These sliced potatoes are made with a few simple ingredients and grilled in a foil packet until tender and flavorful. This easy and delicious recipe makes a great summer side dish!
We do a lot of grilling in the summer. It's nice to not have to turn on the oven, and you just can't beat the flavor. When I grill, I like to be able to make multiple things from the main dish to the sides (I've even grilled a salad).
Growing up we also did a lot of grilling every summer. Whether we had chicken, steak or pork the side dish was always a given: these easy grilled potato packets. To this day, this recipe is still my go-to summer side dish.
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Ingredient Notes
There is nothing fancy about the ingredients in this recipe. It only requires 5 ingredients, with 2 of them being salt & pepper!
- Potatoes - Good ol' russet potatoes work best and hold their shape better than other potatoes. I prefer to peel them, but you could leave the skins on if you'd like
- Onion - Either yellow or white will work fine.
- Butter - Salted. We are going to hide little pats of butter throughout the potatoes so when they cook the butter melts and soaks into the potatoes. Ok, now I'm drooling.
- Salt & pepper - For flavor!
How to Make Grilled Potatoes in Foil
Make the foil packet - Overlap 2 sheets of aluminum foil by a couple inches to form a square that is about 20 inches x 20 inches. I can still hear my mom saying "shiny side in!" when making these. Then I heard opposing views that said shiny side out, so I decided to investigate.
I found multiple articles that said the same thing: it doesn't matter! According to the aluminum foil giant, Reynold's, the difference between the shiny and dull side has nothing to do with cooking but is just a result of manufacturing. You can read more about it here. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders after reading this.
Prep potatoes & onions - Peel, rinse and slice potatoes into ¼ inch slices. A mandolin works great for this or a good, sharp knife. For the onion, cut it in half and slice thinly.
Assemble - I prep the potatoes in 2 layers. First, lay half the potatoes down in the middle of the foil. Then, top with half the onions, half the butter and salt & pepper. Repeat with the rest of the potatoes and the other half of the ingredients.
To close, bring the long sides together in the middle and roll up. Then fold the short sides in to seal everything off.
Grill - Grill the potatoes over medium-high (375-400 degrees) heat for 25-30 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
Gas or Charcoal Grill? This recipe works on either a gas or charcoal BBQ grill. When using gas, heat the grill to medium-high heat which is about 375-400 degrees F. For charcoal, preheat a charcoal chimney with briquettes and pour onto the middle of the bottom grill grate.
When using a charcoal grill, you are likely to get more of the crispy potatoes that form on the bottom of the foil. In my family, we throw all table manners out the window when we are searching for these "crispies" at the end of the meal.
If grilling protein to go serve with the potatoes and your grill doesn't have enough space for both, grill the potatoes first and move them to the oven on the warm setting while you grill the meat. These potatoes will stay hot for a good while in the foil packet!
Recipe Variations
I happen to love the simplicity of this recipe, but adding some other veggies & herbs would also be a fun way to switch things up! Some ideas to add are:
- Sliced bell pepper
- Zucchini coins
- Green beans
- Fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, garlic, parsley, or dill
- Add extra flavor by sprinkling potatoes with onion or garlic powder before grilling
Substitutions:
- Use Yukon Gold potatoes instead of russet. Baby gold potatoes could also be used but cooking time may need to be adjusted.
- Cut small pearl onions in half. They will cook up beautifully!
- Swap regular butter for your favorite homemade or store-bought herb butter. Yum!
Oven Method - Follow the same method, but place foil packet on a sheet pan and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.
How To Serve & Store
Virtually any protein you normally grill will go perfectly with this side of potatoes. Serve with extra butter on the side, or go all out with toppings such as shredded cheddar cheese, bacon bits, sour cream or green onions for a fun play on a loaded baked potato!
- Steak - Ribeyes, t-bones, kabobs, oh my!
- Chicken - I love making chicken wings on the grill, but you could use breasts, drumsticks or thighs
- Pork chops - I prefer grilling bone-in pork chops as I find they don't dry out as much
- Salmon - Make the potatoes in smaller individual packets and cook the salmon right in the foil with the potatoes
- Serve for breakfast alongside some eggs and meat of your choice. Great camping idea!
Instead of making one large foil packet of potatoes, you can also make them in individual servings that each person can open up and enjoy the goodness inside.
Leftover potatoes can be stored covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Leftovers make a great breakfast hash the next day (speaking from experience). You could also reheat in the microwave or in the oven. I would not recommend freezing this recipe.
More Side Dishes You'll Love
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Grilled Potatoes in Foil
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. russet potatoes 4-5 potatoes
- 1 medium onion white or yellow
- 6 tbsp. butter salted, cold
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. black pepper
Instructions
Prep
- Peel and wash potatoes. Cut into ¼ inch slices. Slice onion thinly. Cut cold butter into 10 pats.3 lbs. russet potatoes, 1 medium onion, 6 tbsp. butter
Assembly
- Put together pieces of foil to make a square (about 20 inches x 20 inches) on countertop.
- Place half of the sliced potatoes in a 12 inch circle in the middle of the foil. Top with half the onions, half the butter and ½ tsp. salt & ¼ tsp. pepper.
- Repeat with a second layer using the remaining ingredients. To close, bring the long sides of the foil together in the middle and fold up. Then fold the short sides to seal everything off.
- Grill on medium-high heat (375-400 degrees) for 25-30 minutes until potatoes are tender.
Dave says
So easy and flavorful. Love these potatoes!