Healthy eating: the Eatwell Guide
Works in the UK and the US. This version uses UK words and measures (hob, grams, gas marks); the US version uses stove, cups and °F. · US version of this page
The five groups of the Eatwell Guide and how to build a balanced meal.
The Eatwell Guide
The Eatwell Guide shows how much of what we eat overall should come from each food group:
- Fruit and vegetables – just over a third. Aim for at least 5 portions a day (a portion is 80 g).
- Potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates – just over a third. Choose wholegrain where you can.
- Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins – eat more beans and pulses, and 2 portions of fish a week.
- Dairy and alternatives – choose lower-fat and lower-sugar options.
- Oil and spreads – small amounts of unsaturated oils.
Drink 6 to 8 glasses of fluid a day. Foods high in fat, salt and sugar sit outside the guide: have them less often and in small amounts.
Lesson and quiz
Step by step: a quick safety check, questions marked by Classfern, timers for each cooking step, then an honest look at how it went – a teacher or parent judges the cooking, and learners rate their own work. Photos of the finished dish stay at home.
Use the code your teacher gave you – never your name. Progress is kept on this device.
Put it into practice
- Rainbow fruit cupsA no-cook pudding of fruit in rainbow layers with yoghurt – perfect for first knife skills.
- Overnight oatsA no-cook breakfast you make the night before: weigh, measure, grate and mix.
- Fresh tomato salsaA bright, no-cook dip that teaches dicing, the bridge hold and the claw grip.
- HummusA smooth chickpea dip – and a real example of an allergen (sesame in tahini).