We live in our RV full-time and over the last 3+ years, we have figured out what we do and don’t need in our kitchen. Today, I am excited to share 10 of our favorite RV kitchen appliances with you!
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Standard RV kitchen appliances
There are a few main appliances that come in almost every RV kitchen. These are obviously important and what we use more often than anything else. The quality of these appliances varies so I thought I would tell you about ours.
Residential RV Refrigerator
One of the main things I wanted when we were shopping for our RV was a residential refrigerator. To some people, this may not be a big deal and a more traditional RV refrigerator might be okay, but for me, this is our full-time home and I wanted to have a “normal” refrigerator.
We have a stainless steel GE residential refrigerator that has everything we could ask for! There is an incredible amount of space on the main shelves as well as all of the shelves in the doors. We have never had to worry about space which is a high bonus. There is also an inline water filter so we don’t have to worry about any water filters in addition to our Clearsource water filtration system. (Use code TUCKNAE25 for $25 off any Clearsource filtration system)
Another huge bonus is that the freezer drawer has an ice maker. This was a must for Tucker since he likes to use a lot of ice every day. If your refrigerator doesn’t have an ice maker built-in, a lot of RVers chose to go with countertop ice makers. There are two sections inside the freezer that once again, allow for a ton of space. We like to grab extra meat when it is on sale and freeze it to use later on. This allows us to save money and we always have something on hand for last-minute meals.
Overall, we are extremely happy with our residential RV refrigerator and would never own an RV without one. We are even able to run it off of our solar panels when we are boondocking! Read about our RV solar setup here.
RV Microwave
Some RVers choose to take out their RV microwaves, but we like having our microwave for when we need to use it. Like our refrigerator, it is also GE brand and is incredibly quiet compared to our first RV microwave!
We prefer to use our air fryer (listed below) for heating most of our leftovers, but some things like soups and casseroles obviously can’t be placed on an air fryer shelf haha! Although we don’t use it daily, we do like our microwave and are happy to have it for the times that we need it.
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RV Stovetop & RV Oven
We have a Suburban brand oven/range top in our fifth wheel. The stovetop is gas and has 3 burners. They are somewhat close together so using 3 large pans to cook with at a time is somewhat tricky, but can be done. There is a glass cover that you can
put over the stove top once it is cool to make the countertop level and protect the inside of the stove top from getting dirty when it’s not in use.The oven has 2 racks and is large enough to fit a small cookie sheet or a 13×9 pan inside. Ours cooks pretty well and we have made everything from banana bread to cakes, brownies, and casseroles. I do tend to put the temperature higher than you would with a normal oven but you will just have to play around with yours to see what works best.
Another tip is that you can put a square pizza stone in your oven. This helps distribute the heat more evenly and helps your food to cook better. Simply place it on the metal shelf just above the heating elements below the wire cooking racks.
The only issue that we have had with our oven/range top is that the quick start has gone out multiple times. We just use a lighter now to start both the stovetop and the oven. If we find a more permanent solution/fix to this issue I will update this post.
Small countertop RV kitchen appliances
There are a few small kitchen appliances that we use regularly in our RV.
NutriBullet blender
One of the main RV kitchen appliances I wanted to bring with us in our RV was my NutriBullet blender. I like to make fresh fruit smoothies from time to time and the NutriBullet blender is a perfect size. I like that it is small enough that it doesn’t take up too much precious RV storage space, but I can still make a smoothie that’s big enough for both of us in it.
You could bring a regular size blender with you in an RV if you wanted to, but I’ve found that the NutriBullet does everything needed and is way smaller. It does come with a lot of accessories including multiple cups, blades, and lids.
Click here to shop our NutriBullet blender.
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Griddle
I love to use our griddle for making breakfast! Pancakes, bacon, eggs, you name it, they all taste better on the griddle. It will fit 8 pancakes at a time or plenty of bacon and eggs. It is non-stick so it cleans up super easily!
We could easily use our cast iron pans to do everything that our griddle does, but it is easy and convenient to use so we keep it around. A lot of RVers use and love Blackstone griddles but we are perfectly happy with our smaller version.
Click here to shop our griddle.
Toaster
A toaster in an RV is handy for lots of obvious reasons. Toast, bagels, and English muffins are all better toasted! But it’s also nice for other things like making cheese quesadillas! (If you’ve never tried it, you’re missing out!) We have a KitchenAid toaster oven in our RV and it fits 2 slices of bread.
Click here to shop our toaster.
Electric tea kettle
One of the best RV appliances we have is our electric tea kettle. Anyone who knows us well knows that Tucker drinks unsweet tea. A lot of unsweet tea haha! Rather than buy it everywhere we go, we make our own at home using an electric tea kettle. We simply use it to boil water and then place tea bags to steep in the hot water. Voila! Easy peasy unsweet tea.
It is also handy for boiling water for other needs as well. When I am sick I like to drink herbal teas and I use our tea kettle for hot water then as well. A lot of RVers have a coffee maker but neither of us are coffee drinkers so this is essentially our only “drink maker” in the RV.
Click here to shop our electric tea kettle.
Large countertop RV kitchen appliances
In addition to our small appliances, there are a few larger appliances that we use in our RV as well.
10-in-1 air fryer
One of our all-time favorite kitchen gadgets is our air fryer! To be honest, they intimidated me at first haha! We were hesitant to get an air fryer due to the size, but after trying one at a family member’s house, we knew we had to take the plunge.
We got a 10-in-1 air fryer. It is a larger air fryer but we use it all the time and it was worth the cost and extra space it takes to store it. It came with multiple wire racks and all of the attachments that we could ever need.
It’s a nice option when I don’t want to turn the oven on. And since it just uses electricity, it is cheaper than using our propane oven when we have electricity or full solar. It makes leftovers taste even better than they did originally sometimes! And it’s perfect for quick lunches when I don’t have anything ready and need to pull something out of the freezer.
Click here to shop our 10-in-1 air fryer.
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Crockpot
Although not as big as our air fryer, our crock pot (aka slow cooker to some people) still takes up a decent amount of space but is totally worth it. We use our crockpot several times a month. Sometimes several times a week when it’s chilly outside! It’s convenient to be able to just throw something in the crockpot in the morning and have dinner ready on busy work days.
We have a basic Hamilton Beach crockpot that we actually received as a wedding gift. It is large enough that I can make dinner for my whole family when they visit, but it doesn’t take up too much space.
One of our favorite crockpot meals to eat in the RV is crockpot taco soup. It’s perfect for when we’re boondocking near national parks and it’s chilly outside! Some RVers prefer to use an instant pot but slow cookers are more my speed.
Click here to shop our crockpot.
Traeger Ranger grill
Of course, I had to save the best for last! We’ve had our Traeger grill for the last 2 years and use it all. the. time! It is a pellet grill that is electric so we have been able to use it even in places with a burn ban.
It cooks much different than a normal grill and makes everything very tender and flavorful! It is also a smoker and gives everything a wonderful smoky flavor. We love grilling chicken, burgers, and fajitas. Oh, and bacon on the grill is delicious as well! Every camper should try it.
When we are tent camping we use our Traeger a lot. We can plug it into the Jeep and run it right at our campsite. It is a pricey investment, but in our opinion, it is totally worth it!
Click here to shop our Traeger Ranger grill.
In closing
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this blog and that you’ve found our list of RV kitchen appliances helpful. Comment below and let me know what you would add to our list.
Happy travels!
