Grilled Steak and Potato Packets (Hobo Packets)
Grilled Steak and Potato Packets (also called Hobo Packets) are stuffed full of meat and potatoes with tons of flavor and easy cleanup!
A CLASSIC CAMPING MEAL
Folks have been making these Steak and Potato Packets for years as camping meals. Hence the other name they go by, Hobo Packets. You can pop your meat and veggies in a foil packet, cook it over a campfire and you have a delicious and easy meal! These are so easy to customize to your preference. The best part? You don’t even need to turn on the oven!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Absolutely! Chicken would work great as well as lean ground beef or even lean pork. I say lean meat because you don’t want the meat to produce too much grease while cooking. If you want to use ground beef, try my Hamburger Hobo Packets!
Yes. You will essentially make them just like you would on the grill. Just put them on a baking tray. Preheat oven to 350F degrees and cook for 35-45 minutes (oven times will vary) or until it reaches your desired doneness.
I think you should go with the steak that you prefer. If you like the taste of ribeyes, then go with those. You want to look for a steak that has good marbling, which means you want it to have little bits of fat running through the meat. Fat provides flavor and tenderness. You don’t want a steak that is too lean or it will dry out too easily.
The seasoning is totally your preference. I use salt, pepper and steak seasoning. It might seem like too much salt but keep in mind that your potatoes are going to soak up a lot of that salt themselves. However, if you are trying to reduce your sodium intake, you can skip the salt altogether and use a sodium free seasoning blend.
The key is not to overcook. A meat thermometer is your best friend here. Cook the meat to your desired doneness. Just make sure your potatoes are tender. If you like your steak more rare, your potatoes won’t be fully cooked. So you could certainly parboil your potatoes before putting them in the potato packets to make sure everything is done at the same time. Also, I will put an ice cube inside the packets before grilling. This helps provide moisture and a steam effect.
Whatever you love. Peppers, mushrooms, cauliflower, carrots and broccoli are all good additions.
These are best eaten the day they are made. If you do have leftovers, remove from the foil and store in a covered container. Reheat in the microwave or on the grill (just take care as they will easily dry out and get tough).
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- steaks – use your favorite steak here and what your budget can afford: sirloin, ribeye and even flat iron steaks work great!
- olive oil – this adds a nice flavor but if all you have is vegetable oil then use that.
- onion – if you aren’t a fan of onion, just leave it out. Or, if you like onion flavor but don’t really enjoy eating onions, leave them in while cooking, then just remove when they are done.
- russet potatoes – if you want a slightly creamier potato, try using Yukon Gold potatoes. Make sure your scrub your potatoes with water because you want them nice and clean since we’re leaving the skins on. If you don’t like potato skins, you can certainly peel them first.
- garlic – normally I am fine with the jarred garlic but I really think the fresh stuff works better here and is going to give you so much more flavor.
- salted butter – I know we’re also adding salt and pepper to this, but trust me, you need additional salt because the potatoes will absorb quite a bit.
- your favorite steak seasoning – I tend to use Montreal Steak Seasoning (see ingredient image below) or Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute. Or, if you have a favorite homemade steak seasoning, please use that.
HOW TO MAKE STEAK AND POTATO PACKETS (HOBO PACKETS):
Tear off 4 large square sheets of aluminum foil. Drizzle all 4 foil aluminum square pieces with olive oil. Put 1 Tablespoon of butter on each foil sheet. Dice potatoes into cubes (about 1-inch). Leaving the skin on. Divide up the cubed potatoes and place on top of the butter on each aluminum foil square.
Evenly sprinkle minced garlic and diced onion over each of the four servings. Then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil.
Put steak pieces on top of potatoes. Season with a bit more salt and pepper and your favorite steak seasoning. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil and put another pat of butter on top. Also, another good tip to keep your meat from getting dried out while cooking is to add a large ice cube on top of the meat
Fold up each of the sides to make a nice little bed for the potatoes, making a square, so none of the butter and oil can escape while cooking. Preheat grill to medium-high heat (about 350F degrees.) Grill packets for about 35-45 minutes. Note: this will be to about a medium well doneness. If you like your steak more rare, then please pay attention to the internal temperature of the meat. You just need to make sure the potatoes are tender as well.
