Not too long ago, a rule was made that my brother had to pitch in with dinner sometimes. Now, my brother is a pretty good cook, but like all of us, he likes easy, and a lot of times, he sticks to the tried-and-true. So much so that we quickly realized that any nights where it was Jeffrey’s turn to cook, we either got waffles, or we got hobo packs. I started watching him making the hobo packs (as we affectionately call them, but apparently foil packet meal or foil packet dinner also works), and realized why he loved making them so much. They were easy. They were delicious. And most of all, they were versatile. With a family full of picky people, versatile is important.
For a beef and veggie hobo pack, you need ground beef, of course, as well as corn, potatoes, carrots, and onion… or any other vegetables you like that would grill well. I’ve found that the beef-corn-potato-carrot-onion combo tastes pretty good together. It’s a very “meat and potatoes” kind of dish. Probably because that’s literally exactly what it is.
Pull out a decent-sized piece of aluminum foil, then put half an ear of corn, a diced potato (I used one small Green Giant golden potato for each person), some onions sliced into rings, and halved baby carrots on it.
Crumble a hamburger patty’s worth of meat on top of the onions.
Season everything with your basic salt and pepper, then bundle up each aluminum packet– pulling the two sides together over the food, rolling it up, and then rolling the sides up to keep all of the food tight inside the pouch.
Then, you can do what you will– Jeffrey likes his grilled. We’ve done them over a fire pit, too. I like mine cooked in the oven because I’m not all that outdoorsy, so if you’re oven-baking, try 350 for 30-45 minutes or until the beef is cooked and the veggies are tender.
How easy is that?!
Ingredients
- Half ear corn
- Green Giant golden potato, diced
- 1/4 Onion, sliced
- 3 Baby Carrots, halved
- 3 ounces ground beef
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Tear off a large piece of foil.
- Place vegetables on foil.
- Sprinkle ground beef over the vegetables, then season with salt and pepper.
- Wrap up foil packet, closing it.
- Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes in the oven, or grill the packets, or cook them over a campfire.
Stay tuned all summer long for more Campfire Favorites. In case you missed it, these Chicken Bacon Ranch foil packets are first in the Campfire Favorites series. Want other quick and easy dinners? Try this Southwest Chicken and Rice Bake or my Chicken Spaghetti.
What’s your go-to versatile summer meal? Let me know in the comments below!
These were always a go to meal for me when I went to Camp. We would always take a cabbage leaf and roll the meat and veggies inside of it before putting it on the fire. The cabbage leaf helps protect the food from burning when it is laying in the fire. I always added a little bit of cream of mushroom soup to my packet. It helped the meat stay extra moist! I still make foil packet dinners on the grill. Each time I do it always brings back memories of camping.
What a great idea! I love foil packet dinners, too. Lately, the chicken bacon ranch ones I’ve shared have been a favorite around here, but we always love the beef and veggie ones, too! Great tips on the cabbage leaf and the cream of mushroom soup!
This looks so easy and lots of fun for the kids.
They’re definitely easy… my younger brother makes them as his dinner all the time!