5 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 6 dinners — 3 of those out at restaurants (dinner after The Narrows, and two in Salt Lake on the way out). Trail lunches are meat-free and fully heat-stable — nothing that needs to stay cold in a pack for hours. Dinners are grilled and eaten hot, right away. One grocery run in Salt Lake on Sept 5, before the drive to Zion.
Zion · Sept 5–7Bryce & SLC · Sept 8–10
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The Chart
Tap "Ingredients & directions" under any meal for the full recipe, serving size, and step-by-step.
Grill outside
Foil packet or wrap
Micro mug or bowl
No cook assemble & go
Out restaurant
Sat · Sept 5Zion
Dinner
Grilled pesto ricotta flatbreads Grill
Brush naan with olive oil, grill 2–3 min a side until charred. Stir salt, pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes into the ricotta, spread pesto then ricotta over the hot bread, scatter mozzarella, and close the lid a minute to melt. Off the heat, pile on arugula tossed with lemon, then balsamic glaze, toasted nuts and shaved parmesan. Eighteen minutes, no chopping, and it eats like a reward after a driving day.
Two flatbreads: one pesto ricotta, one topped with sausage and peppers instead of ricotta — one each, or split both down the middle.
Ingredients & directions
Ingredients (serves 2)
2 naan breads
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp basil pesto
½ cup ricotta, drained
Pinch each: salt, pepper, red pepper flakes
2 tbsp shredded mozzarella
1 cup baby arugula
½ tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp balsamic glaze
1 tbsp toasted walnuts
2 tbsp shaved parmesan
½ lb sausage, sliced + 1 pepper, ½ onion, sliced (2nd flatbread)
Directions
Get the grill to medium-high. Put sausage, pepper and onion in a foil tray on one side to cook through, 8–10 min, stirring occasionally.
Brush naan on both sides with olive oil. Grill directly on the grate 2–3 min a side until charred.
Stir salt, pepper and red pepper flakes into the ricotta.
Off the grill: spread pesto over one hot flatbread, dollop ricotta on top, scatter mozzarella. Top the second with the sausage mixture instead of ricotta.
Set both flatbreads back on the grill, close the lid 1 minute to melt the cheese.
Toss arugula with lemon juice, pile on the pesto-ricotta one, drizzle with balsamic glaze, finish with walnuts and parmesan. Slice both and serve.
Sun · Sept 6Zion · E-Bike & Emerald Pools
Bfast
Yogurt bowls & banana bread No cook
Nothing to cook, nothing made ahead — just spoon, slice, and go before you roll out to the Grotto.
Ingredients & directions
Ingredients (per person)
¾ cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp granola or chopped walnuts
1 tsp honey
1–2 slices banana bread
Directions
Spoon yogurt into a cup or bowl.
Top with granola or walnuts and a drizzle of honey.
Slice banana bread and eat alongside. Done in under two minutes.
Lunch
Pesto hummus & veggie wraps No cook
Made before you head out. No meat to keep cold in a hot pack — just hummus, pesto and crisp veggies, all fine at trail temperature for hours. Ride the West Rim in by 12:30, eat these during the relax window, then head into the afternoon's Emerald Pools hike.
Ingredients & directions
Ingredients (serves 2, 2 wraps each)
4 large tortillas
3 tbsp basil pesto
4 tbsp hummus
½ bell pepper, sliced thin
1 cup baby arugula
2 tbsp sunflower seeds or chopped walnuts
Directions
Spread pesto and hummus over each tortilla.
Layer pepper strips, arugula, and a scatter of seeds down the center.
Fold in the sides and roll tightly. Wrap in foil so it holds its shape in a pack.
Dinner
Chicken fajitas GrillMicro
Season chicken thighs with fajita mix, grill with pepper and onion in a foil tray. Minute rice in the microwave. Eaten hot, right off the grill — no leftovers held over for a hot pack tomorrow.
Fajitas — ingredients & directions
Ingredients (serves 2)
1 lb boneless chicken thighs
1 packet fajita seasoning
1 bell pepper, sliced
½ onion, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lime
½ box minute rice
Tortillas, cheese, salsa, avocado to serve
Directions
Toss chicken with fajita seasoning and a little olive oil.
Grill chicken directly on the grate, 6–7 min a side until cooked through (165°F internal).
Grill pepper and onion in a foil tray alongside, 8–10 min, stirring occasionally.
Microwave rice per package directions.
