The Food Craze Gen X Grew Up With Is Still Hanging Around - Tasting Table

"Betty Crocker encouraged homemakers to make hot meals in mugs in 1976, and Mug-O-Lunch provided the ingredients needed to put together a quick snack or meal using only boiling water. Some Gen Xers remember eating the contents sans water and enjoy chomping on pieces that weren't fully cooked."

"Ideally, Mug-O-Lunch packages were prepared by emptying the dehydrated contents into a mug, adding hot water, waiting several minutes, and stirring before eating. Meal options included spaghetti with tomato sauce, macaroni and cheese, and beef noodles. Nostalgic eaters of these dishes recall the meals fondly."

"Though Mug-O-Lunch offered easy-to-make dishes that helped make distributing food straightforward and fast, not everyone remembers savoring the taste of the prepared meals. "Those were nasty and half the time it didn't cook properly," wrote a Facebook user. Some Gen Xers compared Mug-O-Lunch's easy-to-make meals to bad cooking and simply preferred the packages as an alternative to poorly made dishes. Others noted the high level of sodium in the dehydrated recipes."

Mug-O-Lunch sold single-serve dehydrated meals intended for preparation in a mug with boiling water, popular in the 1970s. Meal choices included spaghetti with tomato sauce, macaroni and cheese, and beef noodles. Preparation required emptying contents into a mug, adding hot water, waiting several minutes, and stirring. Some consumers ate the dry contents or encountered undercooked pieces. Reactions ranged from fond nostalgia and praise for strong flavor to complaints about poor cooking performance and high sodium. Cup-sized instant noodles, soups, and meals continue to appear in markets as convenient single-serve options.

Read at Tasting Table