New product line offers families a head start to home cooked

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- After a long day of working or toting the kids around, preparing a home-cooked meal can be quite a challenge, and getting started is often the hardest part. To take some of the prep time out of dinner, and give busy moms and dads a head start to home cooked, Progresso has developed Recipe Starters, a new line of versatile cooking sauces which can be used to create delicious home-cooked classics.

Recipe Starters are available in five flavorful varieties. Each can be used as a starter to create numerous versions of delicious home-cooked meals. For example, Creamy Parmesan Basil is made with Parmesan cheese, cream and basil, and can be used to create anything from traditional classics like Creamy Chicken Alfredo to ethnic specialties like Basil Chicken Thai Noodle. Creamy Roasted Garlic with Chicken Stock features caramelized, roasted chicken broth with garlic and a touch of cream, and can be used to create family favorites like Chicken Pot Pie and Chicken Enchiladas. The additional Recipe Starters varieties include Fire Roasted Tomato, Creamy Portabella Mushroom and Creamy Three Cheese.

Sauces are an essential element in dishes prepared all over the world, and many, including Progresso Recipe Starters, can be traced back to the five Mother Sauces. First detailed in 1903, these sauces include Béchamel, Velouté, Tomato, Espagnole and Hollandaise, and form the basis of classical French cooking. Professional chefs rely on these sauces, or their derivatives, to create the signature dishes you know and love. Inspired by these Mother Sauces, Progresso created this new line using a variety of ingredients and the best techniques to provide families with a versatile solution to the weeknight dinner dilemma.

Great sauces are the foundation for delicious meals, but todays families dont always have the time to create these sauces from scratch, especially on weeknights, said Allen Gerten, Progresso Marketing Manager for New Products. To help families overcome this hurdle, we created Progresso Recipe Starters in our kitchens, so they can save time in theirs. The new line of cooking sauces will give moms and dads a head start to making their own home-cooked dinner creations.

For added inspiration, Progresso created 80 recipes utilizing this new line of cooking sauces and has made them very easy to find one recipe is included on every label of Recipe Starters, as well as a QR code unlocking 30 more weeknight dinner ideas. Many of these recipes are classic family favorites, such as Bacon Mac n Cheese, Chicken Pot Pie and Chicken Parmesan, and utilize ingredients families may already have on-hand. All 80 recipes are available on www.Progresso.com/RecipeStarters.

Recipe Starters are available in the soup aisle for a suggested retail price of $2.49 for an 18-ounce can.

Progresso Recipe Starters"

Recipe Starters" is a line of versatile cooking sauces that consumers can use to make delicious, home-cooked meals their families will love. The cooking sauces, which come in five flavorful varieties, can each be used to create countless dishes for every night of the week.

About General Mills (GIS)

General Mills is one of the worlds leading food companies, operating in more than 100 countries. Its consumer brands include Cheerios, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Yoplait, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Progresso and Old El Paso. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills had fiscal 2012 net sales of US$16.7 billion. Visit www.generalmills.com.

Melissa Levy, General Mills
763.764.6572
melissa.levy@genmills.com
or
Samantha Klein, GolinHarris
312.729.4329
sklein@golinharris.com

Source: General Mills

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