6 Awesomely Delicious Tips for Cooking in an RV
Who Is Ready To Cook On The Road?
The allure of an RV trip is hard to resist. After all, what could be easier than packing up a rolling cottage that you take wherever you want to go?
Well, for starters, there’s the matter of meals. When you combine transportation with accommodation, you’re also making yourself head chef of the nearest restaurant—also known as your RV’s kitchenette.
If you’re worried about how to pack and cook in your RV, relax! Meal prep doesn’t have to be a chore. In fact, you might even enjoy cooking a lot more once it’s pared down to its most essential elements. As long as you plan ahead and know what to bring, RV cooking is pretty easy.
Try these tips to do it right.
1. Make a List and Check It Twice
You’ve only got so much room in your RV, so plan your meals carefully. For a short vacation, count the days and list the meals you’ll eat, skipping a few for restaurant dinners or day hiking snacks, if that’s your thing. Discuss a menu with your travel partners and shop accordingly, making sure to buy only what you need.
The Golden Rule of stocking your RV kitchen? Less is more. You can always stop at a grocery store if you run out—they’re everywhere!
2. Embrace One-Dish Cooking
With limited space, it’s much easier to prepare meals that require just a single cooking dish. For example, let go of a full breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and hash browns, and embrace a one-pan breakfast skillet meal instead. Dinner can be made the same way: think sautéed chicken and veggies for fajitas, or pork-fried rice.
If you have an oven, classic casseroles are a great choice, as are simple sheet pan dinners. A slow cooker might be worth its weight in gold as well—just be sure to pack it carefully where it can’t fall and break.
3. Pack Light
If you’re renting an RV that doesn’t come equipped with plates and utensils, you’ll have to bring your own. You don’t need nearly as much as you think! Everyone needs one plate, bowl, and cup, plus a fork, knife and spoon. Go for lightweight plastic versions: remember, things can shift during travel, and you don’t want anything breakable.
For cookware, you’ll need one pot and one pan, plus a wooden spoon. Bring a sharp knife, and a cutting board, too. You may also need a liquid measuring cup and a few dry measuring cups and spoons as well. Finally, be sure to bring some tin foil and a few food storage containers for leftovers, plus dish soap and a sponge for cleanup.
Pro Tip: Long-haul RV-ers should invest in stackable square containers for the freezer. Use them for double meal prep by eating half of that chili tonight and freezing the rest for later.
4. Build a Spice Kit
The secret to keeping RV meals interesting is having a basic spice kit ready for the road. Here’s what you absolutely need:
- Salt
- Ground pepper
- Red pepper flakes
- Garlic powder
- Ground cinnamon
- Italian seasoning blend
- Curry powder
- Chili powder
These eight items will let you add a lot of flavor to basic meals, and you can turn a plain staple like rice into a side dish worthy of Mexican, Asian, or Italian cuisine.
Pro Tip: To save space, try emptying spices into the smallest available Ziploc bags, which will pack flat in a drawer.
5. Embrace Instant Options
There will be some days when you get in late or are just too tired to cook. Frozen dinners, sous vide meals, instant oatmeal, ramen noodles—these are all lifesavers for those nights when cooking is the last thing you want to do. Be sure to have at least one “emergency” option that will take zero effort to make.
There are also healthier, instant options as people are becoming more conscious about the foods (with the chemicals and high processing) that we put into our bodies.
6. Clean as You Go
With only one cutting board, you’ll have to wash as you go to prevent cross-contamination. But it’s a good idea to wash as you cook so that you have a clean workspace, too. Drop used utensils directly into the sink, and make it a habit to wash all of your prep tools as soon as food is sizzling away in a pan or the oven. Wipe surfaces as well, since you’ll need them again to serve food or ladle it into storage containers after the meal.
