Every RV is typically smaller than the average home. That means motorhomes, fifth wheels and pull campers also have smaller kitchens. But vans and tiny RVs less than 30′ have even smaller kitchens where space is an absolute premium. Regardless of RV size though, it’s up to the RVer to find the best space-saving kitchen tools that will do the job but also store properly in their makeshift kitchen or galley.
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Top 12 Space-Saving Kitchen Tools Every VanLifer and RVer Needs!
Chip Clips and Bag Sealers
You can never have too many chip clips or bag sealers in your RV kitchen drawer! Our favorites are bag sealing clips that are made of environmentally friendly and safe plastic, which are perfect for different kinds of plastic bags, for example, chips, bread, frozen food or other foods bags, and keeping foods airtight and watertight from being stale.
We also love the OXO Good Grips and OXO Good Big Grips all purpose magnetic clips because not only do they keep food bags closed but also, they can be hung on a nail or hook to hold dish towels, notepads, calendars, etc. They’re great multipurpose space-saving kitchen tools that can do more than one task.
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Kitchen Drawer Foldable Cross Silicone Trivets
We were gifted a couple of these foldable silicone trivets when we downsized to our Winnebago motorhome. These cute little trivets don’t take up much space when put away in your kitchen drawer. These innovative kitchen gadgets protects your table or motorhome’s or camper’s kitchen counter tops from unsightly burns. They provide a sturdy base for heavy pans with an air pocket to better insulate your surfaces from heat.
And these cool kitchen tool’s super-flexible silicone and textured surface won’t rust like metal trivets, like cork trivets, or dry out like wood. Best of all, they are super lightweight and compact which make them perfect for RV kitchens.
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2-in-1 Lemon and Lime Squeezer and Juicer
Our citrus press is one of the most used kitchen gadgets in our motorhome kitchen. It’s proven to get more juice and you also will have no seeds in your juice. It works perfectly on all lemons and Key limes, Mexican limes. This cool 2-1 lemon and lime squeezer tool can squeeze them all with maximum result. The best part is being a 2-1, there’s no need to carry both, a lemon squeezer and a lime squeezer!
Speaking of lemons and limes, check out our Pico de Gallo and Guacamole recipes!
Multi-Grater Set
These 3-Piece Multi-Graters are another widely used kitchen gadgets we use often. From shredding cheese, slicing small cucumbers and even firm Roma plum tomatoes, they get the job done.
This mini food grater set includes a fine blade grater, a medium blade grater, and a coarse blade grater. They are made of silicone with stainless steel blades. But if those individual graters don’t work, we listed others below.
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Love those bright colors? check out our 10 Colorful Ways to Brighten Your RV Kitchen
Strawberry Huller and Tomato Stem Corer Tool
I have to laugh because this little red strawberry huller and tomato stem corer tool does even more. Once I slice off the top of my stoplight peppers, I’ll use this handy little kitchen gadget to scrape out the pulp and seeds.
And, I use it to clean out jalapeño peppers to prepare them for one of our favorites; bacon wrapped cheesey peppers! I also use it to remove those yucky eyes from potatoes before cooking! Because it’s so tiny, its a must for space saving kitchen tools to keep in your RV, camper or van.
Melon Baller and Fruit Corer Tool
Just because you live in a tiny space like an RV or boat, shouldn’t negate making fancy looking fruit bowls. Not only do we use our melon baller tiny food prep tool for punching out little balls of cantaloupe, watermelon and honeydew melons for salads, but I also will freeze them to make fruit cubes for refreshing beverages. Sometimes I’ll even throw some melon balls into my bottled water to add some nutrients and pizzazz! Melon ballers are great space-saving kitchen tools that can be used for many purposes.
Mini Spatulas and Scrapers
What better to get every drop than with a mini spatula and scraper set. Our favorite silicone spatula set includes a spatula, spoon, cutter, scraper and brush to meet your cooking and baking needs. The rubber-like spatula and scraper kit is also equipped with a bamboo handle which is the reason I bought the set.
Since we live tiny, we typically buy smaller condiment bottles and sauce jars. So we certainly don’t want to be wasteful with those last few drops or slather or mayonnaise.
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Knife Sharpener
Anyone who’s watched me do food prep in our mini motorhome kitchen laughs when I pull out my mini knife sharpener (bottom left) to sharpen my kitchen knives.
Though measuring in about 5″, it’s all I need to sharpen all of my kitchen knives and scissors. I sharpen our haircutting scissors and Dan sharpens his multi-purpose buck knife too. But if that particular tiny knife sharper doesn’t fancy you because you have bigger hands, here’s some other space saving kitchen knife sharpeners.
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Mini Whisks
These mini silicone whisks pack a lot of punch in their tiny 6.7″ size! They’re awesome space saving kitchen tools for smaller RVs that don’t have a lot of kitchen drawer space.
These space saving kitchen tools are still perfect for small mixing such as frothing hot beverages, whisking single eggs, mixing omelets, marinades, and other small-batch liquids. Each of these mini whisks’ silicone wires are heat-resistant up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit (260 degrees Celsius). And, because they’re silicone, they won’t scratch your RV cookware or RV dishes.
Space Saving Kitchen Tools Set
This 5-piece space saving kitchen tools set includes a cheese grater, garlic or ginger grinder, pizza cutter, bottle opener and a vegetable peeler. Your RV kitchen drawer would be chocked if you bought each of those kitchen tools individually. So, even for you van lifers out there, these must have trendy tiny space saving kitchen tools will add a chic modern look to your motorhome, camper or van kitchen.
Can Strainer
When you live in a tiny RV, there some kitchen items you may have to forgo because you just don’t have the space for. However, if you use a lot of canned goods, a can strainer is one of the most sensible space saving kitchen tools. And, it’s lightweight and fits neatly in your kitchen drawer.
When draining canned tuna, simply press the strainer into the can firmly and dump out the tuna juice (my cats love that stuff!). But when you’re draining canned vegetables, place the strainer over the can and while holding securely, dump out the juice. Check out these other can strainers below.
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Nesting Measuring Spoons
Don’t you hate those measuring spoons that get tangled in your kitchen drawer? Well, we found a set of Joie nesting measuring spoons that works much better in our tiny RV kitchen drawer. They literally snap into each other making them one unit when storing.
If you need a specific measurement, simply remove the one spoon and snap the remaining spoons together. No more rings or chains that get tangled in your galley drawer. This is one of our favorite space-saving kitchen tools because I’m kind of partial to bright colors anyway.
RELATED: Collapsible Kitchen Gadgets and Storage Containers for RVs
Final thoughts on our selection of space saving kitchen tools
As you see, just because you live in a tiny RV or camper certainly doesn’t mean you have to forgo useful food prep and kitchen tools. And while I get that RV kitchen drawers are much smaller, especially in vans and small RVs like ours, trying to find a place to stow them shouldn’t mean giving up something else. These particular cooking essentials are perfect space-saving kitchen tools for tiny RV kitchen drawers!
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