Dad used to make these when mom worked late. Called them hobo dinners, which I thought was kind of a weird name but whatever. He’d wrap up ground beef and potatoes and onions in foil, stick them in the oven, and an hour later we’d have dinner.
No pots to wash. No mess. Just open the foil packet and eat.
I make them now when I don’t feel like dealing with a bunch of dishes. Still works.
Contents
The Hobo Thing
So apparently this whole foil packet dinner thing comes from Depression-era camping. People cooking simple meals over open fires, hobos making do with what they had. Boy Scouts picked it up, started calling them hobo packs or hobo dinners. Became a camping staple.
The name’s kind of outdated now but it stuck. Some people call them foil packet dinners or cowboy meals or whatever. Same idea though—meat and vegetables wrapped up tight, cooked til everything’s tender.
Originally you’d do these over a campfire. Throw the packets right on the coals, let them cook for half an hour. But they work just as well in an oven and you don’t have to build a fire first.
Why Beef and Onions
Most foil packet recipes use hamburger. Ground beef, potatoes, carrots, maybe some mushrooms. I skip the carrots because they take forever to cook and I’m impatient. Onions though, onions are essential.
The onions get sweet and soft when they cook. All that liquid from the beef and the onions steams everything together inside the foil. The potatoes soak it all up. It’s simple but it works.
Some people use steak. Thin sliced sirloin or whatever. That’s fine if you want to spend the money. Ground beef’s cheaper and honestly tastes just as good in this context. Save your good steak for grilling.
How I Do It
Tear off big pieces of heavy duty foil. Regular foil’s too thin, it’ll tear. You need the heavy stuff.
Put a handful of sliced potatoes on each piece of foil. Thin slices cook faster. I learned that the hard way after biting into a crunchy potato once.
Add some sliced onions. Maybe half an onion per packet? I don’t measure this stuff.
Make a patty with your ground beef. Season it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, whatever. Put it on top of the vegetables.
Some people add a pat of butter. Some add a dollop of cream of mushroom soup. I usually just drizzle a little olive oil or Worcestershire sauce over everything and call it good.
Fold the foil up around everything and seal it tight. You want it sealed so the steam can’t escape. That’s what cooks the food.
Baking
Stick them on a baking sheet and put them in a 375 degree oven. Maybe 400 if you’re in a hurry. They’ll take 35 to 45 minutes depending on how thick you sliced your potatoes and how hot your oven runs.
You can’t really check them without opening the foil and letting all the steam out. So just trust it. Set a timer for 40 minutes and see where you’re at.
When you pull them out, be careful opening them. The steam that comes out is hot enough to burn you. Learned that one the hard way too.
What Works, What Doesn’t
Thin potato slices. Thick ones don’t cook through and you’ll be sitting there with a half-raw potato in the middle of your packet. Quarter inch thick works.
Heavy duty foil. Already said this but it’s worth repeating. Regular foil tears and then your dinner leaks all over the baking sheet.
Don’t overfill the packets. You need room for steam to circulate. Too much stuff crammed in there and it won’t cook evenly.
Season more than you think you need to. The vegetables don’t have a lot of flavor on their own. The beef helps but it’s still pretty bland if you go light on the seasoning.
What to Serve With It
These are basically a complete meal on their own. Meat, potatoes, vegetables all in one packet.
Sometimes I’ll make a salad to go with them. Or just eat them straight out of the foil while standing at the counter. Depends on the day.
Dad used to serve them with bread and butter. We’d use the bread to soak up the juices at the bottom of the foil. That was the best part honestly.
Why I Keep Making These
They’re easy. Five minutes to assemble, throw them in the oven, do whatever else you need to do for 40 minutes. Come back and dinner’s ready.
No cleanup except the foil. You could eat right out of the packet if you wanted. I usually transfer it to a plate but I’ve definitely skipped that step before.
They’re cheap. Ground beef, potatoes, an onion. Maybe five bucks total to feed four people.
And they remind me of being a kid. Coming home to the smell of beef and onions cooking in the oven. Dad pulling the packets out and handing them to us, telling us to be careful of the steam. Eating dinner at the kitchen table before homework.
Some things are worth keeping around just because they work. This is one of them.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 4 medium potatoes
- 2 onions
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic powder
- Olive oil or Worcestershire sauce
- Heavy duty aluminum foil
How To
- Cut four big squares of heavy duty foil.
- Slice the potatoes thin. Like quarter inch or less.
- Slice the onions.
- Put a layer of potato slices on each piece of foil. Add some sliced onions on top.
- Divide the ground beef into four portions. Form into patties. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Put a patty on top of the vegetables in each packet.
- Drizzle a little olive oil or Worcestershire over everything.
- Fold the foil up and seal it tight. Crimp the edges so steam can’t escape.
- Put the packets on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes.
- Be careful opening them, the steam’s hot.
Equipment
Heavy duty foil. Baking sheet. That’s it.
Storage
These are best eaten right away. If you have leftovers you can keep them in the fridge for a couple days but they’re not as good reheated. The potatoes get weird.
You can assemble the packets ahead of time and keep them in the fridge til you’re ready to bake them. Just don’t leave them sitting around for more than a few hours before cooking.
