Foil Packet Meals to Cook on a Campfire or Grill

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If you are looking for easy camping meals to make after a long day of playing in the woods, you came to the right place!

Hobo packets (foil packet meals) are not only easy but can be a fun thing to put together with friends and family. It can’t get much better than cooking your dinner in the campfire in the middle of mother nature.

Everyone can put their own campfire foil packets together, and everyone can do their own “dishes.” Just throw it in the fire when you’re done!  

Kids especially love these hobo dinners because they get to feel like they are big kids by making their own food! Parents will love them even more because they require less work than making traditional camp meals. And because the kids were allowed to choose their ingredients…they usually eat without complaining.

What Are Meal Packets:

The concept of a tinfoil dinner is a culmination of foods (whichever you choose) wrapped in foil and cooked in either the coals of your campfire, on a grate over the coals, or even over charcoal briquettes in a grill.

All you need to do is prep the ingredients and let the campers do the rest. They can create their own, wrap it up, and cook it in the coals to perfection.

How to Make Camping Dinners:

What’s nice about these foil packets is that they are easy to make, and even easier to clean up when you’re done eating!

We have even been known to buy pre-made meals from local restaurants like empanadas or cinnamon rolls and then just rewarm them in tinfoil once we get out in the woods. It still counts as a tinfoil meal. Right?!

You can do the same thing with precooked meals from home. Just plan out your camping meals and pre-make the things that work best warmed up.

You don’t have to follow specific recipes either. You can make up whatever type of concoctions you’d like to! Grab some meat, veggies, seasoning, and you are set. Use up all the extras in the cooler!

Desserts work great in tinfoil too. Don’t limit yourself to just a dinner idea.

To avoid splitting of your foil packs either while closing them or cooking them, use heavy-duty foil.

It’s important to fold the ends of the foil packets together when closing them.

If you use the “crunch” method when sealing them, they won’t stay sealed while cooking. They will break open when you handle them.

Also, folding them to create a secure seal also ensures that all of the yummy juices will stay in your packet!

When cooking your foil meal in a fire – place them in mature coals, not in open flames. They will burn faster that way.

Camping Recipes in Foil

These are just some suggestions of foods that you can make in grill foil packets.

You are not limited to these ideas. Mix and match. Use up things in the fridge. Practice over the grill before camping.

Burger and Potato

• 1 lb lean ground hamburger
• 2 idaho russet potatoes (chopped) 
• 1 can whole kernel corn
• 2 carrots (chopped)
• Diced jalapenos (optional)
• Garlic 
• Pepper
• Montreal Steak Seasoning

Steak and Potato

• 2 lbs steak (cut into pieces)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 small yellow onion 
• 2 large russet potatoes (diced)
• 8 tbsp salted butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Your choice of steak seasoning

Cheesy Chicken

• 4 boneless chicken breasts
• 2 cups chopped broccoli
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 slices cooked bacon (chopped or crumbled)
• Ranch packet for seasoning

Sausage Potato and Green Bean

• 1 pack Andouille sausage (smoked)
• 1 lb baby red potatoes
• 8 ounces mushrooms
• 1 lb green beans (or 1 can)
• 4 tbsp cajun seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 tbsp butter (unsalted)

Cajun Shrimp

• 6 cobs of corn cut in half or thirds
• 4 red potatoes (cubed)
• 25 uncooked shrimp (can used precooked)
• 1 lb smoked sausage (cut in chunks)
• ½ cup melted butter (can use oil)
• ½ cup chicken broth (can use less)
• 1 tbsp cajun seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cook for 30 to 40 minutes

Steak and Rice

• 4 cups of cooked rice
• 1 packet of onion soup
• 1 lb steak (cubed)
• ½ cup evaporated milk
• Asparagus 
• Can add other veggies if desired

Salmon

• Salmon 
• 1 lemon
• Asparagus
• 4 cups of cooked rice
• 4 tbsp butter (salted or unsalted)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Garlic (cloves or powder)

Grilled Peach Crisp

• 1 peach chopped (can use canned peaches)
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• ¼ cup quick oats
• 1 tbsp butter (cubed)

Chicken Enchilada

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 can rotel
• 1 can green enchilada sauce
• 1 can black beans
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1 cup cheddar cheese

Brazilian Inspired Rice Bowl

• 1.5 lb pork carnitas meat (pre-cooked from Costco works great)
• 3 cups minute rice
• 3 cups swiss chard
• 1 can black beans
• 1/4 onion minced
• 1 sweet potato cubed

Campfire Meals in Foil

We use this when we are home cooking. We also use this as one of our main ways of cooking when we camp. The time you save on clean up alone is well worth the minimal prepping you might have to do before leaving home.

You can presoak or precook your rice so it cooks more evenly in the foil packets. Pre-boiling potatoes or sweet potatoes will make the process easier too. And if you don’t want to deal with meat juices then you can also pre-cook the meat and just keep it in the cooler.

Hobo Camping dinners are meant to be a stress-free way of cooking. Use minimal cooking supplies and be creative with ingredients you have on hand when making foil packet meals.