If you love camping, you know how convenient and fun it is Io cook with foil. These Steak in Foil Packets make dinner easy once you get to your campsite. Loaded with yellow potatoes, onions, mushrooms, and of course, garlicky, buttery beef, it’s a classic steak and potatoes combo that everyone loves!
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What is Steak in Foil Packets?
Anyone who knew anyone that was a Boy Scout knew the versatility of foil-wrapped campfire meals. Cooking anything over a real fire is easier with tin foil. There’s a whole archive of foil-pack recipes for camping for just that. Cooking foil pack dinners makes life easier on the go. Prep them beforehand and tuck them in your cooler. All you have to do is toss the pre-made packets on the fire when it’s time to eat. Plus, there’s minimal cleanup while at camp.
Bonus, you can customize each one if you have picky eaters.
Steak in Foil Packets is exactly what it sounds like. Pack tin foil with your favorite steak, potatoes, and vegetables. Cut the steak into 1-inch pieces so it’s ready to eat as soon as it’s heated. Add potatoes, bell peppers, green beans, and anything else you can think of for an easy meal at the camp.
Ingredients Needed
- Idaho Dutch Yellow potatoes – these are tender little potatoes that are perfect for the foil cook and won’t get mushy
- Onion
- Mushrooms
- Garlic
- Cooking oil – whatever your favorite cooking oil is
- Salt
- Thyme
- Paprika – bonus points if you use smoked paprika
- Steak Seasoning
- Sirloin steak – this lean steak is perfect for these foil packets. If you cant find sirloin steaks, try a London broil instead.
- Butter
- Parmesan cheese
- Parsley
How to Make Steak and Potatoes in Foil
Start by prepping all the filling. Dice potatoes and vegetables. Mix the diced potatoes, mushrooms, and onions in a bowl together. Toss them in oil and then season them with the spices.
Then arrange the potato filling onto the sheets of foil, about 12 inches long, so that you can fold them up.
Place the steak pieces on top of the potatoes and top with a pat of butter. This melts into the foil pack as they cook, keeping things moist.
How to Make Steak Foil Packs
Fold up the foil around the steak and potatoes.
Place the foil packets on the grill grate or campfire and cook until the potatoes are fork tender and the steak is cooked to your desired temp. Use a temperature of 135F for medium rare.
You’ll have juicy steak and a complete meal in no time!
Now that you have prepped everything like a boss, it’s ready to be tossed over the coals! That easy.
The key to foil packets is keeping things wet enough while cooking – as the moisture in the air keeps the steak juicy and the potatoes from drying out. If you substitute oil or butter, make sure you are accommodating for it elsewhere.
Girl Carnivore Expert Recipe Tips
Here are a few tips for making and cooking hobo packets on the campfire.
- Prep ahead of time. prep all of the fillings ahead of time. Chop whatever needs chopping, oiling, tossing, or trim anything so that it’s ready to be divided evenly.
- Chop evenly. If using potatoes, or any other vegetable, it’s important to cut them into even portions. Uneven sizes cause variations in cooking time, so making sure that everything is cut to about the same size is key for even cooking.
- Cut even strips of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Yep, splurge on the heavy duty foil. Nothing is more frustrating than the foil tearing when you are transferring it or cooking it.
- Divide evenly. Once you have everything prepped and the foil ready to go, it’s easy to divide the ingredients into each portion for every person in the center of the foil sheets.
- Don’t over stuff. Much like a burrito, there is such a thing as too much stuffing. Make sure you have more room to fold up the sides and edges than you do, filling taking up space on the foil.
- Seal well. When you fold the edges up, seal them by folding them down over each other, pinching well. Make sure both ends and the top is sealed by folding the foil down over itself a few times and pinching with your fingers.
- Place in cold storage. Once the foil packets are prepped, you can store them in a refrigerator or well-chilled cooler until ready to use. Never store raw meat above 32 degrees F.
What to Serve with Steak and Potatoes
Steak and potatoes are just the base of this tasty meal. Add anything that sounds good to the foil packets. This could include mushrooms, Yukon gold potatoes, green beans, sweet potatoes, seafood, asparagus, french fries, or a vegetable mixture.
