These tin foil dinners are traditionally made with beef, carrots, and potatoes, but don’t be afraid to get creative. They are so easy to put together and even easier to clean up!
Last week, I reminisced a bit about my childhood. Well, that got me thinking about other meals I had in my wee little days. One of those meals was tin foil dinners. What’s that you say? You’ve never heard of those? Let me enlighten you a bit. Here is the definition I found in the Zactionary: “tin foil dinners: a conglomerate of delicious foods stuffed inside a pocket of foil and placed on/near hot coals or briquettes until cooked.”
It’s really very simple, but it yields amazing results. This is why: What happens when you grill something? A lot of the tasty juices run off and drip into oblivion. What happens when all those tasty drippings are trapped inside a Christmas gift of foil? You get a juicy mix of meat and veggies that don’t lose an ounce of deliciousness.
I liked these so much on our family camping trips back in the day, that even when I wasn’t camping I would eat them. True story. In 6th grade, I made one for myself and cooked it on a homemade, miniature fire in my backyard. I was a weird kid.
Other Recipes You Might Like:
Philly Cheesesteak Tin Foil Dinners – a delicious twist on regular tin foil dinners
Santa Fe Chicken Foil Dinners – chicken is surprisingly delicious in foil packets
Philly Cheesesteak Cups – meat, cheese, veggies, yum
Tin Foil Dinners
These tin foil dinners are traditionally made with beef, carrots, and potatoes, but don't be afraid to get creative. They are so easy to put together and even easier to clean up!
Ingredients
- 1 & 1/2 lbs ground beef
- 4 large carrots chopped
- 4 large potatoes diced
- 1 large onion chopped
- seasoned salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.*
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Divide the meat into fourths. Pull apart bite-sized chunks of one of the portions and place them onto the center of a flat sheet of aluminum foil. Repeat for the other three packs.
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Divide the carrots, potatoes, and onion into fourths and place each portion on top of the meat.
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Season all of the meat and vegetables very generously with the seasoned salt and pepper.
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For each packet, bring two of the sides together, keeping the food inside. Fold both of the sides over together, about 1 inch, and then keep folding over until your are snug against the food.
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Carefully, fold each of the two other open ends over until you are snug against the food as well.**
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Place the packet, seam side up, in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through.***
Recipe Notes
*We like to make this recipe over an open fire when we are camping. We get the fire going and then after it dies down and there are only coals, that's when we put the foil dinner on.
**At this point, I like to double-wrap my tin foil dinner, so it doesn't leak and helps it to cook a little more evenly, but it's not necessary.
***If you are doing this over a fire, place your dinner very close to (or even directly on) a pile of hot coals/briquettes. Cook for approximately 10 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Yummy!! I might just have to fix this for Grandma Parker 🙂
This post made me laugh, this recipe makes me hungry. Overall, I realize I love Man Mondays (and ya’ll blog in general. pure awesomeness.)
-Amberly!
I basically do the same thing, but I’m overly generous with the foil. I like plenty of excess, so the come out of the oven looking like a BIG chocolate Kiss! Kids love it.
I love cooking veggies in tin foil, but I have never tried with beef before. I will have to try this. Sounds delicious!!
Yum! I love tin-foil dinners. I do a mix of red potatoes, yellow squash, onions, garlic, seasonings and butter every summer.
I’d love it if you would link this (and a couple other recipes if you’d like) up to Wonderful Food Wednesday at: http://www.athometake2.com. I hope you can stop by.
Jessica @ At Home Take 2
Thank you for reminding me of one of the best tips I learned from Girl Scouts. Why can’t I update those with a little flavor? Saw this on What’s Cooking Wed. and had to click.
In the winter time we cook this in the oven. “We” means the hubby! He calls it Tin Foil Terror! It’s delicious!
How long in the oven and at what temperature please….
Thank You
Norm
350 for 45 minutes
This looks great and easy! Thanks for sharing on Foodie Friends Friday! Please come back on Sunday to VOTE!
Thanks for reminding me of this great, easy meal. I can put it on my list of easy–natually gluten-free recipes. Thanks for sharing this week at One Creative Weekend! Have a great weekend!
Yummy, thank you so much for sharing!
Me and my best friend used to make something like this when we were in middle school, we called them Hobo Dinners. Brings back great memories for me… : )
If I wanted to do this in the oven, what temperature would I use and how long should it take?
Thank you!
Iwiese,
Honestly, I’ve never tried this in the oven. However, we have chicken tin foil dinner that we put in the oven for about 15-20 minutes at 425 degrees. I can imagine the same method would work just fine with your traditional foil dinners.
-Zach
350 for 45 minutes
A sheet of newspaper in between the two sheets of tinfoil prevents burning of the food. The newspaper will be “carbonised” but the food won’t burn and stick. From an old, old scouter. You can also vary the ingredients. Let your imagination run wild. I like chicken, broccoli, onions, garlic, soy sauce and wasabi powder!
Is the ground beef already cooked or raw when you start?
It’s still raw. 🙂 personally, I like to tear off bits of the raw ground beef and mix it in with the veggies instead of doing a patty. It will probably cook faster too! 🙂
-Sarah
If you cook this in the oven it works at 350 degrees for 1 hr. Hope that helps. Raw hamburger is dangerous, you want to have it cooked Well Done.
Raw
Can I do this over the fire on a rack? If so, how long?
I don’t have a grill, so if I make it in the oven, what temperature and for how long? This reminds me of my Girl Scout stew that I made at camp and I’ve been looking for the recipe forever.
Hi, Valerie! Try heating the oven to 350º and baking them for 45 minutes. I’ve never done them in the oven before, but these were the instructions that were given according to this source: http://welovebeingmoms.blogspot.com/2012/01/tin-foil-dinners-in-oven.html. Good luck! 🙂