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With ground beef patties, potatoes, and veggies, these Hobo Dinner Foil Packets are a quick, easy, and mess-free dinner for any night of the week. They’re perfect for camping too!
Featured Comment
Fabulous! We love spending time outdoors and putting these Hobo's on the grill makes life easy and yummy!!!
Why You’ll Love This Hobo Dinner Recipe
Here are a few reasons why I love this recipe.
- Quick & easy. It takes just a few minutes to prep these foil packets and you only need a handful of ingredients.
- Great for camping. If you go camping, hobo dinners make the perfect dinner to cook over the campfire. (But if you don’t camp, don’t worry – you can easily cook these on the grill!)
- Prep ahead. One of my favorite things about these hobo dinner foil packets is that I can prep them a day or two in advance and then just pop them on the grill or campfire. Perfect for busy weeknights!
If you love these, be sure to check out my Santa Fe chicken foil packets and grilled sausage foil packets.
What You’ll Need
Here’s an overview of what you’ll need for these foil packets. Scroll down to the recipe card for the exact measurements.
- Beef – I recommend lean ground beef to avoid any excess grease in the foil packets.
- Mayonnaise – Adds a creamy consistency to the packets.
- Worcestershire sauce – Adds a smoky flavor.
- Veggies – Onion and carrots.
- Potatoes – Baby or small potatoes are best for this recipe, to ensure they cook completely.
- Olive oil – Vegetable or canola oil work too.
- Italian seasoning – To season the veggies.
- Cheese – I like to use Colby Jack but any similar cheese will work.
- Parsley – An optional garnish.
How to Make Hobo Foil Packets
These foil dinner packets are so easy to make. Here’s an overview of how to do it.
- Make the patties. Combine the ground beef, mayo, Worcestershire sauce, and minced onions until well combined. Form into 6 patties.
- Prep the veggies. Clean and cut the potatoes, carrots, and onions. Drizzle with the oil and seasoning. Stir.
- Assemble. Divide the veggies into the 6 packets. Place the hamburger patty on top. Fold the foil and seal the packet.
- Cook. Heat the grill to medium. Place the foil packets on the grill and cook for 20-25 minutes, slightly shaking the packet often. Cook until the veggies are tender and the burger reaches 150F.
Tips & Variations
Here are a few suggestions for making hobo dinner foil packets, including variations.
- Replace the ground beef. You can easily use ground chicken or turkey in place of the ground beef. Just note that they’ll create less fat so you may need extra oil.
- Try another protein. You can also switch up these packets by using sausage, pork, steak, or other proteins as desired. Just keep in mind you may need to change the cooking time.
- Use other veggies. Feel free to add in or substitute any other fresh veggies that may be in season, such as green beans and bell peppers.
- Cut the veggies into uniform pieces. Try to make the onions, potatoes, and carrots roughly the same size. They don’t need to be tiny but smaller pieces will cook faster.
- Use disposable aluminum containers like the image below from Big Red Kitchen.
Make Ahead & Storage
- Make ahead. Hobo dinner foil packets can be prepared and assembled up to 2 days in advance. Just assemble as directed and refrigerate.
- Storage. Store leftover hobo dinner in the foil or an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Reheat. Reheat the packets on the grill or the leftover ingredients in the microwave. (Be sure to remove from the foil if using the microwave.)
More Easy Dinner Ideas
Hobo Dinner Foil Packets
With ground beef patties, potatoes, and veggies, these Hobo Dinner Foil Packets are a quick, easy, and mess-free dinner for any night of the week. They're perfect for camping too!
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tablespoons dried minced onions
- 1 pound baby potatoes or small potatoes, cut in half
- 3 large carrots peeled and sliced
- 1 small white onion or yellow onion, sliced thinly
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning divided, homemade or store-bought
- 8 ounces Colby Jack cheese grated
- Fresh parsley for garnish optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine ground beef, mayo, Worcestershire sauce, and minced onions and well combined
- Form into 6 patties
- Clean and cut potatoes, carrots, and onion and add to a large bowl
- Drizzle with half of the oil and sprinkle with half of the Italian seasoning, stir
- Drizzle with remaining oil and sprinkle remaining seasoning, stir
- Divide vegetables into 6 packets and place hamburger patty on top of vegetables
- Fold foil over and seal packet
- Heat grill to medium heat or 325 degrees F
- Place packets on the grill and cook for 20-25 minutes turning and slightly shaking packet often to prevent burning
- Remove when vegetables are tender and hamburger is 150 degrees F for medium-well done
- Serve immediately
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator
Last Step:
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Nutrition
Calories: 612kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 137mg | Sodium: 547mg | Potassium: 1090mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 5490IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 308mg | Iron: 5mg
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17 comments on “Hobo Dinner Recipe”
Looks delicious love the veggies
These are SO good! We made them on e summer when I was in Brownie Scouts and we all thought we were geniuses, lol. (We were in 1st Grade.)
These look amazing
Fabulous! We love spending time outdoors and putting these Hobo’s on the grill makes life easy and yummy!!!
Thanks Dorothy!
Very time saving fix for later meals
So…..where does the cheese come in? Just sprinkle it in after they’re cooked??
Yes, you can either put it in before cooking or sprinkle on when still hot.
I remember these from girl scouts.
Can you cook in oven.
Sure!
What is the seasoning on the Big Red Kitchen Foil Dinner? It looks real red.
It looks like maybe Lawry’s Seasoned Salt? That was my first thought when I saw the picture!
Love it
How long to cook it for if you want the meat well done? We don’t do anything but we’ll done hamburger and I’d love to make these!
There are a few factors when figuring out grill times: grill temperature, how you want them done, in your case, well done. Thickness of patty…If you like well done than make a thinner patty and use a medium heat. The instructions say 20-25 minutes; sounds about right especially with a thin patty. Remember the meat will continue to cook in that packet after you take it off the grill.
Would Baby Carrots and potatoes work? (I’m lazy! 😉 )
Also what about a meatloaf-like mix?
Looks delicious!!!