4 Easy (and Delicious) RV Meals You Need to Try

This week Laura and I are parked at the Beavertail Hill State Park just outside of Missoula, Montana. What a great place to settle in for a week or so.

One of the questions we get asked all the time by those we meet along the way is, “You must eat out all the time, right?” Well, I wish that was the case as we really like finding small local food joints. But, the reality is we are on a budget, and it’s not realistic to eat out 3-4 times a week (or find celiac-friendly places for Laura).

Our 4 Easy and Delicious RV Meals

Our kitchen consists of a 3 burner range, (small) oven and microwave. We also have a small charcoal grill outside, so we aren’t really limited in our capacity to cook. So what are our favorite RV meals to cook?

RV Breakfast

Costa Rica Breakfast

Breakfast is our favorite meal of the day, so it’s got to be good. Lately, the “Costa Rica Breakfast” has been my go-to meal in the morning. I call it the Costa Rica Breakfast because I’ve been able to taken a few trips to Costa Rica, some for missions work and some to surf, but one thing is always the same: the breakfast.

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Brown Rice
1 can of Black Beans
Red pepper flakes, S&P to taste
Eggs (over easy is the best!)
Toast (in our case, it’s gluten free)
Tapatio Hot Sauce
1/2 Avocado
Mix of Fruit

This meal gives us plenty of energy and is very filling, not to mention it’s CHEAP. We usually prepare a large pot of rice early in the week and keep it in the fridge. That way, all we have to do is heat the black beans in a pot with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and cook the eggs and toast.  As I do with most meals, avocado and hot sauce are added on top for some extra flavor.

The only thing we are lacking is the fresh fruit readily available in Costa Rica. We’ve been luck to pick fresh raspberries and are planning to visit the Farmer’s Market tomorrow, but other than that, Costco will have to do.

RV Lunch

Rice Bowls

Lunch is a weird meal for us. Most times we are out and about exploring the area, so we will just pack a sandwich and some fruit or some filling snacks. But when we do find ourselves at the RV around lunchtime, we often throw together a rice bowl.

Ingredients:

Rice
Greens (sautéed)
Bell Peppers (sautéed)
Red or White Onion (sautéed)
Protein (ground turkey/chicken sausage/rotisserie chicken)
Avocado

As I mentioned earlier, we try to batch cook rice, so that’s already prepared. We do the same thing with ground turkey, the chicken sausages and rotisserie chicken so they are cooked, just need to be heated. All we really have to do is heat up olive oil in a pan and sauté onions, bell peppers and greens with some salt and pepper. Next, add in the already prepared rice and protein. Mix it together, and in a few minutes, it’s done. Throw it in a bowl with your favorite toppings or sauce – options: hot sauce, avocado, humus, salsa or maybe some cheese. Enjoy!

Dinner

Nachos

This has by far been the most popular of the RV meals. Maybe not the healthiest, but it’s just so easy to whip together after traveling all day or fishing fishing until 10pm. Most of the time, we have the meat already prepared, so it’s super quick to throw together.

And let’s be real, who doesn’t love nachos? Step one is to find a quality tortilla chip. We discovered Juanita’s chips while in Bend, OR, and they have been our go-to chip when we can find them. Really, you should try them. They are the best store brought tortilla chip.

Ingredients:

Tortilla Chips
Mexican Blend Cheese
Meat (ground beef/ground turkey/shredded chicken)
Onions
Bell Peppers
Greens
Salsa
Avocado

If some of these ingredients are starting to look repetitive, well, it’s because we can only fit so much in our RV refrigerator. So we choose to buy things that work in a variety of different meals.

First things first. Sauté those peppers, onions and greens.

Next lay a base layer of tortilla chips over a pan covered in aluminum foil. Aluminum foil is the key to easy clean up in the RV! Then, add a small layer of cheese followed by your already prepared meat and  sauté veggies. Add another layer of cheese on top and pop that pan in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. When your cheese is super melty, cover the top with a thin layer of salsa and diced avocado and enjoy!

Most of the time, we just put a hot pad on the table and eat straight off the pan, talk about reducing dish cleaning, haha.

Grilled Pizzas

Huh? Gilled Pizza? Really? The answer is YES. What’s more relaxing that sipping a glass of wine in the evening with a hot off the grill pizza? My answer to that is, two glasses of wine with a hot off the grill pizza. All joking aside, this is always a good time and you can make so many different types of pizza.

Since Laura has celiac, we go with pre-made gluten free pizza crusts. The best ones we found were from Trader Joe’s and 2 personal size crusts came in a pack.

Ingredients:

Pizza Crust
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Your favorite Pizza Sauce
Pepperoni
Spinach
Mushrooms

Alright so well before you start putting together your pizza, get that charcoal lit and down to a manageable heat. The last thing you want is a burnt pizza crust. While the grill is getting heated up, go ahead and sauté the mushrooms.

Next step is to construct your pizza! For me, a layer of sauce, a small layer of cheese, then the pepperoni, spinach and mushrooms, then another small layer of cheese on top. Once your pizza is assembled, your coals should be down enough to throw them on the grill. Once they are cooking it should only take 7-10 minutes to get everything melted and crispy. Make sure to close the lid of your grill so the pizza soaks up the smoke; it’s really tasty! Pull those things off the grill and enjoy with a glass of your favorite wine.

What are you go-to RV meals? We’re always looking for easy recipes to throw into the mix!