Michelle Obama is to star alongside puppets in a Netflix show that aims to teach children the joys of home cooking over eating ready meals.

Mrs Obama will play a supermarket owner opposite Waffles and Mochi, who are from The Land of Frozen Food.

The former US first lady described the series, which is titled Waffles + Mochi and drops next month, as a "hilarious, heartwarming, and simply magical show".

She and husband Barack are among the executive producers.

The couple signed a deal to produce series and films for Netflix in 2018. The resulting works have included Becoming, the 2020 documentary based on her best-selling autobiography.

In Waffles + Mochi, she will help the pair of puppets, who have got fed up of eating ice and dream of becoming chefs.

Guided by their magical flying shopping trolley, they travel the world to try an array of home-cooked food.

Mrs Obama said: "I only wish Waffles + Mochi had been around when my daughters were growing up, because it's the kind of programme that's fun to watch together as a family, and gives parents the peace of mind to know that their little ones are learning something, too."

She also said the show was "an extension of my work to support children's health as first lady".

It's not the first time she has enlisted puppets for that work. In 2013, she invited Sesame Street characters to the White House as part of a campaign to change school meals in the US and fight childhood obesity.

Waffles + Mochi will be available from 16 March.