Leftovers and Reheating
If you have leftover items in the foil packets, just roll the foil up and toss it in the fridge. If you have an airtight container, place the foil in there as well to keep them as fresh as possible. When you want to eat them, just heat them the same way you did the first time so everything is warmed through. You can reheat them in a microwave (at home or in a camper), but the best results come from heating over a flame.
Recipe FAQs
There is no one right answer to how long to cook your packets on the open fire. Every fire burns a little differently, so the skill here is building a fire, and then making sure the coals are burning evenly and not flaring up.
Shovel the coals to one side of the fire, creating indirect heat, and arrange the packets on the edge of the heat on a grate over the coals.
Cook for about 30 to 45 minutes, rotating often, over indirect heat, until the potatoes are fork-tender and the steak temps at 135 degrees F. This prevents the bottoms of each from burning and ensures even cooking.
The steak may cook faster than the potatoes. There’s no harm in adding it a little later in cook time, especially if you prefer a rare steak.
If you are wondering if these foil packets can be cooked in the oven, the answer is yes! No campfire available? No problem. Just use a conventional oven. Follow the instructions for prep and wrapping them in the foil. Place them on a baking sheet and cook the packets at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender.
More foil wrapped Camping recipes
Campfire Recipes
Campfire Baked Potatoes
Side Dish Recipes
Grilled Asparagus in Foil
Campfire Recipes
Campfire Potatoes
Anything cooked in foil packets makes an amazing meal! Prep top sirloin steak and other cuts with so much flavor in these packets. Potato foil packets are extremely versatile. You can customize them with your favorite things. Add delicious veggies and seasonings to your steak foil packets, and you have a dinner fit for a king.
This potato foil packs recipe is sure to give you delicious steak on the go! Get creative with what you add, and enjoy your camping experience. Be sure to try the other camping recipes as well! They’re all an easy way to prep meals outdoors.
Garlic Steak and Potato Foil Hobo Packs
Ingredients
- 1 lbs Idaho Dutch Yellow potatoes cut into equal portions, halved or quartered
- 1 Onion sliced thin
- 1- pint mushrooms sliced
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 4 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1 tsp Steak Seasoning
- 12 oz sirloin steak divided into 4 3oz portions
- 2 tbsp butter divided
- 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese grated
- Freshly minced parsley for garnish
Instructions
Prep the campfire:
- Preap a campfire for low heat.
- Build a fire and shovel the coals to the center, maintaining a low and even heat for cooking with glowing red embers.
Prep the potatoes:
- Place the cut potatoes, onion, and mushrooms in a large bowl.
- Add the garlic.
- Drizzle the cooking oil over top and toss to coat everything.
- Add the salt, thyme, paprika, and umami blend to the bowl and toss again.
Assemble the packets:
- Arrange 4 12” sections of heavy-duty aluminum foil on a clean work surface.
- Divide the potato mixture evenly between each packet.
- Place beef over top of each.
- Top each steak with a plat of butter.
- Fold the foil up on the edges, crimping to securely seal the package.
Grill the packets:
- Place each foil packet around the edge of the fire, and cook about 35-40 minutes, rotating as needed to evenly cook.
- Cook until potatoes are fork-tender and steak is cooked through to at least 135 degrees F. The onions and mushrooms will soften in the juices.
Serve:
- Serve each hobo packet as it’s own plate, unfolding the foil and allowing the steam to escape.
- Season with parmesan cheese and garnish with fresh thyme and parsley.
Video
Notes
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This is really easy to follow, loved this garlic steak and potato recipe! It’s really tasty and very flavorful! Will surely have this again! Highly recommended!
My husband loves grilling and is a carnivore! I’m a vegetarian, so I’m always looking for options to make for him and this recipe was such a hit. Thank you!
Perfect after a long day of hiking – thank you for a great recipe! I’m a huge garlic fan and this was fantastic.
We have made something similar with hamburger but the addition of steak brings this recipe to a whole other level. We made this yesterday and my entire family loved it!