These Garlic Butter Steak and Potato Foil Packets are an easy family dinner recipe for summer. Cook them on the grill/campfire or in the oven!
PREPERATION TIME
Ingredients
1 ½ pounds steak sirloin is my favorite cut here
1 pound baby potatoes cut into ½ inch pieces (halving or quartering usually does it for me
1 onion peeled, halved and then thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon minced garlic or more to taste
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter cubed
Instructions
Par-boil the potatoes (highly recommended):
Make the foil packets:
Cook the foil packets:
If you’re cooking the packets on a fire without a grilling rack, place them on a 2-inch bed of coal.
Ingredient notes
Steak: It’s important to use a cut that stays tender when cooked this way. Top sirloin is definitely my preferred cut for foil packets – and what I usually use when I make these.
Potatoes: I use fingerling or baby potatoes, or smaller Yukon Golds. I prefer these over others, because they don’t need to be peeled and are quicker/easier to prep.
Olive oil: This is my preferred oil for this recipe, but feel free to use a different vegetable oil you use in your kitchen.
Garlic: For a more intense garlic flavor (my amount is on the kid-friendly side ?), double the amount of garlic used.
More flavor: If you want to make the potatoes more decadent, mix some chopped bacon and/or shredded cheddar cheese into them before sealing the packets.
Vegetables? If you want to cook some vegetables right along the steak and potatoes in the foil packets, green peppers, asparagus or green beans can be added.
Best steak cuts
It’s important to use a cut that stays tender when cooked this way.
Top sirloin is definitely my preferred cut for foil packets – and what I usually use when I make them. But cuts like ribeye or porterhouse work great, too. They are less lean though!
Recipe tips
Careful when opening the foil packets! There are a lot of juices in the packets, and there will be steam escaping from them when you open them up. Make sure you place each on a plate and open them on a table surface, or place them all on a sheet pan to open. Never open/eat foil packets holding them in your lap, not even when camping!
I highly recommend pre-boiling the potatoes. It’s an extra step, but it’s worth it to avoid ending up with overcooked steak and/or raw potatoes.
Please be aware that this is meant to be used as a quick/easy dinner or to make when camping, not as a way to cook the perfect steak. The perfect steak, I believe, is only achieved when you cook a steak by itself and can solely focus on getting the perfect doneness on your meat. I still love this recipe for its ease and simplicity, but again, it’s not a recipe for perfectly cooked steak.
If your potatoes aren’t cooked through
If your steak is done way ahead of your potatoes (this can happen due to several factors; happens less if you parboil the potatoes), carefully remove the steak from the foil packets and place it on a plate and cover with a fresh piece of foil to rest. Continue cooking the potatoes until they’re done.
Make ahead tips
You can make these ahead, but not too long because the potatoes tend to start oxidizing.
I would only recommend making them ahead a few hours before you’re planning to cook them.
They’re great to assemble at home and then transport in your cooler to eat when you arrive at your campsite!
About the foil
Foil packets are definitely one of my favorite easy summer meals, even though I mostly avoid using foil in my kitchen otherwise. I do buy recycled aluminum foil from If You Care.
Click here to buy the foil I use on Amazon. (This is an affiliate link and I make a commission on purchases made after clicking through.)
The also have a heavy duty foil, which is what I recommend using if you’re cooking the packets on the fire or if your regular foil is on the flimsy side (the regular If You Care foil is sturdier than regular brands I’ve used in the past).
