Updated from June 14, 2021
Everything you need to use, make, and try in the galley to create some truly righteous meals.
BUCKLE UP FOR A RIGHTEOUS ROMP through our top culinary commandments. Read and commit to each of these, and thou shalt not settle for bad food. And don’t worry—this list is all dos and no don’ts. It’s a combination of our best tips, tricks, techniques, and tantalizing tastebud tempters. Because your mouth deserves a little flavor on the road too.
USE THESE TIPS
Make (or Borrow) Your Own Signature Seasoning Blend
Save space and time, and be the king of your own mobile castle by consolidating your spice jars into premixed Signature Blends. You can make your own with basics like salt and pepper, garlic salt, and onion powder. Then toss in some interest with unexpected spices like smoked paprika or chipotle chili powder. Or, in a pinch, you can leave it to the pros and try a blend like Emeril’s Original Essence, Flavor God Everything, or your favorite blend.
Mise en Place, the Commercial Kitchen’s Secret
Unless you’re an RV full-timer, don’t waste precious campground time chopping and slicing. Nearly everything you cook with can be peeled, pruned, sliced, and diced ahead of time. Commercial kitchens call it mise en place, but we call it more campfire time. Bonus: This typically also saves tons of trash (and compost) since you can leave all the peels, seeds, cores, and more back home.
Perk Up Your Pre-Mades
There’s no shame in opening a can of something. But thou shalt not stop there! Most premade food is made to be pretty mediocre. Try adding a pinch of hot sauce or even your Signature Blend to canned goods. Premade soups almost always need a little more tang, which can come from a dash of vinegar or lemon juice. And in our rig, we never put a cooked veggie on the table without butter, lemon juice, and salt.
Fat and Acid. Salt Everything.
Every great dish has a balanced mix of these three primary tastes, with sweet and spicy often mixed in. The mysterious taste of umami is also important and is found in tomato products (even ketchup!), aged cheeses like parmesan, or products like ranch dressing or soy sauce. For fats, you want butter or any kind of oil. Acids include vinegar, lemon juice, or anything pickled. As you cook, be sure all three of the majors are represented for a delicious, complex flavor.
Bag It or Go Home
Reusable bags are versatile, lightweight, and easy to store. Sandwich-sized and gallon-sized freezer bags can easily fit even in the most compact kitchens. Don’t skimp on the quality. The difference between low- and high-quality bags is noticeable, but the price usually isn’t. (And a bag tear can lead to an absolute RV kitchen disaster.) Use bags to replace Tupperware when holding leftovers, your custom seasoning mix, and more.
Take Paper Copies of Recipes
Even when you’re at larger campgrounds, you never know when you’ll be out of reach of the internet. Print out any necessary recipes (or directions!) ahead of time to make sure you don’t get stuck without sweet, delicious data when you need it.
Make It Once. Eat It Twice
Soups, stews, chili, casseroles, pasta, rice—these dishes all hold up as leftovers extremely well. Consider doubling recipes so you can count on leftovers the day after. And, often, the day after that too.
Use Two Skewers Instead of One
This sneaky tip for campfire cooking makes everything from sausages to s’mores just a little easier to handle. It has also saved many a toasty dog from falling onto my foot, into the campfire, or somewhere other than where it belongs—my mouth.
Recipes Are Just a Starting Point
Thou shalt not let anyone tell you how to eat. Recipes are made to be broken. Use a little extra of this, a little less of that, and grab your culinary life by the horns. You’ve earned it. Eat your way to your best life.
MAKE THESE THINGS
Master el Arte de la Quesadilla
OK, the quesadilla is basically just a Mexican sandwich: a little of your favorite meat, a little of your favorite cheese, a little whatever you feel like, wrapped in a little bit of carbs. Here’s an extra ‘Merican version: cheddar cheese with hot dog slices, topped with ketchup and relish. Or, if you fancy, use brie or goat cheese and pear slices. Give the tortilla a light spray of oil and toss it on a pan or griddle. Perfect for tiny kitchens that are also living rooms.
RV Punch
Save some primo fridge space by making a gallon of my wife’s favorite premixed punch: juice and ginger. This pulls double duty as a quick refresher after a hot day of exploring or as a mixer for grown-up drinks, as it mixes well with any spirit. Try a 50/50 mix of ginger beer and just about any fruit juice, and then adjust to your own taste. (Or, for bonus points, your significant other’s.) Again, if you fancy, add some fresh mint to your cup before you pour.
Egg in a Hole
RV breakfast is a special kind of heaven. When it happens all in one large skillet, saving both cleanup time and burner space, it’s a winner in our rig. Egg in a hole is RV easy, and with a large skillet, you’ll have space for a couple of slabs of bacon beside it. Put a hunk of butter down on medium heat, cut a hole in a piece of bread, put the bread on the butter, and crack an egg in the hole. Salt. Flip once. End of the recipe. Start of breakfast.
Campfire Nachos
Nachos are the quesadillas of snacks: infinitely customizable, exceptionally easy, and extraordinarily delicious.
Here’s the recipe: Put some chips on something flat, put some stuff on the chips, then heat it all up. Over a fire, a grill, a cooktop, or even in a microwave! Meat and cheese are the go-to toppings, and a small can of pickled jalapeños adds spice and acid. Also, try sprinkling some of your custom seasonings on top and mixing up your cheese types for variety.
Hot Dog Wraps
RV meals should be fun. Trading your buns for a wrap, like a small tortilla pulling double duty from your quesadillas, is just the right amount of whimsy (and also cuts the calories!). Kids love it, and nothing says perfect-for-the campground like a meal that requires no silverware.
EXTRAS: TRY THESE THINGS
Fancy Oils
Truffle oil on fries: truffle fries. Truffle oil in your ranch: truffle ranch. Truffle oil on your nachos: truffle nachos. (If you like truffle fries, trust us on this one.) There’s a world of flavored oils out there, and most do just fine without refrigeration, packing a fantastic flavor-to-storage space ratio.
French Press
I can’t stress enough how important caffeine is to me. If that’s you too, you have to give a French press a try. It steeps the grounds in the water instead of filtering them, giving a surprisingly distinct taste, perfect for campground mornings.
Sink-Toppers (Cutting and Drying)
One of the most functional gadgets in an RV galley is the sink topper, which plugs up the top of your sink for bonus counter space. They come in a few styles, including cutting boards and dish racks. Some can even fold or roll up for easy storage. Extra counter space for the big win.
Pudgie Pie Maker
A pudgie pie maker is a weird metal contraption made to put in a campfire—an oddity to camp cooking that’s worth exploring. Basically, you put a sandwich in it and then fry the sandwich. If it sounds weird, it is. If it sounds delicious, it is. Which really sums up RV cooking at its best, doesn’t it?
That’s A Wrap
There you have it: your galley gospel, straight from our RV kitchen to yours. All you have to do is remember one golden rule: RV cooking doesn’t have to be complicated to be righteous.
So go forth and season liberally. Break a few recipes. Double a few batches. And if someone tells you real cooking isn’t possible in 200 square feet (or less), hand them a truffle-oiled nacho and watch them eat their words.
