What’s in My Camper Kitchen

I knew before we moved into our camper that downsizing my kitchen would be the hardest part about going on the road. I have a lot of cooking supplies and utensils, and I love to cook. Sometimes I find myself thinking back fondly on the times when I used to have more than one mixing bowl, bake multiple things at the same time, and have unused counter space while cooking. But I just keep reminding myself how easy it will be to cook in a real kitchen again once we’re done traveling. If you live in an RV or are thinking about moving into an RV, I hope this post is helpful to you during the process of assembling your RV kitchen!

The first thing I did when deciding what to bring in the RV with us and what to leave in storage was to measure the oven. There was no sense in bringing a baking dish that wasn’t going to fit in my oven. That helped me to eliminate a few things, and then I also decided not to bring any duplicates (my mom had gifted me a full set of beautiful CorningWare baking dishes that she has been adding to over the years as she found matching pieces at thrift shops, so I have quite a large collection with several pieces being duplicates). 

Next – because I’m paranoid – I decided to keep anything glass to a minimum. The only breakable items in my kitchen are baking dishes, my Pyrex food storage containers, and a set of glass measuring cups that I also sometimes use for mixing/microwaving. I have a set of camping dishes with 4 plates, bowls, and mugs that we use in conjunction with a few plastic cups. My glass pieces have held up surprisingly well to travel (and of course now that I say it, somethings gonna break haha), but I still wouldn’t feel comfortable bringing my china peacock-patterned plates from home on the road with us. 

I did quite a bit of research before we moved into our RV, and there were a few items we decided to buy that have made our life much easier, although they’re not all necessities. The first thing was a baking stone. I’ve been using a baking stone for several years before this, but the one I had was too large to fit in the RV oven. I had read that by placing a stone in the oven directly on top of the metal heat shield helps to distribute the heat evenly and prevents the bottom of your food from burning while the top is left uncooked. Since I bought the stone prior to cooking a single meal in that oven (and it hasn’t left the oven since we’ve moved in), I can’t be sure if my RV baking success is due to the stone or to the newer model oven; if you read my post about Thanksgiving you will see some of the goodies I’ve baked in my oven (we’ve also had success baking pizza, breads, and cookies). *We leave the stone in the oven on travel days, and so far it’s held up.

The next few items we bought were purchased with the intent of saving our propane – most of the parks we’ve stayed at do not charge for electricity, so I’d say these items have been well worth it. Our electric kettle is used almost daily to boil water for coffee (Keith) and tea (me). Our Instant Pot Mini has been a lifesaver when it comes to beans, chili, soups, etc. (we could definitely be utilizing it more, just haven’t really researched many recipes for it). We don’t use our induction cooktop as much as I would like unless we run out of burners on the gas stove, but since we knew we would be buying it and that it can only be used with a specific type of pots and pans (they have to be magnetic), we went ahead and bought a new set. The ones we bought are made specifically for boats and RVs – they all fit inside of each other and can be easily stored in a small space, they come with two detachable handles that can fit onto each pot as needed, and they work perfectly on the gas stove as well as the induction cooktop! *Induction cooktops can also be used with cast iron, so I brought my whole set with me – a wok, a flat pan I use to make tortillas, pancakes, and burgers on, two different sized skillets, and a Dutch oven. 

A few other things we have that we didn’t necessarily buy just because we were moving into the RV, but that we have are an immersion blender, a food processor, a panini maker (bougie, I know!), a toaster, and a handheld mixer. Other kitchen staples such as silverware, cooking utensils, so many hand towels, a Brita water pitcher (could not travel without this – we fill it up probably 4-5 times a day!), and a knife set are must-haves. *Our pantry space is quite a bit larger than most RVs I’ve seen, that’s how we are able to fit so many appliances.

I’ve read several other blogs from RVers that travel with way less in their kitchens, but I can honestly say that in the past 11 months that we’ve been doing this, we’ve used everything in our kitchen. I already had a love for cooking before we started full-timing, but especially with COVID and quarantine measures, cooking at home has become such a big part of our lives and I’m very grateful to be able to bring the tools necessary to make cooking delicious meals easy on the road.  

I’m a wife, a dog mom, a foodie, a wanderer, a registered nurse, and a couples/intimate wedding/elopement photographer … and this blog will cover it all! If you enjoyed this post, first of all thank you, and second of all please follow me on Instagram + Facebook to get updates on future blog posts, see sneak peeks of my amazing couples, and so much more! If you have any questions about elopement photography, my journey from nursing to photography, or my time spent as a full-time RVer, drop a comment and I just might write a blog post answering your question (but I definitely will)!