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The Potato Council and The School Food Trust have joined forces to introduce four new potato based recipe ideas onto school lunch menus.

The ideas are being rolled out to 22,000 schools in England.

A number of recipes were kitchen tested by two secondary schools, before being modified following feedback from school cooks and students, and nutritionally analysed.

The four favourites are now being distributed with full cooking instructions, variety suggestions and complete nutritional breakdowns, via the Trust's 'Cook for Success' quarterly newsletter to school cooks.

The four potato recipes are:

• Fiery potatoes (accompaniment)
• Potato and pea curry (vegetarian main meal)
• Mediterranean fish pie with creamy herby mash (main meal)
• Fully loaded potato skins (hot 'grab and go' option)

Caroline Evans, Potato Council head of marketing and corporate affairs, said: "We're delighted to be working with the School Food Trust to increase the number of potato-based options on school menus. Potatoes are an important part of balanced diets; providing many essential nutrients for growing children and are a great source of energy. Equally they are a low-cost kitchen ingredient and play an important role helping caterers meet strict budget and nutritional guidelines.

The School Food Trust's research and nutrition senior manager, Patricia Mucavele added: "We include healthy recipe ideas for school cooks in every edition of Cook for Success, and these new twists on a school meals staple will offer some great inspiration for cooks planning new menus.

"Research proves that school meals help children to try new dishes and broaden their food horizons, so sharing new menu tips and ideas is really important."