Be careful when opening the packets because the steam is gonna come outta there fast and furious.
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Originally published: July 2011
Updated & Republished: June 2023
Steak and Potato Packets (+Video)
Ingredients
- 2-3 pounds steaks, cubed (ribeye, sirloin or flat iron steaks)
- olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced or sliced
- 2 large russet potatoes
- 2 cloves garlic, minced minced
- 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter
- salt and pepper, to taste to taste
- your favorite steak seasoning
Instructions
- Tear off 4 large square sheets of aluminum foil. Drizzle all 4 foil aluminum square pieces with olive oil.
- Put 1 Tablespoon of butter on each foil sheet.
- Dice potatoes into cubes (about 1-inch). Leaving the skin on. Divide up the cubed potatoes and place on top of the butter on each aluminum foil square.
- Evenly sprinkle minced garlic and diced onion over each of the four servings. Then sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper.
- Drizzle with a little bit more olive oil.
- Put steak pieces on top of potatoes. Season with a bit more salt, pepper and your favorite steak seasoning (use as little or as much as you like).
- Drizzle with a tiny bit more olive oil and put another pat of butter on top. Also, another good tip to keep your meat from getting dried out while cooking is to add a large ice cube on top of the meat.
- Fold up each of the sides to make a nice little bed for the potatoes, making a square so none of the butter and oil can escape while cooking.
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Grill packets for about 35-45 minutes (this will cook the steak to about medium well). Check periodically for your preferred level of doneness for the steak (just make sure the potatoes are tender).
Video
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- Be careful when opening the packets because the steam is going to come out of there fast and furious.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Woooow…..Homemade!!! It’s the only thing that taste good! And so easy to do…
I think I will look for these and try your recipe this weekend. Thank you for sharing!
We made this and loved it! Can’t wait to try it with chicken!!
Hi ! Instead of doing individual foil packets could I just line a glass dish with foil and put the cut up steaks and diced potatoes in there and cover with foil? If so how many ice cubes would you suggest? Thanks!
Hi Brandie,
Ok I have to say that this looks so delicious and so easy, my family will think that I have cooked all day! Lol. I do have 2 questions, you said that you could cook these in the oven, how long would I cook them and also you talked about an ice cube on top of the meat to keep it moist. Would I use that instead of the butter? Thanks!
Great idea! I made this with elk steak. The ice cube is a good idea since elk is so lean. I did toss the potatoes with season salt before adding to the packets and I marinated the steak beforehand as well. We love to grill but were getting bored with just grilling meat so this will help shake things up a bit.
Do you think this would cook well in the oven?! Apartment living gets the best of our cooking experiences 🙁
Hi Jen! Yes, of course you could do it in the oven 🙂
I'm making this tonight! I've made variations of it before, but I like your order and especially the fact that you dice the potatoes!! I can't wait to chow down!
This meal looks delicious!! I can't wait to try it out for my man and I. Have you ever cooked it in the oven – during winter months?
I've made these in the oven a few times at 350° start checking after 30 minutes
These look delicious and easy and by the way, there's no such thing as too much butter!
I sometimes use sliced potatoes in the can along with canned sliced carrots drained well. I make my seasoned hamburger patty or turkey burger with a lot of sliced Viidalia onions, then add the potatoes & carrots. Season with salt and pepper & no waiting for veggies to cook so long when in a hurry. Yummy!
Made this tonight with cut up round steak YUM!! Thanks for sharing!!
Do you think these could be done in the crock pot? That's my favorite way to cook.
Thanks for the recipe! Pinning it!
We add some cut up carrots and call it hunters stew. We cooked it in coals on an open fire. Next to it we would add another foil pouch with a peach half, pat of butter, a dab of brown sugar, a few mini marshmallows and a few chocolate chips. Fold up just like the hobo pockets and heat on the grill or in hot coals. Makes a yummy dessert.
We use to do this camping making 2 hamburger patties and putting thinly sliced potatoes slice of onion and slice of tomato on one patty and crimp two patties together and wrap in foil and let cook while we set up camp site and dinner was finished when campsite set up. Delicious.