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Foil Packets

Ground Beef Foil Packets (the hobo dinner)

Foil Packetseasy1 packet per person servings· Prep 10 min· Cook 15–20 min
Ground Beef Foil Packets (the hobo dinner)

This is the one most people start with, and for good reason — ground beef, frozen veggies, and potatoes, sealed up and tossed on the coals. You can build it at the picnic table with cold hands and a headlamp in your teeth. Make one packet per person.

Ingredients

  • Heavy-duty foil (2 sheets per packet)
  • 1/3 lb ground beef per packet
  • A big handful of frozen mixed vegetables per packet
  • A handful of frozen diced potatoes per packet (or a small potato sliced thin)
  • 1/2 onion, sliced (optional)
  • A pat of butter or a splash of oil
  • Salt, pepper, and whatever seasoning your crew likes

Steps

  1. Heavy-duty foil (2 sheets per packet)
  2. 1/3 lb ground beef per packet
  3. A big handful of frozen mixed vegetables per packet
  4. A handful of frozen diced potatoes per packet (or a small potato sliced thin)
  5. 1/2 onion, sliced (optional)
  6. A pat of butter or a splash of oil
  7. Salt, pepper, and whatever seasoning your crew likes
  8. Pat the beef into a thin patty or break it into small chunks on doubled heavy-duty foil. Pile frozen veggies and potatoes on top, onion if you want it, then butter and seasoning.
  9. Assemble and seal — full foil-packet method covers the dome-of-air seal, coals not flames, and the flip.
  10. Cook 15–20 min on coals at the edge, a long foil tail sticking up as a handle, flipping once halfway. Count them going in.
  11. Pull out by the foil tail with campfire tongs. When the packet's puffed, peek at the beef — no pink left. Re-seal and give it a few more minutes if it needs it.
  12. Eat straight from the foil. Nothing to wash.

Tips & variations

$## Why frozen veg and potatoes Frozen is the move here, not fresh. They're already blanched, so they only need heating through, and the ice they carry turns to steam and cooks everything from the inside. A raw whole potato will still be a rock when the beef's done — if you go fresh, slice it thin.

Make it yours

Substitutions are wide open. Swap the mixed veg for green beans and corn, the potatoes for a handful of instant rice, drop a slice of cheese on at the very end. Seasoning's your call — a packet of onion soup mix is the old Scout trick, and taco seasoning turns the whole thing Tex-Mex.

New to this? Read how to cook foil packet meals first — the seal and the coals are the whole game. Campfire tongs pull packets out without scorching your hands.

Also called a hobo dinner

You'll see this exact meal called a hobo dinner, a hobo packet, or a hobo meal — ground beef, potatoes, carrots, and onion sealed in foil and cooked down in the coals. Different name, same campfire classic. If that's what you came looking for, you're in the right place.$df$,

Common questions

Raw beef in foil — how do I know it's safe?
The puff tells you it's hot through, but beef is the one worth opening to check — no pink left and you're good. No thermometer needed; nobody remembers theirs anyway. A thinner patty cooks faster and surer.
Can I use a raw potato?
Only if you slice it thin. Frozen diced potatoes are easier and cook in the same time as everything else. A whole raw spud will still be hard when the beef's done.
Can I build them ahead of time?
That's the smart play. Assemble them at home, keep them cold in the cooler, and toss them on the coals at camp. One less thing to do in the dark.
Is a hobo dinner the same as a foil packet?
Yes. A hobo dinner (also called a hobo packet or hobo meal) is the classic version of a foil-packet dinner: ground beef, potatoes, carrots, and onion sealed in foil and cooked in the coals. Same meal, older name.

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