Hamburger Stew Foil Packets
Ground beef and root vegetables sealed in foil and buried near the coals until they steam themselves into stew.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 14 oz
- cal / oz
- 37
- protein
- 28 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 55 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
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Foil packet
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground beef | 1 lb | 80/20; leaner packets come out dry |
|---|---|---|
| Potatoes | 2 medium | diced small, about 1/2 inch |
| Onions | 2 | diced |
| Baby carrots | 1 lb | |
| Dry onion-mushroom soup mix | 1 packet | |
| Cooking spray or oil | a few sprays per sheet | |
| Heavy-duty foil | 4 sheets | double the sheets if you only have the thin stuff |
Method
- Get a fire down to a solid bed of coals with a grate over it. Flames will scorch the foil before the potatoes cook.
- Work the soup mix into the raw beef with your hands until it's evenly gray-brown. Do this at the cooler, not over the fire.
- Grease each foil sheet. Crumble a quarter of the beef down the middle of each, then pile a quarter of the potatoes, onions, and carrots on top.
- Bring the long edges together and fold them over each other two or three times, then fold the ends in tight. The seal is what makes this work.
- Set the packets on the grate over coals for 30 to 40 minutes. Flip every 10 minutes so neither side sits in the same heat.
- Pull one off and let it sit five minutes before opening. Trapped steam will burn you and the potatoes need the rest anyway.
- Check that a potato cube gives way under a fork. If not, seal it back up and give it another ten.
This is a car-camping recipe and it stays one. Raw ground beef and a pound of fresh vegetables need a cooler, so there is no honest way to make it a backpacking meal. What it does well is turn one fire and four sheets of foil into four dinners with no pot to scrub.
The soup mix is doing double duty. It seasons the beef, and its starch and salt pull enough liquid out of the onions and carrots to make gravy inside the packet. No water gets added; the vegetables supply it. That is also why the seal matters more than the heat: a packet that vents steam bakes instead of stewing, and the potatoes come out chalky.
Packing
Dice the potatoes and onions at home and pack them in a zip bag with the carrots. Beef goes in the cooler mixed with the soup mix already, so camp assembly is three minutes. Cut and stack the foil sheets before you leave.
Variations
- Green beans, corn, or diced zucchini can replace some of the carrots one for one.
- A pat of butter or a splash of oil in each packet keeps lean beef from drying out.
- Ground turkey works if you add extra oil, since it has almost no fat of its own.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/hamburger-stew-foil-packets