Build a Day: Pick 5 Recipes, Check Your Plate (Free)

How it works

Build a day of meals from real USDA recipes and check it against the five MyPlate food groups, free.

1. Pick a recipe for each meal

Browse 1,072 USDA MyPlate Kitchen recipes and add one to each slot: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and dessert.

2. Watch the food groups fill in

Every recipe lists its food groups. Each group gets a check when a meal has it.

3. Share or print your day

Copy one clean link to paste into Google Classroom or Teams, or print your day as a single page.

Using this in class?

Send students here to pick a breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and dessert, then check that all five food groups show up. They turn in a link or a printed page, with no account. Pair it with our free printables and food-group quizzes. Printable tip sheets · Food-group quizzes

Is Build a Day free? Do students need an account?

It's free, and students need no account, login or email. Their day is saved in their own browser and in the link they copy. Nothing is saved on our servers.

How do students turn in the assignment?

Two ways: paste the share link into Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams or an email, or print the finished day on one page.

What does it teach?

The five MyPlate food groups. Every recipe carries its real USDA food-group data, so students see immediately whether a full day of their own choices covers fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, and dairy (and what's missing).

Where do the recipes come from?

All 1,072 come from USDA's MyPlate Kitchen. Each shows its ingredients, directions and food groups.