My dad showed me how to make these little foil packet meals back when money was tight and we needed supper to stretch without feeling skimpy. He called them hobo dinners, and they were our way of turning a pound or two of ground beef and a few vegetables into individual feasts. This slow cooker version keeps the same spirit: just four simple ingredients, tucked into their own little trays, and cooked low and slow until the potatoes are soft, the carrots are tender, and the beef is perfectly juicy. It’s the kind of practical, no-fuss Midwestern cooking that fills the house with good smells and the table with comfort.
These hobo dinners are a meal in themselves, but I like to round them out with something cool and crisp, like a simple lettuce salad or sliced cucumbers in vinegar. A basket of warm bread or dinner rolls is handy for soaking up the rich brown juices that collect in the foil trays. If you want to stretch things for a bigger crowd, serve with buttered peas or green beans on the side and finish with something homey for dessert, like applesauce or a pan of brownies.
Slow Cooker 4-Ingredient Hobo Dinners
Servings: 4
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 (1-ounce) packet dry onion soup mix
Directions
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Tear 4 large sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil, each about 12×18 inches. Gently press each sheet down into a shallow, individual foil tray shape with raised sides so juices will stay contained. Set the trays aside.
Peel the potatoes and slice them into thin rounds, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Peel the carrots and slice them into thin coins. Keeping the slices fairly even helps everything cook at the same pace and get tender.
Divide the sliced potatoes evenly among the 4 foil trays, spreading them out in a single layer or slightly overlapping. Top the potatoes in each tray with an even layer of sliced carrots. These vegetables will sit under the meat and soak up all the flavorful juices as they cook.
Place the ground beef in a bowl and sprinkle the dry onion soup mix evenly over the top. Use your hands to gently mix until the seasoning is worked through the meat, but don’t overmix or the patties can turn out dense.
Divide the seasoned ground beef into 4 equal portions. Shape each portion into a thick, flat patty about the size of your palm, then lay one patty on top of the vegetables in each foil tray. Press lightly so the patty rests firmly on the potatoes and carrots but still holds its shape.
Bring the sides of each foil tray up slightly to make sure there are no tears or gaps along the bottom or corners. You want a shallow tray shape, not a tightly wrapped packet, so steam can rise but the juices stay mostly contained around each portion.
