Another evening grill session with not a lot of time to prepare or clean up. When I want a simple tasty side, I often make grilled baked potato packets along side a steak, burger, or chicken breast. Growing up around campfires we often made “hamburger surprises” which were foil packets loaded with potatoes, ground beef, and onions. This is a simplified side dish inspired by those experiences.
The first step in making this delicious grilled baked potato packet is selecting a good potato. I always use Baby Red potatoes or Baby Yukon Gold potatoes. They are nice and sweet and cook pretty fast compared to large Russet potatoes. Typically I will use potatoes that are about 2-3″ in diameter. Bigger than a golf ball for sure, but way smaller than a baseball. Tonight I am making dinner for myself, so just two small potatoes will do the job. The first step is to cut them in half, trying to create 4 equally thick pieces.
Then, score the potatoes about 1/4″ to 1/2″ deep with a paring knife. Score the potatoes in each direction to create a criss cross pattern. This allows for faster cooking and a better presentation at the end. I can thank my Grandma for this method, as she would bake potatoes in the oven using this technique. Fun as a kid and delicious as an adult.
After scoring the taters, place them in a large piece of foil to season and wrap for the grill. Before seasoning coat the taters on each sided with olive oil. This will help the seasoning stick to the taters and also help with the grilling process. I use a simple seasoning of Seasoned Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper. If you do not grind your pepper fresh, please start. No shaking pepper from little plastic cans labeled pepper. You want to liberally coat both sides with pepper and salt. Adding a little butter or sour cream at the end will mellow out the salt and pepper.
Wrap up the potatoes so they stay arranged lying flat against the foil. Then heat up the grill to 400-450 degrees.
Place on the grill. Total grilling time 30-40 minutes. After placing on grill, flip the foil packets every 10 minutes. This is perfect for grilling steak or chicken, as you can place the foil packets on the grill while preheating for the meat. Just account for the grilling time of the steak in your 30-40 min time frame. The final product should look like this……
Add some sour cream and/or butter and serve. Toss the foil and you have a no mess dinner side ready to eat. Simple but tasty. All sorts of rubs can be used to season the taters in place of salt and pepper. However this is my weekly standard. Enjoy!
