TREND BITES:

How to Build a Protein-Packed Menu

June 6, 2025

Our bodies need many nutrients, and every few years the spotlight rotates to a different one. Right now, everyone's attention is on protein. It's crucial for growth, building muscle, and giving us energy. None of that is new, though, so how has protein been making headlines? In addition to consumers seeking protein-packed foods for a healthy and efficient way to fuel busy lives, protein is key to diets that align with popular GLP-1 weight loss drugs.

A Crash Course in Protein's Popularity

Protein has had extremely positive consumer perception for over a century. Way back in the 1890s, the USDA recommended protein because it creates muscular energy. We've carried that "protein is good" message with us for decades, and now we're at a time where one of our biggest overarching trends is "wellness," with a whopping 82% of Americans considering wellness an important priority. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of wellness influencers, and the recent popularity of GLP-1 weight loss medicine, our enduring goal has been optimal health. And what healthy nutrient has always been there for us? Protein.

Step One: Add More Chicken

The first step toward a protein-rich menu is bringing in more chicken entrées. And we're not even being biased here—chicken is the protein-iest of the common animal proteins. It's a higher source of protein than beef and pork while simultaneously being lower in calories and fat. So, if you're building entrées for health-conscious customers, chicken is a great option. Add chicken to salads, wraps, bowls, pizzas, sandwiches, soups, and more to serve protein to create new LTOs or enhance existing menu items. A lot of menus use bowls as their format of choice for health callouts. For inspiration, we have several chicken bowl recipes to get you started!

Try these recipes!

Marry Me Chicken

Breakfast Power Bowl

Chicken Protein Bowl

What protein-boosters are trending?

In the social media age, on-trend ingredients tend to follow the same pattern.

Influencers cause an ingredient to go viral.
Consumers become familiar with the ingredient's benefits and popularity.
Consumers want to try it.
Restaurants start adding it to menus to meet demand.

In the protein space, the viral ingredient is definitely cottage cheese, and we're at step #3 where consumers want to try it in different applications, but it's not yet on many restaurant menus. In their 2025 food trend list, Whole Foods called cottage cheese "still the 'it girl' in dairy." According to Google Trends, searches for cottage cheese have increased by 64% in the past year, while Datassential's Menu Trends shows that restaurant menu mentions for cottage cheese have dropped 4% in the same time frame. Consumers are searching for recipes for cottage cheese pancakes, flatbreads, chips, bagels, and eggs. In Better Homes and Gardens' 2025 Food Trends, they call out a few of the "Protein Powerhouses" consumers are purchasing, including cottage cheese, bone broth, and salmon cubes to add to at-home meals.

Any of those "powerhouses" would be great to use on your menu, especially if you're highlighting a dish's protein content. To get started, try two trends in one with this Marry Me Chicken—an extremely viral dish in its own right—that uses cottage cheese in the sauce!

Adding GLP-1 Meals to Your Menu

Over the past year, restaurants have begun adding GLP-1 meals to their offerings. According to Restaurant Business, "Chains including Sweetgreen, Panda Express, and El Pollo Loco have introduced protein-centric meals and called them out as such." When creating meals for people who use diet and weight loss medicine, it's important to understand that their eating habits are different than that of other consumers. They're often encouraged to eat plenty of protein to maintain their muscle mass, and they feel full quickly, so they need smaller portions. The best way to serve meals that meet GLP-1 diet needs is to offer nutrient-packed dishes that can be packed as easy to-go leftovers, like this Chicken Protein Bowl.