These Cheesy Campfire Potatoes cook in foil for a simple side dish you can cook entirely on the grill. The potatoes come out creamy and delicious, plus they’re infused with all the best garlic butter flavor – the perfect easy camping recipe for summer cookouts!
Potatoes grilled in foil
- Putting this foil packet recipe together takes no time at all, which means you’ll have plenty of time left over for all those wonderful summer adventures. I usually use baby potatoes because they don’t need to be peeled and don’t need to be sliced much to save the most time!
- Making grilled potatoes is perfect for when you feel like a potato side dish with dinner – but don’t want to turn on the oven.
- For more easy camping recipes, see my Garlic Butter Steak and Potato Foil Packets, or my Sausage and Potato Foil Packets!
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Potatoes: Feel free to use large potatoes instead of baby potatoes. Yukon Gold work well. Peel them and then dice into ½ inch pieces.
- Aromatics: Feel free to add more onion and garlic, I err on the side of caution with any pungent flavors because my kids are still young.
- Parsley: I love the flavor of the parsley in here, but feel free to leave it out/use 2 teaspoons of dried herbs if you prefer. Dried parsley is great, but Italian seasoning is delicious with these, too!
How to make campfire potatoes
Grilling potatoes in a foil pouch couldn’t be any simpler:
add onions & potatoes to middle of foil toss with renaming ingredients (except for broth) fold up sides of foil and pour over broth seal foil pouch
1 – Foil: Cross two large pieces of heavy-duty aluminium foil over each other (each at least 20 inches long).
2 – Assemble: Place the potatoes and sliced onions in the middle. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with cheese, butter, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Carefully toss to coat the potatoes.
3 – Fold up the sides of the foil to form a “bowl” and pour over the broth.
4 – Close the foil pouch by folding down the sides and sealing them very well – you don’t want any liquids leaking out during the cooking process!
5 – Grill the potatoes in the foil pouch over medium heat until fork-tender, around 40 minutes. Careful when opening the pouch – hot steam and cooking liquids ahead!
Recipe tips
- Don’t slice the potatoes into pieces larger than ½ inch or they’ll take longer to cook
- Heavy duty aluminum foil is recommended if you’re cooking the potatoes directly on coal, but on a grilling rack you can just use a double layer of regular aluminum foil
Cast iron instructions
You can cook your potatoes in a cast iron skillet over the fire if you want to avoid foil (or have run out!).
Just place everything in a cast iron skillet with a lid and cook the potatoes over slow burning coal on your campfire.
The potatoes can cook a little faster in a skillet vs a foil packet (depending on your skillet size), so make sure to check them every once in a while during cooking.
Oven instructions
You can cook these campfire potatoes in the oven if camping isn’t your thing!
Bake the potato foil packet at 425°F for around 30-35 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender.
Serving ideas
We love these grilled potatoes with marinated steak and green beans – my easy sautéed green beans are another favorite we make again and again! If you are home and have access to an air fryer, I highly recommend trying air fried green beans (and air fryer steak, for that matter).
Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken is also delicious – with a big helping of sour cream and a Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad on the side!
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
Cheesy Campfire Potatoes
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 1 pound baby potatoes halved or quartered into ½ inch pieces
- 1 onion thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons butter diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- ¼ cup chicken broth
Instructions
Prep foil packet:
- Place 2 large pieces (at least 20 inches long) of heavy-duty aluminium foil over each other to form a cross.
- Place potatoes and onion in middle of foil. Sprinkle with cheese, butter, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper; drizzle with olive oil. Carefully toss with clean hands to coat potatoes.
- Fold up the sides of the foil to form a "bowl" and pour chicken broth over potatoes, then fold foil down and seal pouch well.
Cook foil packet:
- On grill/fire: Over medium heat, cook potatoes in foil for 30-40 minutes, or until tender.
- In oven: Bake foil packet at 425°F for around 30-35 minutes, or until done.
- Careful when opening the packets – hot steam will escape!
Notes
- Feel free to use regular potatoes – Yukon Gold work well. Peel them and then dice into ½ inch pieces.
- 2 teaspoons of dried herbs can be used in place of fresh parsley.
- Heavy duty aluminum foil is recommended if you’re cooking the potatoes directly on coal, but on a grilling rack you can just use a double layer of regular aluminum foil
Nutrition
More recipe information
Recipe first published on 07/25/2019. Updated with new photos, better text and streamlined recipe on 06/08/2021.
Doug says
I did this in a cast iron skillet. I didn’t have a lid so opted to cover with aluminum foil. I believe that due to the foil top it b allowed moisture to escape and everything stuck to the skillet. I’ll find a suitable lid znd havevit again. Wife and I both enjoyed it just the same. Only thing I did different was added some diced zucchini and a bit of orange bell pepper, trying to use up extra vegetables
Nicole says
The campfire potatoes were amazing! I doubled the cheese and baked them. They were a hit for the kids and adults!
Nora says
I’m so glad, Nicole!