These worksheets can be used to empower Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) providers and operators with the knowledge, skills and expertise to implement CACFP meal pattern requirements. Download the print version.
Breakfasts in the CACFP include milk, vegetables and/or fruits, and grains. You can also serve meats and/or meat alternates instead of grains at breakfast up to 3 times per week. This option gives you more choices for menu planning.
Here’s how to include meats or meat alternates as part of a reimbursable breakfast:
- Substitute 1 ounce equivalent of meats/meat alternates for 1 ounce equivalent of grains.
Ounce equivalents are a way to measure amounts of food. In the CACFP, 1 ounce equivalent of a meat or meat alternate is equal to 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, ½ of a large egg, or 1 ounce of meat, poultry, or fish. If you want to serve meats/meat alternates at breakfast more than 3 days a week, you must offer them as additional foods, which do not count toward a reimbursable breakfast.
A Closer Look at Menu Planning
If you plan to offer meat and/or meat alternate at breakfast in place of grains, it must replace the entire required amount of grains. The table below shows the minimum amount of meats and meat alternates you would need to serve in place of grains at breakfast.
| Ages 1–2 years and 3–5 years | Ages 6–12 years and 13–18 years | Adults | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum amount of meats/meat alternates required when served instead of grains at breakfast | ½ ounce equivalent | 1 ounce equivalent | 2 ounce equivalents |
| Meats/Meat Alternates: | is equal to: | is equal to: | is equal to: |
| Beans, peas, and lentils* | ⅛ cup | ¼ cup | ½ cup |
| Natural or processed cheese | ½ ounce | 1 ounce | 2 ounces |
| Cottage or ricotta cheese | ⅛ cup (1 ounce) | ¼ cup (2 ounces) | ½ cup (4 ounces) |
| Eggs | ¼ large egg | ½ large egg | 1 large egg |
| Meat, poultry, or fish | ½ ounce | 1 ounce | 2 ounces |
| Nut and seed butters (e.g., peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, etc.) | 1 tablespoon | 2 tablespoons | 4 tablespoons |
| Nuts and seeds | ½ ounce | 1 ounce | 2 ounces |
| Tempeh, commercially prepared | ½ ounce | 1 ounce | 2 ounces |
| Tofu (store-bought or commercially prepared) | ⅛ cup (1.1 ounces) with at least 2.5 grams of protein | ¼ cup (2.2 ounces) with at least 5 grams of protein | ½ cup (4.4 ounces) with at least 10 grams of protein |
| Yogurt** (including soy yogurt) | ¼ cup of yogurt (2 ounces) | ½ cup of yogurt (4 ounces) | 1 cup of yogurt (8 ounces) |
*When you serve beans, peas, and lentils as a vegetable, they cannot also count as a meat alternate in the same meal.
**Yogurt must contain no more than 12 grams of added sugars per 6 ounces (2 grams of added sugars per ounce).
Mix It Up at Breakfast
- You can serve a meat or meat alternate as a standalone item, such as eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, turkey sausage, and ham. Meats and meat alternates can be served together, such as eggs (a meat alternate) and ham (a meat). Meats and meat alternates can also be served in a dish mixed with other foods, such as apple slices spread with peanut butter, yogurt topped with fruit, or a tofu scramble with vegetables.
- Bacon, imitation bacon products, scrapple, and salt pork are not creditable in the CACFP.
- Turkey bacon, Canadian bacon, and some types of sausage are creditable only if the product has a child nutrition label, or if you have a Product Formulation Statement (PFS) signed by the manufacturer. For more information on crediting foods in the CACFP, please see the Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs.
For Adult Day Care Only
You can serve 6 ounces of yogurt in place of 8 ounces of milk once per day when yogurt is not served as a meat alternate in the same meal. If you serve yogurt to adults as a meat alternate at breakfast, you must also serve fluid milk.