How PantryTec Works: Sign-Up to Your First Live Cycle
How PantryTec works, in one line: you sign up online, we email your first dietitian-approved menu, and your kitchen prints it and cooks from it. A new menu arrives every week after that.
See plans and pricingDownload the free 10-week sample
- First menu within 24 to 48 hours
- Print-ready PDFs by email
- Signed RD Approval Letter
- No long-term contract
How Does PantryTec Work, Step by Step?
PantryTec works in 6 steps, from previewing a free sample menu to running the full 10-week cycle in your kitchen. You do the first three. We do the fourth. Your kitchen takes it from there.
- Preview a sampleDownload a free sample menu with no email required, so you can see the page your cook will work from.
- Choose a plan and billingPick Starter, Complete or Premier, then pay annually or monthly. If you need therapeutic diets, start at Complete.
- Create your accountEnter your details and your facility's details in the PantryTec Portal, agree to the terms and continue to payment.
- Get your first menuYour first menu arrives by email within 24 to 48 hours of sign-up, with the signed RD Approval Letter. The menu is signed and covers the weeks it lists.
- Print, post and filePrint the menu and post it. Keep the signed RD Approval Letter in your compliance binder. Then cook from it.
- Keep goingA new menu arrives every week. After week 10, the cycle starts again at week 1.
What we ask for when you sign up
The sign-up form asks about you and your facility, and nothing about individual residents. It does not ask for resident names or medical information.
| Part of the form | Required | Optional |
|---|---|---|
| You | First and last name, email address, job title or role, password | Phone number |
| Your facility | Facility name, street address, city, state, ZIP code | Number of residents |
| Your plan | Plan, annual or monthly billing, agreement to the terms | How you heard about us |
Already signed up? Sign in to the PantryTec Portal. Your account lives there. Your kitchen staff don't need it, because the menu they use is on paper.
What Arrives in Your Inbox, by Plan?
Every plan brings weekly dietitian-approved menus on a 10-week cycle and a signed RD Approval Letter, at a flat rate from $15 a month billed annually. Complete and Premier add the rest.
| What you get | Starter | Complete | Premier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price billed annually | $15 a month ($180 a year) | $20 a month ($240 a year) | $40 a month ($480 a year) |
| Price billed monthly | $20 a month | $25 a month | $50 a month |
| Weekly dietitian-approved menus, 10-week cycle | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Signed RD Approval Letter | Yes | Yes | Yes, plus re-verification as needed |
| Additional compliance documents | No | Yes | Yes |
| Regular and common therapeutic diets | No | Yes | Yes |
| Therapeutic diet portion and texture guide | No | Yes | Yes |
| Recipes, diet manual, food temperature log | No | Yes | Yes |
| Menus customized once per 10-week rotation | No | No | Yes |
| Priority adjustments and compliance guidance | No | No | Yes |
| Long-term contract, setup fees, per-resident fees | None | None | None |
What the menu looks like
Menus come as PDFs formatted for standard 8.5 by 11 inch paper, so you can print them on the office printer. No special equipment, no app.
Each week also comes with cook-to-census instructions, an emergency pantry list and a safety-net alternate menu for days when an ingredient does not arrive. Holiday menus for Thanksgiving and Christmas come automatically, and we update the cycle quarterly for what is in season.
Read about our dietitian-approved cycle menus for senior care, or see the full PantryTec price comparison.
Who Does What Once You Sign Up?
PantryTec handles the menu, and your team handles the kitchen and the residents. Nothing about the service moves resident care off your desk.
| The job | Who does it |
|---|---|
| Build the menu and analyze its nutrients | PantryTec |
| Review the cycle and sign the RD Approval Letter | Our Registered Dietitians |
| Send the next menu every week | PantryTec |
| Print and post the menu, file the letter | Your facility |
| Cook, plate and scale production to today's census | Your kitchen |
| Record swaps in a menu substitution log | Your kitchen |
| Match each resident to the right diet and texture | Your team, following the physician's diet order |
| Assess residents and write care plans | Your clinician, not PantryTec |
How Does the 10-Week Cycle Menu Work?
A PantryTec cycle menu holds 70 daily menus, one for each day of 10 weeks. Week 11 is week 1 again, so a resident sees 70 different days before any day repeats.
Rotation length matters because residents stay a long time. A shorter cycle repeats sooner, and people notice. Read more about planning a senior living cycle menu.
Our sample menus list one entrée per meal, which is called a non-select menu. If your license or your residents call for a selective menu with an alternate entrée, talk to us before you sign up.
How Do Therapeutic Diets Work?
From the Complete plan up, we build common therapeutic diets from the same base cycle, including diabetic, renal, cardiac and high calorie menus, a finger food menu for dementia care, and IDDSI puree, minced and moist and soft and bite-sized textures.
Complete and Premier also include a portion and texture guide. Which resident gets which diet stays with your team and the physician's order. Starter covers the regular menu only.
How Does Customization Work on Premier?
Premier menus can be fully customized to your facility's preferences and resident specifics once each 10-week rotation, within the dietitian's guidelines. A Registered Dietitian re-verifies them as needed.
That is how you keep resident favorites in the cycle or exclude specific allergens. Premier also brings priority adjustments and compliance guidance.
What Do You Show a Surveyor?
You show the menu you posted, the signed RD Approval Letter from your binder, and your substitution log for anything you swapped. Our dietary walkthrough guide covers what surveyors look at.
The rules differ by license. Assisted living is licensed by each state, including who may review and sign menus, so check menu requirements by state or ask our team before you sign up. We will tell you how the letter fits your state's rule.
Certified nursing homes must still employ or contract a qualified dietitian or other clinically qualified nutrition professional under 42 CFR §483.60, who also reviews menus for nutritional adequacy.
Questions About How PantryTec Works
Short answers to what people ask us before they sign up.
How long until we get our first menu?
Your first menu arrives by email within 24 to 48 hours of sign-up. A new menu then arrives every week.
When do we get the RD Approval Letter?
The signed letter comes with your menu, within 24 to 48 hours of sign-up. The menu is signed and covers the weeks it lists.
Is PantryTec software?
No. PantryTec is a done-for-you menu service. You have an account in the PantryTec Portal, and your kitchen works from a printed menu, so staff need no login and no training.
Do we tell you our residents' diets when we sign up?
No. The sign-up form does not ask for resident names or medical information. If you need therapeutic diets, choose Complete or Premier.
Is there a contract?
There is no long-term contract and no setup fee. You choose monthly or annual billing, and the flat rate does not change with your census.
Does the RD Approval Letter work in our state?
Menu rules differ by state, including who may review and sign menus. Check our menu requirements by state guide, or ask our team before you sign up and we will tell you how the letter fits your state's rule.
Ready to See Your First Menu?
Plans start at $15 a month billed annually, or $20 billed monthly, with no setup fees and no long-term contract. Questions first? Call (385) 512-4731.