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Objective: To assess the psychometric properties of the Quality Index for School Meal Menus [IQCAE – Indicador de Qualidade para Cardápios de Alimentação Escolar]. Methods: Methodological study that used secondary data from the Efficient Manager of School Feeding Award (Brazil), with 2,500 menus of 500 Brazilian municipalities. The following was assessed: (1) content validity; (2) criterion validity; (3) reliability; and (4) analysis of internal consistency. Results: The study of content validity verified that the IQCAE components were included in the consensus on healthy school meals. To confirm criterion validity, there was no difference between the experts evaluations and those of the IQCAE. Reliability was ratified by an interexaminer agreement study. The component meat and eggs was strongly correlated to the total score (r=0.74), followed by vegetables, legumes and cereals, and tubers (r=0.73; r=0.68; and r=0.59, respectively). Four of the components showed inverse correlation: dairy products (r=-0.34), meal time compatible with meal type (r=-12), cured meat and sausages (r=-0.19) and sweet as dessert (r=-0.20). Conclusion: Results showed that the IQCAE had enough psychometric properties to assess and monitor the quality of Brazilian school meal menus.