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With the rich and savory flavors of Cajun spices, grilled shrimp, corn, and sausage—you’ll love these Cajun Shrimp Foil Packets! Summer grilling is in full swing. And we’re loving it!
Cajun Shrimp Foil Packets
We make foil dinners a lot in the summer. When the temps start reaching triple-digits I will do anything I can to keep the heat out of my kitchen. The whole family loves them, and there is NO MESS (that is the best part, really).
Surprisingly, many people I’ve talked to don’t know how to make grill foil packets. There really isn’t much to them– they are so easy to do! You just throw all the food in, fold it up, and put it over a grill, a campfire, or even in the oven (see recipe notes below on how to bake foil packets in the oven).
Not only is there virtually no mess when making them– there is no mess when EATING from them either! My family will eat them right out of the foil packet, crumple up the foil, and throw it away. This is the perfect meal for camping. You can prepare the packets ahead of time and throw them on the fire when you get to your campsite… again, no mess.
Another great thing about these foil packets is that each person can make and customize their own, which makes EVERYONE happy. No one picking through the contents and turning up their nose because a shrimp touched their potatoes, etc.
If you haven’t tried grill foil packets yet– now is the time. You are going to love them!
Ingredients in Cajun Shrimp Foil Packets
These are the ingredients you will need for your foil packets. Make sure you have plenty of aluminum foil on hand.
- Corn on the Cob
- Red Potatoes
- Raw Shrimp (try marinating in our grilled shrimp marinade before adding to the packets)
- Smoked Sausage
- Melted Butter
- Chicken Broth
- Cajun Seasoning
- Salt and Pepper to taste
No Mess!
Not only is there virtually no mess when making these shrimp foil packets, there is no mess when eating them either! My family will eat them right out of the foil packet, crumple up the foil, and throw it away. This is the perfect meal for camping. You can prepare the packets ahead of time and throw them on the fire when you get to your campsite. No need to wash a bowl, baking sheet, pots or pans. Clean up is a breeze!
Variations on Cajun Shrimp Foil Packets
We like to dip some of the contents of the packets in ranch dressing or BBQ sauce, but it is great as-is if you want to serve it plain. If you’re looking for more to add to your foil packet, try some of our favorite vegetable, meat, and seasoning additions:
- Zucchini
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Minced Garlic
- Red Bell Peppers
- Yellow Squash
- Andouille Sausage
- Diced Chicken
- Paprika
- Cayenne Pepper
- Fresh Lemon Juice
- Fresh Parsley
- Thyme
- Oregano
Questions
If you don’t have a grill or aren’t wanting the outdoor experience, you can also make these in your oven at 400-degrees for the same amount of time. Place each packet on a cookie sheet and bake as you would on the grill.
Some of the things can be prepared ahead of time, such as the corn and sausage, and they should be stored in separate Ziplock bags and refrigerated after being prepped. I recommend preparing the shrimp as fresh as possible. If frozen, keep it frozen until you are ready to thaw and prepare to avoid any fishy flavors. I always cut the potatoes right before cooking. Cutting them too early can cause browning.
Yes! Cajun Shrimp Foil Packets are gluten-free when you use a gluten free chicken broth. We like to use Swanson’s Chicken Broth which is always gluten free.
Read Next: 35+ Quick and Easy To Follow Dinner Ideas Your Family Will Surely Love
More Recipes for the Grill
If you haven’t tried grill foil packets yet, now is the time. You are going to love them! Also be sure to try our Grilled Foil Ranch Potatoes. They are a great side dish to any outdoor meal. If you are looking for something sweeter, our Grilled Banana Split Boats are the perfect foil-wrapped dessert!
How to Make Cajun Shrimp Foil Packets
Cajun Shrimp Foil Packets
Video
Equipment
- Outdoor Barbecue Grill
Ingredients
- 18 pieces corn on the cob (6 full cobs cut in half or in thirds)
- 4 red potatoes washed and cubed
- 25 uncooked shrimp peeled or not, it’s up to you
- 1 pound smoked sausage cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup melted butter or olive oil, to taste
- 1/2 cup chicken broth you may not need that much
- Cajun/Creole seasoning we like to use Tony Chachere’s brand, to taste
- salt and pepper to taste
More ingredients to try in a foil packet (optional, and to your taste)
- Italian sausage
- chicken (cut in bite size pieces)
- bell peppers
- mushrooms
- red onions
- celery
- carrots
Instructions
- Heat grill to 400-degrees. You can do this in your oven at the same temperature. Bring all the ingredients to your work area.
- Evenly distribute corn, potatoes, shrimp, and sausage between 4 heavy-duty foil sheets (approximately 12×18 inches each). Drizzle melted butter and about 2 tablespoons chicken broth over each foil packet. Season evenly and generously, to taste, with Cajun seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Tightly seal foil packets by folding up the sides over the contents and tightly folding up the ends over the seam.
- Grill 30-40 minutes or until potatoes are tender, flipping once half-way through
- Serve immediately. (Be careful the steam is HOT)
Notes
- Some people have found that their potatoes don’t get cooked. Some of our readers have recommended boiling or microwaving the potatoes for a minute or two before adding to the packets. We haven’t had a problem with the potatoes being under done, but this is definitely an option for those of you who are concerned about it. Another option would be to cut the potatoes smaller so they cook faster.
- If you don’t have a grill or aren’t wanting the outdoor experience, you can also make these in your oven at 400-degrees for the same amount of time. Place each packet on a cookie sheet and bake as you would on the grill.