Slice chicken, squeeze lime over everything, serve with tortillas, cheese, salsa and avocado.
Mon · Sept 7Zion · The Narrows
Bfast
Overnight oats No cook
Oats, yogurt, peanut butter, banana, honey — mixed in cups the night before. Zero morning effort before the 16.6-mile round-trip bike ride to the trailhead at Temple of Sinawava.
Ingredients & directions
Ingredients (per person)
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup plain Greek yogurt
¼ cup water or milk
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp honey
½ banana, sliced
Directions
The night before, layer oats, yogurt, water and honey in a lidded cup. Stir once.
Refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, stir in peanut butter and top with sliced banana. Eat cold, straight from the cup.
Lunch
Peanut butter, honey & banana wraps No cook
Nothing perishable in this one — you're wading the river most of the day, in and out of water, and this holds up fine whether it's 90°F or your pack gets splashed. Hard cheese, crackers and jerky on the side for salt and protein; none of it needs to stay cold.
Ingredients & directions
Ingredients (serves 2)
2 large tortillas
4 tbsp peanut butter
2 tsp honey
1 banana, sliced
Hard cheese (cheddar or gouda), crackers, and jerky on the side
Directions
Spread peanut butter and a drizzle of honey over each tortilla.
Layer sliced banana down the center, roll tightly.
Wrap in foil. Slice a hunk of hard cheese and pack it with crackers and jerky alongside — none of it needs ice.
Same as Sunday. You're on the road out of Zion by 5am — this travels perfectly in a cup with a lid, eaten in the car.
Directions
Spoon yogurt into a lidded cup, top with granola and honey.
Grab banana bread slices on your way out. Eat in the car.
Lunch
Hummus, avocado & pepper wraps No cook
Made and packed before you leave camp — eat during the midday break between the Queens Garden/Navajo hike and the Rim Trail. No meat riding in a hot pack all day; hummus and avocado hold up fine for a few hours. Two wraps each, plus an apple and trail mix.
Ingredients & directions
Ingredients (serves 2, 2 wraps each)
4 large tortillas
6 tbsp hummus
1 avocado, sliced
½ bell pepper, sliced thin
Handful arugula
2 tbsp sunflower seeds or walnuts, for crunch
Directions
Spread hummus over each tortilla.
Layer avocado, pepper strips, arugula and a scatter of seeds down the center.
Fold in the sides and roll tightly. Wrap in foil so it holds its shape in a pack.
Dinner
Grilled chicken quesadillas Grill
Grill chicken and pepper, pile with cheese between two tortillas, back on the grill 2 min a side until it's crisp and the cheese runs. Cut in wedges, top with salsa and avocado. You won't be back from the sunset window until close to 8pm — this is quick and hearty after a very long day, and eaten hot right away.
Ingredients & directions
Ingredients (serves 2)
½ lb chicken thighs, diced
½ bell pepper, sliced
2 large tortillas
½ cup shredded cheese
Salsa and avocado to serve
Directions
Grill diced chicken and pepper on a foil tray, 8–10 min, until chicken is cooked through.
Lay 1 tortilla flat, divide chicken, pepper and cheese over half, fold or top with the second tortilla.
Grill 2 min a side, pressing down lightly, until crisp and the cheese melts.
Cut into wedges. Top with salsa and avocado.
Wed · Sept 9Bryce · Peekaboo Loop
Bfast
Overnight oats No cook
Finishes the oats, yogurt and bananas. Eat before or in the car on the way to Bryce Point for the Peekaboo Loop.
Directions
Same as Monday: layer oats, yogurt, water and honey the night before, refrigerate.
Stir in peanut butter and banana in the morning. Grab the cup on your way out — you're eating this in the car.
Lunch
Hard cheese, cracker & jerky plate No cook
No leftover meat riding in a hot pack for a 5.2-mile loop — this is entirely shelf-stable and fine at trail temperature all day. Add carrots and trail mix.
Ingredients & directions
Ingredients (serves 2)
4 oz hard cheese (cheddar or gouda), cubed or sliced
Handful crackers
2 oz jerky
Carrots and trail mix on the side
Directions
Slice or cube the cheese the morning of — no need to keep it iced, hard cheese holds up fine for a day trip.
Pack cheese, crackers and jerky together. Add carrots and trail mix.
Dinner
Burgers & clean-out foil potatoes Grill
Last night in Bryce — every leftover vegetable goes in the potato packet. Empty the fridge on purpose before tomorrow's early departure.
