Best Steak For Shish Kabobs

What Steak Should I Use For Kabobs

Top sirloin is great for kabobs. It is lean and doesnt have a lot of excess fat, making it easy to cut into cubes for the skewers. It is also budget friendly and easy find at ay grocery store.

If youre unsure of what kind of meat to buy, ask the butcher at the meat counter for some help. Ive found theyre always so helpful and happy to help me pick the best cut of meat for what Im making.

The Art Of Kabob Threading

Just kidding its not an art at all!

Theres no science behind the order in which I thread the beef and vegetables onto the skewers. I always start it with every intention of making them look the same, but I lose focus very quickly. So as you can see below, my skewers are a hodgepodge of random order.

Having said that though, I do follow these Kabob-Threading-Rules:

1. Dont smush everything together tightly. Thread pretty loosely so some heat can get in between this helps cook the vegetables more evenly

2. Cut your veggies so they are the same size as the meat to encourage even cooking and

3. Two pieces of veggies between each piece of beef it just makes the beef go further so you get 8 big kabobs from 750g/1.5lb of beef, and a nice hit of veggies per serving.

Just to be clear, I totally made these rules up myself. In case it wasnt obvious

Hands down, the best way to cook Beef Kabobs is on the barbie. But of course, when I went to do just that for the video, I found that I was out of gas. So I had to try to cook them on the stove but the skewers are too long for my skillets so I could only fit in 2 at a time on the diagonal.

They looked ridiculous.

But they were still just as tasty!! Nagi x

PS I dont know for certain if its kabobs or kebabs. Ive seen skewered meats onTurkish/Lebanese restaurants as kebobs and when I think of kebabs, I think of Doner Kebabs. So Ive gone with Kabob!

How To Cook Shish Kabob

It is so easy to overcook beef shish kabob, so we’ve learned!

But back to the choice of meat as they say, tender meat, high heat! And make it quick!

Of course, grilling time will vary depending on choice of meat, size and thickness of the pieces, and how well you like your meat cooked.

I used fillet mingon here, cut into 1 ½-inch to 2-inch cubes. Because we like our kabobs medium, it took about 8 minutes in total to grill.

Recommended Reading: Where To Buy Outside Skirt Steak

Garlic Butter Steak Kabobs

• Jump to Recipe

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Tender & savory steak kabobs are great for a barbecue entrée and a deliciously easy way to prep ahead!

These skewers have a flavorful marinade and grill up tender and juicy on the BBQ! Once cooked we drizzle with our fave garlic butter before serving! So good!

Watch How To Make Another Delicious Grilled Recipe Here:

Did you know we have a Youtube Channel? We have hundreds of simple and delicious recipes, your family is going to love. We take you through each recipe, step by step, and show you exactly how to make them.

I love a good grilled chicken recipe, but this Grilled Lemon Chicken is so tender and juicy. Its also incredibly easy to throw together. Watch how to make this simple grilled chicken dish, here:

Read Also: Pizza Hut Philly Cheese Steak Pizza

Choosing Meat For Kabobs

Meat cubed. To start, you’re going to want a meat you can uniformly cube. I stay away from pre-cubbed kabob meats, because you don’t always know exactly what they are and cutting your own cubes will make sure you’re getting the best and freshest product. I usually cube my kabobs into 1″ cubes, so I’m looking for a piece of meat cut at least 1″ tall. Making sure you have uniform size cubes ensures that all pieces of meat on the skewer will be done at the same time.

Don’t Lean. If you want the juiciest, most flavorful kebabs, you’re looking for the darker and fattier cuts of meat. Lean meat is prone to drying out easily, which is a recipe for easy failure. While fattier cuts are preferred, too much fat can be chewy and unpleasant with high heat cooking, so I usually cut out excess fat and sinew when cubing the meat.

Take them for a bath. Kebabs are often all about the marinade, which creates endless possibilities for flavoring. Marinades also often have a double purpose acting as a brine with enough salt in themwhich further aides in ended up with the juiciest final products.

What Is The Best Beef To Use For Steak Kabobs

When I buy steak to grill whole, I almost always opt for a striploin. I look for sales and enjoy it when its less expesnive!

It is naturally more tender and has more flavor so you can get great results without a lot of prep.

When you are marinating steak, you have a lot more options!

Because we are going to be both tenderizing and adding flavor, I opt for a leaner, less expensive cut like sirloin. It is boneless and easy to slice, and is going to be a great vehicle for soaking up this kabob marinade.

Generally, the less expensive your steak, the more time you should allow for marinating and tenderizing.

Recommended Reading: How To Grill Ny Strip Steak

Amazing Shish Kabob Recipe

Beef Shish Kabobs mean it’s summertime! Even though the prep is quick-and-easy, they always come out so darn impressive. Fire up your grill!!!

We partnered withBeef. It’s What’s for Dinner.,on behalf of the Beef Checkoff to show you how to make great tasting Beef Shish Kabobs!

This summer, Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. is bringing families across the countryfrom the farmers and ranchers who raise beef to the consumers who are enjoying itto unite around our shared love of beef on the grill as we declare in unison, United We Steak.

