Top 3 Secrets for Great Kabobs (Recipe)

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July 13, 2024

Have you grilled shish kabobs yet this summer?

I have to say, they’re one of my favorites and something I look forward to making every year as soon as the sun starts to shine.

Kabobs are simple, healthy and so perfectly suited to the fresh tastes of summer.

Quick enough for a weeknight, they can also be prepped in advance for a sunny deck party.

Their roots are in multiple culinary traditions. Sometimes they’re just called Skewers. In Greece they’re called Souvlaki, which is what I made this week for my family.

At the most basic level, kabobs are bits of meat and/or vegetables placed onto skewers and grilled.

The combinations of ingredients and flavors are endless, so they easily suit dietary needs, flavor preferences, and whatever is fresh for the season.

But there are a few ways kabobs can go wrong if you don’t have the right methods in place.

To help you get it right and have the best eating experience, today I’m sharing my top 3 secrets for great kabobs.

Follow these 3 top rules and I can nearly guarantee you’ll create a delicious outcome every time.

1. Remove any connective tissue from the meat before grilling.

If you'd like to skip this step, choose a quality steak like the New York Strip, Rib Eye or Top Sirloin. Or tender pork chops.

These cuts have very little, if any, connective tissue, so you’ll save the trimming step.

Plus the NY and Rib Eye especially have the perfect amount of marbling to make for a super tender bite. Since our steaks are cut at 1” thick, all you need to do is finish cutting them into 1” cubes.

Click here to buy steak for kabobs now.

But other cuts are super delicious, too. Like pork kabob cubes, beef stew meat, chuck eye or denver steaks.

With these more economical cuts, skip this trimming step and you’re going to be disappointed.

Connective tissues, such as fascia and silver skin, add a nutritious element to stews - but are enemies to a quick cooking dish like kabobs.

Leave them in the kabobs, and you’ll end up with a tough nightmare you can’t chew.

So, depending on the cut you choose, make sure to carefully remove any connective tissue before cutting the meat into one inch cubes.

You don’t have to throw away the trimmed bits, either. Save them in the freezer to add extra flavor and nutrition to your next batch of bone broth. Or cut them up for your dog or cat – best friends for life!

Now, don’t confuse undesirable connective tissue with intermuscular marbling.

You can tell it’s connective tissue to be removed if the muscle pulls away on both sides (see photo).

Marbling, on the other hand, is the thin white veins of fat that run through the muscle.

Marbling is delicious and highly desirable in kabobs. Leave it in!

2. Place meat on separate skewers from the vegetables.

This is important because the vegetables are going to take waaaayyy longer to cook than the meat.

Put them on the same skewers, like you see in the pretty magazine pictures, and you’re either going to have shoe-leather meat or raw vegetables.

Which leads to…

3. Don’t overcook the meat.

Overcooked, dried out meat is tough meat.

I probably sound like a broken record on this point, but it’s so easy to get this step wrong.

And it's important because I want you to enjoy every bite of our premium grass-fed beef - every time.

So first grill those vegetables (the ones you placed on separate skewers) until they’re lovely and crisp-tender. Set them aside and THEN throw the meat skewers on the grill.

Now, don’t blink. Definitely don’t walk away to fill your drink, set the table, or mediate a kid dispute…

In a flash - just a few short minutes - those succulent meat skewers will reach an internal temperature of 140 degrees.

You’ll barely have time to turn them and get lovely grill marks on all sides.

Take them off the heat and rest them on a plate for 5 minutes. The internal temp will raise another 5 degrees and the meat juices will reabsorb for the most tender, juicy bite.

Use a medium (not high) flame, for best results.

Bonus Tips

~Get the family (or guests) into the action. Cut up all the vegetables, toss them in olive oil, and then let everyone make their own skewers with whatever ingredients they prefer.

When we made kabobs this last week, the Farmhands each made their own skewers and had so much fun in the process. Farmhand Vera eschewed the mushrooms. For Farmhand Eli, no onion. Farmhand Grace put on everything because that’s most fun - especially the “vacchinnies” (translation: zucchini).

~Don't puncture your hand with the sharp skewers! You learn such tips quickly when cooking with children... Put the veggies on a cutting board instead of the palm of your hand when shoving in the skewers :)

~ Marinate the meat for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours before grilling.

My absolute favorite marinade is from my Greek Souvlaki Recipe, because it is so simple and complements both One Straw beef and pork without covering up the inherently luscious flavor.

But even a simple dusting of salt (and pepper) works wonders. When you start with meat that tastes so good on it's own, your job is made easy. Sprinkle the meat generously with salt and let set for 30 minutes to 24 hours, like any marinade. Contrary to popular belief, salting in advance does not dry out the meat - but it does add complex flavor.

If you opt for the marinade from the Greek Souvlaki marinade, don’t forget to make the tzatziki dressing from the same recipe.

Drizzle it over the meat and vegetables on your plate. Then dust with parsley, salt and fresh ground pepper for the perfect finish.