20 Budget Friendly Meals
for a Road Trip


Choosing to bring your own food and cook while you are traveling will save you time, money, and added stress. You may think, “I’m on vacation, I don’t want to spend my time cooking”. The meals I’m about to share with you won’t take much of your time. These meals are affordable (under $10), super easy, and fairly healthy with gluten free options. Let’s take a look at the meals below that are more than just hot dogs and hamburgers. (Hot dogs and hamburger are good too!)
Serving size: 6
 
>1 lb. ground meat/turkey
 
>1 packet of taco seasoning
 
>box of elbow pasta (option to use gluten free pasta)
 
>jar of salsa
 
>2)- 8 oz. cans of tomato sauce
 
>shredded cheese
 
*Directions: Boil water for pasta while you are frying the ground meat, add taco seasoning, then salsa and tomato sauce. Cook pasta, when done add to meat mixture. Before serving sprinkle  with cheese. 
 
 
**Tip- With this meal, I like to cook meat ahead of time while I am at home. You can either freeze it or keep in the fridge if you are close to leaving for your trip.
 
 
>Bag of frozen shrimp (size depends on family size)
 
>1/2 Stick of Butter
 
>Garlic 
 
>Box of linguine (option to use gluten free)
 
*Directions: Defrost shrimp in a bowl of water in your sink. Boil water for linguine. Cook linguine. Fry shrimp on a skillet (or use a Black Stone gridle) with butter and garlic. Once everything is done, toss together. 
 
**Tip- I like to buy the jarred garlic and bring a small container of it with us on our road trip. It makes it a lot easier than using fresh garlic.

 

Serving size: 6
 
>Box of elbow macaroni or 4 boxes of regular mac-n-cheese (option to use gluten free pasta)
 
>Small package of Velveeta cheese or any cheese you prefer
 
>butter
 
>milk
 
>3 cans of tuna
 
>fresh green beans, frozen, or canned
 
*Directions: Boil water for mac-n-cheese. Cook pasta. Melt cheese with butter and milk. Add cooked pasta, then add canned tuna. Stir together. Serve green beans on the side.
 
**Tip- If you’re looking to save room in your fridge/freezer bring canned veggies.
Serving size: 6
 
>1 lb. ground meat/turkey
 
>1 can of chili beans/black beans/or kidney beans
 
>1 green pepper
 
>1 onion
 
>2  cloves of garlic
 
>large can of diced tomatoes
 
>packet of chili seasoning
 
>box of instant potatoes
 
>milk
 
>butter
 
>shredded cheese
 
*Directions: Dice up green pepper, onion, & garlic. Add to meat as your are frying it. Once cooked, add chili packet and can of diced tomatoes. Cook instant potatoes according to box directions. We like to serve our chili over top the mashed potatoes. Then sprinkle cheese on top. If you’ve never tried this, you should, it’s very good!
 
**Tip- I like to cook my chili at home then freeze it. I will also keep it in my RV freezer until I need it. The instant potatoes are perfect for camping as they are quick and take up little storage. 
Serving size: 6
 
>(2) 10 oz cans of chicken
 
>1 can of black beans
 
>jar of salsa
 
>packet of taco seasoning
 
>(3-4) bags of rice from a box of boil in a bag rice
 
>shredded cheese
 
*Directions: Boil water for bags of rice. Once done boiling, cook rice. Combine cans of chicken, can of black beans, jar of salsa, & taco seasoning. Cook together in a pot over stove. Serve chicken mixture over rice. You can sprinkle cheese over mixture if you like.
 
**Tip- Any leftovers can be used for making burritos the next day.

Serving size: 6

 
>can of chicken

>can of black beans

 

>packet of taco seasoning


>shredded cheese


>salsa


>tortilla shells (option to use gluten free shells)


*Directions: Combine all ingredients except cheese and cook in a pot over stove or cook in microwave. Place all ingredients in burrito, sprinkle with cheese.
 

