These Cajun Chicken Foil packets are a hearty campfire meal option that's FULL of flavour. It's a tasty, easy camping meal, with little cleanup!

We’ve been getting more and more into making foil packet dinners this camping season.

I’ve been having fun developing different foil packet recipes, doing prep work before a trip, and having easy meals on the road.

One nice thing about these foil packet meals - AKA “Hobo Packets” - is that they’re done up as individual foil packets, so they can be customized. If someone wants a bit more of the protein, a bit less of a vegetable, etc... that’s easily accommodated.

In our case, we’ve got different food allergies, sensitivities, etc between us... so we might just have completely different foil packs for dinner. Maybe he’ll have a batch of chicken packets - or something with gluten - while I do up something with red meat.

Anyway, this Cajun chicken foil packet recipe quickly became a favourite, earlier this year.

These Cajun inspired foil pack dinners are each an all-in-one meal, with protein, vegetables, and starch included in each of the packs.

They’re LOADED with different flavours, colours, and textures, while still being a really easy camping meal to throw together.

They’re inspired by my Dutch Oven Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya, and start with a Cajun marinated chicken breast and smoked sausage. For vegetables, we’ve got bell peppers, celery, and onion - the Holy Trinity of Cajun and Creole cooking.

The chicken marinade is used to season some pre-cooked rice, then everything is tossed in a foil packet and cooked up.

All around, a fantastic dinner to cook over a campfire or grill!

Anyway, let’s take a look at what you’ll need for this recipe:>/div>

Ingredients

This Cajun Chicken Packets recipe uses a fair amount of ingredients, but they’re all simple ingredients. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding everything you need in pretty much any grocery store.

As always, I have a few ingredient notes for you:

Boneless Chicken

I use Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts - half of a chicken breast per packet - because I hate trimming chicken thighs, and I’m lazy.

If you prefer to use thigh meat, I recommend using one boneless, skinless chicken thigh per packet - so 4, total.

Smoked Sausage

As a Cajun themed recipe, obviously Andouille Sausage should be your goal here.

If that’s not available, any fully cooked smoked sausage will do. I regularly end up using some form of Kielbasa, even turkey kielbasa on occasion.

Spices

As a Cajun inspired meal, it shouldn’t be surprising that there’s a bit of a laundry list of ingredients in this recipe.

This is part of why I like to do the food prep at home, before a camping trip. Not only is it less labour when I could be enjoying the great outdoors, but it also saves space, and requires me to pack FAR fewer spices.

Also, when I do them up assembly line style, I can measure out a bunch of packets at once - a great time-saver!

Anyway, the spices I use in this recipe are:

Cayenne Powder
Dried Oregano
Dried Sage
Dried Thyme
Garlic Powder
Ground Black Pepper
Smoked Paprika
Salt

Celery

Celery is an important part of Cajun cooking, as part of the “holy trinity” of peppers, celery, and onion.

I like to use “Star Trekked” celery when I’m cooking something like this Cajun Chicken Packets, because it’s fun and I like the way it looks.

This is what I call it when you cut celery on a diagonal, such that it ends up looking like a Star Trek comm badge.

Feel free to chop or slice your celery ribs any way you like, though.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

1 Green Pepper
1 Red Pepper
½ Onion
Fresh Parsley
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Cooking Spray

Also, try to use a heavy duty aluminum foil if possible. It just works so much better than the more flimsy kind, IMHO!

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How to Make Cajun Chicken Foil Packets

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post, here is a pictorial walk through:

Cajun Marinated Chicken

Trim the chicken breasts, if needed. Cut each into 2 equal pieces and place in a medium freezer baggie.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the remaining marinated chicken ingredients (Oil, Lemon Juice, and Spices).

Pour the marinade into the baggie of chicken, push most of the air out of the baggie, and seal. Gently massage the bag to coat the chicken pieces.

Chill for at least 2 hours.

Cajun Chicken Foil Packet Assembly

About 40 minutes before you plan to serve the meal, get a medium fire going. You can cook this on a charcoal grill, a BBQ, or on a grill plate over a campfire.

For each pouch:

For each pouch:

Pour excess marinade off the chicken, into the cooked rice. This is NOT safe to eat until after it’s cooked!

Prepare all your veggies, and slice the sausage.

Lay 2 good sized pieces of heavy duty foil crosswise to each other, then spray generously with nonstick cooking spray.

Place one piece of marinated chicken,and about one quarter of the seasoned rice, sausage, celery, peppers, and onion in the center of the foil.

Season the veggies with a little salt and pepper.

Fold the foil ends in, rolling to form a well sealed packet.

Cook over your fire or grill until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 F when an instant read thermometer is inserted, and the vegetables are as done as you like.

Actual cook time will depend on your grill, and the thickness of your chicken, but expect 20-30 minutes.

Open the Cajun chicken foil packets, garnish with a bit of fresh parsley if desired, and serve hot!

Leftovers

Leftovers can be cooled to room temperature, transferred to an airtight container, and chilled for up to 3 days. Reheat before serving.

More Grilling Recipes for Camping

Looking for some great meals to cook on a campfire or grill? Here's a few of my favourites!

Bison Burgers with Bacon and Caramelized Onions
Elk Burgers with Bacon & Sauteed Mushrooms
Fajita Chicken Kebabs
Greek Chicken Souvlaki
Grilled Chicken Fajitas
Lemon-Dill Fresh Salmon Burgers
Easy Grilled Shrimp Tacos
Grilled Tuna Tacos
Mediterranean Chicken Kebabs
Venison Burgers with Bacon & Whiskey Caramelized Onions

... But wait, there's more! Be sure to check out our other Camping Recipes, including Camping Desserts, Camping Snacks, Make-Ahead Camping Mix Recipes, and a ton of delicious Camping Main Dish Recipes.

Also, we had SO much fun designing gourmet jerky recipes for our camping trips, we started a whole new blog for them! Check out Dried & Tasty for all kinds of fun recipes to make in your food dehydrator!

2 Cajun chicken foil packet meals, with marinated chicken breast, seasoned rice, red peppers, green peppers, celery, onion, and sausage.

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