Foil-Packet Feta with Tomatoes and Chilies
A block of feta sealed in foil with tomatoes, peppers, and oil, cooked on the grate while the fire settles.
- calories
- 320
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 53
- protein
- 11 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 8 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 28 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.
- Snack
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Feta | 8 oz block | block, not crumbles; crumbles turn to paste |
|---|---|---|
| Tomatoes | 2 large | cut into thick slices |
| Green bell pepper | 1 | seeded and sliced |
| Fresh chilies | 1-2 | chopped, seeds in or out |
| Olive oil | 3 tbsp | |
| Dried thyme | 1 tsp | fresh sprigs if you have them |
| Black pepper | to taste | the feta brings the salt |
Method
- Tear off two arm-length sheets of heavy foil and stack them. Thin foil burns through on a grate.
- Lay the tomato slices down first as a base, then the pepper and chilies on top.
- Set the feta block on the vegetables. Pour the oil over everything and scatter the thyme and black pepper.
- Fold the foil into a sealed packet with a good crimp on all three open sides. Steam is doing half the cooking.
- Set it on the grate over medium coals, not flames. Twenty minutes, no flipping.
- Open the packet away from your face. Eat straight out of the foil with bread or chips.
Feta does not melt so much as slump. That is the point here: it softens and takes on the tomato liquid and oil without running off through the grate, so you get a spreadable block instead of a puddle in the coals. The sealed foil traps the steam coming off the tomatoes, which cooks the peppers through in the same twenty minutes.
Medium coals matter more than time. Over open flame the bottom layer scorches before the cheese warms up, which is why the tomatoes go down first — they take the heat and turn into the sauce. This is a hosting snack, not a trail meal: it needs a cooler and something to scoop with, so it belongs where you drove in.
Packing
Slice the pepper and chilies at home and bag them with the thyme. Feta and tomatoes ride in the cooler. Pre-cut foil sheets and fold them flat so they are not a wrestling match in the dark.
Variations
- Swap the feta for halloumi and skip the packet: three minutes a side directly on the grate.
- A handful of olives in the packet adds salt and fat without adding a step.
- Dutch oven instead of foil if the coals are uneven, lid on, same twenty minutes.
https://braaiculture.com/braai-ideas-snacks-starters