 

**Tip- The inside of the burrito is basically the same as the Mexican Chicken Meal from above. If you have left overs from that meal, use it here.
Serving size 6:
 

>(2) 10 oz. cans of chicken


>bag of frozen peppers & onions


>bag of frozen broccoli


>jar of stir fry sauce


>(3-4) bags of rice from a box of boil in a bag rice

 

 

*Direction: Boil water for bags of rice. Cook the frozen broccoli over the stove, add the frozen onions & peppers. Next add the cans of chicken and stir fry sauce. Serve this over the cooked rice.
Serving size: 6

>package of kielbasa
 

>package of egg noodles (w/ gluten free option)


>14 oz. can of sauerkraut


>1/2 stick of butter


>2 cloves of garlic

 

*Directions: Boil water for noodles. Cut up kielbasa and either fry in frying pan with a little butter or grill. Add garlic. Once noodles and kielbasa are cooked combine with can of sauerkraut. Heat and toss everything together.

Serving size: 6


>box of spaghetti (w/ gluten free option)


>large jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce


>bag of frozen meatballs


>loaf of Italian bread


>butter

 

*Directions: Boil water for spaghetti. As your cooking the spaghetti, add spaghetti sauce w/ frozen meatballs into a pot. Once spaghetti and meatballs are cooked, enjoy with your buttered Italian bread.
** If you wanted, you could bring your own spaghetti sauce that you cooked ahead of time.

 

Serving size :6


>(2) 10 oz. cans of chicken
>packet of fajita seasoning
>bag of frozen peppers & onions (or fresh if you prefer)
>tortilla shells (w/ gluten free option)
>shredded cheese
>sour cream
>butter


*Directions: Fry onions & peppers with butter in a skillet or on a Blackstone gridle. Add 2 cans of chicken. Next add the fajita seasoning. Pan fry tortilla shells to warm them up or place in microwave in warm them. Once tortilla’s are warm add chicken mixture to them. Top with shredded cheese or sour cream. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serving size:6


>box of rigatoni (w/ gluten free option)
>1/2 lb of ground meat/turkey
>1/2 lb of mild sausage
>1 green pepper
>1 onion
>3 cloves of garlic
>1 can of tomato paste
>1 large can of crushed tomatoes
>tsp of oregano
>tsp of basil
>2 bay leaves
>1 small can of diced tomatoes
>1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
 
*Directions: Boil water for the pasta. Brown the ground meat/turkey with the ground sausage. Add the diced green peppers, garlic, and diced onions. Once browned, add the can of tomato paste. Next add in the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, & jar of spaghetti sauce. Let simmer for 20 minutes. Once pasta is done, top with meat sauce.
**Tip- I like to cook the meat sauce ahead of time, then freeze. I bring the frozen sauce and keep in our rv freezer until I need it.

 

 

Serving size:6
 
>1 – 1  1/2 lbs. of corned beef from the deli
 
>package of rye bread
 
>package of swiss cheese
 
>large can of sauerkraut
 
>bottle of Russian dressing
 
>2 cans of potatoes or bag of baby potatoes
 
>butter
 
>onion powder
 
*Directions: Heat corned beef on gridle or skillet. Heat sauerkraut next to corned beef. Next add swiss cheese to rye bread. Cook like you are cooking a grilled cheese sandwich with buttering both sides. Once sandwich is toasted and cheese is melted, open sandwich to add the corned beef, sauerkraut, & Russian dressing. The canned potatoes can be fried with butter, onion powder, salt & pepper or boiled if using baby potatoes.

Serving size: 6
 
>2 large packages of pre-cooked ham steaks
 
>butter or cooking spray
 
>7 medium potatoes
 
>2 stalks of celery


>1/2 of a small onion
 

>1 small green pepper
 
>1/2 cup or more of mayonnaise
 
>1 TBS yellow mustard
 
>salt & pepper
 
*Directions: Boil potatoes until cooked. Once they are cooked remove from water and let cool. Once cooled, remove the skins while scraping it with a fork. After all potatoes’ skins are removed, dice up potatoes into chunks. Next, add diced green peppers, celery, & onions. Lastly, add mayonnaise and mustard. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. As for the ham steaks, because they are pre-cooked you only need to warm them in a skillet w/ some butter or on the grill.
 
**Tip- My advice is to cook the potato salad a day or two ahead of time at home. Some may choose to buy a container already made at the store. If you need gluten free, this may be tricky to find.

