Those nostalgic for a simpler time, a time when the dinner hour was a fixed ritual observed by most American families, probably can’t find much to like about the erratic, sporadic, and frequently rushed version of the modern evening meal.

With millions of households relying on two incomes to make ends meet, adults spend more time earning bread than baking it. In the past two decades there’s been a grand lack of weekday-evening activity in the kitchens of many American homes. That’s opened up opportunities for companies seeking to provide the hot, high-quality meal consumers still need but don’t have time to cook from scratch.

From family-size frozen entrées to the rotisseries, salad bars, and delicatessens now embedded into the local Safeway and Kroger stores to the take-out arms of many Chili’s and Applebee’s locations to Papa Murphy’s uncooked, bake-at-home pizzas, enterprising operators across the retail and foodservice segments have worked diligently to secure a slice of the home-meal replacement pie.

Some quick-serve operators have gotten in on the action, too, with family meal deals and other enticements aimed squarely at harried moms and dads eager to grab something hot, tasty, and quick to bring home to the brood.

Could quick-serves be doing more to make their brands a part of the consumer’s experience at home, to extend the convenience that is their calling card into customers’ refrigerators, pantries, and dinner tables?

From where I sit, the answer is an unequivocal yes. And to get a sense of why, consider concepts such as Dinner by Design and Super Suppers, which are thriving by offering meals that meet three distinct criteria: they’re customizable, they offer considerable variety, and they can be prepared at home on the consumer’s schedule.

The typical quick-serve restaurant today offers a degree of customization and variety, but no chain I’m aware of has truly capitalized on the appeal of—or the brand-building opportunity—inherent in home-meal preparation.

What if Del Taco lovers who stopped in for a burrito at lunchtime were given the option of reaching into a refrigerated display case near the counter and taking home a taco kit containing packets of spiced, precooked ground beef and various types of salsas, cheeses, and taco shells? Consumers could then microwave the ground beef at home and serve their families a Del Taco meal on any given night of the week.

In a similar vein, Au Bon Pain could serve up pre-packaged portions of its much-loved soups in frozen or microwavable form, along with parbaked rolls that could be finished off in a toaster oven.

Or, for those consumers who can’t get enough of Egg McMuffins at the breakfast hour, McDonald’s might consider offering frozen Egg McMuffin kits for sale on-site at its stores. Each kit could come complete with several varieties of English muffins; ham, sausage, and bacon; and microwavable eggs, perhaps topped or infused with various types of cheeses and sauces. In my view, having the freedom to enjoy the quintessential breakfast sandwich on their time, on their terms, with little or no planning and plenty of product on hand for the whole family, would be an appealing prospect for many consumers.

Obviously, at the outset, operators would have to contend with issues related to product sourcing, packaging, quality assurance and consistency, and point-of-purchase logistics. But in the end, I believe chains seeking to make their brands a bigger part of consumers’ daily lives and routines would find the investment worthwhile.

While some companies have placed their brand names on items found on supermarket shelves and in frozen-food cases, there is no sales tool comparable to the restaurant itself. Having branded products available for take-away at the moment when a guest is anticipating the genuine article could prove to be a powerful purchase driver.

Today, the quick-serve experience is fleeting by nature: Guests pull into the restaurant, order at the counter or drive-thru, then eat their meals on site, in the car, or back at the house or office. Expanding home-meal preparation options at the quick-serve would extend that experience into consumers’ homes, giving them the convenience, variety, and flexibility they crave at the evening meal hour while strengthening their loyalty to the chains they already love.