How to Make Hobo Stew (Foil Dinner) over a campfire

Hot coals are perfect for cooking hobo stew or foil dinners.

An easy meal when camping is the foil dinner, also known as Hobo Stew. Each person can customize his meal with items he likes, and kids can make their own dinners. Foil dinners takes some prep time, but if done properly, Hobo Stew can bake in about 20 minutes. The key to success is adding butter and a little bit of liquid in the foil packaging. These meals can be made while camping or can be put together before you leave and kept in a refrigerated cooler for up to 24 hours before baking.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• 1 potato per person
• ¼ to ½ pound ground beef per person
• 1 to 2 carrots per person
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine per person
• Salt
• Pepper
• Other seasonings to taste, such as seasoning salt (optional)
• Other vegetables, such as onions and peppers (optional)
• 2 pieces of foil per person, about 18" X 12"
• Permanent marker

1. Build a wood fire that will be big enough to create some hot coals. Open flames will not properly cook the hobo stew.

2. Clean the potatoes and slice them about 1/8" thick. Clean and peel carrots, then slice them the same thickness as the potatoes.

3. If desired, dice onions and peppers into ¼ inch pieces.

4. Spread butter on foil, over the middle third of the foil lengthwise and middle half widthwise.

5. Build the meal on the center of the foil. Place potato slices on the foil, making a couple of layers using about half of a potato. Crumble ground beef into small pieces and spread it out on top of the potatoes, using half of the ground beef. Sprinkle salt, pepper and other seasonings, if desired, on the beef and potatoes. Spread the carrot slices on top of the beef. Spread other diced vegetables, if desired, on top of the carrots and beef. Crumble and add the remaining ground beef on top of the vegetables. Add the remaining potato slices on top of the last ground beef layer. Add a little more seasoning, if desired, and about one tablespoon of water.

6. Fold foil, first starting by lifting the foil from each long side and bring the long sides together. Fold these sides together over a few times, sealing the edges tightly. Continue to fold down tightly until it reaches the food layers. Pinch shut and fold over the widthwise edges to seal them.

7. Place the packet in the center of the second piece of foil and fold this piece of foil the same way, making sure all edges are sealed securely to prevent the loss of any food items or moisture.

8. Have each person mark their package with a permanent marker, either with a name or their initials, to avoiding getting the wrong dinner.

9. Place the packages directly in the coals to allow to cook. Turn and rotate packages about every five minutes.

10. The meals usually take about 20 minutes to thoroughly cook. Generally, if you can smell the food, it's close to being finished. Check after 20 minutes to see if the ground beef is completely cooked, and if the carrots and potatoes are tender. If the meal is not fully cooked, wrap it back up and put it on the coals for a few more minutes.

11. You can eat it out of the foil or dump it onto a plate or bowl.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not use lean meat; you will need some of the grease to help in cooking. An 80 percent fat content in ground beef works best.

• If using leaner ground beef, add more butter or margarine or water.

• Do not make the packet too thick or the food in the middle will not cook, or the potatoes on the outside will be burnt.