Small Camper Galley Basics – The Ultimate Guide

The allure of a small camper lies in it’s simplicity, so it makes sense that an organized and efficient galley is essential to make your outdoor adventures comfortable and enjoyable. In this guide, we’ll explore the must-have small camper galley basics that will elevate your camping experience without being overwhelming.

keeping your Small camper Galley Simple

Your small camper’s galley is where you prepare delicious meals, store essential supplies, and even socialize with fellow travelers. A well-equipped galley ensures convenience, efficiency, and comfort during your trips.

It’s important to keep it simple though. The first mistake I made when I stocked my teardrop camper galley was buying way too many items. I can only fit 2 people in my camper, but had enough dishes and silverware for 4-6 people! Now I keep it very basic – if you are camping with other people they will certainly have their own dishes, just let them know ahead of time to bring their own dishes.

Small Camper Galley Storage Solutions:

Storage space is at a premium in teardrop campers, luckily there are many ways to maximize storage. Installing shelves, hooks, and magnetic organizers will keep your most often used items handy. Collapsible containers and stackable bins are excellent for keeping your pantry organized.

The Command brand carries a lot of great storage solutions that will help keep your small camper galley organized without damaging the walls of your camper.

Camping Trip Meal Planning and Organization:

Create a meal plan and keep a checklist of supplies before you leave on your trip. That way you won’t buy or bring unnecessary groceries. Consider removing items like pastas and cereals out of the box and store in storage bags instead to save space. Dehydrated meals also pack small. You can also cook some foods like meat and hard boil eggs in advance, then you just need to warm it up at the campsite.

Cooking Gear for Teardrop Campers:

When it comes to cooking in a small space, choosing the right gear is important. Cooking gear such as nesting pots, collapsible items and items that can be used in multiple ways will help you keep your camper kitchen simple and efficient.

Small Camper Galley Basics

Click to jump to sections:

Small Camper Basic Cooking Gear

Dishes for a Small Camper

Small Camper Galley Clean Up

Small Camper Food Storage

Small Camper Galley Checklist

This is a basic checklist, you probably do not need all of these items.

Small Camper Basic Cooking Gear

Most small camper galleys are short on storage space, luckily there are many items that are small and collapsible and can easily fit in your camper. Click here for our article on the best teardrop camper cookware.

The GSI Outdoor Escape 3L Pot and Frypan is the perfect starter set for your small camper galley. The pot is collapsible and folds down to fit inside the frying pan. These are for use on a camp stove.

The Stanley French Press is a great addition to your small camper galley because it is small and fits nicely into a camper cabinet. It can be used to make coffee, but I use the pot alone almost daily when camping just to boil water. Anything that you can buy for your camper that has multiple uses is a great choice.

A cast iron skillet is a must have because not only can you cook on your stove top, you can also use it for baking and cooking right on the campfire. Make sure you pay attention to care instructions, cast iron skillets will rust if left wet.

A wind screen is a must have for your small camper galley. Whenever you are cooking outside, you are likely to have wind. I use this around the stove almost every time I cook, and it folds up very small to fit in the galley for storage.

My teardrop camper has a propane stove, but I still carry a small butane burner for cooking bacon or anything else that is greasy. I can cook on the picnic table or on my little table. The Coleman Portable Butane Stove comes with a carrying case and has an ignition switch so you do not need a match to light it.

If you make a lot of toast, this is a cute toaster that goes right on the stove top and folds flat for storage.

This Collapsible Colander Set is sturdy and collapses for easy storage. I use one for cooking and one for washing rocks after rock hunting.

The Stansport Egg Container is a must-have to protect your eggs from breaking. Another idea is to crack eggs into a clean bottle or jar and just pour out as you need them.

I love silicone pot holders – this set has everything you will need to cook in the galley or over the fire. The trivet mat is great for setting down a hot pan, I store these in my sink while traveling.

Compact Dishware for a small camper

This UCO Mess Kit is cute, small and easily packable in your small camper galley, I just love the UCO products and having all of this in one small kit is perfect. The cup is collapsible as well. I have several of the UCO sporks in my galley because I just love the weight and feel of them.

If you are going to take the time to make coffee in the morning, I suggest using an insulated mug to keep it hot for much longer. When you are camping there are all kinds of things that can keep you busy, so having a hot cup of coffee next to you is a nice treat.

Small camper Galley Clean Up

You may already have a sink in your small camper galley, but it’s probably really tiny. Having an extra dish basin allows you to wash your dishes on the picnic table, or I use my extra camp table next to my outdoor “shower” hose so I can rise the dishes from there. Just heat up some water on the stove top to wash dishes. I make sure to wash dishes after every meal to keep critters away from the campsite.

These odor free dishcloths dry quickly and are great for washing dishes.

I keep this collapsible drying rack stored next to my 12v refrigerator in my galley when not in use.

This mini Dustpan and Brush Set is the perfect size for your small camper galley.

This camping table comes in a storage bag and rolls up to a nice compact size for storage.

Small camper Food storage

If you are camping in bear country, make sure that you keep ALL fool and water in your tow vehicle, and clean the galley well after cooking so you won’t attract bears or other animals. For dry food storage I use a plastic bin or cooler with a locking top to keep pests out – easy to carry and fits nicely in the backseat of my SUV.

I installed a 12v refrigerator on a slide out in my galley, although I keep it in my SUV when driving between camp sites or if I’m in bear country. I love the ICECO Go12 and the larger version the GO20 because they are the perfect size, have a phone app so you can monitor the temperature in the refrigerator and the GO20 can have single or dual zones so you can use as a refrigerator, freezer, or both!

You should have a pack of food storage containers – a nesting set is great for storage and as bowls.

I hope this list of teardrop camper galley basics helps you to stock your teardrop kitchen.

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