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© History Oasis
Discontinued: 1980s
It’s 1955, and Banquet just figured out how to put dinner in a bag. Not some random plastic bag, but a special pouch you could drop straight into boiling water.
No messy cleanup. No oven preheating. Just boil and serve.
These meals featured sealed pouches containing complete meals that cooked perfectly in a boiling pot of water. Families could have beef stew, chicken and dumplings, or turkey dinner ready in minutes. It was like having a personal chef... but in a bag.
But when microwaves became affordable in the 1980s, nobody wanted to wait for water to boil anymore.
Discontinued: Late 1980s
The year was 1973. Swanson had just launched “Hungry-Man” dinners with NFL legend “Mean” Joe Greene as their spokesman. Banquet wasn’t about to be outdone.
Enter the “Man Pleaser”—because apparently, regular TV dinners weren’t manly enough.
These weren’t just bigger portions. These meals provide thick cuts of Salisbury steak. Mountains of mashed potatoes. Enough gravy to drown your sorrows in.
The company blitzed the ’70s airwaves with ads showing real men needed real portions, and Banquet was ready to deliver. But as dining habits changed, the “Man Pleaser” started to feel less like empowerment and more like a relic.
By the late 1980s, even the manliest men wanted something a little... lighter.
Discontinued: 1986
For thirty-one years, this was how America ate dinner while watching TV.
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Slide the aluminum tray inside. Wait exactly 25 minutes. Peel back that foil covering, and that was it.
The food would emerge with crispy edges and perfectly browned surfaces—something no microwave could replicate. Kids would fight over who got the brownie compartment. Parents loved the convenience.
But then came 1986.
Campbell’s invented microwave-safe trays, and everything changed overnight. Why wait 25 minutes when you could have dinner in four?
Progress had a price, and sometimes that price was perfectly crispy edges.
Discontinued: 1990s
Long before “family-style” became a frozen food buzzword, Banquet was already thinking big.
The Giblet Gravy & Sliced Turkey Buffet Dinner was designed to feed the whole family. Imagine a frozen Thanksgiving that could happen any night of the week.
Real sliced turkey, rich giblet gravy, all the traditional sides. It promised the warmth of a family dinner with none of the work.
But families were changing faster than frozen food technology. By the 1990s, everyone wanted individual portions they could microwave separately. The communal frozen dinner became as outdated as gathering around the radio.
Discontinued: 2010s (Limited availability)
In 2004, Banquet thought what if dessert could be as easy as dinner?
The Dessert Bakes line featured complete dessert kits with everything you needed. Apple Crisp. Chocolate Lava Cake. Cherry Cobbler. Five minutes of prep, 25 minutes in the oven, and boom—homemade dessert.
They even partnered with Knott’s Berry Farm for premium fruit fillings.
But timing is everything in frozen foods.
Just as Dessert Bakes hit their stride, America’s relationship with dessert was changing. Portion control became trendy. Individual servings replaced family-style treats.
The frozen line was quietly discontinued from most grocery stores, leaving behind only fond memories.
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