Our promise to you
At The DEN Nursery Group, nutrition is a commitment, not a tick box. Every meal and snack is freshly prepared on site using quality ingredients, carefully planned to support growing bodies, developing brains and steady energy throughout the day. Our balanced, rotating menus introduce children to a wide variety of flavours and cultures, helping them build confidence and healthy habits from the very start.
We take dietary needs and allergies seriously, ensuring every child feels safe, included and excited about mealtimes. Above all, we believe food is part of the learning journey. Shared meals encourage independence, conversation and positive relationships with food that last well beyond nursery life.
Because when children are well nourished, they are ready to thrive.
A menu so tasty you could eat it!
Every meal is prepared on site by our amazing cooks. Cooking fresh each day allows us to maintain quality, maximise nutritional value and ensure every dish is served at its best.
We work closely with parents because nutrition in the early years is not a small detail. For many children, nursery meals account for the majority of their daily calorie intake. That means what we serve plays a significant role in supporting healthy growth, brain development and sustained energy.
Our carefully planned menu runs on a structured 16-day rolling rota, ensuring a balanced variety of dishes across all attendance patterns. This approach gives every child the opportunity to experience the full breadth of our menu, building familiarity, confidence and a positive relationship with a wide range of foods.
At The DEN Nursery Group, we do not use refined sugars or any sugary snacks as part of our daily menus. When sweetness is needed, we choose organic coconut sugar, unrefined sugars, agave nectar or honey for children over one. These are used very sparingly and always within balanced meals.
Refined sugars can cause rapid spikes and crashes in blood sugar levels, which may affect focus, mood and behaviour. In early childhood, steady energy is essential for learning and emotional regulation.
The DEN Nursery Group menus are designed to provide sustained energy rather than short bursts followed by dips.
The glycaemic index measures how quickly a food raises blood sugar levels. Lower GI ingredients release energy more gradually.
By choosing lower GI natural sweetness and pairing this with wholegrains and fibre-rich foods, we can help support consistent energy levels throughout the nursery day.
We build our menus around wholefoods, fibre and balanced nutrients.
This helps stabilise blood sugar levels and reduces the likelihood of cravings. Early exposure to natural flavours also helps children develop a preference for less sugary foods over time.
Not at all! Our cooks create meals that are naturally flavourful using fruits, spices and quality ingredients. Children enjoy vibrant, satisfying dishes without the need for excess sweetness.
Consuming diets high in added sugars during childhood can have a significant impact on a child’s health and development. Research has shown that children who are regularly fed high-sugar diets are more likely to experience a range of negative health consequences, including:
* Childhood obesity
* Cardiovascular disease
* Tooth decay
The earlier you introduce added sugars, the more likely your baby or toddler is to prefer and choose sweet foods into childhood and throughout the rest of their life.
Our aim is not to eliminate enjoyment, but to help children develop healthy, positive relationships with food from the very start.
Complete nutrition for all dietary requirements
All the health benefits without the meatOur Catering Manager has extensively studied nutrition to create meat-free meals that positively impact growth, body & brain function and cognitive development.
For example, in our ‘Soul bowl’, which is a vegetarian meal, the combination of the farro, chickpeas and courgettes, (a grain, a bean and a green) together make essential amino acids.
Or take our mushroom and kale risotto that is served with a garlicky crema. Mixing foods like kale that are rich in calcium with foods like garlic that are rich in insulin helps to improve calcium absorption and strengthen the bones.
Every meal is carefully crafted in this way.
Absolutely! All our meals can be tailored to individual requirements and we have worked extensively to ensure that we can offer a dish that closely matches the original so that no child ever feels excluded, or eating something ‘different’.
Our highly trained cooks are all experts in their field and have separate chopping boards, knives and prep areas to ensure that no cross-contamination occurs.
We are ‘nut-free’ at every setting as standard.
We use named red plates, cups and bowls that tally to an allergy resource in the kitchen and online so that every child receives a meal suitable for them.
All staff are Food Hygiene trained and complete our internal allergy awareness courses, and allergy charts are clearly displayed in the rooms. Each child with an allergy or food intolerance also has an individual care plan created with their key worker and parent or carer, outlining their dietary needs for nursery and catering staff to follow.
Beyond fruit and vegetables: Building balanced diets for children
Nutrition designed to support learning, focus and developmentWe even go so far as including food with gut balancing bacteria, which is the route of all nutritional absorption. By consuming Kimchi in our ‘Korean Kimchi Jjigae’ meal and ‘Kefir’, an ingredient in one of our desserts, we are giving the gut the healthy bacteria essential to aid taking in all those great nutrients above.
The daily routine at nursery naturally includes at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables. In their fresh, cooked and raw form, crunchy carrots and celery sticks that are provided as snacks for the children helps to strengthen and develop the muscles required for speech and language, essential for growth and development.
Government guidance encourages at least five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. However, in early childhood, variety and balance matter just as much as quantity.
Young children benefit from regular exposure to a wide range of vegetables and fruits alongside wholegrains, quality proteins and healthy fats. A balanced combination of nutrients supports steady energy, healthy growth and brain development.
At The DEN Nursery Group, fruit and vegetables are woven throughout the day, from main meals to snacks, ensuring children receive consistent access to fresh, nutrient-rich options.
Yes. Across the nursery day, children are offered well in excess of five portions of fruit and vegetables through balanced meals and snacks.
Vegetables are incorporated into main dishes, sauces, sides and soups, rather than added as an afterthought. Fruit is served whole and paired thoughtfully within meals to support fibre intake and steady energy levels.
Our carefully planned rotating menus ensure variety, so children experience a broad range of seasonal produce and global flavours, helping to build confident and adventurous eaters.
At The DEN Nursery Group, we focus on positive exposure rather than pressure. Children are encouraged to explore new foods in a calm, supportive environment where mealtimes are social and relaxed.
Our cooks prepare vegetables in flavourful, appealing ways and pair them within balanced dishes that children naturally enjoy. Repeated exposure across our rolling menu helps build familiarity and confidence over time.
We also model healthy eating behaviours and celebrate curiosity about food with our ‘Menu Support Cards’, helping children develop a positive relationship with vegetables from an early age.
Vegetables provide essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that support cognitive development, immune function and overall growth.
In the early years, the brain is developing rapidly. Nutrients such as iron, folate and vitamin C, found in a variety of vegetables, contribute to healthy brain function and energy production. Fibre-rich vegetables also support gut health, which plays an important role in overall wellbeing and regulation.
At The DEN Nursery Group, vegetables are not simply about meeting a guideline. They form part of a wider nutritional strategy designed to support focus, learning and healthy development every day.
