The juiciest, easiest way to make delicious steak on the grill. Make an assembly line of ingredients, seal up the steak fajita foil packets, and toss on the grill or in the oven. Ready to eat in less than 30 minutes, and perfect for camping!
I have many wonderful memories of camping when I was a kid but it’s a whole different story as a mother when you’re in charge of bringing everything you need to make a home away from home.
When it’s time to plan a camping trip, my mind first goes to “oh great, I have to pack and come up with something for us to eat”. So much planning goes into what should be a simple back to nature camping trip.
First you have to make sure everything is washed, packed and ready to go to the campground then you have to unpack it all when you get there. PS – my go-to-first-day-of-camping meal is this Frito Bandito recipe (cause they take zero energy & time.)
I know that the these camping trips will be worth it in the end though. It’s worth it because want my kids to grow up having the same happy memories I have of fun camping trips filled with lazy nights by the campfire, delicious meals, and board games by candlelight.
So, to help make packing for a camping trip a bit easier, I have three rules when it comes to camping food:
- It has to be affordable
- easy to prepare
- and easy to clean up
These savory steak fajita foil packs cover all three rules with a bonus! They are so delicious you can’t wait to dig in!
They are also a kid-friendly favorite! Not everyone likes the same things on their fajitas, but they’re easily customized! Some of us like just steak, some of us like steak and onions, and others like everything we can possibly put in that foil pack plus the kitchen sink!
My favorite part? After you finish, clean-up is as simple as crumpling up the foil. As a mom, you know easy clean up is my jam!
Want to know a secret about these steak fajita foil packets for camping? I prep everything before we leave and freeze it making it even easier once we are at the campsite. Simply thaw and toss on the campfire and you have a quick healthy dinner in less than 20 minutes.
MAKE AHEAD & FREEZE THESE STEAK FAJITA FOIL PACKETS
You know this mama loves her freezer meals, especially when it comes to camping! These steak foil packets can definitely be made ahead and frozen, helping to make your next camping trip even easier!
Just make up the foil packets, place them in a freezer bag, then store them in the freezer for up to 3 months!
I also like to make up packets of the tortillas as well, as they freeze great too. This way I can toss a package of them on the grill during the last 5 minutes of cooking the fajitas. Then everything is done at the same time.
WHAT TOPPINGS ARE BEST?
My recommended toppings are salsa, sour cream, avocado slices or guacamole, fresh cilantro, and additional limes for squeezing a little fresh juice on top for a bit of zest.
If you are camping though and want to make this easy, you can prep ahead a few of the topping you like in baggies the night before.
FINAL NOTES & TIPS
Which foil is best? There is regular aluminum foil, heavy duty foil and even non-stick foils. My favorite way to make these is by wrapping the meat/fajita mixture first using one piece of non-stick foil. Then I like to wrap that in heavy duty foil for that extra layer of protection on the grill.
But can you make them in regular foil? Yes! Just use two – three sheets of foil and make sure it feels strongly tightly wrapped.
With or without rice? If you make these without the rice, you will have some liquids that get steamed off from the peppers, onions and meat, so if you like all those juices then omit the rice. But if you prefer less liquids or a heartier meals add in the minute rice. Don’t use regular rice as it won’t cook in time.
Cooking spray? If you’d like to spray your foil sheet with cooking spray first, go right ahead. I found it didn’t make too much of a difference when using the non-stick foil, but when using regular foil it is more helpful.
Steak Fajita Foil Packets
Ingredients
- 1 pound flank or rib eye steak thinly sliced against the grain
- 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 3 bell peppers any combination of red, green, yellow, or orange, thinly sliced
- 1 small red or yellow onion thinly sliced
- Salt and pepper
- small flour or corn tortillas
- optional: 1-1/2 cups of dry minute rice
- toppings: salsa, sour cream, avocado slices or guacamole, fresh cilantro, additional limes for squeezing
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine the 2 tsp. cumin, 2 tsp. chili powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/4 tsp. onion powder and 1/4 tsp. paprika. Stir until well combined. Add in steak and 2 tbsp of the olive oil and stir to combine. In another bowl put 3 thinly sliced bell peppers, 1 small thinly sliced onion and remaining 1 tbsp olive oil. Season with a little salt and pepper if desired.
