Creating and Managing Meals

Creating and Managing Meals

This article covers how to create, edit, duplicate, delete, and find meals in Embrayse.

Before You Start

  • You need a Chef role to create and modify meals. Contact your administrator if you don't have access.
  • We recommend using a desktop computer with a large monitor for the best experience.

Creating a New Meal

1. Open the New Item Window
  1. Navigate to the Plan area of the app using the top menu
  2. Click the New Item button in the top right corner


2. Enter Basic Details

When creating or editing a meal, you'll see multiple tabs:

On the Details tab, the minimum required information to create a meal is:
  • Title (required, max 200 characters): The name of the meal
  • Meal Type (required): Select from Main, Dessert, Side, or Beverage

You can save with just these two fields, but we recommend adding more detail to help staff collect orders and help residents make safe choices.


3. Add Optional Details

Chef's Description
Add a description that staff can read to residents when taking orders.

Photo
Upload an image of the meal. Clear photos, ideally taken from your own meals, help residents choose their meals, especially on TV menus and in the mobile app, and sets appropriate expectations.

Visibility Settings
Control where this meal appears using three separate toggles:
  • Show on TV: Display this meal on TV menu boards in dining areas
  • Show in Print Menu: Include this meal in printed weekly menus
  • Show in Meals App: Make this meal available in the Embrayse Meals mobile app (for residents/family to order)

You'll typically want to enable TV display for mains and featured desserts, but not for all sides and beverages (to avoid clutter). Most items should be enabled for print menus. Enable the Meals App only for items residents can safely self-order.



4. Configure Dietary Safety

Allergens
Select all allergens present in the meal (e.g., egg, milk, gluten). This triggers safety warnings when staff collect orders.

Incompatible Medical Conditions
Mark any medical conditions that make this meal unsuitable (e.g., diabetes for high-sugar items).

Incompatible Diets
Select diets this meal doesn't support (e.g., gluten-free, vegetarian, halal).

When a resident with these allergens, conditions, or diets attempts to order this meal, staff will see a warning and need to confirm the order.


5. Set Available Textures and Thicknesses

Available Food Textures (IDDSI)
By default, all IDDSI texture levels are available. Untick any textures you cannot prepare for this meal.

For example, if chicken schnitzel cannot be safely pureed or liquidised, untick those options so residents requiring those textures won't see it as an option.

Available Drink Thicknesses (IDDSI)
For beverages and some foods (like jelly), you may need to restrict which drink thickness levels are safe. Untick any that don't apply.

Idea
Tip: You can create meals for specific textures by adding an appropriate prefix to their title (e.g. Modified - Poached Chicken or SB6 - Beef Casserole) and selecting the correct Available Food Textures. To reduce the amount of warnings in the ordering UI, we recommend selecting all textures that are less restrictive. For example for SB6 - Beef Casserole, tick RG7, EC7 and SB6.

6. Configure Portion Options

Portion Sizes
By default, Small, Medium, and Large are available. You can:
  • Untick sizes you don't offer (e.g., only offer Medium for some items)
  • Change to a Count system (useful for items like toast and eggs)

To use Count:
  1. Click the portion type selector
  2. Choose Count
  3. Set the maximum count (e.g., 1-3 pieces of toast)


7. Save the Meal

Click Save to create the meal. It's now available to add to your weekly menus.

Editing a Meal

Find the Meal

There are two ways to access a meal for editing:

Method 1: From the All Items List
  1. Click the All Items button at the top of the menu planner
  2. Search for the meal in the search box
  3. Click the meal name to open it



Method 2: From the Menu
  1. Find the meal on your weekly menu
  2. Click the three-dots next to the meal name
  3. Select Edit


Make Your Changes

Update any fields as needed. All the same options from meal creation are available when editing.

Save Changes

Click Save to update the meal. The changes apply immediately to all menus where this meal appears.

Duplicating a Meal

Duplicating is useful when you want to create a similar meal without starting from scratch.

How to Duplicate
  1. Find the meal you want to duplicate in the menu
  2. Click the three-dots next to the meal name
  3. Select Duplicate
  4. A copy opens with "(Duplicate)" appended to the title
  5. Modify the title and any other details as needed
  6. Click Save

What Gets Duplicated
  • All meal details (title, description, meal type)
  • Photo (you can choose to duplicate or start fresh)
  • All dietary settings (allergens, conditions, diets)
  • Texture and thickness settings
  • Portion options
  • Recipe (ingredients and instructions)

What Doesn't Get Duplicated
  • External system linking (for meals imported from other sites or SmithKit)
  • The meal's placement on menus (the duplicate isn't automatically added anywhere)

Deleting a Meal

Before You Delete

Deleting a meal is permanent and cannot be undone. The system will check if this meal is:
  • Currently on any menus
  • Part of any existing orders
  • Part of any regular/recurring orders

How to Delete
  1. Find and open the meal you want to delete
  2. Click the Delete button
  3. Review the impact summary showing:
    • How many menus will be affected
    • How many orders will be deleted
  4. Click "Delete" to confirm

Viewing All Meals

Accessing All Items

Click All Items at the top of the menu planner to see your complete meal library.

The All Items page displays a table with the following columns:
  1. Name - The meal name with a category badge (Main, Dessert, Side, or Beverage). Click the name to edit the meal.
  2. Available Textures - Shows which IDDSI food texture levels are available. Displays "All" if all 6 textures are available, otherwise shows individual texture badges.
  3. Available Thicknesses - Shows which IDDSI drink thickness levels are available. Displays "All" if all 5 thicknesses are available, otherwise shows individual badges.
  4. Portions - Shows available portion options (e.g., "S, M, L" for sizes or "1-5" for count-based portions).
  5. Allergens - Lists allergens present in the meal. Shows "No allergens" if none are set.
  6. Incompat. Conditions - Lists incompatible medical conditions. Shows "No incompat. conditions" if none are set.
  7. Incompat. Diets - Lists incompatible diets. Shows "No incompat. diets" if none are set.
  8. Recipe - Shows a recipe icon if the meal has a recipe. Click to view the recipe.

Filtering Meals

Use the "Filter menu items" search box above the table to find meals by name.
  • Type at least 2 characters to start filtering
  • The search matches partial names (e.g., "chicken" finds all meals with "chicken" in the title)
  • Results update automatically as you type

Table Footer

At the bottom of the table, you'll see a count showing "Showing X of Y" meals based on your current filter.

Linked Meals from Other Sites

If your facility uses multi-site management, you may see meals with a link icon. These are linked meals from other sites.


What You Can Do
  • View the meal details
  • Duplicate the meal to create your own editable copy
  • Add it to your menus

What You Cannot Do
  • Edit the meal directly (it's managed by the source site)
  • Delete the meal

To make changes, duplicate the meal first, then edit your copy.

Tips

  • Create a library: You can build up a comprehensive meal library before planning your seasonal menus, or you can create them as you go.
  • Use clear photos: High-quality images improve resident engagement, especially on TV menus. Use photos of your own food rather than stock images to set accurate expectations.
  • Be thorough with allergens: Accurate allergen information protects resident safety
  • Review IDDSI settings: Ensure texture and thickness options match what your kitchen can safely prepare
  • Use descriptive titles: Clear, simple meal names and descriptions help staff and residents during order collection
  • Check duplicates: Before creating a new meal, search to see if something similar already exists



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