Tiny Kitchen Tips

The question I get asked most often is “how do you cook in your airstream?” I thought I would give you guys a little insight to our kitchen and some tips on how to cook in a small space with limited appliances.

During the design process, we decided to forego any built-in kitchen appliances. We did this for a couple reasons. First off, it saved us SO MUCH SPACE. We have ample cabinet space to store all of our kitchenware, and for being a 22 foot travel trailer, we have a decent amount of counter space as well. Both counter space and storage would have been extremely limited if we chose to do an oven or a stove top or microwave built-in to our already tiny kitchen. Secondly, trailer appliances are expensive. A RV stove/oven alone can be upwards to $1,000. So this choice also saved us a good chunk of change.

Because Dalton and I are living full-time in our RV, and also because he eats a ton of food, we decided to get a good sized fridge so we wouldn't be grocery shopping every day. This was our big purchase for the kitchen, but it has proved to be a good buy. We have ample fridge and freezer space. We purchased a standard RV fridge from Camping World.

So as far as cooking goes…. we do cook most meals at home. We maybe eat out about 2-3 times a week for lunch or dinner. I have had to learn how to make do with the few kitchen gadgets that we do have and get creative with what we decide to make. With all of this said, our top two most-used tools are the Instant Pot and an electric burner. I’d say we use these two items exclusively about 75% of the time. Here are the links to the exact ones we have:

Mini Instant Pot & Electric Hot Plate

We purchased the mini 3 quart InstantPot. This is the perfect size for cooking for two people (although Dalton eats at least two "normal" sized servings each meal). It's also not too big and stores nicely under our sink. We cook rice, potatoes, and have done a lot of poultry in the instant pot and we have not been disappointed yet! The hot plate has been a necessity for us, and it's super nice that it can just be unplugged and stowed, allowing for more available counter space if we're not using it! 

Besides these two appliances, we also have an outside grill that we use frequently, and then a toaster oven that we use occasionally. Because we don't use the toaster oven often, we store it under the bed. When we are traveling, the BBQ goes into the back of the car, and just like that our whole kitchen is on the road again! I will link the grill and toaster oven we have as well in case any of you are curious!

Weber Grill & Cuisinart Toaster Oven

I hope this answers most of your questions about how we cook! This also may be helpful for someone living in a hotel or any other situation where you have limited space and appliances. Let me know if you want me to share some of our easy, go-to, healthy recipes with you all! Thank you for following along on our journey :)

xo, Rebecca