Get Creative with Kabobs

Outdoor entertaining at its finest and easiest.

Put the endless, tantalizing combinations of kabobs on display for your next backyard party. You can even assemble them pre-party, so your day-of is stress free. Grilled to perfection in minutes and cleaned up in seconds, kabobs are a host’s dream.

What ingredients should I use?

Mindful mixing can take your kabobs to another level. One we love is poultry, pork, or ham with a fruit like pineapple chunks, apricot halves, peach or apple wedges. The flavors complement each other for the perfect mix of sweet and savory. Try these meats and vegetables to get you started.

Meats

• Beef
• Pieces of Boneless Chicken
• Pieces of Turkey Breast
• Pork Cubes
• Small Meatballs
• Partially Fried and Rolled-Up Bacon Slices
• Pieces of Sausage
• Shrimp
• Scallops
• Other Seafood Chunks 

Vegetables And Fruit

• Onions
• Zucchini
• Summer Squash
• Green, Red, or Yellow Peppers
• Partially Cooked Carrots
• Canned or Partially Cooked Small Whole Potatoes
• Fresh Mushrooms
• Firm Cherry Tomatoes 

Don’t forget to marinate.

Add in extra flavor by marinating before grilling. Try bottled salad dressings like French, Italian, or Ranch for chicken. Use Teriyaki, Sweet n’ Sour, or Greek marinade on pork. Feel free to get creative though! There are many marinade mixes and bottled concoctions from fruit-based to spicy hot sauces. (For our kabobs, we use a Southwestern marinate on our beef and a Greek on our pork ones.)

Note: As always, don’t reuse a marinade or sauce on food you’re cooking that has been used with raw food. Discard any liquid that raw meat, poultry, or seafood has been in. Wash all kitchen utensils and dishes thoroughly before reusing.

Choosing Your Skewers

We recommend skewers with flat blades. The round ones can easily turn inside the food, making it difficult to rotate the pieces of food. If you only have round ones, use two per kabob to keep things in place.  There are also double-prong skewers, which hold the meat and vegetables in place and can easily be turned over.

If you use wooden skewers, they must be soaked in water for about 30 minutes before using to prevent burning.

Kabob Prep:

1. Cut meat, larger fruit and vegetables into 1 inch to 1 ½ inch pieces.
2. Marinate.
3. Fill skewer with pieces that are uniform in size.
4. Leave a little space between pieces so everything gets thoroughly cooked.

Grill Times

The following times are highly variable. It depends, of course, on distance above the coals and the actual temperatures. We suggest 4 inches above medium-hot coals. Kabobs with tightly packed ingredient will need more time.

• Beef, pork, or lamb kabobs with 1 inch cubes: Grill for about 10 to 12 minutes. (Add 5 minutes for 1 ½ inch cubes.)
• Chicken or turkey kabobs with 1 inch cubes: Grill for about 8 to 10 minutes. (Add 4 to 5 minutes for 1 ½ inch cubes.)
• Shrimp or fish kabobs (salmon, tuna, halibut, etc.) with 1 inch cubes: Grill for about 10 to 12 minutes. (Add 4 to 5 minutes for 1 ½ inch cubes.)
• Pre-cooked sausages: Grill for about 8 to 10 minutes. (Add 4 to 5 minutes for 1 ½ inch cubes.)

Turn all kabobs frequently as they’re grilling. Baste with additional sauce occasionally and wait until the last few minutes of grill time to baste with sweeter sauces, especially if they contain sugar. Sugar will burn faster and turn black.

And that’s it! You are ready to serve up these delicious combos at your next picnic or outdoor party. Make a whole main course of kabobs or use them for appetizers. Either way, you can’t go wrong.