Have you ever heard of a Hobo Dinner before? It’s usually an individual complete meal for one in a foil pack cooked in a campfire, oven or barbecue grill. Since I am all about bringing my slow cooker camping, I thought I would try making a Slow Cooker Hobo Dinner.
We traveled to South Twin Lake Resort for 4 nights this last week. Such a beautiful place to visit, there is a cold water channel right behind our campsite, and just a block away is the resort and lake. We spent our days hiking, swimming, and fishing. For our dinners I made 4 different slow cooker recipes this trip, an easy clam chowder, steak burritos, baked potatoes (to go with grilled steak), and this Hobo Dinner.
For this recipe I made a 1 pound meatloaf (I halved my favorite 2 pound meatloaf recipe.) I put the meatloaf on one side of the slow cooker. Then I made a foil “bowl” by taking a foot or so of foil and shaping it into a rounded shape (just one layer thick). In that foil bowl I tossed together potatoes, sliced onions, seasonings and drizzled melted butter over it. Cooked all of that on LOW for 5 hours, then topped the potatoes with cheese. An easy complete meal! And I do have to say meatloaf and potatoes are one of my most favorite meals to eat. Pure comfort food!
Ingredients
Meatloaf Ingredients
- 1 lb. 10% fat ground beef
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup diced white onion
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1/4 tsp. onion powder
- 15 Saltine crackers crushed
For the potatoes
- 4 small russet potatoes sliced
- 1/2 cup sliced white onion
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 3 Tbsp. melted butter
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheese add at the end
For Serving
- Ketchup for topping meatloaf
Slow Cooker Size: 6-quart Oval or larger
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the meatloaf ingredients, you will have mix this with clean hands, be careful not to over mix.
- Shape the meatloaf on one side of the slow cooker, I tried to keep the meatloaf from touching the sides.
- Make a foil "bowl" out of a foot or so of foil. Shape it next to the meatloaf. Add the potatoes and onions. Season the potatoes and onions with the salt, pepper, and onion powder, and toss them with your clean hands. Drizzle over the melted butter.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours. DO NOT OPEN THE LID WHILE THIS IS COOKING, or the potatoes will not get tender.
- After the cooking time is up add the cheese on top of the potatoes, and cover for about 5 minutes more or until the cheese is melted. Add ketchup to the top of the meatloaf and serve.
- Enjoy!
Need more ground beef recipes? Here are the best ones from the magical slow cooker:
- Slow Cooker John Wayne Casserole
- Slow Cooker Shipwreck Stew
- Slow Cooker Land Your Man Baked Beans
- Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak
- Slow Cooker Beef and Potato Au Gratin
- Slow Cooker Taco Meatloaf Stuffed Peppers
- Slow Cooker Texas Trash Beef and Bean Dip
- Slow Cooker Porcupine Meatballs
- Slow Cooker Lipton Onion Meatloaf
- Slow Cooker Chuck Wagon Chili
- Slow Cooker Hamburger Hash
I only made two changes – the took out the 1/4 cup ketchup and put in 3 tablespoons Mild Salsa. I also changed the crackers to 1/2 cup unseasoned bread crumbs and I used organic Ketchup. I love the potatoes being cooked on the side and like one to the other reviewers said, I did add about 3 carrots cut into 1 1/2″ chunks. Yum on the entire meal.
Great ideas Kathi! Thanks for sharing.
I am gone for 10 hours…..has anyone done this and then had their crockpot shift to warm.
This may seem like a dumb question? Where do you plug the crock pot “in” at a camp sight?
Johnny
We camp at places with hook ups. Probably would be hard to do while dry camping.
Thank you. In Ontario, most of the camping is done in provincial parks in dry sites with tents and coleman stoves. There are spots for trailers and I suppose there are hookups for them.
https://www.ontarioparks.com/en
Going seven and a half hours on low and the meatloaf is still not done! Turned it to high hoping it’ll cook through!! Why??
The meatloaf may be pink from the ketchup. It should be done after that long.
Does the 5 hours on low cook the potatoes so they are soft? This looks so yummy and would be great for one of our fall camping trips!!
Yes it does. Make sure to keep the lid on the entire tint or they won’t cook. 🙂
I only have a 3.5 quart crock pot can I make this work?
I’m not sure if it would fit. You may be able to put the meat loaf on the bottom flat, then add the potato packet on the top.
Would I be able to cut the recipe in half and cook it for less time? If so how long do you think I should cook it for? Sorry I’m new to this whole cooking thing
I am unsure how it would do cut in half. I do know that the potatoes can’t take any less cooking time or they won’t get tender.
