If you love camping in the great outdoors but are not a big fan of sleeping on the ground, going RV camping is one of the most enjoyable experiences available. RVs allow you to take longer camping trips in an incredibly diverse selection of environments. You can drive into a national park and spend time with the trees, head out to New Mexico and marvel at the desert stars or head to the mountains and park at the base of a breathtaking waterfall. Wherever you go, your RV is there to provide a tent, kitchen, bathroom, and power station all in one convenient and cozy package.
Spare Yourself the Heat – Cook Outside
Of course, though the kitchen is an incredibly useful set of appliances to bring along in most situations, using the oven or stove has a way of super-heating the inside of your RV. If you’re camping somewhere cold, this can be the perfect way to warm of the entire cabin without starting the engine and running climate control but it’s also all too easy to turn your RV into a furnace with too much cooking. Whether you’re cooking for one or have packed the whole family into your RV this trip, the key to happy, comfortable meals is to know when to grill.
Cooking outside gives you a perfect opportunity to make full use of your fridge without overheating the RV. Everyone can enjoy the sight of flames licking your pots and foil packets while you get to spread out over a picnic table to do your food preparation. You might even throw together a few creative side dishes while you’ve got the time.
Packing For the Grill
When you know where you’re going to camp and are sure there will be a grill or grate-covered fire available, you can pack your refrigerator and pantry with campfire grill recipes in mind rather than the usual stovetop larder. This means fewer pans and a lot more tin foil. You can even prepare ingredients and meal kits before you leave home. Prepping packets of foil-wrapped ingredients or pre-chopped Tupperware full of what you plan to grill is a popular way to camp because it saves you prep time when balancing a cutting board on your knees or feeding hungry campers who have hiked all day.
However, you choose to pack your ingredients, having the right tools and a few amazingly simple grilling recipes in mind can wow your camping partners and mark you as the lead camping genius. Here’s how to do it:
Park-and-Grill Recipes
Creamy Chicken and Vegetable Foil Packets
One of the easiest packet meals to make is creamy chicken and vegetable, and the chicken comes out surprisingly tender and delicious for such a simple grill recipe. All you need is a raw chicken breast, three or four tablespoons of cream of something soup (mushroom, celery, your choice) and a handful of your favorite side vegetables. Broccoli and carrots are a good fallback but you can also go with canned green beans or peas. It will all absorb the flavor of the cream soup and chicken.
Ingredients:
- Raw Boneless chicken
- Cream of [Fill in the Blank] Soup in condensed cans
- Chopped Fresh or Canned Vegetables
- Ingredients to Taste
Place the chicken, chopped vegetables, and two tablespoons of cream soup into the center of a foil square and fold the sides in to make a packet. Each person can choose their pick of vegetables, soup flavor, and portions. Pinch and roll the edges to seal the packet and throw on the grill. If you don’t have a grill, set the packet on the coals of your fire and leave it there for about 10-15 minutes. Then flip and cook for ten minutes more.
The most important phase here is making sure the chicken is cooked all the way through When it is white and flakes at a fork’s prodding, the chicken is done, your vegetables should be tender, and a hot creamy chicken meal can be enjoyed by all. You might be surprised how delicious this simple recipe can be and may even find yourself making it at home.
Skillet Nachos
If you keep an iron skillet in your RV, now is exactly the occasion you’ve been preparing for. Nachos are an incredibly delicious quick meal and you barely need refrigeration to pack the ingredients. For a standard batch of campfire nachos, pack a big bag of tortilla chips, shredded Mexican cheese mix, a can of refried beans, a jar of sliced olives, a small onion, sour cream, and a bottle of salsa. If you want meat for your nachos, the easiest way (without pre-cooking taco meat) is to either grill up and dice a chicken fillet or cook a hamburger then crumble it.
Ingredients:
- Tortilla Chips
- Shredded Mexican Cheese
- Can Refried Beans
- Ground Beef or Diced Chicken
- Fresh chopped tomatoes
- Toppingsopoings to Taste
Skillet nachos serve two to three people per skillet depending on appetite and skillet size. To cook them, start by layering the chips into the bottom of the pan. Make a nice two or three chip layer. Cover the chips in a few handfuls of cheese along with about half the can of refried beans dispersed in dollops over the chips. If you like an even distribution, you can take extra time to carefully spread a thin layer of beans over each chip as you lay them down. Next, add anything else you want to be warm on your nachos like corn, tomatoes, and meat crumbles. Place the skillet over the grill or fire until the cheese has fully melted. Pull the skillet and add the salsa, sour cream, diced onion, and anything else you like cold on your nachos.
These are an incredibly popular campfire favorite and great for group meals where everyone is hungry. You can either eat them out of the skillet or serve onto separate plates. Just be prepared to make several more batches before the night is through. Nachos are addictive and a healthy recipe is great after a long hike.
3) All-In-One Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches
This recipe is great if you have a lot of people to feed and don’t want to use a lot of ingredients to do it. The Philly cheese steak sandwich is a classically delicious combination of provolone cheese, roast beef, and toasted bread but this time you won’t have to make each sandwich individually. For this recipe, you’ll need one loaf of french bread, the long kind with a sturdy crust, about 500g of provolone or mozzarella depending on your taste, butter, garlic powder, and a package of thin roast beef slices. If you like the peppers, you can also saute a bowl of sliced bell peppers and pack them along.
Ingredients:
- A loaf of French Bread
- Provolone or Mozzarella Cheese
- Garlic Butter
- Roast Beef Slices
- Optional: Bell Peppers
Remember your aluminum foil? Pull yourself a big rectangle of it, enough to wrap the entire loaf of bread in, and set it on the counter. Slice your bread into sandwich-width pieces but leave the bottom crust intact. Now mix the garlic powder and butter together to create a little garlic butter and spread between the slices. Add a spoonful of peppers to each section if you’re going to follow by a generous fold of roast beef slices. Slip the cheese into one or both sides of each roast beef. Spray the inside of the foil with cooking oil and seal it around the loaf, making sure to roll the edges firmly together. Now just set it on the grill or coals for about half an hour, retrieve, and have a blast.
4) Campfire Spinach Dip
One of the greatest things about creative camping is the number of recipes you can make that no one will see coming. Most people think of spinach dip as something you only get at restaurants but with four simple ingredients and a roll of foil you can enjoy this creamy delightful treat every time you go camping. All you need is one cup of sour cream, one complete package of room temperature cream cheese, 3/4 cup shredded parmesan, and 3/4 cup drained chopped spinach (frozen is fine). You can also add things like bacon, garlic, mozzarella, green onions, or artichoke hearts if you feel like packing them.
Ingredients:
- Sour Cream
- Cream Cheese
- Shredded parmesan
- Chopped Spinach
- Spices to Taste
This one’s really simple. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. If you prep the mix before you leave, the flavors will have set nicely together by the time you’re ready to cook but you can also make the dip all in one go. Pull two large and equal-sized squares of aluminum foil and stack them so you have a double-layer. Fold the sides up carefully to make an upright bowl with the corners sticking up like ears, then pour the dip into the center. Carefully close the top of your bowl so what it doesn’t touch the top of the dip by folding the corners and pinching the edges together. It will be gooey when opened, but tidier this way. Cook on the grill or campfire coals for twenty to thirty minutes, then pull, open, and eat out of the foil with fancy crackers you stashed for exactly this purpose. Watch your friends delight as they realize your mad campfire gourmet skills.
Also Check These Blogs
- How to Cook in an RV Kitchen
- All About the Food: RV Recipes for Great Meals!
- Awesome Food Recipes for RV Trips: Try This Easy Southern Feast
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