping list, compare prices and work out the cost per portion. Ask what could be swapped to save money without losing the nutrition.
Use leftovers. Challenge your child to turn yesterday’s leftovers into a new meal, such as roast vegetables into a soup or a frittata. Cool leftovers quickly, store them in the fridge, use them within two days and reheat until steaming hot. Cooked rice needs extra care: cool it within an hour, keep it in the fridge, eat it within a day and reheat it only once.

Builds on

Key Stage 2: Healthy and varied diet
Key Stage 2: Cooking savoury dishes
Key Stage 2: Seasonal food
Key Stage 2: Grown, reared, caught, processed