Serving size: 6

 

>loaf of bread (w/ gluten free option)

 

>sliced cheese

 

>spreadable butter

 

>1 lb of ground meat/ turkey

 

>packet of sloppy joe seasoning

 

>can of tomato paste

 

>2 cans of green beans

 

*Directions: Brown the ground meat/turkey, add tomato paste & sloppy joe seasoning. Next, make grilled cheese sandwiches. Once the sandwiches are done, open sandwiches to place sloppy joe mixture into them, then close. Warm up canned green beans in a small pot or in microwave. Serve green beans on the side.

 

**Tip- You can make the sloppy joe mixture ahead of time and freeze for when you need it.

 

**Tip- You can serve fresh green beans instead of canned if they are available. 

Serving size: 6

>Package of hoagie rolls (w/ gluten free option)

 

>Jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce

 

>Frozen bag of meatballs (w/ gluten free option)

 

>Shredded Mozzarella cheese

 

>Parmesan cheese

 

>2 cans of carrots or bag of fresh carrots.

 

*Directions: Cook frozen meatballs in a pot with spaghetti sauce. Once down add to hoagie rolls, then top with parmesan & mozzarella cheese. Serve with a side of fresh baby carrots or canned carrots. If using canned carrots warm in a small pot or in the microwave.

>Frozen turkey burgers

 

>Buns

 

>Sliced cheese

 

>Condiments

 

>Bag of frozen steak fries

 

*Directions: Cook turkey burgers on a skillet or grill. Cook steak fries in RV oven , on a Blackstone grill, or large skillet on the stove.

Serving size: 6

 
  • >Box of the small shells

 

  • >2 cans of tuna

  •  
  • >1/4 cup of diced celery

  •  
  • >1/4 cup diced onions

  •  
  • >3/4 cup of mayonnaise

  •  
  • >1/4 cup of milk

  •  
  • >1 TBS lemon juice

  •  
  • >2 tsp yellow mustard

  •  
  • >1 tsp dill weed

  •  
  • >1/8 cup of relish

  •  
  • >2 hard boiled eggs

  •  
  • >1/4 cup Italian dressing

  •  
  • >salt & pepper to taste

 

*Directions: Boil water for shells and also another pot for cooking the hard boiled eggs. Dice up celery and onions. Cook pasta accordion to box directions. Cook hard boiled eggs for 20 minutes. As the pasta and eggs are cooking combine rest of ingredients in a large bowl. Once eggs are done, put eggs in a bowl of ice cold water for 15 minutes. After eggs are cooled, dice up and add to large bowl of ingredients. Add pasta and toss all together. Chill pasta salad for an hour or two before serving.

 

**Tip– I like to make this meal at home, then bring with us on our road trip. This is a perfect meal to eat on travel days. If traveling to hotels, place container of pasta salad in cooler and eat in the hotel room.

Serving size: 6

 

>2-3 cans of tuna

 

>1 can of Progresso Cream of Mushroom Soup (It’s gluten free)

 

>Box of rotini pasta (w/ gluten free option)

 

>Shredded cheese

 

*Direction: Boil water for pasta. Cook pasta according to box directions. Once pasta is cooked add 2-3 cans of tuna depending on your preference. Next add cream of mushroom soup. Let this mixture warm up. Finally add cheese (amount depends on how cheesy you want it). 

 

Serving size: 6

 

Sausage patties (fresh or frozen)

 

Bag of frozen diced peppers & onions

 

Hamburger buns

 

Sliced cheese (optional)

 

2 bags of frozen asparagus (2-3 cans of asparagus or 2 fresh bunches of asparagus optional)

 

*Directions: On a grill, gridle, or skillet fry sausage patties. Cook peppers & onions along side patties. Melt cheese on sausage patties if desired. Cook asparagus on grill, gridle, or in a skillet.

Serving size: 6

 

>(2) 10 oz. cans of chicken

 

>1 can of Progresso Cream of Mushroom soup (it’s gluten free)

 

>3-4 bags of boil in a bag rice

 

>1/4 cup of milk or water

 

>Salt & pepper to taste

 

>Shredded cheese

 

*Directions: Boil water for bags of rice. Combine can of cream of mushroom soup with 2 cans of chicken. Add water or milk to chicken mixture. Cook over stove for 15 minutes or until warm. Once rice is cooked, spoon chicken mixture over rice. Top with cheese.

 

*Tip- Could add a vegetable to side (corn, carrots, green beans, etc.)