Ingredients & directions
Ingredients (serves 2)
½ lb ground beef patties (2 patties)
2 burger buns
Cheese, for topping
Potatoes, cut into chunks
Any leftover peppers, onion, zucchini
1 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper
Directions
Toss potato chunks and any leftover vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper in a foil packet. Seal and grill 20 min, flipping once.
Grill patties 4–5 min a side, topping with cheese in the last minute.
Toast buns on the grill grate, 30 seconds. Assemble burgers, serve with the potato packet.
Thu · Sept 10Bryce → Salt Lake City
Bfast
Last yogurt bowl & banana bread No cook
Finishes the yogurt and whatever banana bread is left. Eat before or during the drive — you need to be parked at Sunrise or Sunset Point well before the 6:59am sunrise. This is the last thing eaten in the RV; lunch and dinner today are both restaurants in Salt Lake.
Directions
Spoon out the last of the yogurt, top with whatever granola and honey remain.
Finish the banana bread. No dishes to leave behind, no fridge to worry about at drop-off.
Lunch
Spitz Mediterranean Street Food Out
325 South Main Street, Salt Lake City. After the RV drop-off and car rental, while you see the town.
Dinner
Slackwater Pizza Out
684 South 500 West, Salt Lake City. Last stop before the drive to Park City.
Grocery Checklist
Grouped by store aisle so you can move through the trip in one pass. Tap any item to change it before you go, tap the box to check it off in the store.
0 of 0 in the cart
Meat
Produce
Dairy & Cold
Pantry
Coffee
Trail Fuel & Snacks
Wine — Separate Stop
Non-Food
Kitchen Notes
Chop everything on night one. All the peppers and onions, into two ziplocks. Every meal after that is assembly, and you only clean the cutting board once.
Foil packet formula: protein + vegetable + a spoon of oil + salt, on a doubled 18-inch sheet. Fold the long edges together twice, then roll the ends. 20 min on the grill or 30 min in the RV oven at 400°F.
Freeze the beef at the store. It'll thaw in the fridge right around the day you need it, and the RV fridge stays colder with frozen mass in it — useful in a small unit.
Wine is a second stop in Utah, and it has to happen Saturday Sept 5, in Salt Lake, before you drive to Zion. Grocery and convenience stores there sell only beer at 5% ABV or under — wine and spirits come exclusively from state liquor stores or package agencies, and those are closed every Sunday and on state and federal holidays. That rules out Sunday Sept 6 and Monday Sept 7 — Labor Day. Saturday is your only window for the whole trip, so grab all five bottles alongside the groceries. Typical hours run late morning to somewhere between 7 and 10 p.m. Worth knowing separately: Utah's DUI limit is 0.05%, the strictest in the country, so plan on the wine being a back-at-the-RV thing.
The flatbread ingredients don't die on Friday. Pesto goes into Sunday's wrap lunch and gets spread inside the quesadillas; arugula becomes the greens in both meat-free trail wraps; leftover ricotta is good stirred into yogurt with honey; extra walnuts join the trail mix. Buy them once, use them five times.
The RV already has dishes, cookware, a toaster, paper towels, dish soap, and trash bags — grab disposables from the list above only if you'd rather not wash up after the messier meals. It also comes with a Keurig and pods, but if you're bringing your own machine or better K-cups, those are on the coffee list.
Never light the grill for one meal. Every time it's hot, cook something extra — an extra flatbread, extra quesadilla wedges for tomorrow's lunch. One grill session often covers two meals.
Pre-dawn routine, in order: Keurig brewing while you spoon out yogurt and slice banana bread, both into travel containers, out the door. No pans, no lights, no waking the campground, nothing that needed to be made the night before.
Meat stays at dinner, not in the pack. Every dinner is grilled fresh and eaten within minutes — that's the safe way to eat meat outdoors. The trail lunches (Mon and Wed) skip meat and leftovers entirely, since a few hours in a hot pack is exactly the window where bacteria multiply fastest. Peanut butter, hummus, hard cheese and jerky don't have that problem — they're shelf-stable by design.
Eat before the hike, not after. A full cup of yogurt with granola, or oats with peanut butter and honey, is roughly what a long canyon day actually costs you. Under-eating at breakfast is the most common reason a good hike turns miserable at mile six.
Wednesday dinner is the clean-out. Anything left goes in the potato packet, so Thursday morning is just yogurt, banana bread, and an empty fridge before you drop the RV off.