Instructors in higher education consistently look for innovative strategies to increase student engagement in the classroom. Activities such as in-class discussions and group work are implemented to help students think outside of lecture notes and create a classroom environment that embraces synergy. Despite these efforts, some instructors still struggle with finding activities that work for their students and course content. The objective of this work is to integrate interactive classroom innovations to complement course readings and positively improve student engagement and content retention. Two innovations were co-developed by the course instructor and two student partners for Principles of Food Preparation, an upper-level Dietetics and Human Nutrition course at a large, public research university. The course content focuses on the physical and chemical principles involved in the preparation of foods and the application of these principles to control quality outcomes. The lecture innovations include: Mentimeter polls and pre-lecture “learning snacks.” During this semester, students participated in an online Mentimeter game during live lectures to earn points with questions specific to the course content. The top scorers in each lecture earned a point; the top scorers at the end of the semester earn bonus points on the final exam. Students were also given pre-lecture “learning snacks” which are brief 5- question online activities created from assigned course readings due weekly before class to prepare for lecture. These two innovations appeared to motivate students to read the material and actively take notes prior to class, therefore arriving more prepared to participate during lectures and improving exam scores. Overall, early patterns indicate students' participation in class, retention of course content, and exam scores improved throughout the semester due to the implementation of our course innovations.