- Cajun Shrimp Foil Packets are gluten free when you use a gluten free chicken broth. We like to use Swanson’s Chicken Broth which is always gluten free.
- For extra flavor, marinate the shrimp in our grilled shrimp marinade before adding to the packets.
I was looking for meals I can prep in advance and take with me on our moose hunt. This one hit the spot! We loved it. I cut the potatoes in smaller cubes (they were perfect) and I added green peppers. By far the camp’s favorite meal. We did this on the grill but had the cover closed while cooking.
I agree the shrimp was a little over cooked but for the ease of the meal it can’t be beat.
Thank you for the recipe!
So glad this worked out so well for your hunt! Love the idea of adding peppers. Thanks for sharing!
This popped up on my feed. It was delicious! I was short on time so I didn’t use potatoes. As someone suggested, may be a good idea to microwave or soak potatoes before. Otherwise you sacrifice the shrimp. I used chicken sausage, corn, onions, peppers and mushrooms. It was amazing. My partner loved it. It’s becoming a fave meal. He’s ready for it to be a weekly meal So much you can add. Thank you!
This is by far one of the easiest most delicious recipes I have ever made. My husband and I can’t get enough of it! I use our homemade smoked ring sausage that we make every year and have found that we like it best with that. Probably because it has a heavier smoke.
Hi Viv! So glad you liked this recipe. I bet homemade smoked sausage is wonderful with this recipe! Homemade always tastes best 🙂 Thanks for sharing and for the 5-stars!
I will add some onions and bell peppers to the packet but wont add the shrimp till towards the end….40 minutes is way too long to cook shrimp…but orherwise it sounds fantastic
This was my first time tonight. It was easy to make and yummy to eat
Thank you so much!!
Making my camping menu. Can’t wait to try this. Especially since I have most all of the ingredients. Looking forward to making these foil packs. Thank you for sharing .
You are so welcome! This always tastes AMAZING after a long day of camping 😀
I am eating this meal now. Chicken kielbasi red potatoes baby carrots and corn with side of Zataran’s jambalaya rice. Added chicken broth creole seasoning Italian seasoning and butter. I put everything in foil cake pans and covered with foil. Nom Nom Nom.
Yum! What a delicious meal! Love the idea of the Jambalaya rice
These foil packs were great! I used chourico instead of kielbasa, and put in some breakfast sausage. Potatoes cooked just fine. Even added some quartered onions. Excellent meal!’
Ooh I love the idea of adding onions and breakfast sausage. Not way familiar with chourico though, is that like chorizo? Thank you for sharing your additions– sounds wonderful!
Looks delicious. I’m going to make it this weekend!
How would you personally go about doing this over a fire while camping, just to get an idea. I didn’t know if it would be the exact same as on the grill or not.
It really depends on how hot the coals are. It SHOULD be pretty close to the same amount of time. Just be sure to turn often if you are placing directly on the fire. You don’t want it to burn! IT may be a good idea to double-wrap it in the foil too– just to be sure.
YUM!!! I added a link to this on my Foodie Friday Roundup: Campfire Meals post. Please let me know if that’s ok. Thanks for the great idea!
We are great with link backs! Thanks!
Do you recommend “pre-wrapping and prepping” this meal? We are camping this weekend and this seems like an awesome meal that we can just throw on the fire grate and let cook, but would be ideal if we prepped them before the trip.
I don’t see why not! Let us know how it turns out!
Thank you! you may put us on your roundup as long as you link to us for your readers to get the recipe. Thanks! So glad you liked this recipe!
Didn’t have shrimp, but made this with the other ingredients, homemade chicken bouillon and a cutup onion. Cooked it on the grill – preheated to high, then put the foil packets into a vegetable rack and reduced the temp. Moved it around at 20 minutes and It was delicious at 40 minutes! So easy to make and very tasty! Used red potatoes cut in 8-10 pieces – all well done.
Made this for dinner tonight! Hubby says it’s a keeper!! So good! I did cook the potatoes in the microwave for a few minutes before cutting and adding to the packets. They were perfect!
I made this tonight. I will be more liberal with my Cajun seasoning next time. My potatoes were cut into small pieces but were very undercooked even after 45 minutes. I will microwave those first next time or just leave them out and add other veggies instead. Otherwise, it was a hit.
“Season to taste” on a dish with raw shrimp.
I’d love to see someone do this.
I made this for dinner tonight. I was so good. I cut my potatoes small and put them on the bottom. They were done in about 50 minutes. I used large shrimp and it was cooked perfectly.
This is such a great idea no mess no fuss but delicious. Can you put the foil packets by any chance turn into a pressure cooker and then how long would that take thank you
We haven’t done these in a pressure cooker before. We will have to experiment and see what we can come up with!
Cooked these last night on the grill. Everything was yummy except the shrimp which overcooked. We were thinking we should use frozen shrimp next time.
Im always looking for good dinner ideas i love to grill and my wife needs to learn new cooking ideas that are simple and yet good eating
I make a recipe like this. My family loves seafood, so I add a couple pounds of clams. I also use small red potatoes cut up. Real good spicy winter dish.
Yum! That sounds delicious. Thank you for sharing!
If pre-cooking I’m the microwave, should the potatoes be cut up already?
Also, I’ll be taking this to a party so would you suggest dumping it all (cooked) in a crockpot to keep warm?
Yes, you will probably want to cut them up first. Don’t over-zap them because you don’t want them to get soggy. And, yes, you can keep them warm in a crock pot 🙂