Customizable Hobo Dinner Tin Foil Packets

Discover an easy hobo dinner recipe that can be cooked in the oven, grill, campfire, air fryer, or slow cooker. These Tin foil packets are fully customizable with your favorite ingredients to please even the pickiest eater. Finally, a delicious and hearty meal that the whole family will love! Not to mention clean up is a breeze!

❤️ Why it works

• Easy: Add your favorites in the middle of the tin foil, fold, cook, and enjoy!
• Little Clean-up: Other than a few utensils used for prepping your ingredients, there are no dishes to clean up afterward! Toss the used tinfoil and that’s it!
• Fully Customizable for each family member: This is excellent if you have picky eaters! Everyone can pick their own seasonings and vegetables based on what they like!
• Many cooking options: You can cook these hobo dinner packets in the oven, on the grill, in the slow cooker, over a campfire, and even in the air fryer! 
• Prepared ahead: These can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until time to bake!

🍽️ Pairs With

To round out your family dinner, here are a few excellent side dishes and desserts that pair well with these easy tin foil dinners.

• Irish Soda Bread
• Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers with cream cheese and bacon
• Fruit Salad
• Raspberry Fluff Salad
• Orange Fluff Jello Salad with cottage cheese
• Chocolate Toffee Cream Cheese Fruit Dip
• Marshmallow Caramel Brownies
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
• No Bake Cheesecake
• Chocolate Strawberry Rhubarb Dump Cake

🍊Variations

• Size of Foil Packets: It’s okay if some of the packets are larger than others. They will take a little longer to cook, but they will still be delicious. If you are adding more than one hamburger patty, place them side by side on the plate, not stacked on top of each other. If there are not a lot of vegetables, try to place the meat on top of them as best you can.
• Chicken hobo dinners: Use ground chicken instead of ground beef. Chicken can be a great alternative. Just make sure to cook them to the proper temperature for a safe and healthy meal.
• Vegetarian hobo dinners: Omit the meat and add more vegetables.
• Seafood hobo dinners: Use shrimp, crab, or fish instead of ground beef.
• Breakfast hobo dinners: Use eggs, bacon, sausage, or ham instead of ground beef.
• Make it Creamy: If you want yours more creamy with a little extra sauce, add a dollop of Cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, or cream of celery soup on top of the packet before folding and cooking.
• Add Cheese: Cheese is a delicious addition to hobo dinners. Place a slice of cheese on top of the hamburger patty before cooking for a flavorful and gooey treat.
• Add Onion Soup Mix: This can be a great way to add flavor to your hobo dinners, especially if you are using lean ground beef or other less flavorful meats.
• Season the hamburger patty before cooking – for even more flavor, try seasoning the hamburger before creating patties. A tasty seasoning mix is 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, and 1/2 tsp onion powder. Mix that into 1 lb ground hamburger then portion into patties. But don’t forget to still season the vegetables before cooking!

Ground Hamburger – I typically use extra-lean ground beef in my recipes, but this is one time I would recommend using lean ground beef instead. This is because the extra fat helps to keep the food moist and tender. You don’t want the food to dry out, and the extra fat also adds great flavor to the vegetables in the packet.

Kielbasa Sausage – why just have one type of meat? A great way to really elevate hobo dinners is to add a few slices of beef kielbasa sausage into the packet. We usually get one pack of smoked sausage and slice it up and divide it between everyone that wants to include it.

Vegetables – There is no end of possibilities here. Pick your favorite vegetables that pair well with ground beef and have fun! Common vegetables include

• Potatoes
• Corn
• Carrots
• Sweet potatoes
• Onions
• Mushrooms
• Green & red peppers
• Jalapeños
• Brussel sprouts
• Asparagus
• Frozen sweet baby peas
• Cabbage

Seasonings:  Many people like to use onion soup powder mixes. I prefer Famous Dave’s burger and Steak seasoning and McCormicks California Style Garlic Pepper and McCormicks Perfect Pinch Steak Seasoning. You can add a little dash of all 3 or just one or any combination of them.

Salt – if you are using pure spices and not a seasoning mix, you want to make sure you include salt. This is the one ingredient that often gets forgotten and yet it makes the most improvement to the flavor! 

⏲️ How to Make Hobo Dinners

Measure out 4 large slices of heavy-duty aluminum foil on a flat surface. Lightly spray each with non-stick spray to prevent the hamburger or vegetables from sticking.

Peel and slice/chop up the vegetables you want to include in your hobo dinner tin foil packets.

Add a thin layer of thinly sliced potatoes to the center of the aluminum foil.

Form 4 equally portioned hamburger patties and place them in the center of the aluminum foil

Add corn, carrots, and any other vegetables you want, including jalapenos.

