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.
There’s just something about a foil-wrapped potato pulled from the coals that makes a camping meal feel complete. These campfire baked potatoes are stuffed with onion and garlic, seasoned well, and cooked right in the fire until they’re tender and a little smoky. They’re easy to put together, filling enough to feed hungry campers, and just as good over a backyard fire as they are out in the woods.
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.
Why you will Love these Campfire Potatoes
You’ll love these campfire potatoes because they’re almost too easy for how good they turn out. A little onion and garlic tucked inside, a good wrap of foil, and the coals do the rest—leaving you with a smoky, tender potato that tastes like a real camping meal. They’re filling, they feed a crowd without fuss, and you can dress them up with butter, cheese, or bacon right at the end. Once you’ve pulled one of these from the fire, a plain baked potato just doesn’t feel the same.
Key Ingredients:
Baking potatoes– Russets hold their shape in the coals, cook up fluffy inside, and give you a hearty, filling side that actually satisfies hungry campers.
Onion– Sliced onion tucked into the cut potato softens and sweetens as it cooks, adding savory flavor that soaks into the potato instead of sitting on top.
Garlic– A couple of minced cloves melt into the potato and onion as they cook, giving the whole packet that extra depth you just don’t get from a plain baked potato.
Butter– Dropped on after the foil comes off, it melts into the hot potato and makes every bite rich and comforting—the finishing touch that ties the smoky flavor together.
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
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.
🥣 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.
Variations of these Campfire Baked Potatoes:
Don’t feel locked into one version of these campfire potatoes. The basic foil packet is just the beginning—once you’ve got the potato, onion, garlic, and coals down, you can shake things up any way you like. Pick and choose the add-ins that sound good that day and make the version your crowd will love. That’s half the fun of cooking over the fire.
- Loaded Campfire Potatoes– Add cooked bacon bits and shredded cheddar before wrapping, or pile them on with extra butter after they come off the coals. Finish with a dollop of sour cream and chopped green onion.
- Southwestern Potatoes– Tuck in diced jalapeño with the onion and garlic. After cooking, top with pepper jack, a spoon of salsa, and a squeeze of lime.
- Herb Garden Potatoes– Add dried oregano and basil (or fresh if you have them) with the onion and garlic. Finish with butter and a sprinkle of parsley or chives.
- Breakfast Campfire Potatoes– Use the same packet, then split and top with a fried or scrambled egg, bacon, and a little cheese. Easy morning meal over leftover coals.
- Sweet Potato Campfire Packets– Swap russets for sweet potatoes. Keep the onion and garlic, or go simpler with butter, salt, and a pinch of cinnamon or smoked paprika.
- Ranch-Style Potatoes– Season the potato well, then after baking stir in a spoon of ranch dressing or sprinkle ranch seasoning with the butter. Good with bacon and cheddar too.
- BBQ Potatoes– Brush a little barbecue sauce inside the cut before wrapping, or drizzle it on with the butter at the end. Pair with leftover grilled meat if you have it.
- Oven Version– Same prep, same foil. Bake at 400°F for about 45–60 minutes until tender. You lose a bit of smoke, but they’re still an easy weeknight side.
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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