Best Campfire Baked Potatoes
Get ready to elevate your next outdoor adventure with these mouthwatering Campfire Potatoes! This recipe combines tender potatoes, savory onions, and melty cheese, all wrapped up in foil for that irresistible smoky flavor. These campfire baked potatoes are one of our favorite camping dishes.
Perfect for camping trips, backyard bonfires, or even a cozy oven-baked side dish. These campfire baked potatoes are a crowd-pleaser that’ll have everyone asking for seconds! A longtime favorite to campers, campfire potatoes are almost as easy as they are delicious. Plus they are also a natural complement to the entire camping experience. But best of all, they are far easier than most people would think if they haven’t tried it yet.
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These spuds are easy to prep and to cook over an open fire or grill. For basic cooking, the potato can be wrapped in foil, shiny side inward, and gently placed in the coals. And there is nothing wrong with basic campfire baked potatoes at all. However, you can do it even better. The basic baked potato in the campfire is great with butter and a bit of salt and pepper, but it won’t be a great deal different than a baked potato cooked at home and prepared the same way. So we are not just making campfire potatoes with basic open flame cooking options today. We are bringing them up a notch!
These campfire baked potatoes are good enough to give a reason to go camping in the first place. The flavor can’t quite be duplicated at home, so camp may be the only place you have the opportunity to have such delicately smoked and flavorful baked spuds. They aren’t hard to make and they aren’t very expensive, but they are quite filling.
Campfire Potatoes Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 2 large baking potatoes
- ½ medium onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- salt
- black pepper
- 2 tbsp butter
Suggestions on substitutions and/or optional Ingredients:
- dry basil
- dry oregano,
- jalapeño peppers
- Cooked bacon bits
- mozzarella, cheddar or Monterey jack cheese
Equipment Needed:
- Fire starters ( See our DIY Fire starters from recycled materials and make them before your trip)
- Aluminum Foil
🥣 Recipe Tips
- Add plenty of salt and pepper. Don’t forget that potatoes absorb salt to the extent that they require a good deal of salt while cooking, to actually taste salty.
- Larger potatoes such as number threes are better to use than the store run number twos, as they take a little longer to cook and have more food per potato. Once they are done, you’ll be glad you opted for larger potatoes. Russets are a great choice for this camping dish recipe.
- In a pinch, substitute the onion and garlic with garlic powder and onion powder. Just remember that fresh garlic and onion simply have more flavors than the powdered versions. Note that diced onions and garlic are likely to caramelize during cooking and they will impart more flavor to the potato
- Make sure that your campfire has a good bed of coals. It is best to let the coals die down a little before adding the potatoes. If the coals are too hot the outside of the potatoes may cook far quicker than the inside, leaving you with a charred outside and a nearly raw inside. Also cooler coals allow more time for the flavors to permeate the potatoes.
How to make Campfire Baked Potatoes:
- Build a campfire and allow to burn down to coals.
- Place each clean washed potato onto a separate piece of aluminum foil that is large enough to wrap each potato.
- Apply plenty of salt and pepper to the potatoes.
- Cut the onion into slices and mince garlic cloves. Slice each potato lengthwise ¾ of the way through. (We used ½ onion for two potatoes and two cloves of garlic, one for each potato)
- Pile the onion and garlic mixture into the cut part of the potato adding the excess on top.
- Optional: Add sliced peppers or/and oregano, basil, or cooked bacon pieces. And/or grate cheese and set aside.
- Wrap the potato with the foil sealing completely
How to bake potatoes in open fire cooking campfire:
Check to make sure that your campfire has a good bed of coals. It is best to let the coals die down a little before adding the potatoes. If the coals are too hot the outside of the potatoes may cook far quicker than the inside, leaving you with a charred outside and a nearly raw inside. Also cooler coals allow more time for the flavors to permeate the potatoes.
- . Place in campfire coals using Long camping tongs for safety.
- Each campfire potato should be turned every 10 minutes or so about a quarter turn each time for about 40 minutes total. Remove from the fire with tongs and allow to cool slightly prior to carefully opening up the foil.
- Remove the baked potatoes from the campfire and allow them to sit for several minutes. Caution: The potatoes will still be very hot, even after they have been removed from the coals for a few minutes. Care should be taken when handling them.
- Carefully unwrap the campfire potatoes and use a fork to open the deep cut. Drop sliced butter onto the meat of the potato. And at this time you could also add cheese, bacon, oregano, basil if you didn’t prior to baking.
- Serve on camping tin plates strong enough to hold these potatoes
You will be left with an exquisite, slightly smoked baked potato right from your own campfire that will go with many camping dishes. Be sure and use heavy weight plates or better yet Tin Metal Plates to handle this delicious load.
End your camping meal or backyard gathering on a high note with these irresistible Campfire Potatoes! Their crispy edges, cheesy goodness, and smoky aroma make them a must-have for any outdoor feast. Whether cooked over glowing embers or in your oven, this simple yet hearty dish is sure to become a favorite. So, grab some foil, fire up the flames, and savor the deliciousness of these crowd-pleasing spuds!
Other Camping Dishes and Helps:
🥣 Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large baking potatoes
- 1/2 medium onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- salt
- black pepper
- 2 tbsp butter
- dry basil optional
- dry oregano optional
- peppers optional
- cooked bacon pieces optional
- 1/2 cup cheese mozzarella, cheddar jack or your choice, optional
Instructions
- Build a campfire and allow to burn down to coals
- Place each clean washed potato onto a separate piece of aluminum foil that is large enough to wrap each potato
- Apply plenty of salt and pepper to the potatoes. Don’t forget that potatoes absorb salt to the extent that they require a good deal of salt while cooking, to actually taste salty.
- Cut the onion into slices and mince garlic cloves. Slice each potato lengthwise 3/4 of the way through.
- Pile the onion and garlic mixture into the cut part of the potato adding the excess on top.
- Optional: Add sliced peppers or/and oregano, basil, or cooked bacon pieces. And/or grate cheese and set aside.
- Wrap the potato with the foil sealing completely. Place in campfire coals using Long camping tongs for safety.
- Each campfire potato should be turned every 10 minutes or so about a quarter turn each time for about 40 minutes total. Remove from the fire with tongs and allow to cool slightly prior to carefully opening up the foil.
- Drop sliced butter onto the meat of the potato. And at this time you could also add cheese, bacon, oregano, basil if you didn't prior to baking.
- Serve on camping tin plates strong enough to hold these potatoes
Nutrition
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