Have you ever come back from a vacation and wanted takeout for your next week of meals because going to the store to replenish your fridge is just too much? Or, how about this— have you ever been camping and wanted something other than burgers and hotdogs on the fire for dinner? I recently ran into both of these issues, only I thought about it after I had already returned from camping.

Foil packets are the answer!

Sometimes after vacation, you need another vacation! You just need to relax and be lazy for a few days to recover from all that you’ve done on your trip. Whenever I come back from a trip, if it’s just for a weekend, I always feel too tired and lazy to even think about cooking. I don’t want to have to worry about the cleanup afterward, and certainly don’t want to worry about going grocery shopping and plan out some meals.

My current status is camping stuff ALL OVER my tiny apartment. On the kitchen floor is a wet air mattress that needs to be dried, my spare bedroom is crammed with garbage bags full of dirty laundry, a wet tent, another air mattress, and our suitcases. The place is a mess, but I’m not ready to clean it just yet and dinner still has to be figured out.

As I was lazily scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed I saw someone in one of my recipe groups post a video for foil packets, but instead of cooking it on the grill or baking it in the oven, they gave recommendations for using the Instant Pot. It looked so easy!

This is something you can do with limited counter space, use up some of those veggies (like the ones I just picked up from my CSA share), and it has very little to clean up. Many of the comments that followed were about how much their family loved the foil packet recipes. I changed a few things for my first packed, and it turned out great. My husband ate the whole thing before I could even come close to finishing mine.

After we ate our easy-to-make-easy-to-clean-up dinner, he asked me about how I made it, and he made some of his own requests for experimentation. I started thinking about all of the possibilities and all of the ingredients I already had on hand. “What if we use a broccoli cheddar soup mix instead of onion?” “What about switching out the Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Garlic soup for Cream of Broccoli?”

Did I just stumble onto something that will revolutionize the way I cook? I just might have. Check out my first recipe with the variations I made, posted below, and a new one each week this month!

*Disclaimer: When using an Instant Pot, be VERY careful. Read the directions carefully and thoroughly, and use the appliance at your own risk.

Mushroom-Onion Hamburger with Potatoes and Carrots Foil Packet (Serves 4)

Ingredients

1 packet of Lipton Beefy Onion Soup Mix (any version of onion is fine)
1 lb ground beef
1 can Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Garlic Soup (any version of cream of mushroom works)
4 cloves garlic
4 small white potatoes
1 bunch of carrots (or a bag of baby carrots)
2 tbsp coconut oil
Salt & pepper

Directions

1) Mix the meat and soup mix together and put on the side for later.

2) Dice the potatoes and trim the carrots to be bite-sized and put them in a mixing bowl. (You don’t need to peel the carrots or potatoes, but you can if you want. Just make sure they’re washed well!)

3) Mince 4 cloves of garlic and add to the bowl. Add the coconut oil, salt, and pepper and mix together.

4) Using a large cutting board-sized sheet of foil, fill the center with 1/4 of the veggies.

5) Shape 1/4 of the meat into a patty and put on top of the veggies.

6) Scoop 1/4 of the can of soup on top of the meat.

7) Crimp the foil together around the edges so it is sealed shut on all sides.

8) Fill your Instant Pot with 1 cup of water and place the trivet on top. Layer the foil packets on top of the trivet (you can place them on each other). Seal the lid, make sure the vent is sealed, and choose the steam setting. Set it for 10 minutes.

9) When the timer goes off, let the pressure naturally release for 5 minutes, then turn the valve to release the rest of the pressure doing a quick release. After the pin goes down, it’s ready to open.

10) Using tongs or something similar, remove each foil packet and set each on a plate, opening the foil to vent. The food inside will be really hot at first so you can’t eat it immediately. The soup should have turned into a sauce and covered most of the ingredients, but if not, this is a good time to spread it around. Your dishes will need a quick rinse at most after this meal! 
 

An easy variation of this that my husband recommended was using broccoli cheddar soup mix instead of the onion and topping off the burger with cream of broccoli soup. Try to mix and match different soup packets and cream soups!

The best thing about these foil packets is that it’s so easy to clean up. Now imagine you’re camping— throw some of these packets over the fire! You just need to check on them from time to time to make sure they aren’t burning.

If you don’t have an Instant Pot, all of these recipes can be made in the oven, too. I would say just set the oven to between 350 and 375 degrees (F) and cook them for the amount of time you usually cook the type of meat you’re using. You can even throw these on the grill in your yard! I’m really looking forward to experimenting with all of these different foil options!

What ingredients will you try in your foil packets?
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