This is where you can get really creative. And also customize each tin foil packet for each picky eater you have! Don’t like potatoes? Use sweet potatoes instead. Or omit them altogether. Make it spicy. Or keep it simple. The skies the limit with the various combination possibilities.

Keep everything in the center of the tin foil and don’t layer too high.

Add a few slices of the smoked beef sausage

Season with Famous Dave’s Burger, McCormick’s Garlic pepper seasonings, and/or McCormick’s Perfect Pinch Steak Seasoning. Or go with your favorite single spices like salt, garlic, and paprika. Add some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper for those that want an extra spicy kick.

To seal the foil packet, bring the short sides together in the middle and gently fold down to completely seal. Then, roll up the ends. 

Don’t forget to label the packets with each person’s name! I usually use a Sharpie marker.

Cook them up and enjoy!

You can eat them directly out of the tin foil packet, or dump them onto a plate.

🔥 How To Cook Hobo Dinners

The great thing about hobo dinners is that they are so versatile and so many different ways to cook them!

Flipping the packets after 20 minutes of cooking will help to ensure that the food cooks evenly. Just be careful not to tear the foil when you flip the packets.

And obviously, the cooking time will vary and depend on the size of the packet. The larger it is filled the longer it will take to cook. Use a thermometer to check when the hamburger is fully cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

In the Oven

• You can place the tin foil packets on a cookie sheet or directly on the center rack. If you are cooking directly on the rack, I like to put a cookie sheet on the rack below to catch any juices that might overflow to keep the oven clean.
• Cook in oven at 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes.

On the Grill

• Grill on a preheated grill set to 400 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and the meat is fully cooked.

On the Campfire

• Place the foil packets directly on the hot coals, not the flames. The flames will burn through the foil. Cook for 45-60 minutes, or until the food is cooked through.

In the Air Fryer

• Set the temperature to 400°F 
• Place the foil packet in the air fryer basket.
• Cook for 25-30 mins, or until the food is cooked through.

In the Slow Cooker

• Prepare the packets according to the instructions, seal them tightly, and place them in the slow cooker.
• This is the one time that the packets can be stacked on top of each other if you need to get all the packets to fit.
• Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until the food is cooked through.

💡 Pro Tips

• Use a good quality foil. This will help to prevent the packets from leaking.
• Don’t overfill the packets. This will prevent the ingredients from cooking evenly.
• Seal the packets tightly. This will help to keep the steam in and the food moist.
• Cook the packets until the meat is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.

👩🏻‍🍳 Cooking with Kids

If you’re familiar with Busy Creating Memories, you know that we’re passionate about creating memories with our kids. And one of the best ways to do that is to get them involved in the kitchen. Cooking together is a great way to bond, learn new skills, and create lasting memories. That’s why we always include ideas on how to involve kids in our recipes.

Here are several ways that kids can be involved in making these customized hobo dinner tin foil packets

Ages 2+

• Gather all kitchen utensils needed with help.
• Gather all the ingredients needed with help.
• Wash vegetables.
• Mix the hamburger with seasonings with clean hands (this can be a little messy but really fun).
• Place pre-cut vegetables on the tin foil sheets.

Ages 6+ Any of the above tasks, PLUS…

• Pulling out the aluminum foil and cutting it into sheets for the tin foil packets.
• Peeling potatoes and carrots with a standard potato peeler.
• Cutting vegetables to bite size cubes. We start our kids off with a knife designed for kids like the Joie Crinkle Cutter. And a lot of supervision until they show competence using the tool.
• Read out & identify the recipe ingredients.
• Sprinkling seasonings over the entire dish.
• Forming hamburger patties.
• Cutting the smoke sausage into bite sized-pieces.
• Opening a can of corn or other vegetables you are adding.
• Folding the packets.
• Labeling each packet with names.
• Be involved in cleaning up: putting ingredients away, wiping the counter, sweeping the floor, loading the dishwasher, or washing dishes by hand.

Ages 10+ Any of the above tasks, PLUS…

• Adding the packets to the oven, grill, air fryer, or slow cooker.
• Flipping the packets after 20 minutes of cooking with help.
• Removing the tin foil packets from the oven, grill, air fryer, or slow cooker.

Cooking over a campfire can be dangerous, so it is best for adults to do it. However, you can start teaching children how to cook over a campfire at around age 10-12 with close STRICT supervision.

Please note: Every child is different, so it is important to use your own judgment when deciding which tasks are appropriate for your child. These are just suggestions, and you may need to adjust them based on your child’s individual abilities and needs. It is also important to remember that younger children will require more direct supervision than older children.