Foil Packet Side Dishes for Camping

Foil packets are the lowest-effort way to cook a side dish at a campsite. Wrap it at home, toss it on heat at camp, wait, unwrap, eat. No pots, no pans, no dishes to wash in a cold spigot.

The key to all of these: use heavy-duty aluminum foil and double-wrap anything going directly on coals. Regular foil tears and burns through. Assemble as many packets as you can at home — at camp, you should just be laying them on heat.

Most of these cook in 15-30 minutes over a campfire coal bed, a grill grate, or even a portable camp grill. The timing is forgiving because the steam inside the packet does most of the work.

Garlic Herb Potatoes in Foil

Baby potatoes halved, tossed with olive oil, minced garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper. Wrapped in a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil and cooked over campfire coals for about 25-30 minutes.

The double layer of foil matters. Single layer burns through over direct coals, and then you’re eating potatoes with ash on them. Heavy-duty foil is non-negotiable — regular foil tears when you flip the packet. Halve the potatoes at home so they cook faster and get more surface area for the garlic and herbs to stick to.

Test doneness by pressing the packet with tongs. When the potatoes give easily, they’re done. If you’re unsure, open one corner and poke a potato with a knife — it should slide in without resistance.

Cheesy Campfire Potatoes

Sliced potatoes layered with butter, shredded cheddar, diced onion, and crumbled bacon in a foil packet. Basically scalloped potatoes on a campfire.

Slice the potatoes thin — about the thickness of a quarter. Thicker slices won’t cook through before the cheese burns. Layer them like shingles: potato, butter dot, cheese, onion, repeat. Seal the foil tight with some air space inside so the steam can circulate. About 30 minutes over medium coals, flipping once halfway through.

Pre-cook the bacon at home and crumble it. Trying to cook bacon at a campsite at 7am while making foil packets is a recipe for burning both.

Foil Packet Corn on the Cob

Ears of corn, butter, salt, and optional chili powder or garlic powder, wrapped in foil.

Pull back the husk, remove the silk, then pull the husk back up over the corn. That’s the first layer. Then wrap in foil. This double-layer approach steams the corn inside the husk and gives you the most even cook. About 15-20 minutes over coals, turning a few times.

Alternatively, skip the foil entirely and grill the corn in just the husk directly over the grate. The outer husk chars and the inner layers steam the corn. It’s faster, a little smokier, and means one less sheet of foil to deal with.

Foil Packet Parmesan Garlic Potatoes

Diced potatoes tossed with olive oil, garlic powder, dried parsley, grated Parmesan, salt, and pepper.

The Parmesan gets crispy where it contacts the foil, which gives you these crunchy cheese bits mixed in with soft potato. Dice the potatoes small — half-inch cubes — so they cook in about 20 minutes. Bigger chunks take 35+ minutes and the cheese burns before the potato centers soften.

Assemble these packets at home and stack them flat in the cooler. At camp, pull them out and lay them directly on the coals or on a grill grate over medium heat. Shake the packet gently halfway through to redistribute.

Grilled Cheesy Corn in Foil

Corn kernels cut off the cob, mixed with cream cheese, shredded cheddar, butter, garlic powder, and diced jalapeno, wrapped in a foil packet.

This is campfire crack corn. The cream cheese melts into a sauce, the cheddar gets stringy, and the jalapeno keeps it from being one-note rich. Cut the corn off the cob at home — about 4 ears fills a packet for four people. Everything gets mixed in a bowl, scooped onto a double sheet of foil, and sealed.

About 20 minutes over medium coals. Open carefully — the steam hits you. Serve it straight from the foil with spoons.

Foil Packet Sausage and Peppers

Sliced smoked sausage, bell peppers, onion, and a drizzle of olive oil with garlic powder, paprika, and Italian seasoning in a foil packet.

This straddles the line between side and main. Next to burgers it’s a side. On its own with a piece of bread it’s dinner. The smoked sausage is already cooked, so you’re really just heating it through and softening the peppers — about 20 minutes over coals. Slice everything at home and pack it in a zip-lock. At camp, dump the bag onto foil, wrap, and cook.

The rendered fat from the sausage bastes the peppers as they cook, so you don’t need much oil. This is one of the most forgiving foil packets you can make — it’s hard to overcook because the sausage doesn’t dry out.

Smoked Foil Packet Vegetables

Broccoli, cauliflower, bell pepper, and onion tossed with olive oil, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and salt in a foil packet.

The smoked paprika plus the actual smoke from the campfire gives these a depth that oven-roasted vegetables don’t have. Poke a few small holes in the top of the foil to let smoke in — this is the opposite of what you do with most packets, but here you want the smoke flavor.

About 20 minutes on a grill grate, shaking once. The vegetables should be tender but not collapsed.

Foil Packet BBQ Chicken Nachos

Tortilla chips, shredded rotisserie chicken, BBQ sauce, shredded cheddar, black beans, and diced red onion layered in a foil packet.

This is the crowd-pleaser that people don’t expect to come off a campfire. Layer the chips in the center of a large sheet of foil, pile everything on top, and seal loosely — you want the cheese to melt but the chips to stay somewhat intact. About 10 minutes over indirect heat. The chips at the edges get crispy, the ones in the middle soften under the cheese, and both are good.

Use a store-bought rotisserie chicken shredded at home. Trying to cook raw chicken in a foil packet over a campfire is unreliable and risky.

Foil Packet Butter Garlic Mushrooms

Whole button or cremini mushrooms tossed with butter, minced garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper in a foil packet.

Mushrooms release a lot of liquid as they cook, which mixes with the butter and garlic to create a sauce inside the packet. About 15-20 minutes over coals. When you open the packet, the mushrooms are swimming in garlic butter — spoon the whole thing over steak, burgers, or just eat them straight. Keep the mushrooms whole so they don’t turn into mush.

Campfire Cinnamon Apples

Sliced apples tossed with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg in a foil packet.

This leans dessert, but it works as a side next to pork chops or sausages the way applesauce does — sweet and savory together. The apples break down into soft, saucy pieces in about 15 minutes over coals. Use a firm apple like Granny Smith or Honeycrisp so they hold some shape. Softer varieties like McIntosh turn to mush.

Slice at home, toss with lemon juice to prevent browning, and pack in a zip-lock.

Tips for Foil Packet Cooking

Double-wrap anything going directly into coals. Single heavy-duty foil is fine for grill grate cooking, but coals eat through one layer fast.

Leave air space inside the packet. The steam is what cooks the food evenly. A tightly compressed packet has hot spots and cold spots.

Bring more foil than you think you need. A full roll of 18-inch heavy-duty per trip is about right for a group of four. You’ll use it for packets, covering things, wrapping leftovers, and making drip trays.