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Christina’s Camp Cooking
Ok, so first off – – We hate to CLEAN at camp, so we rarely “COOK” at camp. Most of our food prep is at home and then freezing leftovers after dinner. At camp, we use the microwave, pot on the stove or a crockpot to re-heat. If we use a crock pot….yup – we use a liner. Some of these are easy to make at camp with a crock pot – but only if you have room in the fridge or cooler and know you can keep your raw meat at the proper temp. Our personal camper is already equipped with a griddle, toaster and coffee pot. I bring a crock pot and coleman camp stove from home if I need to. Some of the frozen stuff actually helps keep our cooler cold as we gradually let it thaw thru the weekend. Double duty.
Here is our basic plan before our trip…..
• Chile/Stew/Soup – A couple of weeks before, I cook a HUGE pot of (chile, gumbo, jambalaya, whatev – – ) we have it for dinner and I FREEZE the leftovers. (lunch or dinner at camp – thaw, heat, serve).
o If I make chile – – we have chile one night and perhaps chile dogs the next –
• Pork Roast/Tenderloin – pulled pork… we make it at home (crock pot, smoker, oven…) eat one meal off of it and freeze the rest for camp.
• Chicken Tacos – pulled chicken in the crock pot – we make it at home, eat one meal and freeze the rest for camp. I might bring a small tub of sour cream, guac, salsa, chips, cheese, tortilla chips and a box of taco shells – easy – nachos or tacos.
• Beef Tacos – I make the taco meat at home and reheat at camp – same sides as above.
• Taco Soup – I bring two cans of rotelle, two cans of chile beans (or a frozen bag of black beans made in the instapot), two cans of hominy, two cans of corn, a packet or two of taco seasoning, a packet or two of ranch – – BOOM. You can use your leftover meat (pulled pork, pulled chicken, taco meat) and toss it in the soup. I usually season it myself, but the packets can make it REALLY simple (read your labels).
• Hobo Dinners – there are a gazillion recipes online for this – pick your favorite and prepare them ahead of time. Toss them in the fire and eat. We kinda cheat and toss everything in a foil pan and then scoop out what we want instead of individual meals. Brats, Onions, Taters seem to be a huge hit. Hobo Dinners are pretty fun – especially if the kiddos help you prepare at home – to toss in the fire at camp. Hamburger, Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Taters, Cube of Cheese – – ask them what they think might be good in them.
• Bake bacon… fill the entire oven with bacon on parchment paper right before the trip, cook it in the comfort of my kitchen and toss it in a Tupperware or ziplock. BANG – bacon for breakfast, bacon on cheeseburgers, BLTs – you catch my drift.
• Lettuce/Tomato – (BLTs) – already sliced, cleaned and ready for sandwiches. All we need to bring is maybe sliced cheese and mayo (and a package or turkey – BLTTCs).
• Sausage – we make sausage patties – right before we leave, I make it all at home to reheat at camp. Sometimes I bring a bowl of cooked crumbled sausage, too – toss it in a stew/soup or eggs or omelets.
• Hamburgers – I season and patty out the burger (use wax paper to separate) at HOME and put them in Tupperware or a Ziplock. Grillin made simple.
• Hard-boiled eggs – – egg salad, breakfast, these are great. I usually peel them at home and stick them in a Tupperware.
• Fruit, fruit, fruit – small Tupperware that easily fits in the RV fridge
• Quesadillas on the griddle (leftover taco meat or chicken meat or just cheese)
• Pancakes on the griddle (box mix)
• Grilled cheese (or ham and cheese) on the griddle
• Fridge is limited – so smaller “everything” helps with space – ketchup, mustard, creamer, etc…
• I try to make everything else on the electric griddle or the coleman stove OUTSIDE the camper (so much easier to clean).
• So my grocery list for camp is basically a huge bag of fiesta shredded cheese, butter, condiments, bread, syrup, salsa, sour cream, tortilla chips, tortilla shells, lunch meat, sliced cheese, hot dogs, brats, fruit, box of pancake mix. Sometimes I even make the sandwiches ahead of time (just meat and cheese – add condiments later).
These are fantastic ways to plan meals while camping and RVing.