The kids are out for summer, and hungry bellies and loads of free time could be a recipe for disaster if you’re not careful. Or, hungry bellies could be a recipe for some fun new RV cooking adventures. You can make great meals in an RV kitchen — all while getting the kids in on the fun.
RV road trips can create a special chance for you and your family to explore new things, and RV meals in particular can be a great way to bring your family together. Let’s check out a few tips for easy meals to make inside your RV.
What you’ll need for RV cooking
When it comes to RV meals, there are some tools of the trade that will be indispensable as you try new recipes with the family:
- Your RV stove — Most RVs are equipped with a propane stove that will function without electricity. Propane stoves are handy because you can do your cooking without worrying about running the batteries dead. RV stoves haven’t changed much in 100 years because they haven’t had to. Propane stoves are a highly efficient way to cook and give you the maximum range to control the temperatures of the dishes you are cooking.
- Non-stick pots and pans — Multi-piece, nesting cookware like this Magma Products set will give you an array of options for cooking. You can use the big pot to create a crockpot on your RV stove, while the pans can be used for frying. It’s also worth noting you can use all of the pots in the oven, too.
- Air-fryers — Air fryers are wildly popular for RVers because they allow you to cook a variety of healthy and creative RV meals. They use scads of electricity though, so are not best when you’re boondocking
Pizzas
Pizza is a universally popular, family-friendly, and increasingly healthy meal that can be easily made in an RV. You can even cook a pizza on your RV stove if you don’t have an oven.
You can get the whole family involved with choosing the ingredients, helping knead the dough, or getting creative with fun twists like pizza cones. By using a cauliflower crust and limited amounts of cheese and meats, you can keep the pizza healthy too.
Salads with fresh market veggies
Salads are one of the best RV meals you can create because RVers have access to some of the grandest farmer’s markets in the U.S. While some of these markets are currently closed due to the coronavirus, many established markets remain open as essential businesses.
Fresh kale, tomatoes, and cucumbers are only a few of the wonderful salad ingredients that’ll be at your fingertips while you’re RVing. You can even ditch the store-bought dressings by mixing sesame oil and a dash of hummus to create a delicious — and healthy — dressing for your salad.
Soups
If you find yourself in cooler climates, soups are one of the best RV meals you can make. Soups are also helpful for using leftover veggies, herbs, meats, and many other ingredients you have lying around. That’s because soups are quite forgiving and allow you to boil together foods that might not otherwise mix.
Soups are also terrific for those cold nights by the fire when you and the kids need something to warm the body and feed the soul.
Dutch oven dishes
Dutch oven cooking is a distinct culture within the RV community. There are forums, Facebook groups, and even entire websites devoted to dutch oven cooking. A dutch oven is a large cast-iron pot that you put hot coals around to generate steady heat inside. We put together this detailed guide to show you exactly how to cook with a dutch oven.
You can prepare an array of meals, appetizers, and desserts in a dutch oven inside your RV and then move outside by the campfire to get your RV meal cooking. If you find an open apple orchard, you could even take the kids apple picking and then make hot apple cobbler — a favorite dish of dutch oven users.
Conclusion
RV cooking is one of the best ways to bring the family together in a healthy and fun way. Even if you’re only working with a two-burner RV stove, there is a wide range of easy meals you can make in your RV. All that’s left to do now is gather the kids and get cooking — and give us a shout if we can help you choose a rental to use to prepare your newly planned RV meals.