- Cut out (8) 20 inch long sheets of aluminium foil. You will use two pieces of foil for each fajita packet.
- If using rice add 1/4 cup of dry minute rice on the center of each packet. Then, using tongs, divide fajita beef mixture equally onto the center of each foil packet on top of the rice. Place peppers/onion mixture equally on the sides of the steak.
- Fold all edges of the two layers of foil over the fajitas, seal and close up packets.
- Optional: place a small stack (5-6) tortillas on another set of smaller foil squares, fold all edges over the tortillas, seal and close up packets.
Make it Now
- Oven: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place foil fajita packets onto a baking sheet. Then place into preheated oven on the middle rack. Bake meat packet for 17 to 18 minutes or until cooked through to desired doneness. Place foil tortilla packets into oven directly onto rack during the last 10 minutes of meat packets cooking. Remove both from oven and let cool 5 minutes before serving. Serve fajitas with warmed tortillas and any desired toppings.
- Grill: Grill foil packets directly onto the grill for 12-15 minutes, flipping once halfway. Also place foil tortilla packets into onto grill and cook until warmed through. Remove from grill and let cool 5 minutes before serving. Serve fajitas with warmed tortillas and any desired toppings.
- Campfire: Your campfire should have been going for a while so that you have a nice 1-2 inch layer of hot & ready white coals. Place your foil packets on the coals and cook for 4 minutes on one side, then flip over and cook another 4 minutes on the other side. Continue flipping every few minutes until cooked through to desired doneness. Open up foil packet, let cool 5 minutes and then serve with warmed tortillas. To warm tortillas place over a grill rack above the coals and heat until warmed through.
Make it a Freezer Meal
- Place foil wrapped packets into a gallon sized labeled freezer safe bag. Add foil-wrapped tortillas in another gallon bag, seal and place inside bag with fajitas packs. Seal bags together as a kit, removing as much air as possible and freeze.
Thaw and Cook
- Place freezer bag kit in refrigerator for at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours to thaw. Then bake, grill or cook over the campfire as directed in the make it now instructions above.
Hi!
Have you tried this with any other meats, say chicken by chance? Basically if i used chicken would I get the same out come? Thanks!
Chicken would be great for this recipe!
Hi – we made these tonight on the grill and the rice was hard. I used minute rice and followed the directions exactly. Ideas for what to do differently next time?
Hmmm… try adding a little water or broth perhaps, but usually the peppers juices and meat juices are enough for the rice.
This pandemic forced us to cook more and guess what?! I’m loving it! These would be the perfect camping treat, the boys would go bonkers over them #neverenoughmeat
Do you cook the meat before putting it in the foil, so simply requesting over the campfire? Or do you put the meat in the foil raw?
I put the meat in raw, and cook it fresh over the campfire.
Isn’t freezing raw meat with vegetables dangerous? I was always under the assumption that you never sue this due to contamination. What am I missing?
Nope, it’s totally fine! You won’t be eating raw meat at all when this is all cooked up. Think of this like throwing in meat and veggies into a slow cooker. They cook together and it’s totally safe. The meat and veggies are frozen together, then when it’s time to cook, they are cooked together too and safe to eat.
I may have missed something, but when I went to make this I got alittle confused. Under “Make it now” it states -Bake meat packet for 17 to 18 minutes or until cooked through to desired doneness. But under the instructions it says to combine the rice peppers, onions and meat all in one packet. So am I supposed to put the meat in with everything else, or in its own foil packet?
Hi, yes, add in everything into the packet, the rice and meat and veggies. 🙂