Simply put, shish kabobs are a dish of cubed and skewered meats. In this popular Middle Eastern dish, each hunk of meat is typically separated with chunks of onion and bell peppers. The end result is a beautiful skewer full of flavor and color.

Shish kabobs are a grills’ best friend. Let’s get started!

Origins Of Shish Kebab

The term shish kebab hails from Turkeythe word shish means skewer in English, and kebab basically refers to meat, vegetables, or other ingredients that served on a stick. While shish kebab may have Turkish roots, the dish is common all over the Middle East. Beef, lamb, seafood, chicken, and even goat may all be served on a stick. Vegetables are often placed on the skewer, but in the Middle East, shish kebab is often just meat. It’s an easy, economical, and traditional way of cooking meat.

Read Also: What Is The Best Marinade For Steak

How To Make Steak Kebabs

• Make the marinade: in a mixing bowl whisk together olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire, honey, dijon, garlic and pepper.

• Add marinade to steak: place steak into a gallon size resealable bag, pour marinade over steak then seal bag while pressing out excess air and message marinade over steak.
• Rest in refrigerator: transfer to refrigerator and allow to marinate 3 6 hours.

• Preheat a grill over medium-high heat to about 425 degrees .
• Toss veggies with oil and seasoning: with veggies on cutting board, drizzle with oil and lightly toss to coat.
• Sprinkle veggies evenly with garlic powder and season with salt and pepper.

• To assemble kebabs: layer steak and veggies onto kebabs in desired order, work to fit 4 steak pieces onto each kebab.
• Cook kebabs on lightly oiled grill grates: brush grill grates lightly with oil.
• Place kebabs on grill and grill until center of steak registers about 140 145 degrees for medium doneness, turning kebabs occasionally, about 8 9 minutes.
• Serve warm.

What Kind Of Beef Do You Use For Shish Kabobs

There are a few different cuts of beef you can use for shish kabobs, but really it all comes down to personal preference and price.

• Filet Mignon, is an amazingly tender cut of beef with great flavor, but is by far the most expensive.
• Tenderloin, which is also where the filet comes from is another cut of meat that is very tender and doesnt require marinating or much seasoning to taste delicious, but again it is on the higher price tag.
• Boneless Top Sirloin is a much more economic option and is commonly used for shish kabobs. I asked my local butcher what they use and he also stated they use Top Sirloin.

So really the cut of meat is not an issue, it is more of how much you want to spend and what you like eating. For this Beef Shish Kabob recipe I did use the boneless Top Sirloin and everyone loved it.

Again, grilling them quickly over direct high heat, uncovered helps to keep the beef from getting tough and will cook the beef to a nice tender medium rare.

You May Like: Steak N Shake Franchise Profit

The Keys To A Steak Shish Kabob Recipe

When making a shish kabob, I find top sirloin to be the best choice as its both flavorful and juicy, but sirloin tips, strip steak, and even chuck steak also work well.

The next step in any good steak shish kabob recipe is to select vibrantly colored vegetables. You can pick from a variety of summer vegetablescorn, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, and bell peppers are some of my favorites. Other options I love include pineapple, onions , cooked baby potatoes, and Brussel sprouts.

Now, some folks would argue that you should never, ever mix your meats with your fruits and veggies on the same skewer. I tend to agree with this when you are cooking something like shrimp with beef or chicken. Shrimp cooks significantly quicker than the aforementioned meats and would end up char-broiled. Also, if I am cooking with fruit like pineapple, I would more than likely not layer it on the same skewer as the meats.

But for aesthetics purposes, there is nothing as eye-catching and mouth-watering as seeing a rainbow of colors being grilled together over an open flame. The key is to cut the individual ingredients to allow similar cook times rather than the same size.

BREAKING:The 3 Exact Nutrients Your Body Needs to Lubricate Your Tin Man Joints

I also may or may not want to marinate the veggies in the same flavors as the meats. To each their own, though. It will taste good if you marinate your ingredients on the skewers.

The Best Steak Kabobs

These Grilled Steak Kabobs are a must make during the summer! The simple, flavorful steak marinade takes these kabobs to the next level! Lots of fresh veggies are skewered with juicy, tender pieces of steak for a dinner the whole family will love! Grilling this weekend? Check out my famous chicken marinade, steak seasoning and steak marinade!

You May Like: Henckels Stainless Steel Steak Knives

Best Vegetables For Kabobs

This question inevitably comes up- how to pick the best veggies for your kabob. The name of the game here is that you want to introduce color, but the pieces also need to be large and toothy enough for them to stay on the kabob while cooking, but not droop right off.

Ideally, these veggies will have char and snap, but not be fully raw. Picking the veggies is just as important as knowing what degrees of doneness youll be cooking your steak.

If you like a rare steak, then something like zucchini wont have enough time to even char or soften. If you like it well done, cherry tomatoes will blister, pop and burn.

