Foil-Packet Meatloaf and Roots
A pre-cooked meatloaf and a pile of root vegetables buried in coals for 45 minutes.
- calories
- 780
- weight
- 16 oz
- cal / oz
- 49
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 45 min
- total time
- 65 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
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Meatloaf, cooked at home and frozen | 2 lb | 85/15 ground chuck; freeze it solid and it doubles as your cooler ice |
|---|---|---|
| Potatoes | 4 medium | quartered, skin on |
| Carrots | 4 | cut into thick coins |
| Onion | 1 large | sliced thick so it does not vanish |
| Garlic | 4 cloves | smashed, skins off |
| Celery or asparagus | 1 cup | whatever holds up in the cooler |
| Oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt, pepper, hot sauce | to taste | |
| Heavy-duty aluminum foil | 1 roll | |
| Italian rolls | 4 |
Method
- Build the fire early and let it burn down. You want a deep bed of glowing coals, not flames. Scrape a shallow pit in the dirt or sand first so the coals collect instead of spreading.
- Lay out a large sheet of heavy foil. Pile on the meatloaf, potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, and celery. Oil, salt, pepper, hot sauce.
- Fold and crimp the foil shut. Then wrap it a second time, and a third. Three layers is the difference between dinner and charcoal.
- Shovel a hollow in the coals, set the packet in, and rake the coals back over the top.
- Give it 45 minutes. Press the packet with the back of a shovel or a stick: firm means the meat is set. The potatoes are the real clock, so check one.
- Lift it out, brush off the ash, and cut the foil open along the top. Eat straight out of the packet with the rolls for the juices.
This is a make-ahead dish pretending to be a camp dish. The meatloaf is cooked at home and frozen, so the fire is only reheating meat and actually cooking vegetables. That is why 45 minutes works at all; a raw two-pound loaf buried in coals would still be pink in the middle when the potatoes turned to paste.
The triple foil wrap matters more than the seasoning. Coals run hot and uneven, and a single layer will burn through on one side and leak fat into the fire. Three layers spread the heat and hold the steam, which is what cooks the potatoes. Frozen solid, the loaf also does cooler duty on the drive in. This one needs a cooler and a real fire, so it is a car-camping recipe, not a trail one.
Packing
Freeze the meatloaf solid in a loaf pan, then wrap it and pack it at the bottom of the cooler. Cut the vegetables at home into one bag so camp prep is just unwrapping. Bring more foil than you think you need.
Variations
- Swap the meatloaf for a pre-cooked sausage coil or bratwurst if you do not want to bake ahead.
- No fire: the same packet works on a grill grate over coals, lid down, closer to an hour.
- For a backpacking version, skip the meat entirely and use a dehydrated meat and potato mix with a canister stove. Foil coals do not travel.
http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/threads/camp-food-recipes.5804