Potato Foil Packs

The Editors
Yield
1 per person
Category
Course
Preparation Method
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Potato Foil Packs are great for camping and just a fun way to cook (with little clean-up!). Cooking in foil combines the freshness of steaming with the intense flavor of grilling, since the high heat caramelizes the food on the bottom of the pack.

With a foil pack, you can add your favorite herbs or vegetables (fennel, celery, carrots, thyme, rosemary, chives). You could also add stew meat. The recipe is very forgiving. If you’re cooking over a campfire, make sure your bed of embers is nice and hot. You can nestle the foil pouch right among the embers. 

You can also cook in an oven. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake for 15 minutes longer than indicated below.

Ingredients
2 medium unpeeled russet potatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks (about 2 cups)
4 small unpeeled red potatoes, cut into fourths (about 1 1/2 cups)
One onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons firm butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon dried sage leaves
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional: 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Optional: Stew Meat and/or Bell Peppers
Instructions
  1. Place ingredients in a bowl and toss well to combine.
  2. Stack two sheets of aluminum foil (about 18 inches long) on top of each other. Just one sheet is too flimsy, and you don’t want the foil to break.
  3. Grease foil with butter (or cooking spray) so that the food doesn’t stick. 
  4. Make a mound of potatoes and onion in the center (about half). 
  5. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over potatoes. Sprinkle with sage, paprika, and salt.
  6. Optional: If you add meat, cut it into small pieces so they finish with the vegetables. Place on the bottom of the mound because meat takes the longest to cook. You could add green and/or red peppers, too.
  7. Fold foil over potatoes so edges meet. Allow space on the sides for circulation and expansion. Seal edges, making a tight 1/2-inch fold; fold again. Some campers like to bring the four corners of the foil together and crunch the foil into a funnel shape, which makes for a good handle to lift in and out of the fire.
  8. Place packs, seam side up, directly on top of the hot coals. Cook for about 40 to 50 minutes, rotating the packet 1/2 turn after about 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Remove from coals and carefully open. Serve warm. Cut a large X across the top of the packet; fold back the foil. Sprinkle with chives.

NOTE: Allow the Foil Packs to cool a little, and be careful of escaping steam!

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The Old Farmer's Almanac Editors

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