Here are my steak kabob favorites:

• Yellow Squash or Zucchini Cut thick to prevent falling off, best for medium-well done
• Onion thread with 2-3 layers to keep it thicker, red, yellow or sweet works
• Bell Peppers- great for color and any degrees of doneness, yellow, red or green
• Mushrooms use whole button or white mushrooms or large mushrooms cut in half
• Cherry Tomatoes use the largest you can find, best for rare to medium-rare
• Whole Garlic If you love garlic, roasting whole cloves is the best, best for medium-well done
• Baby Potatoes regardless of the degree of doneness, parboil or microwave these to kickstart cooking
• Eggplant- cut into cubes

What Should The Internal Temperature Of Steak Be

The best way to check when the kabobs are done is to check the internal temperature of the steak with an Instant Read Meat Thermometer.

Each person will have a different preference on what the internal temperature should be, but listed below is a guide.

We prefer ours in the 120-140 degree F range.

• Rare: 120 degrees F
• Medium Rare: 130 degrees F
• Medium: 145 degrees F

Also Check: Wusthof Classic Steak Knives Set Of 4

Best Steak For Kabobs

Youll notice from my ingredients list below that I opted for top sirloin steak for these kabobs. The reason sirloin works so great is that it is a very lean cut of meat without a lot of fat so the cubes of steak wont shrink that much while they are cooking. Other options would be New York strip or tri-tip.

How To Make The Steak Marinade:

The flavor in the marinade is really what makes these beef kabobs extra special!

Its simple to make, so dont skip it, even if you dont have much time to let it rest. If youre short on time, simply leave the steak in the marinade while you cut up your other veggies and preheat the grill.

I prefer to make the steak marinade right in a large freezer bag to save on dishes. I use large freezer bags for marinades because its easy to completely coat the meat and massage the flavors right in. It also saves on clean up!

If you prefer not to use plastic bags, you can absolutely use a glass storage dish to prep the marinade and soak the steak cubes. Just be sure to select a dish that is not too big, so that the marinade will cover as much of the meat as possible.

Read Also: Where Does Wagyu Steak Come From

What Is The Best Beef For Kabobs

Personally, I recommend using sirloin steak for kabobs. Its economical has excellent flavor and is American Heart Association Heart Healthy Certified!

I marinate my beef kabob meat for about 24 hours to be sure that meat has time to tenderize. Other beef options that great cuts for beef kabobs are Flat Iron or Strip Steak.

If you want this recipe tonight for dinner and are unable to marinate, I would then recommend working with Beef Tenderloin.

Beef tenderloin is a higher end, but natural tender cut. Beef kabobs are a great application for this cut, because a little bit goes a long way!

When I use beef tenderloin for kabobs, I still marinate the beef prior to placing it on the skewers, but only to impart flavor, not to tenderize. A quick, 30-minute marinade is all you need to get your mouth watering!

Regardless of the cut of beef that you choose for your kabobs, there are a few more tips to make sure your beef kabobs turn out perfect each time:

Load Up The Grill With Kabobs

Load up the grill with your kabobs. Take the time to space them out evenly for the sake of making sure they are cooked off at the same time. Do not overload the grill with too many kabobs at once. If you are grilling for a large crowd, you will have to grill these kabobs in shifts. Make sure to use those heating zones with care as leaving kabobs on the hotter side for too long will burn the vegetables or fruit long before the steak is finished. Now is the time to also decide on the level of rarity you want in your steak. Shorter cook times will obviously lead to more pink being left in the steak.

Read Also: How Much Is A Wagyu Steak

How To Make The Best Marinated Steak Kabobs On The Grill

• Start by making sure the grill is clean and preheated to high heat. You can reduce the heat to medium-high once you put the kabobs on, but starting them on a super hot grill will help get a nice char on the kabobs, which is what adds that great barbecue flavor.
• Skewer the meat alternating with vegetables, aiming for about 4-5 pieces of steak per skewer.
• Use tongs to turn the skewers every 2-3 minutes until all sides have a nice char. Grill times can vary based on the temperature of the grill, temperature of the meat, the size of your chunks of steak, etc. so just keep an eye on how quickly the kabobs are cooking, but I typically grill my marinated steak kabobs for 8-10 minutes total.
• Dont overcook the meat. In my opinion, beef kabobs are best when the meat is cooked medium-rare to medium. I like to see a little pink inside!

The Best Grilled Steak Kabob Recipe

I hope youve enjoyed grill week so far! I know Ive enjoyed creating and eating the recipes! haha. Just in case you missed out on the yummy goodness the past couple of days head over and get the recipes for > my Ultimate BBQ Baby Back Ribs and the secret to how they fall off the bone every time or my Easy Chili Lime Grilled Salmon with Mango Avocado Salsa and my tips on how to keep fish from sticking to the grill.

Ok. Now, for the last day of GRILL WEEK I needed to finish with a bang, or in this case, a grilling staple that has a bomb of flavor.

I can remember my mom making shish kabobs nonstop when the summer would come around. Not only it is super flavorful, but its also an easy way to make a healthy meal that everyone will love. The grill does something magical to vegetables when they cook and miraculously your kids will eat them! I know I did as a child and my kids do too! In fact, my 7-year-old will straight up eat grilled onions from the grill, by themselves. Its nuts!

Also Check: Sam’s Club Flank Steak Price