For cooking at home, the potatoes could be microwaved for 3 or 4 minutes in a microwave safe dish, prior to being put in the crockpot with a smaller meatloaf, to have both thoroughly cooked and done at the same time. It’s also a great way for using larger cuts of vegetables in slow cooker meals to have them cooked through and tender when the meat is done.
You could make the meatloaf mixture up ahead of time and freeze it before you go camping. Then it could be used to help keep things cold in the cooler until needed.
Such a great idea. And meatloaf does great as a freezer meal, it doesn’t get weird after thawing.
Have you tried it without the foil? I think letting the juices meld together might be very tastey
I have not. Sometimes meatloaf has mucky stuff around the edges, that may not be good in the potatoes.
Actually that might be great in the spuds
I use slow cooker liners so I don’t have a big mess to clean up! I am definitely going to try this recipe.
My meatloaf didn’t slice up well. It turned into more of a meat crumble. Very yummy though. What could be the cause of the crumblyness though?
Hi Yvonne! Meatloaf can be tricky especially if your meat is more moist or less moist than mine. The meatloaf should hold it’s shape very well before cooking, you can add more crackers if its too wet, or more ketchup if it’s too dry. That’s the only thing I can think of. Also, use fresh meat from the store, thawed meat has a hard time holding together.
Oh okay. Next time I will use fresh beef and probably a leaner beef as well. Thanks for the tip!
I just made this and followed all the instructions to the letter and nothing was cooked through. The meatloaf was pink and the potatoes were all but raw.
did you open the lid at all? Meatloaf may be pink because of the ketchup. If the lid was opened even once, the potatoes won’t be done in the amount of time given.
Mine did not turn out either. Very underdone meat and half cooked potatoes. 4 russet potatoes??? Better make sure they’re VERYsmall. Two potatoes were nearly too much. Had to finish baking the meatloaf in the oven and fried the potatoes in a little oil until they were done. Both took about an extra 1/2 hour.
I use oatmeal in my meatloaf (gluten intolerant). Have you ever tried this? May need more moisture? Thanks
Hi dee. Usually when I make meatloaf that I am not making for my site, I don’t measure, you can add the oatmeal until it’s the right consistency and it should do fine.
What happens info you also put the meat loaf in foil?
I haven’t tried. If you do try let us know how it turns out.
I always use foil in my Crock-Pot and it didn’t affect my meatloaf cooking time or anything
We are gone for around 8-9 hours at work … do you think this would be okay that long?
I think it would be burnt to a crisp. Maybe this would be a better on the weekend for you? So sorry!
My 17 year old son made this while I was at work and I came home to a delicious meal. He even added corn on the cob on top of the potatoes, great addition.
That’s awesome. The corn is a great idea, I will have to try that!
Thank you for this recipe! My daughter and I enjoyed this very much! The meatloaf was very moist and the potatoes were so soft! I might not cook meatloaf again in the oven! We have enjoyed lasagna, enchiladas and now meatloaf in the slow cooker!
My husband can’t eat onions, do you think it will work if i omit the onions?
Will be fine without
I have been making hobo dinners in the oven for years. I just use a hamburger patty and potatoes and some of the family members like carrots, or green peppers, or onions in addition to the potatoes. I still have it often as I live alone and it is a nice and easy meal. I love the idea of making it a meatloaf though. I always put everything in the foil together and bake it. Yummy. The cheese also sounds delicious.
Great hobo meal idea! Has anyone made any beef and baked beans hobo meals?
People worried about meatloaf sticking to their pots, could either put their meatloaf in a separate foil bowl, just as the potatoes were contained, or twist some foil into snake shapes to use as an improvised meat rack under the meatloaf, which will also elevate the meatloaf above the “guck” that sometimes forms around the bottoms of meatloaf as it cooks.
If anyone finds their potatoes aren’t turning out as tender as they would like, they can microwave those briefly in advance in a microwave safe dish to help insure they’ll be tender by the time the meatloaf is done.
I made this recipe today and the potatoes didn’t get done. I cooked it for 6 hours on low. Any suggestions on what I need to do different next time? I used a 6 quart oval crockpot.
Really enjoyed this recipe. My slow cooker has a timer so I set it on 6 hrs. Then checked it at 5 1/2 hrs and all was perfect so add
Get it ready before you get on the road, keep in sink so it won’t tip and when you arrive at campsite, voila dinner is done. I use a slow cooker bag and clean up is a breeze.