Selling canned soup is an increasingly tough proposition for Campbell Soup (CPB), which reported a 4% decline in quarterly soup sales on Tuesday.

But that doesn't mean the iconic brand has given up trying to win over the hearts and minds of America's cooks. Campbell's big bet these days is on simple meals, which includes soup as well as jarred sauces and mix packets. That division boasted a decent profit increase of 8% as the company trimmed advertising expenses and raised prices.

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American cuisine, 2011

Forget the images of chefs happily making dishes from scratch on the "Food Network." Most Americans struggle to find enough time to turn on their stoves at all. A 2010 study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that Americans spent about an hour each day on food preparation and clean-up. That's about enough time to prepare, eat and clean up an an omelet.

According to Harry Balzer of the NPD Group, that's fine with most Americans, who view cooking as a "job." That trend is born out by his data which found in 2010 that 59% of main dishes were made from scratch or using fresh ingredients. In 1984, that figure was 72%. 

It seems more Americans are defrosting the frozen lasagna rather than cooking the homemade kind. "The gold standard for this generation is frozen lasagna," says Balzer.

That's why its hardly a shock that Campbell's, as well as other companies in the food industry, are spending so much time developing easy-to-make meals. That investment has begun to pay off for Campbell's, which has long struggled to turn around its faltering soup business.

Stock is sliding

Earlier this year, shares plunged after Campbell Soup slashed its earnings outlook. Competition had intensified even as the company ramped up marketing spending. The stock is down more than 8% this year.

Simple meals are an integral part of Campbell's strategy because they require the use of soup or soup mix. Many Campbell soups have recipes on them for meals, such as meatloaf made with onion soup mix. This category includes the use of ready-made sauces (Campbell's owns the Prego brand), used in easy-to-make meals, such as pasta.

Campbell's earnings for the quarter ended Oct. 30, 2011, were $265 million, or 82 cents per share, down 5% from $279 million, or 82 cents. Revenue was $2.161 billion, little changed from a year earlier. This beat analysts' forecasts for profit of 79 cents on revenue of $2.21 billion. 

Profit at the U.S. Simple Meals business, which includes soups, rose 8% to $260 million. The rest of Campbell's businesses showed declines with the exception of North American Foodservice*. The company reaffirmed its guidance for 2012.

Campbell, though, figures that Americans will want to spend time making a Thanksgiving meal, which costs 13% more this year to produce, judging from the recipes on its website. 

Keeping Americans enthused about cooking the rest of the year is the tricky part.

*An earlier version of the story failed to reflect that the North American Foodservice unit was also profitable.

Related reading:Campbell struggles to keep soup crown