Entrees

Meat & Veggie Foil Packets

Name: Meat & Veggie Foil Packets
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-in slices; 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1-in slices; 1 beefsteak tomato, cut into quarters; 1 white onion, chopped; 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-in slices; 4 cups baby spinach; 1 pound baby potatoes, washed and unpeeled; 8 whole garlic cloves; 1 pound boneless lamb stew meat, or choice of protein; Salt and pepper, as needed; 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning; 1 teaspoon cumin; Olive oil; Chopped parsley as garnish

Bycooktimestory March 18, 2025May 3, 2025

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe·5 from 1 review

These Meat & Veggie Foil Packets are super easy to make and have the best of both worlds: delicious roasted vegetables and meat encased in aluminum foil and baked all together to perfection. It’s a complete and hearty meal that’s perfect for a quick meal or to make ahead of time.

Why we love this recipe

We’ve always loved meals that taste mouthwateringly delicious and are so easy to make last-minute or prep ahead of time. And this recipe fits that description to a tee and utilizes one of our favorite cooking techniques: a complete meal wrapped in aluminum foil and cooked in the oven. They’re easy to assemble ahead of time and make for easy clean-up.

It’s also a super versatile dish to make: You can throw almost any combination of ingredients together into a foil packet and cook it. But this classic combo of meat, potatoes, and veggies remains our favorite. We recommend serving it out of the foil with rice or a simple side salad.

Key ingredients

Here’s what you need to put together this super simple meal:

Choice of protein: For these foil dinners, we used boneless lamb stew meat, but beef stew meat, ground turkey, or steak would also work well. The meat should be able to cook quickly alongside the veggies.
Vegetables: You can choose your own variety of veggies to cook with the meat! For this recipe, we used baby spinach, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, carrots, and baby potatoes. You can also use mushrooms, green beans, and corn, to name a few other suggestions.
Garlic: Honestly, no meal is complete without garlic. Whole garlic cloves are tossed in with the rest of the vegetables to give a strong flavor foundation.

How to make meat & veggie foil packets

Prep ingredients. Cut the meat and veggies between 1/2 to 1-in. cuts so that everything cooks evenly in the oven, with the exception of the mini potatoes which don’t need to be peeled or cut.

Arrange ingredients on foil and parchment paper. Measure several sheets of aluminum foil and parchment paper, and divide meat and veggies evenly between each sheet. Season with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and cumin and top with a drizzle of olive oil.

Wrap the foil sheets. Fold the long ends of the foil and paper together and over each other, making sure to crimp them tightly and create a tight seal. You want there to be no gaps so that no juices escape as everything cooks in the oven.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 425°F. Then you can either serve immediately with rice (and the foil removed) or wait for them to cool before storing away.

*Tip: If you’re not sure that the foil dinners are done cooking, open one up to check and see if meat is cooked through and veggies are tender.

How to make-ahead and store

These foil dinners can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for a few days. You can also freeze them up to several weeks ahead of time and just throw in the fridge to thaw overnight.