The Gourmet Frozen Dinners From The '80s Everyone Forgot About

Frozen TV dinners became popular in the 1950s after Swanson mass-produced the concept, which created a big convenience for American families. While frozen dinners are often seen as low quality compared to a home-cooked meal, Swanson set out to debunk that myth in the 1980s with its more elevated Le Menu frozen dinner line — a fancier take on the genre that you might have forgotten about.

The Le Menu line doesn't exist anymore, but it was one of those old school TV dinners that people still miss. It set itself apart from other frozen dinners of the time by offering more gourmet-style meals with three food types in one — a main dish paired with two side dishes. In one commercial from the 1980s (via YouTube), Swanson even suggested the dinners were fancy enough to enjoy with a pricey bottle of wine. Specifically, in the ad, the brand showcased beef sirloin tips paired with seasoned potatoes and cheesy broccoli as an upscale frozen meal worth a date night. The Le Menu meals was discontinued in the 1990s as other brands took the spotlight amid shifting consumer habits, and Swanson TV dinners as a whole were discontinued back in 2009, though the brand still produces plenty of items you can find at the grocery store.

Besides the fancier menu items, what set Swanson's Le Menu line apart from other TV dinners was the revolutionary decision to serve them on plates that did not divide the individual foods the way classic plastic TV dinner packaging always did. This made for a cohesive meal that more closely resembled a restaurant dinner. Plus, the plate was reusable, and some people claim to still have their Le Menu TV dinner plates today.

Those who remember the dinners wish Swanson would come out with an updated Le Menu line. People enjoyed them for their ease and taste, with Reddit users agreeing that the dinners plus a bottle of wine indeed made for a solid date night decades ago. "Le Menu frozen dinners were the best and came with a plate you could reuse over and over ... Let's bring them back," one user wrote, noting that the reusable plate contributed less waste. However, while reboots of everything from past foods to past TV shows are becoming more common, Swanson's frozen TV dinners aren't on store shelves anymore, and nothing suggests the brand plans to bring them back.