Campfire Foil Dinner
Ground beef, potatoes, and canned vegetables sealed in two layers of foil and buried in coals.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 16 oz
- cal / oz
- 45
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Foil packet
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground beef | 1 lb | cut-up hot dogs or brats work the same way |
|---|---|---|
| Potatoes | 2 medium | sliced thin, or it will not cook through |
| Onion | 1 | sliced |
| Canned corn | 1 can | drained |
| Canned mushrooms | 1 can | drained |
| Butter or olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Cheese | 2 oz sliced or shredded | plus more for the bowl |
| Salt and pepper | to taste | |
| Heavy foil | 4 sheets | two per person |
Method
- Burn the fire down to a bed of coals. Flames scorch the foil before the potatoes soften.
- Tear two arm-length sheets of foil per person. Grease the inner sheet.
- Build the stack in order: potatoes on the bottom, then onion, then beef, then the drained corn and mushrooms. Salt and pepper as you go.
- Add only a thin layer of cheese now. More than that welds itself to the foil.
- Fold the inner sheet closed like a burrito, then wrap the outer sheet the other direction.
- Set the packet on the coals for about 15 minutes, turning it three or four times so no one side burns.
- Open it away from your face. Potatoes should give under a fork. Dump it in a bowl and add the rest of the cheese and any seasoning.
This is a car-camping meal and it stays one. The potatoes are the timer: sliced thin they cook in the fifteen minutes the beef needs, and left in chunks they will still be raw when everything above them is done. Layering matters for the same reason. Potatoes touch the hot foil, the meat sits above them, and the canned vegetables ride on top where they only need warming.
Two layers of foil is not a suggestion. A single sheet tears when you turn the packet and you lose the whole dinner into the coals. Keep the cheese light inside the packet and save the rest for the bowl, because cheese against hot foil turns into a layer you scrape off and throw away.
Packing
Slice the potatoes and onion at home and bag them together so they are not oxidizing in your hand at the fire ring. Beef stays in the cooler until the coals are ready. Pre-tear the foil sheets and roll them together.
Variations
- Swap the beef for sliced brats or hot dogs. They cook faster, so pull the packet at ten minutes.
- A can of drained green beans in place of the corn cuts the sweetness.
- Add a splash of Worcestershire before sealing if you want the beef to taste like something other than beef.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/foil-dinners